Trujillo / Caraz
The President’s supporters voted for a truce between Christmas and the beginning of January and we take this opportunity to continue our descent towards Lima.
On the way we stop in Trujillo described by all the guides as unavoidable ... This is not necessarily what we felt.
Trujillo, nicknamed «city of eternal spring» is today the capital of the Libertad region.
The area was populated by two important pre-Inca civilizations, the Mochica and Chimú, and later became an important city of the vice-kingdom.
The main monuments of the colonial era are concentrated around the Plaza de Armas, especially the Cathedral, its Archiepiscopal Palace, its church of the Compañia, its monastery El Carmen and its colorful colonial houses.
The rest of the city has no interest.
It takes us two days to reach Caraz. The most direct route goes through el Cañón del Pato
The Río Santa has carved impressive gorges at the junction of the black and white cordillera, creating a narrow, deep canyon of 1000 m, which is the most spectacular in northern Peru. In order to open a road on the slopes of the mountain, 39 tunnels had to be dug over 40 km! This one-lane road is considered one of the most dangerous in Peru.
We decide not to take it and make a detour to reach Caraz.
We do not regret it. We follow a magnificent and winding route through a desert in the first part and a climb in the black cordillera up to 4 500 m in the second part.
We sleep at 4,200 m where the outside temperature is around -1° and 5° in the camper. When we wake up, an extraordinary spectacle is revealed. We discover the white cordillera under a blue sky ... What wonder .... It makes us forget the cold.
Puerto Malabrigo
We decide to spend the Christmas weekend in Puerto Malabrigo.
On our way we stop to visit another pre-Columbian site
* Huacas del Sol y de la Luna
The temples of the Sun and Moon precede Chan Chan by seven centuries and date from the Mochica period.
Huaca del Sol remains the largest prehispanic building in the country, although a third of the sanctuary was washed away by the rains.
The pyramid once had several levels, but after fifteen centuries of erosion, it looks like a gigantic pile of raw bricks, partially covered with sand. It is not open to the public.
Smaller and more interesting, the Huaca de la Luna, consists of many rooms containing ceramics, precious metals and superb polychrome friezes that have made the reputation of the Mochicas. The construction of the temple lasted for six centuries until 600, the different generations extending it and covering the previous monuments.
The visit ends with a museum where beautiful pieces are exhibited ... But forbidden to photograph.
After lunch we go back to Puerto Malabrigo.
This village is home to beautiful beaches and is known for its waves, it is a surfing hotspot in Peru.
We walk along the beach and have the chance to see a family of sea lions sitting on a rock. The dominant male looks at Christophe with a bad eye ... This one approaching close to make his photos!!!
We are relatively quiet ... Except on Christmas Day when the village fills up visually ... Hundreds of cars land on the beach where families spend the day.
After they left, the beach became a garbage can ... They are left on the spot all their garbage!!!!! It’s a treat for the village dogs!
Huanchaco
Before reaching the edge of the Pacific we stop to visit an important site.
The road that takes us there is cut off after the village and we have to make a detour of several kilometers through fields of sugar cane and along the pacific on roads in a pretty poor state!!!
* Complexo El Brujo
This archaeological complex located on the coast, includes the site of Huaca Prieta, the site of Huaca El Brujo, which has hardly been studied, and the magnificent site of Moche excavated from Huaca Cao.
Researchers made one of the most important discoveries in Peruvian archaeology in 2005, discovering the elaborate tomb of a female governor, shaking up theories about gender’s role in pre-Columbian cultures.
The complex is called El Brujo because the local shamans met on the site to practice ceremonies and rituals.
Huaca Cao, the largest of the site’s ruins, was built in different phases between 100 and 700 AD and its main section houses a 27m high truncated pyramid with some of the best friezes in the region.
They show multicolored reliefs with stylized warriors, prisoners, priests and human sacrifices. There are also many burial sites of the Lambayec culture, which followed the Moche.
Then we reach the village of Huanchaco, a small seaside resort
It is a destination mainly frequented by Peruvians and currently receives few international travellers.
They come here to rest in front of the sea, enjoy the beaches and above all surf.
We settlet facing the sea at the end of the very long beach.
We stay there 3 days which allows us to visit another site.
* Complexo Chan Chan
Built around 1300 AD and covering 20 km², Chan Chan is the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas and the largest adobe city in the world.
Devastating floods due to El Niño and heavy rains have severely eroded much of the city.
Chan Chan is the manifestation of Chimus culture and beliefs. In all the monuments of the city, water and the moon are the most represented elements.
While most pre-Columbian civilizations believed in the omnipotence of the Sun, the Chimus believed that the moon had more power because it could light them day and night.
At the height of the Chimú Empire, the complex was rich in gold, silver and ceramic. The wealth remained more or less intact after the Incas conquered the city, but once the Spaniards reached the stage, looting began.
ROAD BOOK 139
MAVROS ODYSSEE