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Monday, January 6.Huaraz to Trujillo. We got up early but still had a rush to be ready by 8 am as my porridge order failed to appear. Once again we breakfasted on the patio which was very pleasant. And the hotel tried hard to make amends for our damp room on arrival. We headed west ascending The Hills that’s surrounded the city and it was a really pleasant drive. We passed the old Inca Trail several times and got to the pass at 4200 m. Then down lots of hairpin bends through the Alto Plano .
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Around 11 am, we arrived at Sechin . And were told that we could enter this site although officially it was closed on Mondays. David sensed a scam . Dante thought he had achieved access by presenting the Guardian with a red T-shirt. We enjoyed the half hour guided Tour of the site which was a temple with decorated walls of about three meter height showing victors and the poor enemy decapitated and without heads. But at the end David was asked to give 80 Soles to the Guardian and was really angry with Dante for having left us in this position.
Dating to 1600 BC, the site was discovered in 1937. Archeologists believed it was the capital of an entire culture, now known as the Casma/Sechin culture or Sechin complex. Notable features include megalithic architecture with carved figures in bas-relief, which graphically dramatize human sacrifices. There is a small on-site museum. Who developed Cerro Sechin, how it was constructed, and the nature of the site's ceremonies are unknown; little is known about the community associated with the site. The site dates to 1600 BC, and and was abandoned around 800 BC. The dates are a bit obscure, as no two sources appear to agree on the dates at either end
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So lunch soon afterwards was somewhat strained but we did enjoy our grilled sole but could not touch the mountain of rice and chips that accompanied it. We left the café for 2 am and then journeyed up the coast through the desert, passing vast swathes of agriculture near the rivers that we passed. Otherwise it was complete desert.
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We arrived at the Costa del Sol, Trujillo, Hotel at 5 pm. A pleasant room there overlooking its swimming pool and I had a swim just before six which was its closure hour. We opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed this with biscuits that have been left in the room for us . Then at 7:30, we went down to the hotels café/bar and enjoyed a free Pisco sour and a toasted avocado and egg on toast .
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Just before this we had walked out into the square, the Plaza Del Armas, and being amazed by the multitude of people there and the number of vendor door is selling balloons, Doritos, candy floss, toffee apples et cetera. All the Christmas decorations were still there and it was obviously a special evening for the local people. After supper we went back out to take some photos of this event.
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Tuesday, January 7,, 2025. Trujillo. A leisurely day , a reasonable breakfast and then a meeting with our new guide, Yvette, at 9 am . We visited the cathedral right next door to the hotel and she explained lots of things about the paintings and the construction of the church. There were a few people in it and we spent half an hour or so there We then went into the archbishop’s house next door where there was an impressive chapel. After this we walked to the statue of Simon Bolivar in the centre of the square and Yvette explained where this had come from (Germany) and the meaning of all the statues around it. this was followed by a visit to a colonial Casa where Simon Bolívar was reputed to have stayed for one night, but there was scant proof of this, just a soup tureen with some words on it that implied it came from a high powered member of the revolutionary elite. Then a walk of a few blocks to the anthropological museum this had some very interesting pieces in it but was not ventilated so I found it somewhat draining. Then a visit to an ATM to get some money before returning to the hotel by 1230.
Archbishop's Palace
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Archeological Museum
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Urquiaga House Museum
This colonial building, now owned by a bank, has connections, somewhat dubious, to Simon Bolivar
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We had a lovely afternoon. I had a swim but there was still some sunshine on the pool after we had had lunch in the room. Then we went out again to search for another museum supposedly quite nearby but we never found this. So we took a walk along the pedestrian street where Yvette had said we would find some cafés. We never found these, but that was one halfway where we stopped on the way back and had a Maracuya fruit drink and a strawberry mousse.
Back at the hotel I had a bath and read. We went out again at 7:15 with a walk around the square which was not nearly so busy as the previous night then back to the hotel for a Pisco sour and two snacks: one the same egg and avocado toast that we had had the previous night and the chimichangi, a local specialty. Another walk round the outside of the square before back to the room to do the diario and read a little longer.