Huanchaco

From Chiclayo we headed south to Huanchaco. This is a place on the coast of Peru good for surfing however because Anthony and I do not surf we spent most days on the at the hostal reading, playing cards and drinking a few beers. This was quite nice we also met a British couple, Vicki and Clyde, who we went to a few bars with to have a couple of drinks. The 1st night we went to a bar and were ushered into a private room with table football and spent a lot of the night improving our skills. The second day was spent chilling and in the evening Clyde introduced us to a crazy British expat who owned a hostal. We had a few drinks while he talked about South America being the final frontier, him living in a bout 20 different countries and other packs of lies but it was fun. The 3rd day we just chilled but on the 4th day we decided to pull our finger out and do something cultural. We booked a day tour to Huaca de Luna and Sol and Chan Chan.

Huaca De Luna was an old Inca temple and was really interesting findng out about the culture. It was the temple of a city of many thounds however now the city is covered in sand and hasn´t ben excavated. Huaca de Luna is the same but still looks good from outside. We went Chan Chan in the afternoon and I didn´t find it as good. It was meant to be an old Inca city but while we were there we saw people with bricks and cement "restoring the site" which was a bit dodgy. In the evening we headed for Huaraz, a trekking town.

Huaraz

After taking an overnight bus we arrived in Huaraz which is over 3000m above sea level. The couple of days are meant for acclimatizing to the altitude so we just watched films in the hostal and chilled. The 2nd day we arranged to do a day trek to Lake 69 in the Cordilla Blanca,mountain range near Huaraz in the Andes. I wish I knew how grewling it was going to be before I signed up. It was 8km to the lake and back howver it was a 1600m rise from 3000m to 4600m and back again. It was definatly worth it because the views were amazing and the lake itself might have been the most naturally beautiful place I have ever been (I will put up the photos at some point). On the way back it was easier downhill but by the time we got back to the bus my physical fitness showed itself and I was hyperventerlating for over 20 mins trying to get oxygen back into my system. I think the physical strain and altitude were a deadly combo to Anthony´s and my health. We went to bed as soon as we got back, took some antibiotics and slept for a long time. The next day was spent nursing our illness but luckily by evening we had recovered and took a night bus to Lima.