Hello hello,

We travelled from Lima straight up the coast to Mancora for a bit of R and R. It was a bit bizarre, we were staying in a hostel but it was right on the beach with a huge swimming pool and felt a little like we were on a package holiday in Spain! Weather was boiling hot and so the pool was very welcome. Rhys was also very excited at the prospect of being able to get into the sea and have a surf! I was slightly more nervous at the prospect of having my very first surf lesson. Apart from one incident where i got so over excited at actually surfing and waving at Rhys to take a picture I forgot to get off the board and beached myself, and then fell off into about 3cm of water. It was very embarrassing but luckily I managed to catch the next wave and get off slightly more gracefully so I feel I redeemed myself!! We spent 3 full days there enjoying the sun and not really doing very much, as well as the delicious icy cocktails the hostel bar provided!

From Mancora we went to Chiclayo but only for about 8hours, just to wander around the witches market they had there. It was weird and there were lots of dried, shrivelled things and the majority of things they were selling seemed to be ´natural cures´ for impotence!! We were a little unimpressed.

We then continued south down the coast to Huanchaco a little fishing village famous for its surf and reed boats the fishermen use. We managed to strike a deal and stay in a private room with a sea view in a very nice place for no more than we would have paid in most hostels! Unfortunately the surf wasnt as fantastic as we had hoped but Rhys managed to get in a few times and I had another surf lesson, disappointingly with fewer results than in Mancora! We were also lucky enough to have picked the weekend where a national surf competition was taking place, so we had the pros to show us how it should be done, and it gave the town a lovely buzz. We also got a chance to party with the surfers at the local club with a live reggae band. It was great fun.

We´ve now got a very long journey down to Cusco and start our Inca trail on the 1st of May. We´re both incredibly excited and our next blog will probably be a long one!!!Lots of love to everyone back home as always xxxx