had enjoyed Mancora but it was time to move on. Our next stop was a town called Trujillo and involved another overnight bus. I slept pretty much all of the way, waking up just as we arrived.
It was about 6am and we were leaving for Huaraz that night so we weren't going to stay in a hostel. We took a bus to the main square, all are called Plaza de Armes and sat on a park bench waiting for tour agencies and restaurants to open. We didn't wait long before we were approached by a tour agent who said we would be able to leave our bags at the hostel and we signed up for a day tour to the different temples.
We had some time to kill before the tour at 11 so wandered to the different churches (there are plenty here), had breakfast and walked through the local market.
The first stop on our tour were the Columbian Temple of the Moon and Temple of the Sun. What they don't tell you is that the Temple of the Sun is closed. However, we did get some photos and the Temple of the Moon more than made up for it. In fact, I could have spent hours walking around. Picture an upside down pyramid. Each king/generation would fill in the old temple and build a new on top. It was amazing inside and we could see the various levels. As the levels were filled in, the paintings were pretty well preserved and beautiful.
After lunch at a tourist restaurant where Ants and Rose had the local delicacy goat stew, we headed to the Temple of Dragons. It was mostly restored but I still like the more geometric design. After a museum stop, we headed to Chan Chan, along with many many other tourists. The temple was not as impressive as the Temple of the Moon and I think that we were expecting more. Still a beautiful temple.
After the temple, we headed to Huanchaco beach. The Lonely Planet really raves about this beach but it was horribly dirty. The main thing to see here are the reed fishing boats. Fortunately we were only there for an hour before heading back to Trujillo.
A quick dinner, mad panic by Rose who didn't trust my time and thought reception time was 15 minutes faster meant we rushed to the bus station but as the hostel was wrong, we were in plenty of time for our bus to Huaraz. Sleep on the bus wasn't forth coming with a large Peruvian man who sat opposite me and snored like a lumberjack.
