Sat 27th Dec: Huaraz

I wake up starving. I hadn t eaten anything since lunchtime yesterday. Thankfully the headaches are gone. At breakfast I ask for a pancake in addition to the regular breakfast. Much of today was spent on the blog, eating, getting laundry done and sorting out a bus ticket for the next place to visit. I m going to head up towards Chachapoyas in northern Peru but first I want to stop off at Trujillo on the coast. There s a route through the mountains to the lowlands which passes through a spectacular canyon so I have to find out which company serves this route. I buy a ticket on the colourful named Yungay express which travels that route down to Chimbote, on the coast two hours south of Trujillo. I ll have to change there for a connection to Trujillo.

In the evening I decide to try a restaurant as opposed to the Pollerias which ive tended to eat in recently. I want to try a local delicacy, "Cuy Picante" - roast guinea Pig in a sauce with spuds!! I m also going to try Pisco sour, a Peruvian cocktail, a spirit blended with egg whites. As for the guinea Pig, it was served with its head attached but minus its lower jaw. There wasn t much meat. I kind of lost my appetite when it was served but at least the spuds were good. The Pisco sour went down very smooth.