Mar 13, 2013 - My Last and Final Day in Per

Hello everyone this is my last posting from Peru. I am now in the city Ica where they are known for producing excellent wines,liquor and food. One of the liquors is called Cachina. It is prepared from fermented grapes and it is a very popular drink with the locals. Ica's well known dishes are made from pallares or lima beans. They offer a delicious dessert called frijol colado. It is made from black beans, milk, sugar and sesame bean. Every year in March Ica has a harvesting festival for picking fruits to make wine. It is an endless party...

Mar 12, 2013 - My Fourth Day in Peru

Hello everyone. I just arrived in Trujillo, Peru. Trujillo is the home of the Chimú civilization. It is located in on the west coast of Peru, along the Pacific Ocean. I am on my way to the Temple of the Sun. It is one of the largest pyramids in Peru. The Temple of the Sun is where the Incas sacrificed llamas and prayed to God for the sun to shine on their plants. The Temple of the Sun was highly protected and only priests or Incas could enter. The other people had their ceremonies in public places like Machu Pichu or Cuzco. It has been...

Dec 6, 2012 - Région de Trujillo

Nous faisons maintenant une escale sur la côte péruvienne dans la région de Trujillo. Trujillo a une jolie architecture coloniale et toute la côte est très désertique. Nous avons trouvé un sympathique camping à Huanchaco un petit village au bord de l'océan à côté de Trujillo. Nous pensions y rester quelques jours, nous baigner et nous reposer. Mais malheureusement, l'eau était beaucoup trop froide. Juste quelques surfeurs se mettaient à l'eau mais en combinaison complète. Nous nous sommes par contre régalés en mangeant du poisson et des...

Oct 27, 2012 - Desert, Dust and Ruins

Only 275 km to drive today - though 25 was on dirt roads and 11km of it was really awful (but good fun when you have got to the end) Time for three archeological sites and museums at two of them. First stop was the best museum. At El Brujo (dirt road access through sugar cane plantations) the body of a priestess from AD300 was discovered in 2005 together with artefacts in phenomenal condition. On the adjacent site - not yet excavated - they have found items from 2000-3000 BC including woven cloth, wooden objects and decorated gourds. The...

Jun 13, 2012 - Huanacho, water, Canning & three events

Huanacho is a small seaside town on the outskirts of a large unattractive city. Our camp site was within the grounds of a hotel and quite a few, in fact most of the group elected to upgrade - for once I decided to camp and it was really once on grass with a toilet and shower available. We are very near the beach and the water looked swimmable but mostly it is a surfing area so didn't go in. Visited two Inca areas - Huaca del Sol and Chan Chan ruins - very hot wandering around and we had the most boring guide ever - mostly because we...

Jun 1, 2012 - Bienvenidos a la casa de ciclistas!

Nach all dem Vorbereitungsstress und den gesundheitlichen Problemen, welche nun zum Glück überstanden sind, war es wunderbar um halb acht Uhr morgens im Flieger zu sitzen und nichts mehr machen zu müssen (oder zu können). Bis dahin hatte alles gut geklappt inklusive rechtzeitig aufzustehen (viertel vor vier) und der Aufgabe des Gepäcks (Fahrrad und das Packet mit den Fahrradtaschen). Vielen Dank nochmals an meinen Vater für die ganze Unterstützung und die Unterbringung bei sich in den letzten 10 Tagen! Die Reise ging nun zuerst nach Madrid...

May 28, 2012 - Off The Beaten Track In Trujillo

North American airlines could learn a few things from their Peruvian counter-parts. We've had 4 internal flights and each one has been right on time! We flew from Arequipa to Lima, had a short stop over and then flew on to Trujillo which is located near the ocean in Northern Peru. No more altitude insomnia issues! We've been here for 3 days and have really enjoyed the experience! The city itself isn't very pretty but the main plaza is gorgeous with brightly painted colonial buildings and a Cathedral surrounding the large square. It is nice...

Sep 20, 2011 - Miles upon piles of desert, then rice paddies and cities in the middle of now where.

Trujillo 20/09/11 Miles upon piles of desert, then rice paddies and cities in the middle of now where. On the trip from Mancora we passed yet more endless miles of desert, oil pumps scattered across the hills and every so often towns, rice paddies, sugar cane plantations and chicken sheds by the sea. We arrived in the middle of the colonial city. The old town houses weren’t as noticeable as in Antigua, but the churches were pretty spectacular. It had a nice feel to town and safe, but not a great deal to do. The only interesting thing was an...

Jun 19, 2011 - Last day of the trip - Lima

Last day of the trip today. Very sad, although I am looking forward to chocolate cereal, full English breakfast, marmite and crumpets, Linda McCartney veggie sausages and a good wash. In addition, I would like to go home to a dressing gown, slippers, log fire and Christmas television...but its not winter :( In the morning, I went to look around the very pretty San Francisco Monastery and its not so pretty catacombs. I saw more bones than I have at any other point on the trip, which was nice. After this, I went souvenir shopping at an Inca...

Jun 17, 2011 - Getting out of Trujillo - Chan Chan and Huanchaco

Soon after arriving in Trujillo, I realised I had to get out of the city ASAP. Together with Charles, Michael, Neil, Scott and Brendon, I went to the nearby archaeological site of Chan Chan. I'd visited so many Inca and pre-Inca sites by this point, that my memories of them were starting to mesh together. However, Chan Chan stood out. It was the only archaeological site I'd visited which still had its original paintwork. Very impressive. Actually, I just remembered, the paintwork wasn't at Chan Chan, it was at the Temple of the Moon (the...

Jun 17, 2011 - Trujillo - most certainly not a 'pretty, seaside resort'.

So about a week ago, I decided that I would spend my final few days in Peru in what Edgar described to me as 'the pretty, seaside resort of Trujillo'. I was very excited. However, this excitement soon turned to dread. My first inkling that something was amiss with Edgar's description of Trujillo was when a Peruvian lady I met at the airport nearly fainted when I told her where I was heading. She was particularly shocked that I was heading there by myself and insisted on pre-booking me a driver and a hotel. My second inkling that...

Mar 2, 2011 - Chan Chan

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 Discovery docked at Salaverry, Peru, where our bus took us to th province of Trujillo and Chan Chan the ancient site of the world’s largest city made entirely of adobe. It consists of seven citadels and covers 11 sq. miles. We would be seeing only the one that is in the process of restoration; others will be restored as funds become available. Rocio and Johan were our guides and gave us some background information on our drive, also the economy of Trujillo. Agriculture is the principal industry and besides raising the...