Chan Chan, Surfing, Trujillo

Trip Start Jun 15, 2008

Trip End Aug 15, 2008

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Where I stayed

Huanchaco's Garden

(Huanchaco hotels)

Flag of Peru Huanchaco, Peru
Monday, July 28, 2008

Wowza. I am very behind on the old blogging. As I last left it, we were about to have our first surfing lesson on the world famous Huanchaco waves. It turns out that (probably) the future does not hold olympic medals in surfing for Brig and I. It seems surfing is one of those things thats only cool if you are really good at it. Meanwhile, lying on your stomache on the sand practicing paddling and standing up will never EVER look cool. It was also a bit nerve wracking as the surf was especially big on the day we went, and what you couldn`t tell from the shore was that the sea bed was very rocky. We did manage to stand up, which was really fun, but the rocks meant that either you had to stand back down quite soonor stay up and risk the shallow water with its bum bum-bruising boulders. What with that, and the cold Brig and I soon decided to make the switch to the more familiar body boards.

Huanchaco was a good place to spend a few days recovering from night buses and what we now call "the canadian chronicles". The town is a bit stange looking: it has quite and old school peer that looks like it could be from Torquay or some other 70's holiday destination, as well as these amazing fishing boats called "caballitos de totora", or little totora horses. These are flat bottomed boats that look a bit like big clogs (with a pointy end) that the fishermen straddle to paddle out and fish from before surfing them back into shore. You can hire a ride in them at the end of the day, but after watching some middle aged, speedo-wearing, balding tourists try this, Imo and I felt we'd been provided with enough enterntainment by the boats. and that maybe watching was mpre fun (and drier) than trying it out for yourself!

The coast was really fun, we also got to explore some amazing pre-Inca ruins and try some local dishes, which in Imo's case was a bit of an error, when her Ceviche turned out to be a very large pile of very raw fish pieces (not like the delicate portions you got in Ecuador!). We also got to have a look around Trujillo, the nearby town before jumping on a night bus to take us to the Cordilleras, where I will pick up from next.

Lots of Love and BBBB

Penny
xxxxxx