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r per person S45) in Pacora, about 45km northeast of Chiclayo. Readers rave about their experiences riding typical Peruvian pacing horses at this Swiss-owned ranch, which also has a comfortable whitewashed villa with a big swimming pool; a real treat is fresh milk and sweet mangos and other tropical fruits always on hand. The owners are highly knowledgeable of Lambayeque cultures and will pick you up in Chiclayo for half-day to five-day cabalgatas (horse rides) through the Pomac Forest, Batán Grande and the pyramids at Túcume. The owners care for their horses exceptionally well and can make even the most inexperienced rider feel comfortable. The tours are a great value at S45 for a half-day to S360 for five days. You can also camp for free (with cooking and washing facilities) at the ranch.

A rough but scenic road climbs east from Chongoyape into the Andes until it reaches Chota (at an altitude of around 2400m), a 170km journey that takes about eight hours. Two or three buses a day from Chiclayo travel there, from where a daily bus makes the rough journey via Bambamarca and Hualgayoc to Cajamarca (five hours).

Zaña

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The old site of this town is a ghost town about 50km southeast of Chiclayo. Founded in 1563, Zaña was once an opulent city that controlled the shipping lanes between Panama and Lima from the nearby Cherrepe port. It was even slated to become the viceroyalty’s capital at one stage, but the excessive wealth and rich churches and monasteries soon attracted the eye of robbers and pirates. During the 17th century it was sacked by pirates, including the famous Edward Davis, and survived several slave uprisings, only to be destroyed by the great flood of 1720. Today, great walls and the arches of four churches poke eerily out of the desert sands. Nearby, the present-day village of Zaña houses about 1000 people and is famous for its brujos. Stay at the Centro Vacacional Santa Ana (43-1052; Calle de La Torre 102; s/d S26/36). Buses go to the new town from Chiclayo’s Terminal de Microbuses Epsel (S2.50).

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PIURA

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After several hours of crossing the vast emptiness of the Sechura Desert, Piura materializes like a mirage on the horizon, enveloped in quivering waves of heat. It’s hard to ignore the sense of physical isolation forced on you by this unforgiving environment; the self-sufficiency imposed upon early settlers may explain why they identify as Piuran rather than Peruvian. Being so far inland, the scorching summer months will have you honing your radar for air-conditioning, as you seek out chilled venues in which to soothe your sweltering skin. But the lovely narrow cobbled streets and charismatic colonial houses of central Piura make up for the fact that there’s little else for tourists to do here. Its role as a hub for the spokes of the northern towns means that you’ll probably end up spending some time here sighing in the relief of the occasional afternoon breeze.

Francisco Pizarro settled the first city in this district in 1532 as he whirred past on his way to trounce the Incas. It was originally located in Sullana, which was not the smartest move, given that the oppressive heat and disease-ridden river there meant that settlers had a rather unpleasant time of it. Fed up, they moved the city around a few times before resettling in Paita on the coast. The run of bad luck continued as Paita was sacked by English pirates in 1577. The very miffed settlers finally moved their city for the last time to its current spot.

Intense irrigation of the desert has made Piura a major agricultural center that feeds the masses, while rich coastal oil fields near Talara run overtime fueling the machinery of development. The department was hard hit by the El Niño floods of 1983, which destroyed almost 90% of the rice, cotton and plantain crops, and also caused serious damage to roads, bridges, buildings and oil wells in the area.

Information

Casas de cambio are at the Ica and Arequipa intersection.

Banco Continental (33-1702; Tacna 598)

Scotiabank (32-8200; cnr Huancavelica