Trujillo

Getting to Trujillo was quite an exercise. Our flight into Peru from a connection in Miami was delayed as authorities needed to remove a passenger from the plane (and dig through the airplane hold to locate his luggage). Took forever and our already late-evening arrival in Lima was pushed back to midnight. Not much sleep – three hours later we were up preparing for our 5:55 flight to Trujillo. More bad luck as weather in Trujillo forced a temporary diversion to an airport a few hundred miles north.

Finally, about 3-1/2 hours late, we hooked up with our guide for the next few days, Rocio, and her driver. Rocio holds degrees in archaeology and has done field work at a number of the locations we’ll be visiting.

Trujillo is a curious place. Founded by Francisco Pizarro after the conquest, it is now Peru’s 3^rd largest city and is really busy. I’m glad I’m not driving as it’s a total free-for-all. The city center is beautiful with well-preserved colonial architecture and traditional square. Once we depart the city and head towards the ruins, ‘tuk-tuks’ (3-wheeled ‘taxis’ with a seat up front for the driver and a bench in the back for passengers) and stray (but friendly) dogs are everywhere. Sadly, trash is everywhere too. Per Rocio, Trujillo (a region of some 1M folk) has only one operating trash pickup truck! She blames a familiar villain – government graft.

The Moche (100 BC – 900 AD) ruin complex ‘Huacas del Sol y de la Luna’ (Temples of the Sun & Moon) is a 20-minute drive from the city and includes the well-respected, ‘Huacas de Moche Museum’ with artifacts collected from the various excavations, two temples – the ‘Sun’ and ‘Moon’, and the remains of the Moche capital city of Cerro Blanco.

The temples are massive but constructed of adobe brick and have been weathered over the centuries by nearby ocean salt and rains. Most of the excavation has been to the Temple of the Moon, a beautifully decorated temple that represents the spiritual center of the Moche culture and burial ground for the Moche elite. Excavations have revealed ceremonial objects, remains of sacrificed soldiers and enormous walls decorated with Moche iconography. My favorite is that of the creator god Avaypec – ‘The Decapitator’!

After only 3 hours of sleep in 30, we finally arrive in Trujillo to start our exploration of the ancient civilizations that Peru was home to. Our first outing is the home of the Moche people for over 8 centuries, the ruin complex ‘Huacas del Sol y de la Luna’ (Temples of the Sun & Moon). Discovered relatively recently, the two complexes house both the administrative and spiritual life of the Moche people. The Temple of the Sun is the larger of the two, but the least excavated and we are unable to go inside the ruin. The Temple of the Moon was the spiritual area and has been excavated pretty extensively from 1991 through 2017 when funding ran out. Over the 800 years that the Moche people lived here, they remodeled the Temple of the Moon 5 times, each time building over the existing footprint and enlarging the space. There are 5 complete levels of the complex and each is visible at various areas. The complex also host an excellent museum, the ‘Huacas de Moche Museum’ which incudes an exceptional ceramics/pottery collection, artifacts from various tombs and weapons. Our guide, Rocio, is a font of information as she has trained as an archeologist and knows this area and the ruins well.

Before going to the temples, we stopped at a local shop where descendants of the Moche people are still making the traditional pottery. Garcia, the artist, still makes his clay in the traditional way, casts it using ceramic molds his brothers have made and glazes them in the traditional colors. If it wasn’t day one of a six-week trip, one of his creations would certainly have made it to the suitcase.

Other observations; Peru is still a 2^nd / 3^rd world country. Most public toilets advise you to not put your toilet paper (or anything else) in the toilet because the plumbing is fragile. We saw areas outside the city centers where people are living in shacks, some with no roofs. Garbage, at least in Trujillo, is everywhere except in the Central Business District. Rocio attributed this to a corrupt government and only one garbage truck for 1.2 Million people living here. There are also large quantities of homeless dogs roaming everywhere. They do not seem to be feral and are not aggressive, just accepting that this is their life. We did see a three-legged dog while at the ruins, at least he looks like he is fed well enough.