Trujillo with Roland!

After climbing in Hatun Machay for a good week, I decided to head to Trujillo to visit my friend Roland and stay at his family's home there. The late buses are pretty convenient here so I hopped on one Friday night to spend the weekend there. I arrived in Trujillo around 5am and luckily, Roland was there to pick me up. They had a bed waiting for me so I crashed out for a few hours before we started our first day in Trujillo. Roland took me to a nice breakfast place that served traditional food from the area and it was delicious! Tamales, papa rellenos, tasty breakfast sandwiches and more! Definitely the way to start a weekend of eating, drinking, and hangin' out.

The main square in downtown Trujillo... what up Roland!

After breakfast, we headed down the street to the main square downtown. There were so many brilliant colors on all the buildings; it was so happy feeling! We also checked out the old National Reserve Bank where they used to make money. It was a great example of the old style architecture that is present all around downtown. Luckily, Roland had his own car so getting around to all these places was a breeze. People drive like CRAZY in Trujillo; definitely takes a professional to drive around there! haha

Old style architecture in the Old Reserve Bank

We then drove to the Huaca de La Luna y Sol, two temples that the Moche people constructed around 100-800 AD. The Moche people preceded the Incas in Peru and primarily lived near the coast. These temples were completely made out of Adobe and the excavation effort to uncover more of the temples and it's surroundings is still on going today. It was amazing to see all of the colors that were painted all over the walls of these temples as well. Its a feat that the Adobe is still there!

Gigantic adobe murals painted in one of the courtyards of the temple

Even though Trujillo is technically in a desert, large structures have been built over the ruins in order to keep what little rain that does fall from hurting more of the temple. A tour guide took us through the entire ruins, explaining what the different rooms were, what happened in each one, and who they were for (all in Spanish by the way!). The Moche people sacrificed many people in hopes of pleasing the Gods for favorable weather and good fortune. The altar where people were sacrificed was definitely still visible and everything... pretty freaky stuff!

So many colors and they're still so vibrant even today

Around 2pm, we headed back to Roland's house for some lunch. His Mom is a great cook and fixed us up a HUGE amount of food. Potatoes, salad, lots of spiced rice and chicken; I barely could finish it all. That's saying a lot! When we could no longer could fit more food into our stomachs we headed out to the ruins of Chan Chan, another adobe city where many passageways and walls still are standing today. We then headed up north along the coast to this place called Huanchaco which has the longest left breaking wave in the world!

The sacrificing altar! Pretty freaky just thinking about all those killed here...

The day was overcast so not that many people were out but the waves went on forever! Riding the wave for its entirety would take a tremendous amount of endurance! Kids, beginners, and those who were pretty good were all out in the water, super psyched surfing some of the best waves Peru has to offer. There were even people trying out the traditional reed boat called a 'caballito de totora.' They say it's possibly one of the first ever surf crafts.

Longest left breaking wave in the world!

We hung out watching the waves for about an hour, tasting a ice slushy while we were at it. We then headed home for a little siesta; nap time and some PES (South America equivalent of FIFA). I sucked, having not played since the days in the House of 7 playing FIFA with the boys. Oh well, still fun to kick the ball around. Roland prepared us some drinks called Chilcanos, his favorite! Pisco, lime, and ginger ale... mmmm! We were planning on heading out to party with some of Rolands friends that night so I knew I needed to eat a good meal. His Mom prepared another mountain of food, this time spaghetti.

How do they even surf those things?

We headed over to a friend of Roland's apartment who he studied with in Architecture school. The 4 of us proceeded to finish an entire bottle of Johnnie Walker! Yikes! I thought that we would then go dancing the 4 of us but Roland  is always full of surprises. We actually ended up going to another friend's house to continue the party. It was his friends birthday so there were TONS of people there... music was going, there was tons of food everywhere, not to mention drinks. Pisco, whiskey, beer, you name it! We danced the night away till 5 am having a super great time. By then, I couldn't drink anymore and had to tell Roland not to keep passing me beer!

Roland's Parents and his brother Orlando on the left

That next morning, I for sure was feeling it. We slept in a long time, then after a good breakfast, we headed out with Roland's entire family to celebrate Mother's Day. We headed to this lagoon near Trujillo where we had amazing duck. We talked about what I studied in college, how Roland and I met, etc. It was super cool hanging out with family and I couldn't be more thankful for them putting me up in their home. Hopefully if I'm ever back in the area, I can pay them a visit. Thanks again for the Peruvian flag!!! :) I boarded a night bus back to Huaraz Sunday night, saying goodbye to Roland and his family.

Sierra Andina brewing company in Huaraz! Got a present for you Jared...

Alex and Jen were driving to Huaraz from Cusco and Macchu Picchu and we had one day to hang out before they headed out to Hatun Machay. We figured why not visit the Sierra Andina brewing company, a place recommended to us by Jared, or J-Class haha. The factory was super small, and they're all dudes from the US! We picked up a case of shorts (bottles that weren't fully filled; mistake of the bottling machine) for 50 soles; can't beat that! It was sad that I'd only see Jen for a day but other activities are calling.

Birthday Dinner with Alex and Jen before they headed off to Hatun Machay for some climbing

Tomorrow, I head off with some local friends here to attempt 3 mountains in 4 days. The summits of the 3 mountains are roughly ~4600m or just above 18,000 ft. Definitely have never gone this high before. They're called Mururaju, Pongos, and Raria. Hopefully, I'm not left in the dust! I'll be back this Sunday, definitely yearning for a shower and some clean clothes. Tune in next time to see how the climbs went... :)

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