Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [272]
Getting There & Away
AIR
The airport is 1.5km from town: as of July 2009 Cielos Andinos (01-348-6405; contacto@cielosandinos.com.pe) has begun operating flights to/from Lima on Tuesday and Fridays (US$99).
BUS & TAXI
Transport here mostly serves Lima and destinations in between like Huánuco, as well as local villages and Pucallpa. The road between Tingo and Pucallpa can be risky; Click here.
Buses to Lima (S40 to S60, 12 hours) are operated by Transportes León de Huánuco (56-2030, 962-56-2030; Pimentel 164), Transmar (56-3076; Pimentel 145) and Transportes Rey (56-2565; Raimondi 297). Buses usually leave at 7am or 7pm. Some operators go to Pucallpa (S20, nine hours). Faster service to Pucallpa is with Turismo Ucayali (cnr Tito Jaime Fernández s/n, cuadra 2) which has colectivo taxis (S45, six hours).
From around the gas station on Av Raimondi near the León de Huánuco bus terminal, colectivos depart to Huánuco (S18, two hours) and other destinations.
Selva Tours (56-1137; Raimondi 207) has cars to Tocache (S40, four hours) from where other vehicles continue another five hours to Juanjui and a further three to Tarapoto (S65). They’ll go direct if there’s the demand.
Transportes Cueva del Pavos is a signed stop with mototaxis to the Cave of the Owls in Parque Nacional Tingo María. It’s about S20 for the round trip, including a wait at the cave.
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North Coast
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LIMA TO BARRANCA
BARRANCA
CASMA
TORTUGAS
CHIMBOTE
TRUJILLO
AROUND TRUJILLO
HUANCHACO
OTUZCO
PUERTO CHICAMA
PACASMAYO
CHICLAYO
AROUND CHICLAYO
PIURA
CATACAOS
PAITA
SULLANA
CHULUCANAS
HUANCABAMBA
AYABACA
TALARA
CABO BLANCO
MÁNCORA
PUNTA SAL
ZORRITOS
TUMBES
AROUND TUMBES
* * *
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Southern Peru can keep its Machu Picchu. The unruly northern coast is flush with enough ancient chronicles to fill a library of memoirs, and boasts beaches and surf that are the envy of Peru. Here, the coastal desert spreads out from Lima all the way to Ecuador as the Pan-American Hwy heroically divides restless sand dunes and burly cliffs from the Pacific Ocean’s belligerent waves.
This heaving coastline is scattered with more antediluvian ruins than you can poke a pre-Inca civilization at. The few travelers who manage to slip the familiar clutches of the Gringo Trail and venture this far north scratch their collective heads at the 5000-year-old remnants of the Americas’ oldest civilization. They drool at the gold-laden million-dollar treasures buried in long-forgotten pyramids and tombs, and listen to tall tales of modern-day treasure hunters clashing wits with archaeologists in a race to uncover the untold wealth of the region.
Occasional oases of bottle-green farmland lie scattered along the coastline, and animated colonial towns will doff their collective campesino (peasant) hats to all who make the effort to visit. Meanwhile, the graceful surf that continually pounds the coast has had surfers board-waxing lyrical for years, while the enduring sunny months and frisky seaside resorts beckon modern-day sun worshippers to the coast’s sandy shores.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Take a day trip from Trujillo to visit the ruins of Chan Chan (Click here) and the beautifully preserved friezes of Huacas del Sol y de la Luna (Click here)
Indulge in sun, surf and sand at Máncora (Click here), Peru’s premier beachside hot spot
Drool over a vast wealth of once-buried treasure around Chiclayo (Click here)
Drag your board up the coast in search of that elusive perfect swell at Huanchaco (Click here), Puerto Chicama (Click here), Pacasmayo (Click here) and around Máncora (Click here)
Seek out shamans (Click here) for the perfect cure – or curse – in the mountain wilds of Huancabamba
▪ BIGGEST CITY: TRUJILLO, POPULATION 291,400 ▪ AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: January 10°C to 20°C, July 10°C to 21°C
* * *
LIMA TO BARRANCA
The Carretera Panamericana (Pan-American Hwy) winds its way north out of chaotic Lima through nonstop desert all the way to Ecuador.