Day 25: Huanchaco

Since the last post was a bit out in left field, today I will return to the traditional travel blog format. Time for some in-depth narrative!



(Cue the narrative music)


Arrived in Trujillo around 6pm Monday night after the sweet bus ride from Lima. Lugged my backpack extraordinaire onto the micro bound for Huanchaco, a quaint little village on the coast 30 minutes west of Trujillo. Micro was very crowded, like taking a NYC subway at rush hour with a backpack. Nice guy helped me find the hostel -- Hostal Naylamp -- along the waterfront. Found out they did not have any rooms available, only "camping", which conists of a nice little tree-lined area above the alley behind the main hostel area. Dinner was difficult, as most restaurants were closed, but I found a dive bar with food that would have been incredible...if there had been anyone else there. Took down a sort of stir fry dinner with a big bottle of Trujillo beer. This beer tastes like re-bottled Pabst Blue Ribbon. Back to the hostel and to sleep in my hammock listening to a bunch of Australians playing drinking games in the patio area. Woke up cold and with no blanket, so I pull my hammock down and used it as a sheet while lying on the couch in the patio area (Australian were gone by that point).

In the morning decided to walk to Chan Chan, some big ruin site between Huanchaco and Trujillo. It was a long walk. Very long. I passed a man pushing some trash on a cart, and for a little while we were walking at the same pace. I did a little side glance to see if he wanted to race. Would have been a funny situation if it weren't for the fact that he collected trash for a living, and I am an American tourist who spends more on a seafood dinner (more on that later) than he probably makes in a week.

Chan Chan was impressive looking, but not all that interesting. It is a huge city built by the Chimu people between the 12th and 15th century, at which point they were conquered by the Inca. They built everything out of sand bricks, and had a lot of bird and fish designs carved into the brick. The government is in the process of reconstructing the city, so it was a little unclear as to what parts were hundreds of years old and what parts were recent. The nearby museum was also fairly uninteresting, although I did spend a good amount of time reading both the Spanish and poorly-translated-English explanations on the exhibits. There was a entertaining group walking ahead of me at Chan Chan: an older French couple, the starched-looking thin woman with painted-on eyebrows and the clumsy balding man who filmed everything with his digital camcorder and attempted to apologize to me for this habit without using words, and the Peruvian tour guide lady who spoke surprisingly excellent French and shared a little laugh with me at the couple's expense.

After Chan Chan I had a suspect lunch of cow parts. Brain? Tongue? Grab bag? It's a good thing I know litle about meat-borne disease and bacteria. Ignorance is such culinary bliss. I walked to the Adventura Mall, which is....a really fancy outdoor mall. Just like we have in the States! Oh my gosh! I did not know what to do, so I bought some ice cream, and then went back to the hostel. On the way back spotted the Z car and took a picture from the back of the micro because the driver's seat amused me.

Spent the afternoon at the hostel reading Moneyball. Just picked it up and read all the way through, and by the time I was finished it was night time. So then I walked down and got myself a fancy fish dinner. There was some creole style fish with grilled onions, and then a big fried fish that looked like an enormous pancake, both delicious. Along with some mixed juice! I f-ing love the juice down here. F!

Last night I laid out my sleeping bag in the hammock, which was difficult to get into, but gave me a great night of rest. Took a shower in the morning. No hot water, which was not cool. Ha! See what I did there! What a sweet play on words. After the shower I shaved my entire face for the first time in a while, which was fun. Took a combi to Trujillo, where I commenced the Great Laundry Search (completed), followed by the Great Cassette Search (ongoing). Also included: Chicharron breakfast -- that would be bits of fried pork, for those uninitiated.

And so the days continue to pile up, now closing in on a month of traveling. Soon I will be leaving Peru and entering Ecuador. Which means, of course, that you, Oh Faithful Reader, should be preparing for the Great Peruvian Culture Exam! Coming soon!

Incredibly Important Update!!

The Great Cassette Search was successful!! I tracked down, literally, the ONLY GUY WHO SELLS TAPES IN THE WHOLE CITY!! At least, the only one according to him. I found one street where everyone I asked pointed up the street to where such tapes might be found, and there he was, a little stall with a eight foot wall stacked with tapes. Purchased:
1. The Wall, Pink Floyd
2. Burnin, Bob Marley
3. 2010, La Factoria
4. Hits of the 70s, assorted
5. Best of the 80s, assorted
6. something else I can't remember right now, but is assuredly awesome

Addendum: If you are, for some God-awfully absurd and black hole-consuming reason, searching for an ABBA tape...I know a guy. Just saying.