Off to the North! A postcard from Trujillo.

We've now come to Trujillo -  Capital of the Eternal  Spring - where Amalia comes from and where I taught English and we ran a travel agency.

It's some 400 miles north of Lima on the coast and, like Lima, has many lovely colonial buildings.  It's the capital of the region of La Libertad and is the third largest city in Peru. The north of Peru is often neglected by tourists, who concentrate on Machu Picchu and so on.  (Don't worry, we're going there later!) So they miss an area rich in archaeology, wonderful countryside and really friendly people - but then I must admit to being biased as we have so much family there, but I hope to show you just wonderful it is.

Trujillo is in the Moche RiverValley, where the Moche and Chimu civilisations developed between 200BC and 700AD.  Both cultures are known for their superb work in both pottery and silver, so if you're at interested in pre-columbian the Cassinelli Museum is an absolute must.  A private museum, it's situated just 10 minutes from the city centre at Av. Nicolas de Pierola 607 and houses a collection that spans from the civilisations of Chavin to Moche, over 2,500 years.

As you can see from this photo, the museum is crammed from floor to ceiling with artefacts.

Five miles south of the city we find the huacas or temples of the Sun and the Moon of the Moche civilisation. As far as we know, the Temple of the Sun was an administrative centre and the Temple of the Moon was a place of worship.  The Temple of the Sun is a graded pyramid 141ft high, while the Temple of the Moon, just 545 yards away, is made up of superimposed termples built at different times during the Moche era.  Some of the walls have dramatic polychromed murals, whose details clearly show the fire god Aia-Paec.

And here is the postcard showing him.

Trujillo is called the Capital of the Eternal Spring because of its year-round pleasant climate.  We always say that winter there is like a British summer - but without the rain - and their summer is just pleasantly warm rather than scorchingly hot.  Its large main square, the Plaza de Armas shown in the first picture, is surrounded by beautiful colonial churches - the one in the picture is the cathedral - and casonas - equally lovely colonial houses.

It has really lovely sandy beaches at Las Delicias, Salaverry, Huanchaco and Chicama.  We used to live in Huanchaco, which is famous for its caballitos de tortora -  reed fishing boats that have been made the same way for thousands of years.  This photo also shows the pier.

The typical dance of the area is the Marinera and Trujillo is where the most important competitions are held, so it gets another title: this time the Capital of the Peruvian Marinera.   And here they are, dancing on the beach at Huanchaco: