Chiclayo to Lima Peru 1 12 11

Chiclayo 

A very unusual city , they seemed to have a fetish for things Roman 

Next day we went out to the Sipan Ruins and Tombs

they discovered lots of gold artifacts , these dated back to the 100AD to 700AD century

When the Chief die they killed his youngest son and  2 of his wife's to go to the after world with him (what a prick!! ) . Above is one of the most important Tombs found 

We took a short cut after leaving Sipan , which turned out to be a very long cut .

Terry's bike down in the sand (I'm pleased to say it was not me this time )

Next stop Huanchaco on the coast , nice little town with lots of great surf , it is believed that surfing was first practiced here 

The next morning we stopped in at the ruins of Chan Chan Built around 1300 AD , the Incas conquered it around 1460 , but the Spanish looted all the gold  . In its hay day there were around 10,000 structures and approx 30,000 people living here 

On the road to Chimbote , this is a fishing town , with 1000s of fishing boats (which just stunk of fish) . But in saying that it was quite nice and we had a good Hotel 

Above Chimbote

Great roads and heaps of sand 

Amazing what a little water will do 

On the way to  Huaraz , through Cordilleras Blanca and  Canon Del Pato , which is one of the all time rides ever 

Click on the Videos of the ride opposite in the Canon Del Pato

There should be 2 videos , but there looks like only 1 so I will work on getting the other one up 

Click on this link to view a good one 

http://www.youtube.com/user/rwarnold100?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/hJNyGoqifbo

A little shop on the way for a drink , these little shops are in the most remote places , and always very friendly and happy to see us   

Another Drink stop , it was very hot in the Canyon , the Canyon walls were vertical . The  riding and views were amazing  . There was dirt for around 90 kms and the rest was tar seal .The dirt was hard packed , but very lumpy and lots of very big rocks .When we first got to the dirt I thought shit here we go again "Mica" . But about a 1km in I relaxed and it was all go and we had a lot of fun , the Tiger loved it  and handled great in the sand and gravel .

Canon Del Pato

Top and bottom 

Terry with Bike trouble, just outside Huraraz  , but the boys fixed it in no time , and we were on the way 

Bottom leaving Huaraz 

Top and bottom leaving Huaraz , in the Cordillera Blanca's there is over 50 pecks over 6000 mt above sea level 

Top and Bottom Barranca

Another great city , there were bugger all cars , just heaps of  Tuk Tuks 100s and 100s of them 

Some were really up market and looking to get the edge 

After Barranca we went out to Caral Ruins , one of the oldest known civilizations known in the Americas . Dated back to 2600 to 2000 BC with around 300 people living there .

On the way Dave decided to give this bike a wash in the stream , the road was very sandy for about 4 kms .     

Caral Ruins Top and bottom  

While we were at Caral Ruins a bulldozer decided to rip up the river crossing . Which made it a very dodgy crossing ,on the way back to the main road , appox 25kms 

Back on the road to Lima and more sand 

The riding through Peru and the desert is fantastic , big roads and lots of sand but just beautiful , I love it ( Peru is not all sand , they have vast areas of rain forest on the Amazon side of the mountains) . So if you are thinking of some where to go , come to Peru , you will love it . It doesn't matter if the people are rich or poor they are so happy to see you and really interested in where we are going . They are just such lovely people  . 

Coming out of Chimbote we were pulled over by a young guy, who with charades told us we were going the wrong way . Then he told us to follow him (which we did for 25kms ) to put us on the right road (how's that )

Desert Town what a great place to live , no worries about rain here, just a lot of dust