The weather in Huanchaco was warm but grey giving the wild ocean a glossy sheen. We went for a stroll along the beach in the afternoon but were put off by the huge amount of rubbish along the shore line and in the water. Why any tourist would want to take surfing lessons here was beyond me even if the break was awesome. None the less we watched the surfers in the water from our second story restaurant deck enjoying a meal of Chevichie and fried fish with real lemonade for $6nz each. We also watched a young local on a 'Caballito de totora' reed boat, said to be one of the first surf crafts ever used. The man paddled the boat with skill, sitting on his knees through the breaks, he later returned with a catch of fish in the back cutout from a long line. After our early dinner it was back to the RV Gardens for some internet time.
The next morning after a breakfast of fried eggs and sausages we followed the tourist map to the Chan Chan ruins. I had been recommend the ruins by a friend but had read mixed reviews online. Though for 10 soles each we think they were worth it, I've certainly never seen anything so amazing created just with adobe mud especially the fishing net pattern work, even if most of it is not original and had been reconstructed the ruins were very interesting. We spent about an hour wandering around and you could spend much longer if you wanted to walk through the outer lying but almost destroyed walls that were once of an epic scale. Afterwards we visited the nearby museum who's entry is included in the ticket. It had plenty of good information but we were eager to hit the road. Before leaving we tracked down a panadería (bakery) with some fresh bread for a simple lunch on the move because it was 546km to our next destination, the Kuelap ruins. We had never heard about these ruins before the trip but many overlanders had recommended them saying that they were like Machu Piccu before it became so popular. Friends had described the place as still over grown and visited by few tourists so we added it to our must see list.
Rochelle & Will