Mud walls and sea cowboys

1. Caballito de tortora and pier at Huanchaco 2. Mike exploring Chan Chan

From Lima, still full of cold and with a cough that would land me a leading role in an anti-smoking advert, we boarded the night bus to Trujillo on the northern coast of Peru. We stayed in Huanchaco, a sleepy fishing village on the outskirts of the city, whose main claim to fame is the "caballitos de totora", small ´horse´ fishing boats made of reeds which the ´cowboy´ fisherman sit astride to paddle through the surf.

We spent an interesting afternoon exploring the ruins of Chan Chan, a once spectacular city of the Chimu empire constructed entirely of adobe bricks and decorated with maritime emblems. Sadly little remains due to the ravages of the coastal climate and El Nino, but it didn´t take much to imagine its former glory. Before we moved on we managed to consume a lip-smacking mountain of a fresh sea food at a little cafe on the waterfront which was a welcome break from the prevalent diet of llama and potatoes in the Andes.

Huanchaco was a pretty enough place, especially with the sun setting and the quaint little pier full of fisherman, but not a place to linger. The mountains beckoned once more.