The north coast

I left Lima on Monday night to explore some of Peru´s north coast before crossing the border to Ecuador, which I expect to do at the beginning of next week. I´m currently in Máncora near the border, and earlier in the week I spent a few days in Trujillo, Peru´s third largest city. The north coast of Peru has been largely undiscovered by tourists, which makes it a nice break from the well carved Lima to Cusco gringo trail. Life is more laid back here.

Trujillo is about halfway from Lima to Ecuador, situated in the coastal desert. It´s not until you step off the nightbus into Trujillo´s surroundings that you really believe it´s situated in desert. The city is flanked on one side by the Pacific ocean, and on the other by huge sand dunes rearing up to the Andean foothills. It´s quite a sight. The area receives just 6mm of rain per year, unless it´s an El Niño year, where it receives rather more. The impact of El Niño on the area is incredible - every few years when it hits, bridges in the area are washed away and many towns on the North Coast are partially destroyed.

Trujillo is situated near the ancient Chimu city of Chan Chan, the biggest pre Columbian city in the Americas. I stayed at a guesthouse run by a lovely Peruvian lady and her English husband, who provide excellent tours of Chan Chan and the nearby Pyramid of the Moon, a Moche monument. Here are some photos.













On Thursday night I took a bus to Máncora and arrived here yesterday morning. It is permanently sunny here at this time of the year, indeed most of the year, being so close to the Equator, and is a popular holiday resort for Peruvians. Yesterday evening those of us staying at my hostel went out for some food and drinks, which was good fun. All the food here is fresh, probably pulled out of the ocean only a few hours before.





I am going to stay here for another couple of days, making the most of being near the beach, before heading to Ecuador for more trekking (and volunteering if I can find it) in a few days. Thanks to all of you for your emails and blog comments; it´s really great to hear from you.