Heading North to Trujillo

It was a struggle to get out of bed early on the day after Christmas but we had a morning bus from central Lima to the more northern Peruvian city of Trujillo and we had get to the Transportes Linea terminal on time.  Raul and I had to be back in Lima by the evening of the third of January so that we could meet his brother and my friend David at the airport on the fourth. That didn't give us much time for travel, we had already eliminated several destinations so that we could be sure to do justice to the places we would see, mostly around Trujillo.

After double checking that we had all the necessary paperwork, passport and debit card for me, national ID card for Raul along with a notarized permission for him to travel (he's under 18), we found public transportation from Huaycan to central Lima where the bus terminal for Linea is located.  It was early enough in the day that the trip was pretty quick (just under an hour, it can take a lot more time during rush hour) and we got to the bus station with time to spare.  The 9:30 bus left right on time and we were on our way to Trujillo.  Peruvian intercity buses, at least the ones on major routes, are a pleasure compared to the buses I've traveled on in other countries and even, in most cases, than the ones in the US.  The buses generally have two levels with a full length compartment on top and a smaller seating area down below, between the drivers compartment and the baggage area.  Generally the top area is four seats across with enough room for a serious decline of the seats to encourage sleeping; below is most often the 1st class area with three, pretty plush, seats across and even a larger percent of decline.  We were up top and very comfortable as we slowly worked our way out of Lima, which included a stop at a passenger terminal in the far north area of the city.

Once we were out of the city I was once again reminded of how complete a desert the costal area of Peru is.  Rainfall in the central to northern area of the coast is between 5 and 8 inches a year, with the southern coast getting even less rain.  The view was mostly shades to tan only interrupted in the river valleys where irrigation made the desert turn green with agricultural crops as far as the irrigation reached.  These valleys have been irrigated for thousands of years with water that drops down from the Andes, and they are a major source of produce and fruit for both the local market and for export.

We arrived in Trujillo at nightfall and took a cab from the bus terminal to the hostel, the Munay Wasi,  where we had made a reservation.  After checking in and unloading our packs in the room we headed out for dinner and a little walk around the old neighborhood we were staying in, near the central historic district.  Then it was back to the room and a good night's sleep.

The next day we were up early for breakfast at the hostel, a simple continental breakfast and a look at our guide books to decide what to do with our day.  As we studied the guide books, for longer than we had anticipated, we decided that we would spend our first day just walking around the old part of the city and soaking up the feel of the place and stopping into places that interested us as we passed by, the second day we decided we would spend going on tours of some of the ancient archeological sites around the city.  There were many possibilities as this had been a center of civilization in Peru for millenniums.  We decided on a tour that would take us to three major sites and which included lunch at a beach town near Trujillo.  As part of the whole discussion of what to do in Trujillo we realized that we had more time there than we could fill with interesting things to do, and since both Raul and I are a bit hyper we started looking at the possibility of visiting an area in the mountains of Northern Peru that we had cut out because we thought we lacked time to see it.  So we now had a plan, we would spend this first day getting the feel of Trujillo, the second day taking a day long tour of historic sites and on the afternoon of the third day we would catch an overnight bus to the mountain town of Chachapoyas which had more things we wanted to see than we would have time to see in the two days we would have there, but we still wanted to do it and so we had a plan.

After we had our plan worked out we headed out into the city to see what it was like.  Trujillo is a large city, either the second or third largest in Peru depending on how you count (city or metro area).  Lima dwarfs everyplace else and is the undisputed largest city at about 10 million people and Trujillo and  Ariquipa vie for second place. Trujillo, for its size, doesn't seem as big as it is when you walk around the old central city, and it is old founded in the 1500's by the Spanish near the much older city of Chan Chan, more about that later.  Our first  day exploring the city was pretty laid back, we strolled - that's probably not true, Raul at almost 17 never strolls and I constantly am telling him to slow down -  from our hostel to the central square, explored the plaza and the cathedral  and found the central market where we bought some fruit and looked at the many medicinal herbs on sale there. We took lots of pictures of the square and walked a lot.  At lunch time we consulted our guide book and chose a highly regarded ceviche, the national dish - at least for the coastal areas, restaurant for lunch.  Our take, it was quite good, but not as good as the ceviche Raul's mother makes at home.  After lunch we took a siesta during the hottest part of the afternoon and then went out for another walk around the city - we found a pleasant pedestrian street and spent some time there walking and window shopping.  Later we found a little restaurant for dinner and then back to the hostel for a good night's sleep - tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.

The Huaca (Temple) Arco Iris, Chan Chan and the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna were on our list for Wednesday, our second full day in Trujillo.  They were all part of a tour we signed up for in order to get to see as much of Trujillo archeological heritage as possible and still get in our trip to Chachapoyas.  The tour would also include a lunch stop in Huanchaco, a beach town near Trujillo which is famous for the long narrow reed boats used by local fisherman, and now for rent to tourists as well.  We were picked up by the tour company's van at 9 AM and after a few more pickup we were off to our first stop the Huaca Arco Iris. I could take up a lot of time talking about each of these sites but each is covered in great detail online and I will only make a few comments about my reaction to each and if you are interested just search for the names listed above and you will have more than enough reading  to fill your day.

Yesterday when I went to post this blog I lost two thirds of what I had written despite saving regularly , every 15 or 20 minutes. I will rewrite what was lost starting today but I'm posting what is here so that I finally get something out.