August 29th 2015
Mancora ends on a sour note, despite two incredible days of whale watching, thanks to some bad seafood had in one of the local special lunch menu’s along the coast. It leaves me quite sick for many days, unable to eat or do much of anything other than shuffling from my bed to the bathroom of the Point Hostel and vice versa. Ah stomach problems, one of the great joys of travelling.
Eventually I do start to feel better and make the overnight bus trip from Mancora to Trujillo, where I was already briefly during my whirlwind trip through Peru back in February. This time though I’m hoping to stop by one of Peru’s most impressive archaeological sights from the Moche Culture. The Huaca de Sol and Huaca de la Luna are built side by side in the desert as the administrative and religious centre of the Moche culture which existed from 100 AD until about 750 AD.
It takes me a few more days of recovery at El Mochilero (Dorm 25 Soles) before I have the energy to do anything, but finally on my last day in Trujillo, I decide to push my slowly recovering body and find myself a combi (shared mini bus) headed out to the ruins nearby the city which costs only 1.50 Soles (60 Cents USD). The forty minute trip is crowded but made better by the many friendly locals making conversation with me, their smiling interrogations also help distract from my churning stomach and dizzy vision.
I climb out at the last stop of the combi and stumble over to the ticket office for the ruins and the connected museum. (15 Soles Combined ticker. 8 Soles for students) and then take a brief sit down break, wondering at my own wisdom to come here when I’m so far from 100 percent.
Eventually I muster the strength and wander into the surprisingly impressive museum which sadly does not allow photos, though I do learn a lot about the Moche Culture, which I will try to sprinkle in. Get ready for the history lesson built in throughout this blog entry.
The impressive collection of original items fully explored, I stumble out of the museum, take a small break and then amble across the road and along the dusty desert trail to the huaca de la Luna, the spiritual centre of the Moche empire.
Like in real life the moon is much smaller than the sun. In this case the sun was the political centre of the empire in it’s alter stages and is easily 4 times the size of huaca de la Luna, though it is sadly not open to explorations, as it is still being excavated. Once it’s ready (date unknown) the significance of this archaeological site will only grow.
I make it to the entrance which is filled with school groups and make it into the courtyard where I’m told a tour (required and free though tips are welcome) will begin in about ten minutes in Spanish. (They do have English tours too, i just did not want to wait).
I take the ten minutes to lie down and centre myself before our guide gathers us and we head up the base of cerro blanco (white hill) a place very important to the Moche religion, and the reason for their temple’s location here.
As we entire the ruins I’m dizzy, which seems fitting as the first place we go is the zone where many human sacrifices were carried out. So At least I’m feeling better than those about to die as a sacrifice to the Moche Pantheon of Gods in order to ensure good conditions for life and farming. In the sacrifice ritual two young men would fight until one is the clear winner, the loser would then be prepared by the priests and then be killed as an offering.
We head up some steps to the next level of the temple, the Moche for still clouded reasons, would build over their temple over and over again sporadically through their vast history. All told there is five temples on the site, one built on top of the other, and only the top most level used at any one time. In many parts of the ruins, this is visible.
the Moche people painted and carved their stones in intricate detail and colourful patterns, and thank to their building strategies, many levels of this incredible art is still very much intact for the viewers. The site’s vibe is hurt a little by the necessary restoration installations like metal sheet roofs to protect the stone from bad weather, but still this place is much more impressive than Chan Chan, the other major ruins site nearby Trujillo. The paintings are intricate and as we look down on the lower and therefore older levels of the temple we find more of the colour preserved against the ravages of time.
We head to a lookout of Huaca del sol the almost but not quite natural looking pyramid like hill in the distance just before the massive urban sprawl of Trujillo. We then look down at ongoing excavations of the town which filled the pace between the two huacas and learn a little more about how the Moche’s lived. Huaca De La Luna was home for the priests, gifted craftsmen, and spiritual leaders and it’s importance faded as the Moche culture moved away from religion and into more political leaders who based themselves on Huaca de sol. The village between was for farmers, lesser craftsman, and all the other less important people around the ancient capital.
From the lookout we head around to what was the main entrance to the temple back when it was actually in use. We walk down ramp and peel around to reveal a massive facade all painted and decorated in incredible detail, and only crumbling in a few places. It’s massively impressive and the reason you have to visit huaca de la Luna if you are in the Trujillo area.
This amazing main entry facade combined with the excellent collection of ceramics (often sexual themed) in the adjacent museum make it a must visit.
We come up to the wall of myths, an incredible section of stone carved and painted with incredible detail showing countless Moche myths and stories.
This is more or less the end of the visit as we walk back through the ruins and down to the entry where I quickly find a Combi headed back to the city and spend a little time in the attractive and quite European Plaza de Armas before heading back to El Mochilero and it’s charming pet turtle for the night.
Tomorrow it’s back into the mountains to Huaraz, Peru’s mountaineering capital nearby Huascaran National park.
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