Huacas del Sol y de la Luna

A very interesting site I visited was the sun and moon temples. There are two temples situated opposite each other at the base of a mountain. The Huaca del Sol was dedicated to politics, whilst the other was for religion, Huaca del Luna. At the time of my visit, the Huaca del Sol was still being excavated, but we were shown round the Huaca del Luna, which was quite something.

Built by the Moche people, a civilisation that came before the Inca's, they believed that the God's would keep them safe. High priests were the most powerful in society and were trusted to appease the God's through ritual sacrifice. 

These sacrifices were performed in the temple at the base of the mountain. Before death multiple individuals were kept naked, in a small pen at tortured. This picture to the left is of the pen they were kept in.
One at a time, they were then taken to an altar were they were cut in such a way that would force all their blood down the remainder of the mountain to be collected in a cup at the bottom.

The cup of blood was the offering.


The way that the temple had been excavated was amazing. You could picture the ceremonies walking around. And the colours (red, white, black, blue, and yellow) were produced purely through minerals and have managed to last 1,500 years.

The architecture itself was impressive also. The temples were made from putting large boulders on top of other large boulders. Each layer being done once the one before it was complete. Technically it shouldn't have been strong enough to withstand anything but it did! 

Though I was very aware of how old the temple was when walking across the infrastructure that could potentially collapse at any moment... Walked across that bit pretty quick.

When natural disasters began to occur more often-floods and earthquakes- people began to question the abilities of the priests. 

It seemed they could not pacify the God's anymore. The faith in the high priests was lost, and with it all of their political power. They, and their temple's were abandoned and the people moved on to the Huaca del Sol where they began a new society based on agriculture and trade. 

 I've always found ancient civilisation fascinating, the beliefs in God's and such. However, until that visit when talking about it afterwards it occurred to me that I'd always assumed those beliefs were held by everyone of the time, but what it they weren't? There must have been people that were sacrificed against their will, and what for? Because some powerful figures claimed that's the way it had to be in order to keep their loved ones safe... That sounds worryingly familiar.

I guess being Western, I am conditioned to believe that things that aren't based on fact are whimsical and self indulgent. People's everyday lives that truly depended on the God's being pacified were simply misguided, they hadn't found science yet. If they had, they would be doing crazy things like torturing people to prevent punishment...but then people are still being sacrificed for religion now.

People are still being told there is a need for fear and blood and pain to ensure safety in some societies. Religion and politics still hold hands even now, so really how much have we evolved in 1,500 years?

At least back then the sacrifices were a lot more up front and people generally knew what they were dying for. As a race, are humans conditioned to be this bloodthirsty and power hungry?

I don't class myself as a religious person but not because I have anything against religion, I've just never felt strongly enough about any of the choices on offer. I wasn't born into it and haven't yet felt there was anything I wanted to devote myself to in that way. But I wouldn't call myself an atheist either, because I consider that to also be a choice. 

Once you take a stand, you're effectively saying that everyone that doesn't agree with you in wrong which is what I find dangerous about religion. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but it's a shame that some feel those beliefs are worth dying, or killing for.

'thou shalt not steal! thou shall not kill!- these words were once held to be holy. But I ask you: has the world ever seen better thieves and killers than these holy words?'- Nietzsche

Teaching the girls how to dutty wine...

Taking it to the cluuuub

Boppin' in the wetsuit

Trujillo plaza

I have been shamefully awful at updating my travels, I know, but its mostly due to not having done much travelling yet. I've been chilling for a month in Trujillo, sunning myself at Huanchaco beach and generally getting used to Peruvian life.


















I didn't think it was worth just posting 'what I've done today' because that's sure to get very boring very fast....

muy populaire en Peru

However, I now have an 'event' to document... After being up all night due to a very painful tooth, I went to a private dentist who informed me I have an infected wisdom tooth which has to be taken out immediately...but not before taking a weeks worth of antibiotics...the first 3 days of these being administered via culo injections-yummy!

Not exactly what I wanted to hear with the backpacking expedition beginning the next day BUT them's the breaks. Four injections down, and today was the first Peruvian bus journey solo-seven hours on my own with minimal Spanish. Frightening? Maybe a little, but the seats reclined, I had the whole road to look at during my journey. Bonobo for the blog writing and Kendrick for the night cruise, life ain't too bad.















Now I'm in Piura, I feel like I'm in South America. It is HOT and pretty grimy, don't think I'd wanna stay here more than a night. The room I have is a double, though I'm paying for a single which is alright, but 25 dollars for a 2* is five times the price of what you'd normally want to pay. That being said, it was the only name I could remember so I'm relieved I've found somewhere with a room and cable, after a solo convo my cabbie, and am not wondering the streets with two backpacks.




It is a big change from Trujillo, which is one of the biggest cities in Peru and you can tell. Economically it's grown hugely over that past five years which is reflected in how beautiful it is in general. I was staying in a good neighbourhood surrounded and parsk and such which I think was quite a nice way to ease in. It all felt pretty Westernised, and familiar. Nearby was a famous surfers beach called Huanchaco - like, totally awesome dude.

As well as the beaches, there are the most sand mountains nearby where sandboarding is popular. I tried it during an intense hangover - intense. The view is amazing, sand gets everywhere, and the exercise is next to none! Definitely a to-do. I managed to do it standing twice but then resorted to sitting-much less painful when you fall off. It's incredible how low the clouds are here compared to the mountains, you can see a base of cloud at the bottom of most of them.

Wiping out pon de board

Started on my feet I promise!

Near to where I was staying, there was also a botanical garden which was beautiful. Vibrant flower, healing herbs, and animals all over the place. Very pretty, and free!

The weather resembled England on a good day when I got here, and has been steadily improving. It's technically spring here but summer is approaching! It's now 20 degrees...almost all the time! Which is a relief as I packed mainly summer clothing. Though in Vilcabamba I think its a bit wetter and colder...we shall see!

So, first leg of my travelling journey complete. Tomorrow I cross the Peruvian border into Ecuador where I will be volunteering at an Eco Lodge in Vilcambamba, known for having an extensive 'more elderly than normal' community. After a short look online I have found an awesome hostel with a swimming pool and rooms looking over the mountains. Spa treatments that are cheap as chips and highly reviewed restaurants-know what I'm doing on my birthday! The only thing left to ASSes is whether I'll be able to stab myself in the culo before I get my coach at 9am tomorrow morning....

Goodbye Trujillo, you've been good to me! 

First week (or so) in Trujillo

This morning is the first that I've felt mildly able to account for my time thus far. Having landed and settled in with my Peruvian family I've been frantically trying to learn Spanish as quickly as humanly possible whilst also finishing my online TEFL course and do my Open Uni readings... I do like to give myself a challenge!

But now the TEFL is completed and I can report on the adventure. My Peruvian host family is awesome, really chilled out and helpful. My atrocious Spanglish and their basic English has meant communication is based on body language and guess work which is refreshing and rewarding when you both finally understand the most simplest of sentences together. They've said they're impressed at how quickly I'm learning though so that's encouraging. I've also changed all my internet browsers and my phone into Spanish...which seemed like a brilliant idea at the time but is proving confusing...

Other English speakers here are my American doctor buddies who are on the medical program and...considering I've only been here 10 days, I have laughed far more than expected. We went out to AMA which is THE club in Trujillo, on Halloween, and wow. I thought I should be conservative-ish - pfft. I should know by now that ravers are ravers everywhere, my outfit was 'jazzed up' (or down...whatever) immediately and the club was hilarious. Think old school R&B (Donnell Jones was dropped) mixed with Peruvian dancehall. Amazing. Definitely going back tonight.

So that was Thursday. On Friday we went to the famous Huanchaco beach twenty minutes away for sunbathing and surf lessons. Now, I'm not sure how I thought surfing worked...but doing the plank whilst balancing on a wave and then jumping up in two separate moves and proceeding to balance for more than 0.2 seconds was ambitious. Nevertheless, I tried it! And the wetsuit wasn't quite as unflattering as it could have been so that was a bonus. 

More soon xxx

Fun in the Clouds

HOLA!!!

Ok, so quick entry as I'm about to go and have my first surfing lesson at Huanchaco beach. For those that do not know, this is not only hilarious because...well, me on a surfing board...but also, if I cannot master the balance of a bike on solid ground, I have minimal hope for a board on water.

So far....I would not advise anyone to fly with AirEuropa - both my flights were delayed by 2 hours with no warning/explanation. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but when it turns a 28 hour journey into a 32 hour one...it makes all the difference. Though in all fairness I did get these bad boys...

You know what, that's all I have to offer right now as I have surfing and salsa'ing to do.... More soon! xx

Boy/Girl Friendships: Platonic or Fake?

This is a weird subject because I have many guy friends who I love in a non sexual way, most of them made when I was younger, but as I've grown older I've started to wonder whether friendships made now can ever be fully platonic. Obviously there's people I've met and thought, you're interesting I'd like to spend more time with you, and as a singleton its sometimes difficult to differentiate whether that immediate attraction is platonic or not. How easy is it to just be friends with someone that you have a connection with?

That's not to say that I don't think guys and gals can't be just friends but I'm starting to think that the best opposite sex friendships come from one of the party being unavailable; normally due to already being in a relationship. If I meet a guy and I know he has a girlfriend, all x-rated wonderings are immediately put aside because he's taken. And oh look, there's his girlfriend...who turns out to be lovely! What a good couple they are. Good, now that's out of the way I can carry on talking about music/torrenting/superhero movies to my hearts content without having to be charming in any way.

Now, duplicate said situation. There I am having a nice talk to an interesting guy when somehow it comes up that we're both single. Suddenly there's pressure on the situation. Do I now have lipstick on my teeth? I sneezed about four hours ago, I hope some residue hasn't hardened into some resemblance of a polo. Uh oh, pause in the conversation...I've completely forgotten what we were talking about as I was trying to subtly polish my teeth with my tongue. That's before even deciding whether I fancy him.

On the occasions when I don't stumble into freak mode, I genuinely don't realise anything 'sexy' is happening until there's an arm around me or the lean in is already in full swing. That's distressing in itself because what do you do then? It's easy to blow off a stranger but if its someone you enjoy hanging out with, who knows your single, and you don't want to rock that boat...sometimes its easier to just go along with it. Although, in hindsight that never works either. Once someone's seen you naked, the friendship has changed. It has morphed into something very different. Now if you text saying, 'fancy chilling later I'm bored' its read: 'Booty call'. Once clothes hit the floor, nothing is sacred. In my experience it will rarely return to normality, and on the off-chance it does it's because your friendship was rock hard at the beginning, or at least one of you has now found themselves a new relationship.

I was talking to a friend recently who has been living in denial at the sheer amount of people trying to get in her pants for a while. Having been in a relationship when the friendships started, and then carrying them on after a split it's only now that the come-ons are relentless that she has admitted their intentions may be less than honourable. So now she has to decide whether these guys are friends with her based on her personality or on the fact that they wanted to shag her. If it's the latter, hello fakery.

And then there's the 'friends with benefits' situations, which can genuinely work...if it's a new friend and all the cards are laid on the table...and you stop soon as it gets too emosh. It seems to get messy when solid friends start fooling around. If its a case of 'last ones at the party...might as well'...that's going to be uncomfortable in the morning. If it's mainly instigated by one person, let the power struggle begin.

It's just such a hard line to draw back after its been blurred. Even if you've accidentally thought of a friend naked, in a dream or a state of loved up festival vibes, that could take a while to shake off. But ultimately friends are people we've chosen to represent us to the world. The qualities you admire in them are things that you also see in yourself, and that's attractive. So I guess its not the maddest thing in the world to consider now and again whether the grass is greener on the other side... 

What I wonder is whether all friendships have an underlying attraction and if they do; I hope new friends aren't made solely to be considered a future bang you've already put in work with, because that would be a bit sad.