Peru with Peruvians

I arrived to Trujillo on December, the 30th (2008).

It was nice to find Zaidy at the airport(It also saved me a few soles with the taxi, as soon as they notice you are not Peruvian they charge you double. I even had to hide myself when see asked for quotes, because if they see me with her they overcharge us as well)

After a quick visit to the beautiful Plaza de Armas, a party was quickly improvised. We prepared pisco sour, a delicious cocktail made of pisco, lime, ice, egg whites, syrup and Angostura bitter. They were a bit pissed off because I brought Pisco from Chile and they consider pisco as Peruvian. The mantain a serious rivality with their neighbours.

Here are Paola and Zaidy happy after making Pisco Sour (you can see it in the blender behind).
Surprinsingly, there was no hang over the next day but unsurprinsingly, the vistit to Chan Chan was replaced by a long stay in bed. Nevertheless it was a sensible decission in order to prepare to New Year's Eve.

We had a lovely and crazy party with Zaidy's family. Food was gorgeous!! and we had lots of tradicional things: 12 grapes to make 12 wishes, little bags with rice and lentis for abundance, pisco sour (again), we even broke the glasses against the wall representing the break with last year bad things(for the scarves in the wall it seemed there were a few...)

After dinner we went to the Beach in Huanchaco(15 minutes from Trujillo). Sadly one of the girls was assaulted in a taxi. The driver stopped and to men jumped into the car and took her purse with her mobile and camera. Luckily she only got mugged and a few minor scarves. I was advised it was a dangerous place and I beleave it now.

The streets in Huanchaco were too crowded and dangerous and we decided to enjoy a few beers in the beach until dawn. I played safe and I didn't carry the camera, so no pictures from there.

Some of us(not me), ejoyed anticucho for breackfast: barbaqued chicken heart.

For the weekend we planned a vistit to Mancora, in the North part of Peru and pretty close to Ecuador. As you can imagine the Sun is as strong as it gets.

For the record: 9 hours night bus from Trujillo to Mancora with no sleeping pills.

We were disappointed with Mancora town: it was dirty, lots of cars and trucks, and the beach wasn't pretty. However it has a lot of night life and finally I couldn't avoid any longer the latin rythms: salsa, merengue, even regueton!!
Luckily, I can't amuse you(and embarras me) with any graphic evidence, as all the pictures were taken with someone else's cameras.

However, we found a couple of beautiful places near Mancora: Punta Sal and Las Pocitas were it was quiter and the water cristal clear.

The Sky was like a thin layer of cotton over the sea.

I also found Obama's next dog in Mancora: it looks like a big rat with the hair of Einstein.

Another picture of Las pocitas with Jose, Alan, Claudia and Nati taking the picture.

We returned to Trujillo and visited Chan Chan. These ruins a near the sea (notice the pelicans in the wall) and they reminded me somehow to Egypt.

Next destination was Huaraz, in the middle of the mountains. The altitude here is around 3000m. and some of the peaks reach more than 5000 m.

There are two mountain chains: the black chain and the white chain. The black chain is the western one, closer to the Pacific ocean. It protects the white chain from the winds and this way is always snowed.

Unfortunately it was "winter" there and clouds were covering the white peaks.

This is a beautiful green lake in the white chain.

I am leaving Peru with millions of good memories, friends and email adresses. It is a country of great contrasts: the Sun and the Snow, the sea and the mountains, the hospitality of your friends and the danger in the streets...

It also has the best food in South America. They put a lot of effort in their dishes and they have a huge variety. I strongly recomend ceviche: raw fish or sea food marinated with lemon and onions. Also must try: choclo(corn) with chese, cachamba, chicharon, cui, chicken soup, ajis. And drinks like chicha morada(made of purple corn), cremolada(bits of ice with fruit juice) and many more.

This was a long post, but trust me, I tried to keep it as short as I could. I had to leave many things off. This country has soo many things to enjoy!! I was very lucky to be able to live in Peru with Peruvians. It really makes a diference.

I leave now to Venezuela were I plan to go to Los Roques and Canaima, I am at the airport and I don't have anything planed yet.