Hotel Casa de la Luna Chiclayo

... pair! Either Al and I are babyfaced or clearly look so un-professional.<br><br>We have a quick stop in Piura to change buses and then head to Chiclayo.<br><br>We have an interesting time at the bank when we are trying to take out money to pay for up and coming Machu Picchu tour. I spot a HSBC bank, and as Al and I both bank with them we head in. We produce our debit cards and passports and ask for some money...simple we think. Ah no...it seems you ...

... has not helped.<br><br>We eventually managed to escape the horrors of Chiclayo (it's a dreadful, dirty and unpleasant city) for an afternoon at a nearby beach resort. It was good to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city but as beach resorts go I was not impressed. Still, we relaxed over some drinks (just Coke for me, being on anti-biotics) and had some nice food.<br><br>After further faff the following day in which I bought a new (and rubbish) camera I ...

<br><br> We got up the next morning here in Chiclayo and Andy&#8217;s GI tract had improved dramatically-although mine began to rumble. Spending a year and a half mostly traveling through the developing world has given Eric and I a much greater appreciation for Pepto Bismol. Andy and I were both doing ok though, so we headed to el Mercado de los Brujos, or the Witch Market. It took a little while to find the witch doctors as they were hidden deeper in the market ...

... between towns. Again, you could see nothing but flat desert in terms of landscape. With all of the garbage, it was comparable to a giant landfill, which we happily stumbled through to check out the odd bird. I was kind of surpised that I actually enjoyed the walk. We stopped for ceviche and pisco sour in Pimentel (Peruvian fare at its best, and I am definitely not complaining) before continuing to the mythical marshes en route ...

Another overnight bus, another town. We were going through Chiclayo to probably the best preserved pre-Incan ruins anywhere in this part of the world, Kuelap, further north, and had the daytime free between night buses, so hightailed it an hour out of town on a local minibus to the ruined remains of an ancient Moche city. We were getting close to being ruined out but thought we´d be able to squeeze in ...

... Le marche est assez fou, on ne se lasse pas de ces étals de fruits de légumes, de viande, d'animaux vivants, de tissus, de charbon ou de poisson... Dans un coin, le Mercado de brujos (marche des chamans) fournit aux guerrisseurs tous les produits dont ils ont besoins : os de baleine, amulettes, peaux de serpent, fioles diverses, plante hallucinogènes...

... informative and had a lot of artifacts in copper and gold. Chiclayo has a lot of yellow cabs, they are all the same little car. Went to the market place. It is huge and seems to have sections for anything you could want ie clothes, shoes, meat (very unhygenic), fruit etc. But there is also a Witches market selling dried herbs and potions. 3 hour drive through the desert brought up to Trujillo.

... though last night we went to sleep around 3 or 4am or so, after going out drinking with a few local CSers. Thankfully, it was vodka,which (99% of the time) never gives me a hangover. So here I am, trying to psych myself up and go visit the sights in Chiclayo. I think I might have to leave tonight to reach Mancora beach in Piura, and then move on to Ecuador... Peace.

... 7:00, I´m sure psychologically the border crossing today didn't help. We pack the bikes up, find a place to eat and head for the border. We stop one last time in Ecuador for Gas which I need to mention cost a whopping $1.38 per gallon. In less than 15 minutes we sit at the Peru border. Leaving Ecuador took us less than 10 minutes. A quick stamp of the passport, hand over our ...

... saw people carrying huge loads of sticks and unpromising-looking plant matter, by donkey, by bicycle, and on their backs. These people were desperately poor. It´s the fist big area where it was clear that the kids were not going to school, and there was no electricity, running water, or health care of and kind. It was striking. And kicking off this stretch of misery was Sullana, literally an open cesspool, a festering scab on the face of the earth ...