All things Moche

So today we took a tour to the Moche valley. The ancient Moche civilization of Peru existed long before the Inca. The Moche civilization, also known as the Early Chimu or Mochica culture, flourished from approximately 100 to 800 CE. Dominating the northern coast, the Moche came to be one of the most important groups in Peruvian history.Their artistic techniques, and in particulartheir ceramics, have garnered great international attention and acclaim. From intricately designed ceramics and temples, researchers have gained important insight into the lives of the Moche people. 


Huacca del Sol y la Luna. This was definitely the highlight of the tour. It was breathtaking.


Next, we stopped at some random place to see giant replicas of Peruvian god's (and to buy some tat if you wanted to).


Moving swiftly on ....
Next stop was the Chan Chan museum and then Chan Chan itself.
The Chimu Kingdom reached its apogee in the 15th century, not long before falling to the Incas. Its capital Chan Chan, located in the once fertile river valley of Moche or Santa Catalina, was the largest earthen architecture city in pre-Columbian America. The remains of this vast city reflect in their layout a strict political and social strategy, emphasized by their division into nine 'citadels' or 'palaces' forming independent units.
Peruvian hairless dog having a kip.

Chan Chan 
Adobe walks being restored.
4 metre thick walls.

Last stop of the day was a fishing/surfing town on the Pacific. They still use traditional boats constructed of reeds. 

It looked idyllic in all the promo pics. Take a look for yourself 😜

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