Salaverry is a northern port in Peru near the city of Trujillo. Our tour took us on a short drive through Trujillo to the Dragon Temple, a pyramid surrounded by a high wall. Our guide, Elver was quite informative, as we walked around the pyramid and then climbed the ramp to its flat top.
Then we drove on north to Chan Chan, a nine square mile walled city built of mud bricks, and about 1000 years old. The place was quite a labyrinth. The walls, some as high as 30 feet, are original, but 85% of the decoration has been restored.
On the drive back through Trujillo I observed the irony that the modern construction wasn’t much different than the ancient. It is a city of many walls, but few roofs. Most walls are left with rebar sticking from the top, so that another story can be added later. But a large percentage of the walls seemed to enclose nothing, much as in Chan Chan.
