Northern Peru:
Driving over the border from Ecuador into Peru was almost like flicking a switch and changing the landscape. Windswept desert with scruffy looking vultures with red and black heads was all we could see for miles and miles! Every now and then a little village would materialize. Most of the houses are incomplete with steel reinforcing bars decorating the skyline in a tangled mess. Bamboo and woven palm leaves are another common material that they use for construction. Many of the walls are covered in crushed glass to ward off intruders where as some of the roofs are constructed with reeds which are then covered with mud . Most of the people in Peru are very poor and it makes you appreciate what you’ve got especially when you see old people toiling in the fields or carrying heavy loads. 
In the more rural villages the houses are constructed with mud bricks that the locals make by casting mud and straw in a mould and baking in the sun to dry. Tethered donkeys, pigs, sheep, cows, llamas, alpacas and goats graze around in a circle with ropes attached to either their horns or legs. Most of the women still wear traditional dress and look beautiful with their brightly coloured dresses, flowery blouses, shawls, leggings, pumps and large black hats. As we drove along I saw quite a few random dogs and tricycles covered with plastic canvass decorated with their own designs which could be anything from flames to evil eyes and cartoons.
Back in Loki Hostel we spent our time lazing in hammocks, playing pool or table tennis while sipping cold beers or cocktails. On our second day we had a fish BBQ which went down a treat. During the day the hotel had a few competitions to keep us entertained like pool volley ball, tug of war, pool bombing, hanging and extreme Frisbee. Our team was called the Brahma Boys (Adrian, Sally, Matt, Paul and I) which was the name of the local beer and overall we won most of the competitions with Sally breaking a new girls hanging record!
On our way to Huanchaco we visited a museum in Lambayeque which is called the Royal Tombs of Sipan. Most of the tombs have unfortunately been raided by grave robbers but luckily they found some artifacts and one complete tomb intact which is on display in this museum. It was very interesting seeing all their jewelery and artifacts which were made out of gold, copper and turquoise. When one of the kings died he was buried with many other people including a few llamas added in for good measure!
Huanchaco: This was another seaside town where we set up camp in a backpackers. We reached this city after 10 hours of driving from Mancora. The little fishing boats decorated the beachfront and are very iconic in this region – reed boats which taper to pointed ends. These little boats date back to the Inca times! We only had one full day in Huanchaco and we spent that day visiting the Chan Chan Temple as well as the Temple of the Moon. These are ruins made from plastered mud bricks and decorated with many friezes of fish, waves and sea life. The Moche people also painted the heads of their gods on walls in black, yellow, red and white. Our guide told us how human sacrifice was common practice and the blood was collected and offered to their leader after. It was interesting to see that in modern days the people use the exact same way of building as were used back in the days of the Moche!
Huaraz: The town is situated between mountains – a few of them snow-capped and the highest of them being Huascaran which is also the highest mountain in Peru! Huaraz sits at an altitude of 3100m which was a huge difference as we came from the sea that same day. We stayed in Joe’s Backpackers and the few soles we paid extra was well worth the upgrade to rooms as it got very cold there in the evenings. We had two full days in Huaraz and went mountain biking the first day. It was about an hour’s drive up a very bad road in the mountains and from there we rode our mountain bikes down the snaking road. Some places we had to dodge animals while dogs chased after us while cycling through some villages! The kids were cute and a few times they ran towards us shouting “Hola gringos!”
The next day our whole group went hiking up to Laguna 69 which is high up in Huascaran National Park. The drive there was about two hours with lots of shaking going through potholes and dirt roads. On our way we passed two turquoise lakes which were situated in a valley with steep, sheer cliffs on either side. Our bus dropped us off at the side of the road from where we started our 16km hike up the mountain. The hike up was pretty hard as oxygen gets less and less the higher we climbed. On our way up we saw many waterfalls – some of them falling down a high mountain and disappearing in a fine mist. Some of our group struggled with altitude sickness and there were a few bad headaches, nausea and vomiting although the view that greeted us when we saw Laguna 69 was worth every effort! The lagoon had a vivid ice-blue/turquoise colour with a waterfall at the far end. High above the lagoon were ice-covered peaks and below there were glaciers. It was a beautiful view and we were all stunned into silence while we ate our lunch and soaked up the scenery.Driving to and fro from our hike to Laguna 69 was like gambling with your life! It felt like our minibus was on the wrong side of the road most of the time while the driver was constantly dodging potholes and stray animals. Our driver also overtook other vehicles on bends and many times he had to break hard and move back in behind the leading vehicle to avoid collision! The bad road conditions were pretty much on par with the driving abilities of many of the people! Another constant is honking cars - I’ve always wondered about the philosophy of people who honk their horns all the time. Do they really think that they can somehow honk the leading car or an obvious traffic jam out of the way!?
We had some bad news on our last night: Miguel was going to quit as our tour guide due to personal reasons. Even though he was still slightly inexperienced, he was a nice bloke and we didn’t want him to leave but unfortunately his mind was made up. The good news however was that Max, Scoota’s friend, was going to be our new leader. We met him before at Mancora and found him to be a very nice guy with a good sense of humour so we were all looking forward spending the rest of our trip with him.
Lima: Lima was our next stop after about 10 hours drive. About a third of Peru’s population lives in Lima so it is a very large city. The buildings ranges from old mud buildings to modern skyscrapers. The streets are yet again lined with vendors selling fruit, sweets and cakes, grilled meats, flowers, etc. Many Peruvians from the country still flock to Lima to settle in mud huts on the sandy slopes on the outskirts of the city. These houses apparently don’t have any sanitation and it would not be a nice place to live!
We had a total of 3 days in Lima. On one of these days Peru was playing Costa Rica in a football match which we went to go and see. Vendors were selling football shirts outside the stadium for 10soles which is the equivalent of 2 pounds so needless to say many of us bought one for the game. The game itself was great fun especially when the whole crowd chanted what sounded like “hari cheetah”, which means dickhead, to the beat of a very loud drum every time the ref made a bad decision according to the angry mob. Peru won 2-0 that day so most of the spectators were in a good mood. 
Another place we visited was the Catacombs which is where all the Franciscan monks through the centuries lived – there are still monks living there today. Tens of thousands of people’s bones are buried underneath in the Catacombs and some of the crypts are filled to a depth of about 10 metres with human bones! Other than that there were some impressive paintings and also an old library which had some very old books. The wood carvings in the main church were also very impressive. Two new big changes took place in Lima: Our new crew joined us and Trevor our truck broke down and had to be fixed. Luckily there was a spare Tucan truck in Lima and we were given Frank which is bigger than even Trevor! Eddie, a crazy Geordie, was going to be our new driver while Scoota got Trevor got fixed. Our new crew consisted out of 12 people – 2 boys and 10 girls!
Our new crew:
Mike: An absolute lunatic with a great sense of humour! He has the metabolism of an ostrich and is known to be able to consume abnormal quantities of cake that would kill a lesser human being! It was great seeing him glide down the sand dunes with a look on his face which looked like a mixture of pure exhilaration and constipation! He lost all credibility and man points when he identified in record time the Little Mermaid's theme tune when we had a movie music quiz on the truck. Most of us still can't take him seriously after that...
Aoife: She puts forth a pure and innocent façade which quickly disappears when alcohol is involved. When this happens she turns into a party animal who dances on any flat surface possible which includes tables, bar counters, chairs, walls and ceilings! She is the first person ever that can be everywhere on the dance floor at the same time in a flurry of arms, legs and hair. Aoife is a true soldier who kept on dancing even after injuring herself - a great girl and lots of fun!
Alex: A fairly quiet individual who likes to stare out of the window a lot with his cool Arnold-Schwarzenegger-as-the-Terminator stare. When he is not staring down the flora and fauna he is usually engrossed in some sort of book. He is always immaculately dressed in loafers, V-neck jumpers, tailored shorts and his iconic Driza Bone raincoat. A very friendly chap who we will miss as he was only with us for 3 weeks.
Chrissy: If there are two words to describe her it would be ‘petite’ and ‘sweet’. A permanent smile usually decorates her face. She found out the hard way that 3-for-1 Mojitos comes at a price – she tried calling people like Geeeeeorge and Raaaaalph later on that evening! Chrissy also found herself at the very top of the Machu Picchu’s Mosquitoes’ Menu when she forgot to spray herself with insect repellent! I was shocked to the core when she boldly touched Satan's penis for good luck when we visited the mines!
Shabana: She found out to her cost in Huacachina, that sand dune photography can be a very expensive hobby! On our trip to the Ballestas Islands she got thoroughly soaked when a wave crashed over the boat. Things can only get better for her…What does make her happy however is spending hours and hours on the internet! 
Andrea: She is a big All Blacks supporter and even has their tattoo on her foot! She got badly sunburned on our Lares Trek and we felt sorry for her with her little puffy red ears and hands which looked like little red boxing gloves.
Caz: She takes over the dance floor with a pair of wild eyes after a few cocktails! She confided in me one morning and confessed that she wants a penis. I let it rest with that…
Hazel: She is somehow connected with the truck’s ignition system – as soon as it starts she always promptly falls asleep! We also discovered that she turns into a dance machine after a few Pisco sours. She is also known as the early morning plastic bag faffer and at times has the biggest owl eyes tan that I’ve ever seen! She should not be messed with though as she has a 10m long pet snake who I suspect get fed off ex boyfriends and any others that cross her path…
Siobhan: A very friendly Irish lass with a constant sparkle in her navy blue eyes. She discovered that hammers were made for a reason and that hitting in tent pegs with her foot is not a good idea. She is also known as a forward planner who books her piece of cake well in advance so as to avoid disappointment while she is sitting between her sad, sobbing chocolate depraved friends.
Steph: Also known as princess Fiona with her husband Shrek (played by Lynne). She is known to participate in the consumption in any form of alcoholic beverages and becomes alive on the dance floor - her Peter Crouch robot dance is especially entertaining to watch! Pink is definitely her favourite colour and her toenails usually blend in perfectly with her sandals. Her very sweet and innocent aura sometimes gets questioned by some unexpected cutting remarks...
Lynne: An almost typical Irish lass – friendly, fair skinned, red hair and of course very partial to any form of alcoholic beverage! I’ve heard via the grapevine that she loves goats cheese and is one day going to have her own goat farm. She usually doesn't say much but can be ruthless when playing cards.
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Max: aka Maximus Ridiculous is the leader of our small Spartan clan. Max likes to fall off things a lot – these includes mountain bikes and sand boards. Otherwise he is happiest swaying in a hammock with a beer and a book, wearing his sex hat. Known for his very witty remarks and less witty preference of clothing especially when wearing his "Captain Snippy Trousers".Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=298407&id=749927742&l=5aab229828
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