Update from heaven...only I am still alive

November 16, 2007
Trujillo to Pariacoto: We left the wonderful home of Carla after a a perfect breakfast of fresh rolls with butter and jam, and some hot coffee. After two kisses on the cheek from Carla herself, and a few pictures out in front of the house, we took off to the Mocha tribe´s Hucas del Sol y Luna; two pyramids separating a community from 300 to 900 AD, before it separated into the Chan Chan community. Later, the Chan Chan community, outside of present day Trujillo, had been taken over by the Incan tribes, which were then taken over by the Spaniards in the 1500´s.
Only the Hucas de la Luna Pyramid was open to the public, and Landon and I went on the formal tour. It was named the Pyramid of the Moon because the mountain that sits adjoining to the pyramid, or rather temple, would shine white in the moon´s glow. This pyramid was home to the priests and preistas of the ancient period, who would worship a God, made up of the land, ocean, sun, and moon. In times of which they though their God was angry with them, whether because of El Nino or earthquakes, they would viciously sacrifice humans and feed off of the blood spilt from the necks of the dead. The violent temple can be seen today with the bones of the sacrificed peeking out of the sand.
Over one thousand years has passed since the pyramid had been evacuated for the Chan Chan community, and besides the Spaniards raiding the tombs for metals, the entire pyramid, up until 1991 when the project began, was completely covered in desert sand, blown in from the Pacific.
The pyramid was built in five levels, raising over 45 meters. Prisoners would be taken to the internal quarters of the temple, where only the priests and priestas were allowed. The priesta would come forth to the naked and tied prisoner with a golden dagger in hand, slicing through the jugulars and quickly lowering the goblet in order to collect the blood. All while the prisoners next in line watched the bloody sacrifice from their knees.
After our tour, we did not have much of an appetite for lunch, so we decided to jump on our bikes and start down the road. We made it all the way into Casma, where I convinced the two men I am riding with to head up into the mountains, instead of continuing down the path of the dry and cool desert. We had been warned about this road, that it was not all paved and that it would be dangerous and take a long time to get only 100 kilometers...it sounded perfect to me. After all, we are adventure riders. So we decided to head up into the mountains and finish off the day in Pariacoto, just where the tarmac turns into the hellish gravel that we would soon come to see the very next day.