This morning we have a bit of a sleep in, and then we head into town for an early lunch. Once again I get a Lomo Saltado, but this one is not very nice. After our early lunch we walk around the town. Huanchaco is a small town about the size of Greymouth, it is on the beach front and is a nice place. It seems like a very popular place for surfers as there are a few out on the water and there are a few surf shops and surf lesson companies on the main street. Our walk includes heading down the back streets, the main streets and onto the pier. Also on the beach are reed boats which you can hire and take out to the sea. The water actually looks quite dirty so we decide not to swim, we will save the swim until our next sea side town, Mancora, which we will be visiting in a couple of days. During early afternoon we decide to go to some ruins called Chan Chan which is about 15 minutes out of town. On our way to the bus stop, we run into the Swiss couple who we met a few weeks ago in Bolivia. We stop and talk to them for half an hour and then catch the bus to Chan Chan. This bus is a local bus which runs between Huanchaco and Trujillo, a large city about 20 minutes inland from Huanchaco. Buses run very frequently (probably once every five minutes, maybe even more frequent than that) and they are usually full. Our bus was full of local school children, so we had to stand. One of the young school girls stood up and offered me her seat when I got on the bus, but I declined and told her to keep her seat. It was very nice of her though. We then got off the bus at Chan Chan and walk the 1 kilometre to the ruins. We did our own tour here and we were here for about an hour looking at the city, which was once the capital of Peru and home to about 300,000 people. After this we head back to Huanchaco, buy a couple of beers and head up to the roof of our hostel and enjoyed some beers while we played cards for a couple of hours. This was fantastic as it was a beautiful day with the temperature probably hitting high 20’s. When the sun went down we walked back into town for dinner and then went back to the hostel.
And there it is, the referee blows half time on South
America. End of Day 51 signals half way
through the trip. Here’s a summary of
some highlights of the trip so far.
Highlight: Without doubt the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu,
had a fantastic time with amazing scenery and the ruins at Machu Picchu and
sites throughout the Inca Trail were amazing!
Lowlight: Being sick for about 10 days. I still continued on and done everything,
however it was at a slower pace. Thank
you doctor in Cusco, Peru for making me fit and in tip top condition for the
Inca Trail!
Favourite place: Apart from Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, I
would say Mendoza, Argentina. Reminded
me of Christchurch. Definitely looking
forward to heading back to Argentina in a month or so. Huacachina, Peru (sandboarding and Dune
Buggying) was a very close second. In
saying this, I have enjoyed most places we have been to, just a few stand out
more than the rest.
Least favourite place: Valparaiso, Chile. Even though it is listed as a world heritage
place by UNISEC, I didn’t feel the vibe in this place and was happy to leave.
Cheapest country: By far – Bolivia
Most expensive country: By far – Chile
Favourite food: Apart from the Argentinean steak (because that would be too predictable) Lomo Saltado has been my favourite – Peruvian dish with Lamb and
a whole heap of other goodness – here’s a link to a recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/peruvian-lomo-saltado/
Least favourite food: whatever made me sick for 10 days.
If you have any other questions about favourites
or least favourites, ask me and I will add it to the blog. Definitely open for more suggestions.
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