A little worried about more rain waiting for us, we were glad to open our curtains to a slightly overcast day. At least this morning we would not get wet and our gear was almost dry. In the first big town we stopped at, we solved our money problem and got some local currency. Finally, we could enjoy a good lunch. The day was getting much hotter and still no sign of rain: we were in luck. For the next few days, we will be riding along the coast and we also learned later, through a desert the whole time.
Our first three days of riding in Peru were similar: we went only through desert areas, with very few towns along the road. The ones we stayed at for the three nights were all like oasis in the desert after a long ride, almost like a mirage. First came Chiclayo: it was the first town we had seen for 200 Kms and the end of our desert discovery day. We had seen immense flats of sand, followed by dunes scattered with small plants and finally earth mixed with sand that was so dry that it had huge cracks. We were quite surprised by the variety of dersert landscape we were driving through. It was pretty hot but not as much as we though given what we were looking at. It immediately reminded Chad of his two Peace Corps years in Ivory Coast, Africa. The same sand everywhere, small poor isolated houses scattered along the highway. Only the people looked different.
The second day riding, we were surprised to go through some more desert, all the way to Trujillo where we stopped to visit some ruins. Again, a different desert with big hills covered 
with sand and rocks and much less vegetation. The wind had picked up and we were now fighting against it, to stay straight on the road. It was quite an effort... The third day, desert again, without interruption to Huermay. Since we were closer to the coast now, we got to enjoy ocean views, as if the desert was the biggest beach there is, with only lots of sand between the highway and the ocean. It was unrealistic, all his sand right on the ocean. We also got more mountains, with a large array of colors such as orange, red, yellow, brown... There were more and more mountains in the desert, making the road twist and go up and down. We had never imagined the north part of Peru as a big desert, we really had no idea.
A quite special Valentine's night
We arrived in Trujillo on Valentine's day, to visit the ancient city of Chan Chan, once the capital of the Chimu world. We were quite excited as this was our first ruin in Peru and amazingly, the remains of the original adobe structure was still standing. Who could have guessed that mud was a material that would last from the thirteen century to our our modern days? Our first challenge was to find the site: as we've discovered the hard way since we had been in Peru, there are little to no signs here. The city of Chan Chan was composed of three different sites, all integrated in the urban jungle of Trujillo and its suburb. Our first task was finding the Huaca Arco Iris. We had to ask at least six people, getting closer each time and finally found the site which looked from the outside like a parking lot with a big white wall on a random block. Now we knew that we had to look for non obvious sites, that just looked like a garage or something. We entered the site, which was an ancient temple of the Chan Chan city. Unfortunately, it had rained so hard that they had to cover most of the adobe walls which were dissolving. We still had a chance to observe some of the intricate serpent sculptures on the wall but could not get a good grasp of the whole structure. Next time we would come, they told us the walls would be under a roof currently being build that would protect the site from the rain and other elements.
We headed for our next stop, the impressive Palacio de Chan Chan. This site, still at the end of a random road leaving the city could not be missed: big adobe walls were standin
g on each side of the pavement. We had to ride all the way to the end of a dirt road to visit the huge palace. It was amazing to see the different mud sculptures, like fish, birds or sort of squirrels. It took us a while to walk through all the chambers and learn more about how this civilization was worshiping its gods. We finished just as the site was closing and headed back to La Esperanza to find a hotel close by so that we could visit the last site the next morning.
We actually had a very good night in our "special" hotel, very comfortable and clean, with our bikes securely parked in the closed garage. We went to visit the last archeolo
gical site of the Chan Chan complex, la Huaca Esmeralda. This one was one of the best preserved temple as it had been discovered only in 1960, under dunes of sand. It was still being excavated, with beautiful sculptures being revealed. At the gate, like previously in the other sites, the most ugly dog greeted us, all black and without a single hair. We were told it was an Inca breed, unique to Peru, that was known for its resistance to heat and being a good guardian. No wonder such an ugly dog would not export to other countries. Now that we had fully visited Chan Chan, we were going south for our last stretch of desert before heading inland toward the Andes, dying to see the Cordillera Blanca and get some cooler temperature.
Sand, always more sand, all the way to the ocean
Our first three days of riding in Peru were similar: we went only through desert areas, with very few towns along the road. The ones we stayed at for the three nights were all like oasis in the desert after a long ride, almost like a mirage. First came Chiclayo: it was the first town we had seen for 200 Kms and the end of our desert discovery day. We had seen immense flats of sand, followed by dunes scattered with small plants and finally earth mixed with sand that was so dry that it had huge cracks. We were quite surprised by the variety of dersert landscape we were driving through. It was pretty hot but not as much as we though given what we were looking at. It immediately reminded Chad of his two Peace Corps years in Ivory Coast, Africa. The same sand everywhere, small poor isolated houses scattered along the highway. Only the people looked different.The second day riding, we were surprised to go through some more desert, all the way to Trujillo where we stopped to visit some ruins. Again, a different desert with big hills covered 
with sand and rocks and much less vegetation. The wind had picked up and we were now fighting against it, to stay straight on the road. It was quite an effort... The third day, desert again, without interruption to Huermay. Since we were closer to the coast now, we got to enjoy ocean views, as if the desert was the biggest beach there is, with only lots of sand between the highway and the ocean. It was unrealistic, all his sand right on the ocean. We also got more mountains, with a large array of colors such as orange, red, yellow, brown... There were more and more mountains in the desert, making the road twist and go up and down. We had never imagined the north part of Peru as a big desert, we really had no idea.A quite special Valentine's night
We arrived in Trujillo on Valentine's day, to visit the ancient city of Chan Chan, once the capital of the Chimu world. We were quite excited as this was our first ruin in Peru and amazingly, the remains of the original adobe structure was still standing. Who could have guessed that mud was a material that would last from the thirteen century to our our modern days? Our first challenge was to find the site: as we've discovered the hard way since we had been in Peru, there are little to no signs here. The city of Chan Chan was composed of three different sites, all integrated in the urban jungle of Trujillo and its suburb. Our first task was finding the Huaca Arco Iris. We had to ask at least six people, getting closer each time and finally found the site which looked from the outside like a parking lot with a big white wall on a random block. Now we knew that we had to look for non obvious sites, that just looked like a garage or something. We entered the site, which was an ancient temple of the Chan Chan city. Unfortunately, it had rained so hard that they had to cover most of the adobe walls which were dissolving. We still had a chance to observe some of the intricate serpent sculptures on the wall but could not get a good grasp of the whole structure. Next time we would come, they told us the walls would be under a roof currently being build that would protect the site from the rain and other elements. We headed for our next stop, the impressive Palacio de Chan Chan. This site, still at the end of a random road leaving the city could not be missed: big adobe walls were standin
g on each side of the pavement. We had to ride all the way to the end of a dirt road to visit the huge palace. It was amazing to see the different mud sculptures, like fish, birds or sort of squirrels. It took us a while to walk through all the chambers and learn more about how this civilization was worshiping its gods. We finished just as the site was closing and headed back to La Esperanza to find a hotel close by so that we could visit the last site the next morning. As we rode slowly in the streets, Chad noticed that Caroline's back tire was low on air and as we stopped for a closer look, she had a small nail in it and it was actually getting flat. Again, great timing, just before the sunset. We got the tools out and starting fixing the tire. Many moto-taxi drivers stopped b
y and asked if they could help. We told them we should have the tire fixed within a few minutes. One of them, Franco, a younger guy, spoke perfect English that he had learned in the streets by hanging out with foreigners. Quite impressive! He stayed a little while until the tire was fixed and offered his help to find a hotel with parking. We just had to follow his moto-taxi. First hotel we went to: full. Second as well and so was the third! Surprised, we asked if they was a festival in town and were told that no: it was the day of the couples. We had to think about it for a few seconds and then got it. We were all worried that we would not find space in the restaurants for Valentine's day but we got it all wrong. Here you take your date to the hotel and rent a room for a few hours...
y and asked if they could help. We told them we should have the tire fixed within a few minutes. One of them, Franco, a younger guy, spoke perfect English that he had learned in the streets by hanging out with foreigners. Quite impressive! He stayed a little while until the tire was fixed and offered his help to find a hotel with parking. We just had to follow his moto-taxi. First hotel we went to: full. Second as well and so was the third! Surprised, we asked if they was a festival in town and were told that no: it was the day of the couples. We had to think about it for a few seconds and then got it. We were all worried that we would not find space in the restaurants for Valentine's day but we got it all wrong. Here you take your date to the hotel and rent a room for a few hours...The second hotel had told us earlier that they had no room but that if we came back at 9 pm, there would be one available. Now it all made sense. Tired of searching, we took their offer and went out to an (empty) restaurant and have dinner with Franco, who had been so helpful.
The conversation was good and so was the food. We were enjoying the time with our new friend when a girl came into the restaurant and told us that someone was trying to steal the bike. We got out and they were still there: false alert. Dinner finished, ready to start the bikes, we noticed that Caroline's sapre tire had moved: someone had tried to steal it by cutting all the bungee cords but could not cut the metal lock we had put on. Relieved nothing was stolen but still in shock it almost was, we said goodbye to Franco and drove to the hotel. Our room was ready: we parked the bikes and put all our stuff in the room. To relax, we turned the TV on. This is when we noticed that our room had some unexpected features like an adult movie channel and a big mirror on the wall besides the bed. Quite funny, especially for our Valentine's night. Life is full of surprises...
The conversation was good and so was the food. We were enjoying the time with our new friend when a girl came into the restaurant and told us that someone was trying to steal the bike. We got out and they were still there: false alert. Dinner finished, ready to start the bikes, we noticed that Caroline's sapre tire had moved: someone had tried to steal it by cutting all the bungee cords but could not cut the metal lock we had put on. Relieved nothing was stolen but still in shock it almost was, we said goodbye to Franco and drove to the hotel. Our room was ready: we parked the bikes and put all our stuff in the room. To relax, we turned the TV on. This is when we noticed that our room had some unexpected features like an adult movie channel and a big mirror on the wall besides the bed. Quite funny, especially for our Valentine's night. Life is full of surprises...
We actually had a very good night in our "special" hotel, very comfortable and clean, with our bikes securely parked in the closed garage. We went to visit the last archeolo
gical site of the Chan Chan complex, la Huaca Esmeralda. This one was one of the best preserved temple as it had been discovered only in 1960, under dunes of sand. It was still being excavated, with beautiful sculptures being revealed. At the gate, like previously in the other sites, the most ugly dog greeted us, all black and without a single hair. We were told it was an Inca breed, unique to Peru, that was known for its resistance to heat and being a good guardian. No wonder such an ugly dog would not export to other countries. Now that we had fully visited Chan Chan, we were going south for our last stretch of desert before heading inland toward the Andes, dying to see the Cordillera Blanca and get some cooler temperature. 
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