Huanchaco is a beach and summer vacation spot in the northern city of Trujillo, Peru. Huanchaco is famous for a few things but in particular for being a surfer's dream spot, the local ceviche and its "caballitos de totora".Caballitos de totora are reed watercrafts used by Peruvian fishermen for the past 3,000 years, archaeologically evidenced from pottery shards.Fishermen in the port town of Huanchaco famously, but in many other locations practically, still use these vessels to this day, riding the waves back into shore, and suggesting some of the first forms of wave riding. There is currently a minor debate in the surfing world as to whether or not this constitutes the first form of surfing. We spent a couple of nights in a "RV Park" enjoyed the climate and awesome ceviche. We needed the rest as the next leg of our trip would be a long one. Over 450 miles south to Punta Hermosa, which is 25 miles south of Lima. Punta Hermosa is a surfer hot spot and one of the few places in the world with a left hand point break AND a right hand point break. It also has a big wave and our friends Kurt and Melissa live there. We met Kurt 6 years ago on the Inca Trail and stayed in touch. They own a beautiful apartment at the beach and invited us to stay in their guest room for a couple of days. After a couple of nice days at the beach we moved on. The Panamerican Highway through Peru goes along the coast and through the desert. On the right hand side is the ocean and on the left is the desert. As soon as the road goes inland all there is is desert. After a while this gets pretty boring. We reached the Oasis of Huacachina after a long day on the road.

Huacachina is a village in southwestern Peru. It is located in the Ica Province, near the city of Ica. Huacachina has a population of 115. The oasis is featured on the back of the 50 Nuevo Sol note. Legend holds that the lagoon was created when a beautiful native princess was apprehended at her bath by a young hunter. She fled, leaving the pool of water she had been bathing in to become the lagoon. The folds of her mantle, streaming behind her as she ran, became the surrounding sand dunes. And the woman herself is rumored to still live in the oasis as a mermaid. The oasis is ok but not as nice as in the guidebooks described. Main problem is the fact, that the water in the lagoon is contaminated by waste water and the whole area looks rather run down. After a night there we drove on to Nazca.

Our last stop in Peru was Arequipa, "The white City".

We stayed at the Hostal "Las Mercedes" and we were not alone.There were two vehicles from Germany, one from France and one from Brasil.
With a population of 904,931 Arequipa is the second most populous city of the country. Arequipa lies in the Andes mountains, at an altitude of 7,800 feet above sea level; the snow-capped volcano El Misti overlooks the city.