Day 12

Bus to trojillo was a bit of a nightmare, if only I'd been sleeping. People getting on and off all night and incredibly painful sun burn on my legs. But we arrived early morning and headed to the beach resort of Huanchaco, of course it's winter here and being a couple of hundred miles down the coast it was really cold!

Day 13

Trujillo is a fairly large town with several important archeological sites in it's area. We started the day with a trip to Chan Chan, a mud city dating from just before the Inca conquests of the 14th Century. It's a vast site, we started at the museum near by and were over run with school children, the museum was small but interesting and gave details of the society that lived in Chan Chan. They were mainly fishers, farmers and textile workers but had a very strong despotic system of government.

We headed into the city itself, an 2,000 hectare site of which around 1% has been fully excavated. We went to one of the palaces, there are 9 in total each from one of the governors of the city; a new palace would be built as an administrative centre after the death of the previous governor, his palace being used as a mortuary for him and his court. Of course on the death of the governor all of his administration and close family would also be killed and buried with him to continue their work in the afterlife.

It was fascinating to walk around with the guide and the sheer scale of the place was incredible. However it had been very heavily reconstructed and lacked a great deal of integrity; it certainly wasn't clear what was new and what was old.

We went from the museum to the town had lunch at a crazy Italian restaurant and then had a look around the main square and the supermarket. Back at the hostel we had a walk along the sea front, they have some amazing canoe type boats made from reeds that date back to the time of Chan Chan. Supper of take away pizza and then an early night.

Day 14

We headed out to the Huacca del Luna, so called temple of the moon by those who discovered it and it's counterpart the temple of the sun. It is now understood that there is no such Luna connection but those who discovered it assumed there was after experience in Central America. This civilization predates Chan Chan and there is evidence that the people of Chan Chan paid homage here.

Once again it was a mud brick construction and actually represented 5 temples one on top of another, one for each priest to serve there. We had a great guide who had only been speaking English for 5 months but was almost fluent. The top temple had almost all been destroyed by the Spanish, however the rest had been preserved under sand until very recently. Because of this there are amazing paintings where you can see original colours.

The guide stressed that there had been no reconstruction and that it was entirely original. The focus was human sacrifice, with cells or defeated soldiers, altars and a great courtyard, see photographs. The other temples has not yet been excavated but they are in the process of excavating the town that lies between the two temples, money is an issue and it could take some time before the other temple is revealed. The current theory suggests that while the Luna temple was for spiritual purposes the other may be for administration.

We finally got an authentic Peruvian lunch for 5/S(3/S = 1$US), chicken soup followed by meat with rice and Chicha, a fermented corn drink. In the afternoon we went to the Drangon temple, a contemporary of Chan Chan it has once again been restored enthusiastically if not with historic integrity.

Night bus again to Lima, it looked like business class on the Iberia plane I took, we had to check in bags and give a finger print as we got on the bus! Seat reclined near horizontal and we even got snacks. The bus was a double decker and didn't stop until we arrive in Lima.

Day 15

Arrive early in Lima and went to see the erotic pottery at the museo del Larco, this was a bit of effort as not taxi driver seemed to know where they were going and I had to direct them in Spanish! If you're ever in Lima don't bother going as it's overpriced and small. We had lunch in the Minaflores, a great area reminiscent of Convent Garden mixed with High Street Ken, followed by Starbucks with Laurna. We had dinner at Vanessa's, it was amazing, she has never invited a group to her house before and we got to meet her mum and grand parents.

Day 16

Tour of the city with Julio, the cathedral was a little OTT but had some interesting altars, art work and artifacts. On to a Monestry with the scariest catacombs ever, around 30,000 people were buried their, the monk would use quick lime to dissolve the flesh leaving the bones and more space to put bodies. The bones are all on display.

On to Hotel Bolivar for a famous Pisco Sour, then across town to a shopping centre built on the cliff, great views and quick Chinese food, desperately trying to get a pair of trainers as Lima is really cold and my boots are a little bulky! Weather is really odd, Lima has perma cloud for 8 months then 4 months of unbroken blue skies, had to wear coats while we were there. Went back to hostel and decided to have a wander myself, ended up buying a $2 pair of pumps and having a $4 hair cut! I was very proud of my Spanish!

At dinner we met the new folk who will be joining the rest of the group up to at least Santiago , Laura and Chris recently married from the south, Catherine and Connor from Dublin, Ian and Issey from Bath and Oliva from Oz. The first dinner with more food than I could eat, huge pile of rice. The back to the hostel for a couple of bottles of wine before heading to Lima's gay hot spot, bit of a baptism by fire for the new people but it was actually very funny. All the guys had a bet to see who got hit on the most, was narrowly beaten by Manuel who got a phone number- much to Julio's bemusement! Got to know the new group a bit better and concluded they are as much fun as the old group, although Launa still managed to be the most drunk!

Day 17

Morning just chilling out - read recovering- then on to a bus for Paracas, a seaside town near Pisco. Arrive late just in time for dinner.

Day 18

Early start to go to the Bacilla (sp?) Islands, the Peruvian Galapagos, nice boat ride to see a mini Nasca Line called the Candelabra then onto the Islands that used to be one of the biggest sources of Guan in the world. Lots of Birds, Penguins, Sena Lions and Seal. We were even lucky enough to see Dolphins off the jetty of the hotel!

Back onto a bus then onto bus to a Winery, they make a strange sweet wine and something called Pisco, it's a spirit at 43% and tastes awful unless you mix with sugar and lemon to make a Pisco Sour. A bottle in tow we headed for the Huacachina Oasis. Out of nowhere sand dunes appeared all around we arrived at a literal oasis in a desert. A light lunch was followed by a ride on sand buggies, it was literally like riding a rollercoaster but with the ability to go in any direction; highlight of the trip! We stopped a few times to have a go at Sand Boarding, so much fun, like sledging/snowboarding but in really hot sun!

Finally Arrive late night in the town of Nazca, as in Nazca lines, a little strange, our hotel had a swimming pool but the locals only get one hours water a day. Then again 60% of the population rely on tourism for an income. Dinner was traditional Peruvian pot roast cooked underground, really good loads of meat and even nice veggies!

Day 19

Very early start to go to the Cemetry of a Pre Inca civilization, only me Katie and Richard made it but it was really worth it. The temperature in the desert had preserved a lot of the mummies and although grave robbers messed up most of the area it was fascinating to hear about the civilization. Then an amazing flight over the Nazca lines, the lines themselves aren't that impressive, but in a 5 person plane sitting next to the pilot anything would have looked interesting. Gave up on taking photo because I couldn't see but realized that the one's I had taken had come out rather well, gutted.

Lunch and shopping before a swim in the coldest pool ever, well compared with the temperature outside the pool. On the up side it did wonders to help the skin peel off my legs, they looked almost normal under the dead skin. Played monopoly in Spanish, it cost 7/s and we had to cut out our own money!

That night another night bus to Areqipa, the second biggest city in Peru with a little over 1 million people.

Day 20: Arrive in Areuipa, Mummy of Juanita and giant convent.

Day 21: Bus to Colca Canyon, Crazy Guide, amazing scenery, Lamas, Alpaca and altitude between 3600m and 4900m!

Day 22: Very Early Start, lots of Condors, Walking and hot springs. Alpaca for lunch!

Day 23: Bus back to Arequipa chilled afternoon?. Writing my blog!

Still to come: early flight to Cuzco tomorrow (6am!!), onto Ollyantotambo then the Inca Trail!!!