The start of Peruvian Delights

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The border crossing into Peru was relatively painless but whilst driving to Punta Sal it was very noticeable that the Peruvians or not hot on litter free countryside. The dry, dusty environment didn't help the first impressions of Peru either but fortunately the beach we camped on for a couple of nights was pure heaven. No hawkers or locals or even any other travellers as Dragoman had the whole site and stunning, private beach to ourselves. The sea was warm enough and it took least 5 minutes after pitching our tent on the sand, to be in the water. The bar served the local speciality - pisco sour by the bucket load and there was more live music for our entertainment in the evening. A beach fire was also lit and it was difficult to imagine life being much better. That was until I went to sleep under the stars (or without the fly sheet on the tent) and hearing the waves crashing as I drifted off to sleep. I woke up at about 6.30am and without a soul on the beach, I went for a swim in the sea, in the most perfect early morning weather conditions. What a way to start the day! It always amazes me how quickly a day can go by when sun bathing on a beach but when the wind picked up a bit, we called it a day because sun cream and sand don't mix so well. Some of has had our first ' tuc tuc' ride since our travels began and went on a short journey to the nearest town of Mancora but there wasn't a great deal to see so we we walked back along the beach in time for the sunset. The following morning we packed up before sunrise to make a 6am start and I think we took most of the beach with us inside the tent and tent bags! We were travelling to another beachside town called Huanchaco but this time camped in a characterful hostel opposite the beach. This was our base for the visit to the ancient archeological site of Chan Chan and the Pyramid of Sun and Moon. Chan Chan was built in 1300 AD and once formed the largest city in the Americas and at its height, contained about 10,000 structures, from royal palaces to burial mounds. Both the Huaca de Sol y Luna (Sun & Moon temples) and Chan Chan were stunning in their special way and it was amazing to see all the artifacts, pictures, sculptors, coloured walls and rocks made of a sand mixture. The afternoon was spent relaxing in a cafe, catching up on e mails and blogs and watching some of our group having a surf lesson. Oh and spotting competitors from all over South America who were competing in the international beach volleyball championships!! Lima was the last stop of this stage of the tour, where four new passengers were joining the group. The visit to the 'South American capital of food' began by seeing two cars reverse around a busy roundabout in rush hour and and a lorry cutting us up and colliding with our trucks front bumper, causing some damage. Once safely in the city, we had a free day so we decided to do an open top bus tour of the picturesque district of Miraflores, which runs along the coast. Unfortunately, the promise of a lunchtime gastronomic feast didn't materialise as the restaurant we were looking for had closed down and we picked a poor replacement. However, every cloud...it was next to Kennedy Park, otherwise known as Cat Park, where I counted an assortment of 29 sleeping cats on the grass!!!

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