The Peruvian north coast occupied my time for only a short period, as I was much more excited to head east toward the Jungle and consequently hopped through the large towns en route. This is probably going to be quite an uninteresting entry, but ill write it anyway just because.

So I got to Trujillo at 830am, incredibly worn down but keen to get to the Chan Chan ruins, just out of town. Chan Chan was the largest pre Columbian city in South America, built in AD 850 by the Chimor people and is now an archaelogical site, with remains of what was once a huge city. The ruins are quite fascinating, the size of the site gives you an idea of just how big the city must have been. There is a cemetary, numerous plazas, passageways, temples, residences etc. The whole site is made of adobe brick, with huge walls, some decorated with various carvings, it is quite a strange place, but ultra cool all the same. I stopped in many places for a few photos but soon found myself on the receiving end of a endless amounts of photos, being bombarded by Peruvian families and their children, who seemed to thinnk I was part of the ruins. Each family would line up and one by one, take a photo with me, I was laughing so much and had no idea what was happening, I should have started charging! I guess a really tall person with a beard is not something you see every day here. Chan Chan is also a good spot to see the famous Peruvian hairless dogs, probably the ugliest dog you have ever seen, but unique to the area none the less.

Walking along the long road back to Trujillo, I made friends with a Mother and Son, and together we visited the Chan Chan museum, before taking a short bus ride to Huanchaco - a small beach town with hundreds of beachgoers, fishermen and men riding caballitos - small boats made from a reed, and ridden like a horse (caballo). I took a quick dip with the son (water was cold), trying to coax him into the water, he couldn't swim. We ate an interesting spaghetti meal for lunch together in the market before heading off to the pier for some fishing. We managed to find a space along the crammed pier and the little boy was a bit of a gem when it came to fishing, bringing in a few "Borrachos" (ugly looking fish) up to the pier on his small, handmade "rod" (line wrapped around a piece of wood). I didnt want to take all the credit for actually hooking the fish in the first place, so just stood back and let him and his mother enjoy the moment. I had a brief moment back in Trujillo to catch a bite to eat and check out the main plaza before heading north to Chiclayo: another large city near the coast.

Battling through crowded Chiclayo, looking for a reasonably priced hostel was surpisingly difficult. In the end I settled for something a little more expensive than normal, but carrying around 2 bags and a guitar through the city at night was crazy. The next day was the ultra secretive Sipan museum (no cameras allowed), located in a nearby town. It was huge! and very well layed out. It seemed to revolve around the civilization between 100-500 AD, and the story of Senor de Sipan, who was buried in a tomb along with a few llamas, children and artefacts. Pretty creepy. I ate lunch in a nearby cafe. The funny thing about most of South America is that unlike many other places, the restaurants will run out of various meals if you do not get in early. I had fallen victim to this previously, but none more harshly than that day where the waitress would return regularly telling me they did not have whatever it was I wanted. I just laughed, it was pretty funny. I spent some more time in Chiclayo city, basically killing time before taking a bus to Chachapoyas at 9pm that night. I was super keen to get there and off the beaten path!