Peruvian Ancient Civilizations

Church * Huaca del luna y sol * Chan Chan * Huanchaco

We started the day early because church (believe it or not) was at 8:0 a.m. As we left the hotel, we noticed a military band and group of soldiers in front of one of the government buildings in the plaza, there was no harm in lingering, as we were certain church would not start on time. We were wrong! We walked into church 30 seconds late and they were already in the middle of the opening hymn. Good for the Chan Chan ward bishop. Of course, only 25% of the congregation was there, but no bother, by the end of the meeting the chapel was full.

We enjoyed nice talks from one of the Elders and a Sister that Eric remembers from his time In Trujillo. The singing was the best part (for those in the family that don’t understand Spanish well) - the hymn selection today was upbeat, and we even were able to stand for the rest hymn.

We weren’t able to hang around for the second hour because our guide wanted us to get going earlier than originally planned - she told us we had a big agenda for the day.

Our first visit was the museum at the Huana del Luna y Sol. The temple to the Moon and the Sun. We drove through the town of Moche to arrive at the site and noticed the canals that this civilization built

It was amazing the well-preserved artifacts on display. Most of the pottery had a sort of hollow handle on top and nearly all were intact. The colors on the pottery were brilliant and clear and told stories of the Moche people. No written language has been discovered yet for this people, so the history is interpreted through their art. One of the interesting pieces was a diarama of a worship service where the mummies of the descents are worshiped inside of a sacred space.

The archeological site is huge, but because of scarece resources only a small part is excavated - the Temple of the Moon. It’s a series of 5 pyramids, that are stacked on each other, each new one being built with the beginning of a new dynasty every 100 years or so. Many of the reliefs on the outside of the pyramid were in excellent condition complete with original yellow and red colors. We were able go with our guide through many sections and levels of the pyramid.

After our lesson in Moche civilization, we traveled just north of Trujillo to Chan Chan to learn about the Chimu people. Chan Chan is huge, and only a small part has been excavated. The area is full of old adobe walls that have, over the centuries, turned in short mounds of dirt. Every so often you could see the adobe bricks poking out from the dirt piles.

The excavated site in Chan Chan is the market square and government offices. Citizens would have come to this area to pay their taxes. Again, many of the reliefs were well preserved and interesting.  The exterior portions of the walls were made of an open criss cross pattern that allowed the air to flow freely into the living space like a natural air conditionaire. Here we had our first sighting of the famous Peruvian hairless dog. As if on cue, the dog was outside of the museum just as we walked in to see pottery made by the Chimu of the same hairless dog.

We had a late lunch in the seaside town of Huanchaca. Eric remembers visiting this town a few times as a missionary and overlooking the sea from the red and white chapel on the hill. Lunch was yummy! Ceviche for the first time in Peru for Charlie and Sydney and they bravely tried it and liked it! On the drive out of town we saw the one-man fishing boats made out of bundled reeds - one even heading into the water for some fishing.
We finished out our stay in Trujillo with an excellent Lomo Saltado dish that was perfectly tender and seasoned.