Huarmey to Huanchaco - March 22

Just outside of Huarmey I noticed a small parking area in the dunes close to the ocean, so we decided to see if we could get to the shore.  It turned out the dunes were fairly hard-packed and we could ride on them long distances.

It was a lot of fun riding up and over the big rollers, and the views of the ocean and cliffs were amazing.

At one point I rode down a steep slope right to the water.  There were a number of large vultures sunning themselves on the rocks, and we found a very strange skull on the beach.

We stopped at a tiny desert oasis part way to Casma, where we met Clemante.  He runs this restauarant, literally in the middle of nowhere, but he has incredible storys about travellers and he keeps logbooks for people to write a short message about their journeys.

The storys were amazing, including one about an Ingleses Gulf War veteran who was on a ten year journey around the globe without the aid of ships, planes, trains, cars, buses, trucks or even bicycles.  He was towing all his gear in a handcart as he walked along!

You can see his webpage with this link:   http://www.odysseyxxi.com/south_america.html

I was invited to add my piece to the journal, and did so humbly because our trip seems to pale in comparison to the accomplishments described in those pages.

In Casma, we stopped at Sechin, a pre-incan temple that dates back 2000-3000 years B.C.

From Casma we rode to Chimbote - a filthy place - but then on to Huanchaco.

Huanchaco is actually a bit if a surfing Mecca, and has developed as somewhat of a resort town.  We ditched our gear at a nice hostal (bikes in the lobby again), and went straight to the beach to watch the incredible waves, the last of the days surfers, and the setting sun.

Dinner was fresh seafood of course, and I ordered something that must have translated to "mountain of food" - a spicy stew of scallops, shrimp, squid, octopus, onion and tomatoes set atop a full crab, alongside a huge portion of freshly caught grilled fish.  It was delicious, but the crab was incredible - the meat was so tender and sweet it tasted as though it had been cooked in maple sap!