However I wasn't ready to settle down just yet, and although very tired headed off to Loja for the night, to catch the bus early next morning to cross the border back into Peru. The border crossing was fairly simple this time, not having to change buses helped, although the bus porter was one of the stupidest people I have met, and seemed to annoy everyone on the bus, till even the bus driver called him and imbecile. A couple of Peruvians I met on the same bus, were going all the way to Chiclayo and helped me with the change in Piura, as well as accompanying me to my hotel as it was dark.

There are loads of lovely people in Peru, and the above is just one example of how I have been helped by such people. Another extreme example happened my first evening in Chiclayo. I was wandering around looking for somewhere to get a dinner as I hadn't had any lunch, when a girl approached me and asked me if I wanted to go into the arcade that I was looking into and try the dance game. I of course declined, but she asked if she could practice her English with me, and in turn would find me somewhere good. Surprised to be approached by a female for a change, I decided to let Fabiola and her friend, Sophia, join me. We chatted away for the evening, and it was nice to have company instead of being on my own in a new city. Fabiola then decided to adopt me, and came with me on my siteseeing around Chiclayo the next day, and the following invited me to dinner with her family and to stay in her Grandma's extra flat. I felt honoured to be invited into their family, it was a unique experience for me to get inside Peru a little more.

The ruins surrounding Chiclayo are quite amazing. Túcume is little more than strategically placed and shaped mud piles at first look. But walking around you can see how the pyramids were constructed and marvel at the size and intricacy of their society. And within the Tombs of Sipan they have found a mountain of gold and beautifully made jewels and artifacts. These are societies that predate the Inca, and are well developed, to the point where they had enough wealth and time to make very beautiful things and many many of them. Further pre-Inca ruins surround the next city of Trujillo. The city of Chan Chan and temples around made out of adobe bricks are huge and awe inspiring. The friese work still visible on some of them, really makes me wonder about the peoples living there. Fabiola accompanied me to Trujillo and insisted that I stay with her Aunt at the convent where her Aunt is the Principal of the School there. Another unforgettable experience I could not have had without the pure goodness and hospitality of Fabiola and her family. We stayed together in a room at the convent and I met all the resident nuns who were all very sweet. The fed me and made me feel very comfortable, while Fabiola accompanied me around the city for siteseeing. Trujillo is a pretty city, not far away from Huanchaco, a seaside fishing town where we had a brilliant day as it was hot enough to go swimming and enjoy a beer in the sun, while trying the local Ceviche.

Fabiola and her Aunt convinced me that a visit to Peru was not complete without a trip to Cajamarca, the old capital of Peru, and the last stand of the Inca Empire before the Spanish Conquest. So instead of heading off to Huaraz on my own to trek in the mountains, Fabiola and I bused off to Cajamarca with bags full of supplies from Aunt so as we would not go hungry. It was about 5am when we arrived, so we waited till it got light enough and headed off to the famous Inca Baths. There is actually only one room that still exists from Inca times, with hot sulphury water piping through it all day and night, but the public baths themselves are quite excellent. You pay your U$1 and go on in to a private room with a large tiled rectangular bath in the floor, which has hot and cold water pumping through it constantly, you plop in the plug, fill up with the temperature that best suits you and literally have a bath, with soap, shampoo the works. It's very higenic because you bath in your own water and they are cleaned out before each new person/people. I enjoyed it so much we went back early the next morning before heading back to Trujillo. I also saw the holding cell of Atahualpa - the last Incan cheif, and more amazing Inca architectural precision in a water channel they had built many years ago, and visited the stone forest, with massive elongated rocks amongst the hills, my favourites, giving the impression of a castle or strong hold with a long wall beside. Cajamarca is supposed to have the best cows and everything bovine in Peru, and I did find that they made this wonderful caramel like stuff which you just put on bread or cookies, or on a spoon and in your mouth - manjar blanca - YUM

It is a story about Manjar Blanca in which we see another example of friendly Peruvians shining through. After bathing on the morning we were to leave, I had planned to buy some of the delicious caramel stuff for Fabiola's mum who has sent me my forgotten hat. But the guy who was selling it there the day before had disappeared. Noticing our distress about the situation, a man checking about tickets asked if he could help, he had his car and wife out front waiting, and could give us a ride if need be. Half the issue was that we didn't have enough time to get to the stores and back. So I accepted the ride, and the couple took me to the shops to buy the caramel and then brought me back to the station. How lovely it was of them, to selflessly help me. Thank you friendly Peruvians. The rest of the day did not go so well for Fabiola as she was violently ill for 5 of the 8 hour journey back to Trujillo. Then there was only time for some delicious donuts from the seaside and onto the bus to Huaraz for me and back to Chiclayo for Fabiola.

I was tired when I got to Huaraz (and bloody cold - the windows iced up on the INSIDE during the night journey), so decided to have a day of rest, but that meant I was not able to do the four day trek around Mt Huascaran, the highest mountain in the tropics, which I was really upset about, apparently it is stunning, and I will have to go back to Peru one day and do it. Huaraz is a nice little town surrounded by stunning snowy peaks. There is lots to do, so I took a couple of tours, to some impressive ruins that date 1000 BC and up to a lake that looked not unlike Lake Tekapo, except that it was at about 4500 m.a.s.l., it was much smaller, and was surrounded by this cloud forest which contained these insane trees that looked like they were peeling browny red rice paper. This tree's bark was just like fine rice paper and just shedded itself in abundance. Neat to look at. This was also the day that I tried Guinea Pig. It has to be done, it is a delicacy in both Peru and Ecuador, and as I am up for the whole experience, I thought I must try. Having a hangover didn't help, neither did the Dutch guy I was sharing a table with, when he said 'Look at the wee claws, I couldn't do it'. And it still hand a bit of white fur on it, but I tucked in anyway, if you can call it tucking in, not very much meat on it. But no, it almost made me GAK, uh uh, couldn't do it, tried, but just didn't like it. However I did like the night before having a fun night out with some of my tour mates though, drinking and dancing till all hours.