Don't take an expensive organised trip as it is so easy and cheap to do it yourself. The public bus (1.20s/.) will drop you off at the end of the road. You walk for about 10 minutes and you are there. Entrance to the ruins themselves costs 11s/.

Just outside Truillo

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If you go north and enjoy the lesser, but just as enjoyable, city of Trujillo and surrounding sights, carry on up into the mountain towns of Cajamarca and Cajabamba.

Both are untrammelled, compared to the southern sights and cities and provide equally impressive Andean scenery and areas of historical Inca interest.

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As you wander through this vast maze of an old Chimú capital you realise how rich cultures Peru had even before the Incas.

Built in AD 1300, Chan Chan is the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas. Before the Incas conquered the Chimú in the mid-15th century, 60,000 people lived in Chan Chan.

Lots of the city's mud walls are now restored. Fish and net patterns on the walls tell about the importance of the sea to the Chimú. A good guide will also tell about human sacrifices and grave robbers.

5km west of Trujillo. To book a tour with an English language guide contact small hotel Casa de Clara, Cahuide 495, Trujillo.
Tel: +51 (0)44-299997.

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