Huanchaco is a cute beach/surf town right next to the city of Trujillo. We showed up thinking we would stay awhile and relax but we ended up finding it too touristy and only stayed three nights. It was still nice though, and we enjoyed hanging out at the beach, visiting the nearby Chan Chan ruins, and downtown Trujillo. We even went to our first Peruvian mall and bought some supplies for the truck and some frozen yogurt. Malls are the same everywhere.
The day we arrived turned out to be some special holiday in Huanchaco (the name of which I can't remember) and there were marching bands, fireworks and traditional dancing.
The Chan Chan ruins. A huge city around before and during Incan times, built entirely of adobe. The parts open to tourists have been fixed by archeologists to resemble what they would have looked like before the many centuries of elements wore them down.
Cyrelle and our guide.
Each "palace" (this is one of several) was only in use during the reign of one king, and when the king died all his advisers, servants and wives were buried with him. This is the burial area, which was ransacked by the Spanish when they arrived.
On our way to Huanchanco from Caraz, we drove through Cañon del Pato, with its infamous 35 single-lane tunnels. Beautiful but stressful.
One of the tunnels with the canyon to the right.
We stopped just to take a pic of the Nueva California gas station.
The day we arrived in Huanchaco was an annual holiday and they were setting up four of these fireworks towers along the beach. Each little wheel spun with fireworks when it was lit.
The beach in Huanchanco, which is famous for surfing.
This was a very confident pelican. He has a trainer who gives him fish when he poses with tourists. He came right up to us.
A beautiful door in Trujillo, the city near Huanchaco.
Caraz
