Saturday, February 28, 2009

Final trip up the northern coast...

A 9 hour bus ride overnight from Lima landed us in Trujillo. From Trujillo, the largest Northern City in Peru, we took a taxi ride up 20 more minutes to get us into a little hot spot surf town called Huanchaco...

...The road less traveled...it stretched on for miles alond the coast...9 hours to be exact actually...of nothing but sand, no civilization...and every now and then, we would pear out of our second floor stoop above the driver and from our front side deck of the bus, see an amazing stretch of beach, so much of it just completely unhabited, like how you would picture California before it was discovered...
...we stayed at this little hotel across from the central Plaza...

It's beautiful stone floors turned out to be our worst enemy, it was the loudest hotel I've ever stayed in...fun times...

It was a pretty Spanish Hacienda, but don't be fooled, banging and slamming doors and screaming children ran amuck...arghh!!
...Little reading spot outside our room, I didn't do anything but sleep though because I was so drained from the bus ride...

...The poolside spot I'm hoping to find myself later...

It's pretty...pretty LOUD!!!

...Let's take a dip in the pool...

So after I finally woke up after my day of sleeping beauty...we strolled around to get to know the town ...Here's the cute park in front of the beaches...

...The boardwalk...

...The original surf board...looks like a canoe, but it's actually the first ever surfing...

...Stacked up along the shore...

...Looking north...we decided to not try to pack in visiting any of the other little towns and just stay here in Huanchaco...people said we weren't missing much, they're all pretty much the same, and better on the weekends...it was quiet because we were up there just Monday through Wednesday...just Danny and I and the locs...

...There are vintage cars everywhere, this town is like going back in time...

Danny feeling out the surfboard...
...Mama and papa Guiseppi's place...I felt like I was eating with the mob...
Danny and I strolled up to this house/restaurant with no one there but papa Guiseppi drinking his wine from a paper cup sitting on his plastic chair in the front lawn...
....mama Guiseppi (the Peruvian version of course) came out and took our order to go back and start cooking it herself...
...we got our pizzas, which were delicious, and as we ate outside on the front porch, just us and pops...
...about half way through our meal, a lady came up with her commercial grade sized plastic barrel and filled papa Guiseppi's cooking pot full of leche...
...now that's what I call fresh!
Straight from the cows up the hill and hobbled down by an old lady with her bucket...and off she hobbled to the next house...
...definitely makes me rethink my morning cup of joe...
...The entrance to Chan Chan, just 10 minute taxi ride south of Huanchaco...
...Danny and I...and some nuns went to check out the Chan Chan ruins...

...Intricate carved walls that were discovered buried in piles of sand...

...The paths have amazing designs...

...Looking down one of the walkways...

...People are still there working on digging up more sections...

...The ruins stretch on for miles...
...Follow the fishies down the aisles...it felt like we were in a maze...
...We turned a corner and there was this oasis, such a beautiful site amongst a thousand rocks and sand...

...Little birdie pirched in the water...
...Looking toward the entrance, you wind your way through miles of carved mud walls...to arrive at this pool of water...looking the opposite way is the beach, but everything is built up by these massive walls...

...The burial chamber of the temple...something was down there that definitely gave me the heebie geebies...

...The temple guards...

...Man of the hour with his authentic garb...he's handsome...


..We packed it in at the other hotel and opted for this one instead, The International Huanchaco Inn...much nicer!...perfect for our last relaxing days here...ahhh to be poolside...

...Sunflowers and sunshiney beaches...
...Plants outside our room...

...Down the steps to the pool...

...The bizarre and funny photoshoot, this girl was so not cute, had about a pound of makeup on...I'm not sure what magazine it was for but it was definitely interesting...somebody said it was some kind of online website, uh-hum...
...anyway, these kids next to us had rode their motorcycles up for the day to lounge in the pool, probably playing hookie, and the camera guy asked if they could use one of the kids motorcycle for the picture...it was such B...maybe even considered C grade amatuer stuff, it was pretty funny watching the girl prance around posing all over the hotel...

...Danny got his feet wet a little while we were here on this rental board, but the water was freezing and he didn't have his wetsuit so it was a no go for the rest of the trip...

...Here's our little cactus friend outside our window...

...A little breakfast on the patio...

...Oops, busted! He looked at me like, Hey! Enough with the photography buddy!

...They had tons of birds in the little covered canopy, it added some great sound affects for lounging poolside...they're such cute little things...my friend Lindsey used to have one of these just like the blue one named Billie Jean or Blue Jean....can't remember..but he was so cute, I always wanted one...

...You didn't think we would come to Trujillo without sampling the Trujillo, we've already sampled what else this fine country has to offer...

...The sun setting on our final day...

...In front of our table a little game of ad-lib volley started...they drew the lines in the sand, and no nets required...boys vs. girls....ahh summer days...

...A few more beers at a restaurant on the beach before we head back home...

...Love birds...

...Just a little clip of our experience on the beachside decks of Peru...
...It's just so breathtaking...

...Camp outs on the sand...The sunset was so gorgeous...

...As our trip comes to a close, there are so many incredible experiences that we will take with us forever...I will never forget them and I am so grateful to have been able to see life through a different lense...hopefully you all have enjoyed my blog and felt you got to travel with me...

....Danny and I are so excited to get back home and see all of our friends and family and loved ones, we've missed all of you...

...We can't wait to experience more travels together again one day and will be keeping this Blog site for when we do, so save the address and we'll let you know when our fun filled adventures resume!

Until next time, hope you enjoyed Peru as much as we did!


Last weekend at the beach house...

Started the day off right with a little favorite....

It's addicting, trust me once you taste my guac you'll never go back...

Our hotel room...

...Our private deck...this hotel is owned by a brazillian man with quite a funky theme...

...The sky is beautiful today out on our deck...

...My poolside spot looking toward our little sunken cabana...

...This place is so funky...I liked it...

...I've fallen on a beach chair and can't get up...don't send for help,
but do send the waiter around will you?

...Its a prime surf weekend, the waves are good and there's a buzz around this place...

....A little art and wine go hand in hand...

...Like I said, this place has quite a funky theme...

...Kama Sutra wall...interesting, very interesting...

...The painted sky above the palm trees...

...Just sitting here wrapped in my book while little pudgers goes waddling around with his floaties...he was too funny...

Art sculpture by the pool & beach wrap blowing in the breeze...

...Front view of the hotel, very pretty...

...Danny's happy face, he's back from a great surf session with his new best friend, the G & S...

...Steps toward our cabana...

...The beautiful vines growing on the hotel walls...

...Our little version of footsteps in the sand...

...Danny scoping out the others surfing...

...There goes the sun...

...It was just too beautiful to not snap a couple shots...It's amazing to me that this is the same big ocean that everyone else is gazing at in San Diego, I'm just a lot further south...


...The fun doesn't stop here, we go out to have a few more fun memories with friends...

...Danny is quite the dancing queen...

...Lucky strike seems to have taken over the bar scene here and it shows...all over the walls... and in the smokey atmosphere...

...View of the crowd...

...The colorful bar, so spicy...
...It's crazy here, the bottle service means you by a bottle for $50 bucks and carry it around with you until you and your buddys drink it all gone and are so hammered you can't see straight...this not only seems outrageously dangerous to me but just plain backwards...there were bottles everywhere...
...this would never fly in San Diego, where it's a 2 bottle, $200 minimum booth service, high end ordeal...a more booze controlled environment...they would never just hand out bottles by the truck load...here people can wreak havoc from 12 pm to 6am if they wish....and most people do...
...also, forget ordering a vodka soda at the bar, they've never heard of it, it will take 45 minutes, and you'll get some different concoction every time...
...last time we got Tang...TANG!
...Yes, the powdered mixture orange drink...good times...
....this is where the night ends...tomorrow we are riding up the coast to see the northern beaches...can't wait to see what awaits us up there...