On the 17th around noon, we left Trujillo, and headed to Huanchaco. Quite an adventure finding the busses to Huanchaco as well! We figured there was a Copa America game going on in Trujillo as there were tons and tons of policia around the stadium and the surrounding areas.

Huanchaco is awesome! We´re staying at Hostería Naylamp, which is across the street from the beach. Beautiful! And they have hot water :)

We went to Chan Chan. According to our guidebooks, it´s dangerous to walk aruond there, but we walked from the main road to Chan Chan, and had no problems. It was pretty deserted. It is amazing! It´s the main city of the Chimú society (pre Inca). The grounds are mud and adobe, and very well preserved.

On the 18th, Judith and I had a very productive day. We first headed to the Huaca de Esmeraldas. It´s located about 4 blocks behind the Church of Mansiche, behind white brick walls with broken glass on top. The guidbooks said it´s dangerous to walk there, but we had no problems at all. It was pretty neat -- a temple in the Chan Chan area.

Then we went to the Huaca de Arce Ibis or the Huaca de Dragon. We got a guided tour, which was quite nice. Our tour guide was really cool and a funny guy. There were many original friezes still intact, as well as reconstructions. We walked up the ramp, and the tops of the temple walls. There are Peruvian hairless dogs around there, that are the descendants of the dogs the Chimú people owned. They´re funny looking dogs, but it´s pretty interesting.

After that, we went to Trujillo, to catch a bus to the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de Luna. The bus dropped us off at the highway for Moche. We had to walk quite a distance (most people take a combi or taxi). We decided to stop for lunch on the way. It was like the people had never seen tourists, and were staring and curious about us. It was a restaurant that looked like it could have been the local hang out. I ate something, I have no idea what it was...maybe cabrito? Then it was back to walking to the Huacas. We did a guided tour of the Huaca de Luna, which was quite impressive. It has friezes with the original colors still preserved. Another temple of the Chimú...it was a sacrificial temple.

Then back to Huacachina..paradise :D We ran into Michelle and Francis (from Cuenca) while walking on the beach front. They´re staying in Trujillo, but taking the night bus tomorrow to Huaraz...and Judith and I are taking the night bus as well, so we´ll probably see them there.

Today is the 19th, and we have just been relaxing and taking it easy..ahhh! We walked to the church on the hill, walked around the cemetary next door to it, then walked along the beach for a while. Had lunch at a little outside eatery, then ice cream at a restaurant overlooking the beach. We hung out there, met a guy from Spain who was doing a quick trip through South America, and filming a paragliding documentary there as well. The sun came out, so the weather was perfect...a perfect way to end our stay in Huanchaco.