We left Lima on a gruelling overnight bus. My legs are not made for this - even with the semi-cama space. It was 8ish hours to Trujillo, then we tried to get a combi (local bus) to Huanchaco but failed so haggled a taxi instead.

Huanchaco is a sleepy surfing town about 15 minutes outside of busy, dusty Trujillo city. It being the off season for beaches, the town is quiet enough. At night we had trouble finding a place to watch the Copa America. I think we found the only bar showing it.

The first hostel we arrived in had a positive review in Lonely Planet, but was a bit dusty and we werent too sure about the cleanliness of the sheets. We took it for a night at S20, which we thought was okay, considering Loki (the Lima hostel) was S30. Turns out we were being robbed. We moved into a different place the second night for S10 - and this place had a bar, and served food. We're learning to not take Lonely Planet at its word.

Being a surfing town, we had to get surf lessons. This has been about eight years in the making for me, and it was good fun. For S50, we got a 2 hour lesson, most of which was in the water. From talking to other people, it seems to have been a really good lesson too. It was longer, more detailed and less 'hold your hand' than other lessons.

We tried to go back out in the afternoon, but only lasted 30 minutes. Standing up isnt the hard part any more, its the paddling. Surfing is also really sore!

We moved onto Chiclayo after that. In retrospect, we probably could have skipped it. There's not that much going on there, touristy or otherwise, and its not on the beach. We were back at the hostel looking at the TV and iPods for things to do on the second day.

We did bump into some Peace Corp people on the second night, at the rooftop terrace. Some beers and rum later, we were at a club having a good night.

Another slightly uncomfortable 7 hour bus later and we arrived in Mancora, another surf town, not far from the Ecuador border. We tried to stay in Loki (its a chain of hostels), because we knew what to expect, but it was booked up, so we are in Kokopelli Hostel instead, and its probably the best hostel we've stayed in so far.

Three things you notice going northwards. Firstly, its less likely you'll find an English speaking person, which makes for some confusing conversations. Second, the weather is getting better. Lima was permanently overcast, but we've had several days of 25C plus temperatures and some sun. No tan yet though - well, a little farmers one. Thirdly, its highly unlikely your hostel has toilet paper. Ah, how I miss the finer things in life!

For anyone interested in reading Callanan's blog, this is the link http://beta.offexploring.com/lowercase (you'll need to copy and paste).

In a few days, we'll be making our way to our second country. We're not sure what the plan is yet, but we're getting some first hand advice from a Kildare guy and two English people here, so hopefully we'll have a plan soon.