Salaverry – Trujillo, Peru

As the captain said as we got off the ship "welcome to the moon". The landscape here in Salaverry, Peru is barren and dusty with nothing but rocks and sand.

Our tour guides arrived on schedule in two 24-seater buses and we headed to Trujillo City, which is in the northwest area of Peru. It's the 2nd biggest city in the country with populations of just over 2 million people. A sizeable difference from the approximate 10 million people in Lima.

Peru is divided into “departmentos” not states – Peru has 24 departmentos and Trujillo is the capital of Las Libertas departmentos. The town of Salaverry is the port town just outside of Trujillo where our ship docked. It’s an area noted for fishing and agriculture.

Our first objective was to go southwest on the South-American Highway towards the Sun and Moon Temples. This highway runs the amazing distance from Alaska in the north and all the way down into Chile in the south. It was the MOCHE that inhabited this area from 200 B.C. to 700 A.D.

Our first stop was the museum at the Universidad Nacional De Trujillo – Museo Huacas de Moche that was somewhat adjacent to the Temple of the Moon or El Templo Viejo de la Huaco de la Luna. While the museum housed quite a few of the artifacts found when excavating the temple, it was the temple that was the real star on this tour. This temple was built right next to the sacred mountain of the area and was constructed in five (5) levels consisting of nothing buy mud/clay adobe bricks. It was said that fifty million adobe bricks were used in its construction. Back then, people paid their taxes with bricks.

From there we headed to downtown Trujillo – the main square and toured some of the old colonial residences from the 1700’s. The weather improved as we went – the skies cleared and the temperature rose. Deb and I even found a couple of Big Mac’s before getting back on the bus.

Next it was a visit to the citadels in the area known as Chan Chan. Way back when there were nine (9) citadels built for the different kings – every new king or so got a new citadel – but we visited likely the second last or even last citadel built. This complex was a vast layout – walls over 30 feet high covering acres of property and room after room after room of mud/clay adobe bricks.

Finally it was off to Huanchaco, a beach town right on the Pacific Ocean. Huge waves crashed on the shore while both locals fished in their reed boats and other locals used their surfboards on the waves as they crested towards the beach.

It’s actually depressing here in Peru – I hope Lima proves to be better. The people all have smiles on their faces so that’s a good thing – but there is litter, litter and more litter along the roadways – every vertical wall or property fence has been labeled with political or cellular marketing strategies painted in huge, colorful letters. Officially, Trujillo is off my list, there is no reason to come back – hopefully Lima fairs better tomorrow.