Create a Moche-themed notebook out of recycled materials while learning about the Moche culture. A short but immensely scenic drive will bring you to one of the river valleys where the Moches flourished from the 1st through 8th centuries. Their descendants still live in the area, and one of them will greet you in their native Muchik language and with a performance on a conch-shell musical instrument known as a pututo. During the workshop that follows, you will make a hand-bound notebook using recycled supplies. An instructor will suggest adding designs that are inspired by the Moche lifestyle. The designs might include fish and sea lions, as marine animals were often depicted on the walls of ancient Moche temples because the people lived along rivers that emptied into the ocean. Present-day Moches create and sell notebooks to supplement their income, but you may keep yours as a souvenir.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Use recycled materials to create a notebook much like the ones the local Moches make.
• Learn about the Moche culture that was prominent during the 1st through 8th centuries.
• Keep your notebook as a souvenir.
• Enjoy a Moche greeting in the native Muchik language.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

Visit one of the best preserved Chimu ceremonial centers and the world’s largest adobe city – Chan Chan and be impressed by its magnificence. Your visit include the site museum. The museum describes the pre-Hispanic cultural development of the La Libertad region, from the first lithic artifacts to the ceramics of the Moche and Chimú cultures; it develops themes related to agriculture, irrigation techniques, and products cultivated in the Moche valley; it also has a computerized room that narrates the origin and development of the Chimor lordship.

At the archeological complex of Chan Chan you’ll explore the largest pre-Columbian adobe city in pre-Columbian America and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimu kingdom. Archaeologists estimate that it housed more than 100 thousand people in its structure spaces, houses, warehouses, workshops, streets, walls and pyramidal temples. Its enormous walls are profusely decorated with geometric figures, stylized animals and mythological beings.

Trujillo is a lively crossroads of ancient cultures and modern arts. Discover its secrets and have your camera ready to capture some memorable images. Drive south of Trujillo to visit a religious center of the Mochica culture, built in the 5th century. Located on the left bank of the Moche River, near Cerro Blanco, you’ll find the temples, or huacas, of the sun and the moon.

Stop to view the Temple of the Sun, considered the largest adobe structure in the Americas. The stepped pyramid was partly destroyed by looters and flooding that washed away portions of it. Opposite is the Huaca of the Moon, another major part of this Moche urban and ceremonial center which you’ll visit. Between them both is a level area known popularly as the Plain of the Mochicas, where there are traces of ancient dwellings. A tour of Trujillo’s center gives you an opportunity to admire its colonial architecture. See the Plaza de Armas, the cathedral, City Hall and the Libertador Hotel with its stunning façades.

Immerse yourself in this cultural experience as you visit the Moche Valley and learn about the people that inhabited the region. See the amazing Sun and the Moon pyramids, the center of power in the northern coast of Peru during Moche times. Head to the countryside and stop on the road to the Moon and Sun temples where a traditional Moche family welcomes you. They’ll show you their native crops such as corn, chili, caigua and others. They’ll explain their techniques used to grow and yield better crops. Stop at the Huacas (temples) de Moche Museum, built like a pyramid to resemble Moche architecture. The museum combines exhibition rooms with an active investigation center.

Here you can appreciate artifacts and tombs of the Mochica Culture. You’ll find utensils, ceramics and pieces of high artistic value such as a feline cloak decorated with gold and feathers. See the Temple of the Sun, the largest adobe structure in the Americas and the most impressive of the pyramids found along the Peruvian coast. Visit the Temple of the Moon, smaller but equally impressive. The excavations display part of an older complex of interior rooms and inter connected patios that span a period of six centuries. Some of the walls were lavishly decorated with painted friezes. You’ll be impressed when you stand in front of the mud-brick friezes painted in black, bright red, white, and yellow depicting the face of a Moche God.

Tour the city of Trujillo and discover its Colonial heritage. See the Plaza de Armas flanked by magnificent buildings, visit a colonial mansion and learn of the region’s pre-Columbian cultures at the Archaeological Museum.

Visit Trujillo’s downtown and walk along Pizarro’s boulevard with its beautiful colonial mansions and marvel at their well preserved and imposing portals, balconies and churches. See its pleasant and spacious Plaza de Armas, where the main cathedral and City Hall stand. Surrounding the square, you’ll find many colonial mansions, painted in rich colors.

You’ll also visit a colonial mansion featuring furnishings and art that charts the tastes of the Colonial conquerors. At the Archaeological Museum, housed in one of these beautiful mansions, you’ll get insight into the region’s pre-Columbian cultures.