Chan Chan

Collectivo Bus

Collectivo busses are most often operated by two men; one being the driver and the other operates the sliding door to let people in and out, shouts out to people on the street the destinations, and takes the money.  The trip to Trujillo costs only s1.5 on a collectivo where the taxi driver may ask s50 and I paid one s25 the time I had to take one because I had no idea where I was or where to find a colletivo route.

This morning I caught a collectivo into Trujillo to buy my bus ticket to Lima.  It will be an 8 hr journey and I can either go over night and arrive at 6 am or go at 9 am the next day and arrive around 6pm.  As my plane does not leave until 12 am the next day I guess the overnight trip is out of the question.  I also walked around to find a place to stay overnight in trujillo and found one that looked good only two blocks from the bus station!

According to my city map in the guide book, I wasn´t too far from the "Museo Arqueológico Casinelli" which is a private museum that is situated in the basement of a gas station. Even though I did not have a street address, I thought I could find it because it was on a road that V´d off sharply from the road I was on, and I figured I would see it.  Well, I missed it and before I knew it i was on the edge of town.  Well, I thought, maybe I can walk to Chan Chan and before I knew it i was there. 

Chan Chan is an archeological site about 3 miles north of Trujillo which covers over 12 square miles.  The largest Pre-Colombian city in South America, Chan Chan was constructed by the Chimor (the kingdom of the Chimú), a late intermediate period civilization which grew out the remains of the Moche civilization. The city of Chan Chan was built around AD 850 of more than 100 million adobe bricks. It was the imperial capital of the Chimor and lasted until its conquest by the Inca Empire around AD 1470.  It is estimated that around 30,000 people lived in the city of Chan Chan.

Chan Chan is severely threatened by El Niño weather, which causes heavy rains and flooding on the Peruvian coast.  The city's ruins are also threatened by earthquakes and looters.  At present, there are many archeological and restorative projects going on at Chan Chan. Although the site does not get much rain, and most of the damage to the ruins have been caused by wind, El Nino rains dealt it some heavy blows in 1983 and 1986.  It was named a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1986 and preservation includes roofs over the most delicate parts of it to protect it from the rains. 

The city is composed of ten walled citadels which housed ceremonial rooms, burial chambers, temples, reservoirs and some residences. Chan Chan is a triangular city surrounded by walls 50-60 feet high. A distinguishable aspect of Chan Chan is that there are no enclosures which open to the north. The tallest walls shelter against south-westerly winds from Peru's coast. Northern-facing walls gain the greatest exposure to the sun, serving both to block the wind and absorb sunlight where fog is frequent. The numerous walls throughout the city create labyrinth of passages.

 

There is still some archeological excavation going on

The walls themselves were constructed of adobe brick and were then covered with a smooth surface into which intricate designs were carved. There are two styles of design present in these carvings: one is a ‘realistic’ representation of subjects such as birds, fish, and small mammals; and the other is a more graphic, stylized representation of the same subjects. The carvings at Chan Chan depict crabs, turtles, and nets for catching various sea creatures. Chan Chan, unlike most other coastal ruins in Peru, is located extremely close to the Pacific Ocean

This man made pool was probably used as a pleasure garden by the elite

It´s hot out in this desert sun!