Soon after lunch we disembarked at the port town of Salaverry and bused to the spectacular Moche ruins of "Huaca de la Luna" (temple of the moon). Our Peruvian guides led the way as we climbed the moon pyramid, which was built during the 5th century and is made from over 50 million sun-dried adobe bricks! The bright colors and details we saw in a frieze (wall sculpture) that for centuries had been covered by another layer of wall amazed and delighted us (see the first photo). Depicted in this particular relief was the bloodthirsty god, the Decapitator "Ai-apaec," to whom the Moche made human sacrifices.
We drove on to Chan Chan, impressive ruins of the capital of the Chimu culture, built between the 13th and 15th century. Chan Chan has adobe walls that reach 9 meters in height and the city covers more than 20 square kilometers. Many of the walls are decorated with elaborate fish, animal and geometric motifs (see the second photo).
The main square -- Plaza de Armas -- in the city of Trujillo was our final stop of the afternoon. To our surprise, while we took photos, peeked into the crowded shops and the ornate Cathedral, or sipped a beer at a sidewalk caf‚, it began to rain. Well, a few drops of moisture fell from the sky, but I guess in this desert-like part of the world, even those few drops count as rain.
