Crossing the border into Peru was easier than I expected. It was literally a case of getting my passport stamped on one side walking across a bridge and getting it stamped on the other side. It was a complete culture shock though. I came from the lovely tranquil village of Vilcabamba in Ecuador which was set in a valley surrounded by mountains and famed for the residents' longevity to a mad city which wouldn't have been out of place in India! Crossing the road involved taking your life in your hands - it was a mass of cars, buses, motorised 3 wheelers and lots of horns! Traffic lights changed from red to green with no time inbetween which was a nightmare! I was planning on staying there the night and then moving on to the next place Trujillo / Huanchaco but I wanted to get out of there pronto! I took a night bus to Trujillo (my first of what looks like many!). We arrived in Trujillo at 5am and were told to wait in the waiting room until it got light. I ended up chatting to a local artist who showed me her work (which was very impressive). She was really lovely and came with me in a taxi to my hostel in Huanchaco to make sure I got there safely. I fell in love with Huanchaco!!! It was such a contrast to Piura - a gorgeous little coastal town which was incredibly laid back and chilled. I tried boogie boarding and then surfing (I'm far from being a natural!). I also had a go in the fishermans' boats made out of reeds and was much better at that! While I was there I visited a couple of nearby pre-Inca sites - Chan Chan and Huaca da la luna y Huaca del sol. Both were really impressive! The locals were lovely. I went to one restaurant which was completely out of the way and the owner was so pleased to have a tourist in his restaurant that he couldn't stop talking (and got out the local beer!)! Then in another off-the-beaten track restaurant a group of the local teenagers invited me to join them for a drink. Following that I was unable to get a combi (taxi-bus) back to town as they were all full and an old couple stopped to give me a lift. It's been a really pleasant surprise to meet such lovely people! Then it was off to Huaraz in the mountains (although I really didn't want to leave and could have stayed in Huanchaco for weeks.........). I went from 0m above sea level to 5000m luckily with no altitude sickness!! The scenery was spectacular - the mountains are amazing (incredibly high - 5000m plus) and the glacier lakes are stunning. I took the opportunity to do some rock climbing while I was there which was slightly more successful than my surfing attempts!!