Huanchaco & Chan Chan
Exploring the Chimu Kingdom by day, Relaxing in a Surfer's Paradise by night
Mon 17 Dec 2012 - Wed 19 Dec 2012
Huanchaco is a small sleepy surf town on the coast of Northern Peru, 15mins from Trujillo. This is totally my kind of town - small, quiet, chill, beach town! We spent a couple of days here relaxing and visiting the famous Chan Chan archaeological site nearby. We were originally going to skip the Chan Chan, but of course, yet again, we were convinced that the pyramids of Chan Chan were a 'must-see' in Peru (yes, Danny and I are both easily convinced :P). We joined a one day tour to see the archaelogical sites, and the rest of the days were spent drinking cold beer on patios, taking walks on the beach, and watching sunsets over the horizon - life is gooood! 
Day Tour
When we first found out that we were the only 2 English speaking people on the tour, we thought, oh shit, not again. We were bracing ourselves for another bad tour, but we lucked out and it turned out that there were 2 guides for the tour - one spanish and one english. This means that Danny and I had our own personal tour guide! Above that, she spoke almost perfect english AND she is currently studying archaeology. Score!
We visited the Huacas Del Moche first which is an ancient Peru complex for the Moche culture between 400 and 600 AD. It consists of 2 temples: Huaca del Sol (Temple of the Sun) and Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon).
Huaca del Sol - excavation currently closed due to lack of funding
Huaca de la Luna Museum 
Huaca de la Luna archaeological site
After lunch, we went to see the Chan Chan archaeological site, which is the largest Pre-Columbian city in South America. Built in AD 850, Chan Chan served as the capital of the Chimu Culture until it was conquered by the Inca Empire in AD 1470.
Everyone raves about the Chan Chans, but I personally think the Huaca of the Moon was much more impressive. I'm excited to come back in 5 years or so to see the rest of the Chan Chans fully discovered!
Posted by TravellingFries Tue 5 Mar 2013 10:11 Archived in Peru
