From Leimebamba we head through the mountains and down to the coast.  The highway here is pretty decent, dirt but good, up until Cajamarca.  From there to the coast the road is significantly worse and takes forever.  There is also much more traffic on this section, especially buses and big trucks.  Once you descend out of the mountains, the road is not only in bad condition and slow, but also very, very dusty and with the truck traffic, sometimes you can’t see much through the dust.  We made it from Cajamarca to Pacasmayo on the beach in one very long day.  All of us were tired and dusty.  We found camping at El Faro Bungalows for 23 soles ($8) for the night.  To get to the bungalows follow the beach road out of Pacasmayo to the south and you’ll see them.  It’s the only resort looking place out there.  We used of a bathroom in one of the bungalows which was excellent and we all took turns showering off the layer of dust/dirt that had deposited on us from the drive.  Nice place to stay with WiFi, a pool and restaurant.

Click here to see more photos from Pacasmayo and driving down to the coast: Pacasmayo and Driving to the Coast

Next we drove to Lambayeque, a few kilometers north of Chiclayo.  Here we visited two museums, Bruning museum and Lord of Sipan museum.  I recommend both because they are different and very good.  Bruning has a private collection of artifacts from several different indigenous cultures prior to and including the Incas.  The Lord of Sipan museum is bigger but only has artifacts found in the tombs of the Lord of Sipan from the Moche culture.  It is amazing how much was found buried with the Lord of Sipan and to be able to see it all is unique.  Most tombs have been looted and not much of value is left behind but in this case, the archaeologists were able to retrieve everything in this tomb. Unfortunately we don’t have any photos from the Lord of Sipan Museum because we weren’t allowed to take any. These photos are from the Bruning Museum.

Click here to see more photos from the Bruning Museum: Bruning Museum-Lambayeque

On this night, we camped at Katuwira Lodge located on Playa de las Rocas, just south of Pimentel.  Here we stayed for 10 soles ($3) per night.  There was no electricity and the showers were cold but it was beautiful and safe.  The people who own the Katuwira Lodge were very nice, always making improvements.  They made a bonfire for us and we hear they cook some really good food. The town of Pimentel was about 1/2 kilometer north on the beach and easily within walking distance.

Click here to see more photos from Pimentel campsite and beach: Pimentel-Reed Boats, Beach and Camping

From the Chiclayo area, we drove south to the Trujillo area where we stayed in the beach town of Huanchaco.  We stayed at Huanchaco Gardens for 30 soles ($10) per night.  It is a very nice place.  You park right by the pool and they open a room for you to use for hot showers.  They have nice bathrooms by the pool, but no shower.
Here we stayed a few days to rest and work on some car projects.  We did laundry and Chad with John’s assistance found the problem with the high idle.  To fix it we needed a new part, a butterfly valve somewhere that regulates the amount of air sucked into the engine.  Since we could not buy this part here, we had it manufactured in Trujillo.  They also found a new problem with all the metal brackets holding the alternator in place; they were all broken.  We had all the metal brackets manufactured in Trujillo as well.  If you ever need metal work done, the thing to ask for in Spanish is a Torno (Metal Lathe).

Click here to see more photos from Pimentel campsite and beach: Pimentel-Reed Boats, Beach and Camping

In the Huanchaco/Trujillo area we visited the archeological sites, Chan Chan and the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna.  From here, we headed back up into the mountains to the town of Caraz, where we find ourselves today, updating the website.

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI