Northern Peru
19 June to 22 June 2004
Our first port of call (after one day in Lima) was Peru's second (or third, if you listen to the Arequipeños) city, Trujillo. It is a coastal city, in the north of the country.
We travelled there by bus along the Pan American highway. Our journey took us through the depressing slums (known in Peru as pueblos jovénes - young towns) north of Lima, near the port and military base of Callao.These slums stretch right out in the desert, and we drove through them for nearly an hour. Many (most?) of Lima's 10 million citizens live in these appallingly depressing circumstances.
We eventually (after about 3 hours) emerged out of the dense grey fog (known as the garúa) that covers Lima during the winter, and drove in brilliant sunshine through the coastal desert for another 6 hours before arriving in Trujillo.
The primary purpose of our visit was to see at first hand the amazing pre-Colombian ruins near Trujillo - Chan Chan and the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna.
In total, we spent 3 days in the area, also exploring the city of Trujillo, checking out life in the village of Huanchaco, and getting used to the north Peruvian accent ! The next place we visited on our trip was the Cordillera Blanca.
Total images: 4