Before the Incas...

...There was the Moches (amongst other cultures). Who knew, right? The Incas are such the superstars of the pre-colombian period that I must admit I never really thought about what came before them... Anyway, there´s a little town called Trujillo in Northern Peru that used to be a BIG town back in the, pre-inca, Moche days.

Trujillo now:

 And Trujillo then, when it was called Chan Chan (Unesco world heritage site BTW):

Or rather, what´s left of it... The city was built with adobe bricks and hasn´t stood up very well to time, the elements, and the conquistador´s determination to wipe out native cultures (the locals say they diverted a river to wipe out one of the two main temples...), however what remains is still impressive.

Super cool sculptures all around:

Their main God, the great decapitator. A fair amount of human sacrifices went down, decapitation being the technique of choice:

 It kinda feels like that desert planet in the first Star Wars...

 Complete with alien-looking animals. Like this dog:

and this one:

Back to the (other) hairless dog though... This breed actually goes back to pre-inca times...

Weird, huh?

Last but not least, it´s right by the Pacific ocean with the most perfect sunsets