vendredi 2 janvier 2009
Short live the Cuy!
On my latest trip inside Peru, I went to San Vincente de Cañete (other article to come soon, hopefully), and got invited to eat cuy (guinea pig) in a cuy farm.
I took very explicit pictures of the cuy in my plate, so for the faint of heart I decided not to show it here (I'm trying to figure out the best way to show it to non-faint-of-heart only).
Anyway, a cuy farm is something like this (see me standing next to my next meal):
Apparently, in a matter of 12 weeks, there's a complete new cycle of cuys, so all of these 900 cuy actually are born and killed in 12 weeks time (and then it starts all over again).
The cuy has a taste of something between chicken and rabbit, but is quite difficult to eat (not much meat), which makes it an expensive meal for high-standing parties.
mardi 7 octobre 2008
Second time in Cusco
Now that I look at it, I tend to publish stuff here by waves. Something around every three weeks, I'm taking some time to write about the stuff I do. That's pretty much all the time I can get. So let's get going...
Two weeks ago, I went to Cusco and Machu Picchu again. That was the second time, and it was still very interesting (although I had expected some "blasé" mood to loom on me).
I went to kind of *help* an acquaintance (I am very prudent nowadays about who I call a friend or not) organizing the first large open-source software conference in Cusco. The conference was a 3-nights event and I managed to take two of the talks for me (on a total of 8, I think). The event in itself was far more succesfull than I (or even my acquaintance) had expected. There were more than 280 people the first night, and they were all *very* awake (the general level of awakeness in Lima had had me think there were always 50% of "ghosts" going to conferences).
During one of the days, I took a city tour in bus (S/.30 + entry to Sahsay Huaman + entry to a monastery which I forgot the name of but which contained remains of Inca temples - All in all around S/.120, yes, 120, they don't fool with side-entrances tickets in Cusco). The guided tour was interesting and full of tourists (of course). I would recommend it.
Then on Friday I went to Machu Picchu again. I thought it would be clever to ask a travel agency to manage everything for me, but it ended up with an organization even worse than I would have gotten myself in 2 hours of work. I had to come back with a vista-dom train by night (although I heard *many* times that the vista-dom had glass ceiling, it *isn't* true, it's basically a train coach with much wider windows and a modern look. This means that, well, by night... it wasn't anything special. Hum, OK, you get a free mini-sandwich and kind of a special local dance by a crew member. True, true...
Machu Picchu itself was just as good as last year though. This time I had a guide (and a group of tourists) with me, and it was *very* interesting to hear from our guide and then from other guides around. Obviously, many of them had very different stories to tell. That made me wonder about what was actually known about Machu Picchu (scientifically, I mean), knowing that most of the printed reviews are printed in Cusco, just as most of the guides are born there and have a strong need of a revenue...
Anyway, this time I managed to walk to the Inti Punku, or the Sun Gate, where the trekkers walking the Inca Trail have their first sight of Machu Picchu. Doing it this way (getting to Machu Picchu, then walking to the gate and having a look from there) kind of removes the awe effect (it looks *much* smaller from there), but at least walking a piece of the path was interesting and challenging enough. I couldn't stop thinking about my grand-mother who told me a little while ago that she would love to come to visit me in Peru (she lives in Spain and is about 75-80 now), as I saw a guy on his 80's walk towards the Sun Gate as well, as I was walking back to Machu Picchu to get the bus.
All in all, an interesting trip. I think I must be the only foreign guy to have gone to Cusco on a business trip this year. Business wise, Cusco is not impressive :-)
mercredi 20 février 2008
Hit the beach
We went to the beach with Paul and Lisseth this Saturday. We had rented a car for the occasion and went to km 100 south of Lima at Playa Asia, a modern complex of american restaurants and classy stores like clothes store Ripley and supermarket Wong. We met up with Thomas, and his girlfriend Gabriella, who was there for a tournament of "beach-tennis": play tennis over a volleyball net in the sand (= no bouncing). Then we hit the beach, our first time swimming (or rather being crushed by the massive sand-filled waves) in the Pacific Ocean. The beach we found was really nice, frequented only by people owning beachside condominiums.
There are lots of new photos in the album Playa + Bowling .
vendredi 7 décembre 2007
5.4 on Richter
We were shaken by yet another earthquake yesterday evening. This was a 5.4 in the same area as the one of August 15th, i.e. Chincha, 200km south of Lima. Even though it wasn't very strong, we got out of the appartment and down stairs very quickly . I am absolutely terrified of earthquakes and couldn't sleep until very late that night.
Mother Earth, you wanna give us a break, eh???
mercredi 21 novembre 2007
Jungle stay near La Merced
This week-end, our party of 5 + 2 went to the Selva Central, the jungle immediately east of Lima, on the other side of the Cordillera Blanca. Friday evening we took a premium cama-bus (1st floor seats - not as luxurious as the ground floor ones), with reclinable seats and windows you can open. The journey took 7-8h and we received a complimentary drink and a slice of (weird) cake and some biscuits. The bus drives up to Ticlio, the highest road pass on Earth, at 4818m, after which the road drops 2450m to the Selva Central, passing Tarma (pretty), La Oroya (polluted) and the mine I visited earlier this year: Toromocho. The bus company was called Transportes Junin, and the premium service costs 40 soles (return I think) per person. Phone numbers: 7196186 or 3309014 (Lima numbers).
The lodge's driver came to pick us up at the bus at 5.30am and drove us on the (very) bumpy 24km road to Pampa Hermosa. Pampa Hermosa is the local national reserve, located on a plateau at the top of a hill. It's buzzling with tropical birds, huge butterflies and luxurious cloudforest with centuries old cedar trees and prehistoric ferns. It's also the name of the lodging where we stayed, situated at the foot of the hill, next to the Río Ulcumayo. We slept in a comfortable timber hut, with a fully equipped bathroom and hot water thanks to solar panels. For $50 a night per person, we had guided tours to nearby waterfalls and jungle walks, 3 delicious meals a day and accomodation of course.
Our guide Urbano, very knowledgeable and native of the area, took us to see the Azul Yacu (Yacu means water in quechua, Azul Yacu meaning Blue Waterfall) and another nearby waterfall. Then we were offered the local drink, Tranca Hermosa, a blend of aguardiente (sugar cane licor infused with local herbs), sugar and lime slices. In the afternoon, Urbano guided us to the Sacred Waterfall, Huillca Yacu, where the falling water hitting the ground left us completely soaked, very invigorating! After that, I had to buy a t-shirt, having no dry clothes left!!
The next morning, 3 of us (the bravest early risers) set off to climb to Pampa Hermosa, a 2 hour walk accross the river then up the hill to the cloudforest plateau. The lodge's rainbow parrots accompanied us along our walk. We saw the huge cedar trees, one of which (El Abuelo - 600 years old) is so large that 16 people are needed to circle it completely. We also saw hollow trees, in which local tribes carve a door and insert their dead, which go straight underground through the tree's hollow roots, up to 7-8m deep. Urbano cut the trunk of a tree which starting bleeding: 
this "tree-blood" is a good ointment for healing wounds and scratches. We also snacked on bananas, plucked straight off the tree. On the way back, we lingered by the roaring river, with stepped waterfalls: the geology here is
subhorizontal metre-scaled dark mudstone beds allowing the water to flow down stairlike steps. The sun was burning hot and we were happy to get back to the lodge, in time for a refreshing swim in the river with our friends. Although the current of the river is strong, there is a rope tied on each shore, so if you get carried away, you can grab it and simply pull youself to the shore.
The rest of the time we spent playing cards or video games in the sun, observing the humming birds and parrots (they even came on our shoulders!), and listening to the jungle sounds or our ipods. We also went to see the Gallitos de las Rocas's mating parade: these black and red parrots sing and dance for each other between 4 and 6pm everyday.
Note - The Ecolodge San José and the Cocos Hotel in and near La Merced are also good accomodation options.
Christophe's photos can be found here.
samedi 10 novembre 2007
Cusco - Machu Picchu
We set off on Thursday November 1st,
a national holiday here in Peru,
called Fiesta de los Muertos, day of the dead. It is followed on the 2nd
by Fiesta de los Vivos, day of the living, a normal working day, where the locals go have lunch and
party on their relatives tombs, to keep them company (yep, it’s lonely being
dead).
I had chosen my favourite airline, LAN, which
has an online check-in option, a great time saver and it also enables you to
choose your seat on the plane. Which side of the plane should you sit on, when
flying from Lima to
Going from 70 to
We left very early the next morning with
complimentary packed lunches from our hotel Piccola Locanda
(mini-cupcakes, juice, club social
cracker and a granola bar) and took a cab to San Pedro train station. Some
minutes later, we were boarding the 5 wagon blue train labeled Machu
Picchu and it started zigzagging up the cusquenian hills, out of Cuzco. This was an
amazing trip, first through the high Andean plateaus with ocre, sienna and
terracotta-coloured fields, then along the ice blue Río Urubamba and into the
humid impenetrable jungle near Aguas Calientes.
We rushed to the Machu Picchu ticket office,
tickets to this wonder being the only crucial element we were missing to make
this trip perfect, and happily gave the sales lady 120.5 soles for each
foreigner entry (I’m so lucky I’m a resident so I pay the Peruvian nationals’
entrance fee of 61 soles – sweet!). 
Armed with our footprint guide and guide du
routard, we looked for a hotel, as close as possible to the start of the trail
to Putucusi and decided for a triple room at Hostal Los Caminantes, right next
to the railtracks at the end of town closest to Machu Picchu, a stone’s throw
from the bus stop and from the Putucusi and Machu Picchu trails. Aguas
Calientes is not very big so you’re never far from the shops and restaurants.
There is a touristy part and a more “normal” part where you are less likely to
get ripped off. Yes, it’s that point that really annoyed me: having to pay
twice, thrice or even… er … four times the price that I’d pay in Lima. Cuzco might be touristy but Aguas Calientes
is way worse.
After a delicious but sloooow lunch at
vegetarian restaurant Govinda’s, we put on our walking boots and set off to
climb Putucusi. This 600m hill on the outskirts of Aguas Calientes offers an
adventurous trail with exactly 242 steps on wooden ladders, the highest of
which is 110 steps high. Not for vertigo sufferers I tell ya! My legs were
shaking so much all the time I was climbing down them! But if you can take the
height and have the strength to complete the long strenuous climb, you should
definitely go for it, as your first view of Machu Picchu from the top
will be carved in
your memory. Don’t forget to take enough water and not much else to avoid
weighing yourself down. I had in my pockets: insect repellent, sun cream,
sunglasses, camera with extra batteries (the views along the trail are
amazing), kleenex, 2L of water and a sunhat or cap. No walking stick as you’ll
need your hands free for climbing up or down the wooden ladders.
The next morning the boys got up super early,
hoping to see the sun rise over the famous ruins. This was a long shot, we’d
asked around in town and I’d read r
eviews on the net and they said the skies
were usually pretty misty and foggy at dawn, making for a discreet increase in
luminosity until suddenly it’s broad daylight and you don’t know when the sun
rose exactly. The boys left at 4.45 anyway, and it was nearly light when they got
to the start of the trail already. I slept an extra 30 min (sooooo good) and
took one of the first buses at 5.45 am ($6 each way for foreigners, $4.5 for
lucky residents and foreigners). As soon as I arrived, I followed the crowd to
stand in line for Machu Picchu.
It was misty and the surrounding hills were not be seen. Looking around at the
masses of early risers, I say a tall sweaty blond guy: Christophe! The boys had
only just made it to the top, in about 1h15. No sunrise on the site, but the site was beautifully misty, and not disappointing at all. The effort of climbing it by oneself was totally worth it, and pride did shine in their eyes as they reached the first city walls.
Coming into the site and discovering the ruins
and terraces as the mist slowly rises is a magical moment. I highly recommend
you come early in the day to catch this fairylike atmosphere. The chubby
rabbit-squirrel type animals and the lamas are thrilling to come across at the
corner of a granite ruin. 
There are about 20 lamas living on the site and they
do come really close to visitors! We made our way to the entrance gate of
Huayna Picchu. This Young Hill (its name in Quechua) can be climbed by 400
visitors per day, for free. The climb is tiring, especially if you’ve done some
climbing the previous days like us adventurers, but discovering the ruins at
the top and admiring Machu Pichcu while the mist is still dissipating is an
unforgettable moment. We entered the train at 7.10 am and were numbers 21, 22,
23. Don’t let this be an excuse to do it later as you’d only be setting off in
the hot sun with crowds of tourists which makes it so much more difficult and
less pleasant. You can actually get a nice view of the site from halfway so if
you’re really exhausted and can already see the site from where you are, you can give yourself a break and go back down.
The visit of the ruins takes longer than you
think and it’s nice to be able to just sit on a grassed terrace, away form the
main crowds and just soak up the sun and the magical feel of the site. Walking
around the ruins guiding yourself or with a tour guide is bound to take a good
2-3 hours. We had bought a book with pictures, explanatory text and a map and
read it as we walked along the ruins. This is a cheaper option and leaves you
with more freedom as you can look at certain parts as long or as little as you
want. There are no toilets on the site but you can go out the exit door, saying
you’re going to the restrooms and the guard will write R for Retorno on your
ticket – make sure you come back through the exit door to avoid re-queueing!
After a good long photo session of the ruins,
we waved Machu Picchu
goodbye, and left on the bus this time (you can buy your tickets near the
entrance). It’s recommended you take the bus 1 hour before your train leaves
Aguas Calientes. We allowed a bit more to get our luggage from Los Caminantes
and locate the departure point of the train. Our train departed on time,
terminating at Ollantaytambo, from where we took a bus along the picturesque
route back to Cusco, arriving there just after
dusk.
Our last day went by in the blink of an eye. My parents left for their flight around 9am, at which time we set off to buy souvenirs and we did nothing more (and actually lacked time to see all the markets of Cusco!) until our 2pm flight. We will have to come back, be it for all the ruins and monuments in Cusco that we never visited or to go to the Sacred Valley and do some adventure sports!
A travelogue of Cusco-Machu Picchu-Sacred Valley can be read here.
Getting to Machu Picchu from Cuzco by bus and on foot: see advice in french on routard.com.
What to do in Aguas Calientes: see post in french on routard.com.
lundi 5 novembre 2007
Our Cuzco trip in numbers
Steps of wooden ladders climbed to the top of Putucusi: 242
Altitude difference from Aguas Calientes to the summit of Putucusi: 600m
Time it took to climb Putucusi from Aguas Calientes: 1h15
Time to go down from Putucusi to Aguas Calientes: 1h00
Departure time of the first bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu: 5h30
Altitude of Machu Picchu: 2430m
Machu Picchu entry price for peruvian nationals and residents: 61 soles
Machu Picchu entry price for foreigners: 120.50 soles
Year of the spanish invasion of Peru: 1532
Price of a hostel night at Los Caminantes, Aguas Calientes: 20 soles per person
Price of a bus ticket between Ollataytambo and Cuzco: 5 soles
Travel time between Ollantaytambo and Cuzco by bus: 1h30
Altitude of Cuzco: 3400m
Number of "c" in Machu: 1
Number of "c" in Picchu: 2
Distance between Cuzco and Machu Picchu: 70km
Number of people who can climb Huayna Picchu per day: 400
Number we had when we came through the gates to Hayna Picchu: 21, 22, 23
Time to climb Huayna Picchu from Machu Picchu: 1h00
Time to come down Huayna Picchu to Machu Picchu: 0h45
Duration of train journey between Cuzco and Aguas Calientes: 4h00
Time to climb to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes: 1h00
Travel time of bus between Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu: 0h30
Number of people happy about this trip: 3 :-)
Somewhere special
Recently voted one of the Seven Wonders of the World, this city in ruins, whose name means Old Hill in quechua, built during more than a century between 1420 and 1540 AC, over 500 years old, one of the most important Inca ruins, from which the last Incas fled the spanish, going further into the jungle to Vilcabamba and Choquequirao, city discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, who was actually searching for Vilcabamba and stumbled across the ruins where a couple of peasants were cultivating the old Inca terraces, located on top of a forested rocky mountain, in the peruvian jungle, accessible only by train or by foot (except for the last 8km where a bus can take you from the nearest village to the ruins), bound to amaze you with the perfection of its stonework and the size and setting of the city.
Two words: Machu Picchu.
More pictures from artist Jorge Alvarado.
lundi 29 octobre 2007
South coast road trip to Nazca
This week end, my Mom and Dad, Christophe, Yannick and myself, took a road trip along the south coast of Peru, to Ica, Nazca, Paracas, Pisco, many of the areas hit hardest by the August 15th earthquake. I had taken the Friday off so we set off that morning around 7.24am, Mom, Dad, Christophe, Yannick and myself, with our rented 4x4 toyota landcruiser, a beast of a car, rented for only $65 a day. It's a 460km drive from Lima to Nazca. To exit Lima, we chose to follow av. Benavides, then av. Tomas Marsano, passing Pachacamac and finally joining the Panamericana Sur around km 45 south of Lima. Here are some maps of our route: Lima - Cañete on the left (from here), and Cañete - Nazca on the right (from here).
We stopped for breakfast at the restaurant El Piloto, just before entering Cañete, next to a Repsol gas station (around km 150?). This is the place I usually stop at before going to site at Pampa Melchorita. Further down the road, entering Ica, we made a left turn to Huacachina, a little oasis with a palm-fringed lake surrounded by white sand dunes. Huacachina is fairly touristy, with many restaurants and hotels, but don't go to the restaurant 
El Moroni located just next to the lake, the one with the tempting terrace, because it's an absolute rip-off, the food is really bad and they will overcharge you without remorse. You can also do sandsurfing and go explore the dunes in a dune buggie in this very pleasant oasis. This was a coup-de-coeur!
After our lunch in the lovely Huacachina, we drove onto Nazca, stopping at the mirador just after the valley town of Palpa to see 3 Nasca figures: the Hands, the Tree and the Lizard (the latter is cut in half by the Panam). It costs S./ 1 to go up this 30m high metallic structure to view the figures from the sky, well worth it for those who are not afraid of heights! We slept at Hotel Alegría, Jr Lima 168 in Nazca, only 20 soles per person per night for a room with shared bathroom and without breakfast (which we didn't want anyway as it's recommended to do the flight over the Nasca Lines with an empty stomach!). This was a very pleasant hotel, with a delightful courtyard and a swimming pool (testée et approuvée!). We arranged our flights over the Nasca Lines with AeroParacas (US$40 per person), where Pepe Ortegas was very helpful and a good salesman, as we also bought a boat trip to the Ballestas islands (Ballestas Expeditions - contact them via email: ballestasexpeditionsnow [at] hotmail [dot] com, S./ 35 per person) and our next hotel night from him. We even managed to attend the lecture on the Nasca Lines at Hotel Nasca Lines' Maria Reiche Planetarium (US$6 per person) which gave us a good introduction to what the lines looked like, how many and how long they were, and also some insight on the Nasca civilisation, who lived in this very dry desert between 200 BC and 600 AC.
The next morning, after a leisurely swim in the hotel's pool under the strong Nazca sun, we (Mom, Christophe, Yannick and I) flew over the Nazca lines, in a little Cessna plane, for some 30 minutes. Only 6 seats in this tiny plane, and it is indeed a bumpy ride, most of us came out fairly nauseous and had to sit and even lie down in the airport after the flight. The flight took us to see the 13 most famous Nasca figures, which was impressive enough to say it was worth it. But we wouldn't do it again :-)
When our stomachs had readapted to gravity, we drove north, stopping at Ica for lunch. Not much to see in this town which has been devastated by the earthquake, and quite hard to find a restaurant at 2.30pm. We settled for a lunch menu near the Plaza de Armas, in a high ceiling restaurant where the walls were waiting to collapse. Then, onto Paracas, taking the turning before entering Pisco, accross the desert and reaching Paracas and our Hotel Mar Azul at sunset (Hotel Mar Azul: Alan García Pérez Mza B - Lote 20 - Chaco - Paracas; Telephone: 056-267636; Mobile phone: 01-95417306). This was the hotel reserved for us by Pepe from AeroParacas, a brand new building (it doesn't yet have electrical plugs or shower curtain in the rooms), with no sign of seismic damage (thank God, because most of this town has been severely damaged by the earthquake), and costing only S./ 20 per person (we were 5: one double room + one triple room) per night without breakfast for a 
spacious room with balcony, way cheaper than the hostal Los Zarcillos, also in Paracas (S./ 50 per person). There is a very nice fruit place, walking north along the seafront promenade, past the jetty, where you can buy fresh fruit juices and fruit salads for S./ 2 - highly recommended!
The next morning, Sunday morning, we boarded one of the many many boats like the many many tourists there (who we had not seen the night before, they must've come form Lima in the morning!) to see the Islas Ballestas, aka Poor Man's Galapagos. The boat trip takes place on a speedboat so there is a lot of wind and with the morning mist blocking out the sun, it's really chilly, so cover up! We sailed past the Candelabro, a 200m long figure carved in the sandy hillside, similar to the Nasca Lines but not from the same time period, before speeding onto the islands. These rocky islands are the residence of many bird species and sea lions, we saw Humboldt penguins, fat sea lions trying to climb rocky slopes, penguin-like cormorans, pelicans, zarcillos (black birds with white and yellow eye liner called inca tern in english), and many more. The birds poop on the island covering it with guano, i.e. bird excrement, which is a very good fertilizer for agriculture. So it doesn't smell very good when you're close to the islands... But it's a lot of birds and the sea lions are funny. We were happy to get off the boat after 2 hours, as we were all freezing by then!
We drove into Paracas Natural Reserve (free entry), first on the righthand fork to see some flamingos, but they were too far away to really see them, then onto the left fork to the Cathedral, which is not at all a cathedral but an arch shaped rock which used to be attached to the cliff side but isn't anymore since the August 15th earthquake. Listen to the instructions and advice from the reserve's staff because parts of the reserve are now unstable. We then drove to Yumaque beach, where we saw some dolphins (Christophe was very excited!!), well, just their dorsal fins sticking out, close to the beach, probably following a squadron of fish. Impressive!
After leaving the reserve and the town of Paracas, we passed through Pisco, where there isn't much to see except earthquake damage, like in Ica. It's a very lively town. We stopped off in Chincha for a mediocre lunch before heading back to Lima. All in all, we drove about 950km in 3 days.
There are some photos in the new album Nazca.
mardi 16 octobre 2007
Chimbote, there and back
This past weekend, Christophe, Yannick and I went to Chimbote, for an IT conference where Yannick was presenting Dokeos Latinoamerica. The map comes from here.
Yannick had rented a car through Budget, and we took off with a suzuki jimny, a small 4x4. First we tried to find our way from Lima to the Panamericana Norte: Paseo de la Republica to Lima centre, av. 9 de Diciembre to Plaza Bolognesi, then av. Alfonso Ugarte which goes straight to the Panam. From then on, we wizzed past Ancon, Punta Piedra, then, after a few hours, past Huacho (where I'd used the toilets of the bus station when going to Caral with Tanya), then all the way to Casma where we stayed overnight in El Farol.
We had packed some bread, avocado, ham, cheese and pepper to eat lunch in the car. The road from Lima to Casma goes through pampa landscapes (arid desert sand dunes) and Casma is a picturesque little town with avenues with a central tree separation and a pleasant plaza de armas. El Farol was ok, quiet and clean, but nothing special.
The next morning we drove the last 50 kms to Chimbote arriving there around 9am, in time for breakfast. Yannick went on to do his conference and Christophe and I drove off in direction of the Sechín ruins, near Casma. Except, on the way, we passed an offroad trail disappearing through the dunes and we thought "hey, we have a 4x4, why not go have a look?"... So off we went, spending a nice morning driving through endless dunes on a track of seashell fragments (which frankly stank!). We turned around after nearly getting stuck in the sand, just before arriving at a sandy fisherman's beach, which look so pretty but not very reassuring.
We then went on to Playa de Tortugas (Turtle beach, but didn't see any turtles) and ate at the seafood restaurant Costa Azul, just on the left when entering the settlement, which served excellent ceviche and pan fried fish, with a beautiful view on the bay. We had a real coup de coeur for this little creek, with its many pelicans, seagulls and fisherman's boats. The area is very quiet and on that afternoon it was sunny, with a few children playing in the beach. We decided we would come back here to sleep that evening.
We went to pick up Yannick from his conference then off to a pollería (restaurant serving roasted chicken) with Jefferson (who we'd met on the plane when coming from Brussels/Madrid in April) to watch the pre-World Cup match Paraguay-Peru. We struggled a bit to find a hotel in Playa de Tortugas, as we couldn't find anyone to give us a room in the one we'd set our eye on (the Farol, cousin of the one in Casma). So we went to Las Terrazas, where the owner kindly guided us through the streets of Playa Tortugas at 11pm (couldn't tell a dirt track from a non-dirttrack...) and where we spent a peaceful night. Sadly, no hot water in the morning but at 90 soles the triple room, including a really nice bread, jam, coffee breakfast, you can't really complain. And the view onto the bay was just incredible. Christophe went out in the morning to photograph more pelicans (the 150 shots he took yesterday simply didn't suffice).
After a short offroad drive for Yannick (who drove up to the top of a hard sand dune!), we drove south past Casma, and turned left just after Barranca (or was it Supe?) to the oldest city in South America: Caral. I'd already visited it, but it's such a nice road there and such an impressive civilisation that it was worth going back. We had a nice lunch there, followed by a guided tour of the ruins, before heading back to Lima on Sunday evening.
