During my travels in Peru, I visited a friend of mine, Linda, who I met in Cuzco, at the tiny beach town of Huanchaco in the north. Huanchaco is a twenty-minute trip from Trujillo, which is about a 12-hour bus ride from Lima. I took an overnight bus ride from Lima (the capital), and although I accidentally bought a luxury ticket on Cruz del Sur, I would highly recommend going this way, as it’s a long trip and Peru is a giant. Plus, the luxury ticket was only about $18, so not too much of a splurge–definitely worth it!
Huanachaco is small, and while I was there, quiet, but it’s a huge tourism spot mostly due to the excellent surfing. I did not surf during my time there thanks to a toxic spill, I was still able to “surf” on little boats made of reeds, called caballitos. The caballitos are dragged into the waves and steered by the locals, while you hop on the back for a little ride. They are a symbol of Huanchaco and locally made, so a must if you visit! Pretty fun, too, especially if you have limited athletic ability like someone I know and may not be as successful at surfing as one might hope (ahem…).
Although I stayed with my friend’s host (a fiery older lady named Wilma), there were many hostels scattered around the town, as well as cheap, fun, and tasty bars and restaurants. I’m not going to lie, my favorite food (besides the banana daiquiris and the beer) was a guacamole burger at a little place on the beach. I think I was missing American food a little :).
Nearby Huanchaco, closer to Trujillo, we visited ruins called the Chan Chan ruins. They were nothing like the Inca ruins from southern Peru, and are leftover from an ancient civilization called the Kingdom of Chimor (the predecessors for the Moche civilization, eventually conquered by the Incas…to give you a little orientation). Chan Chan is also the largest remaining adobe city in the world, to give you an idea of the enormity–it stretches on for miles! The ruins, which are attached to a small, basic museum, are known as Peru’s versions of the pyramids. While not as impressive height-wise as the pyramids, I imagine, the city is a surprising relic in the middle of the desert.
Overall, I loved the slower pace and friendly feeling of Huanchaco, especially after the freezing rain and pace of my classes in Cuzco. While it was not the lush jungle I had been expecting–Huanchaco is a coastal desert–it is certainly beautiful, and I was happily surprised by the history of the region.
One of my favorite activities in Huanchaco was sitting on the beach and watching the sunsets with a beer. As my pictures will show you, I saw some of the most spectacular sunsets of my life in Huanchaco. I loved being on the beach again in general, which is why I ended up with the worst sunburn of my life. If there is one thing I’ve learned…USE SUNSCREEN (trust me, on the sunscreen!).
{views of the coast / my temporary host family / riding the waves / in the caballito! / a night / Che Che everywhere / me and Linda / best sunsets! / me and my little travel buddy (toy) / I’m telling, these sunsets were special / the ruins of Chan Chan}
