I had breakfast in “El Poseidon” near the pier and then jumped onto a bus to Trujillo. This goes into the town and circuits the Avenida España ring road. I got off and walked down to the main plaza and found the Tourist Office on one side of the square at Pizarro 402. Here I got a free map of the city.
I walked down to the Post Office and bought some postcards (12 Inti) and stamps (18 Inti each), requiring five postage stamps for each postcard. After a bit of a search, I found a pleasant café which had sufficient light by which to write.
I sat in this well-decorated cake shop drinking Coca Cola and scribbling out postcards for an hour or so. On my way back I met a German girl that I had seen in Baños. She was looking for a bank which would change travellers cheques for $U.S. dollars, which turned out to be a fools errand. Everyone who had American dollars in Peru was hanging on to them.
I posted my cards and went to a small European-style café called “El Colonial” at the corner of the main plaza for lunch. I got the set meal (Menú) for 40 Intis. This consisted of chicken and sweetcorn soup followed by fish, mushy peas, onions and rice. Great stuff. I got lemon juice and a beer to accompany the food.
After lunch I continued my walkabout around the town, but most of the shops were shut and there was little of interest to see. There were some great old cars on the road, many in a condition that would merit the scrap heap in Britain.
At 15:00 hrs. I called it a day and walked passed the sports stadium to the spot on the road to Huanchaco from where you could hail a bus. Local athlete Estuardo Meléndez Macchiavello was the first to ask for the construction of a stadium in Trujillo to President Manuel Prado y Ugarteche. The construction of the stadium took two years between 13 May 1944 and July 1946 which was at first known as Estadio Modelo de Trujillo. It was inaugurated under the presidency of José Luis Bustamante y Rivero.
The inauguration ceremony happened on 12 October 1946 in presence of then Vice-president José Gálvez Barrenechea, Zoila María de la Victoria, and the mother of political leader Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, Rosa Francisca de Paula de la Torre. The first football match played at the stadium was between Deportivo Trujillo and Sport Tigre.
The original capacity of 5,000 was increased in 1984 to 14,000 when the north stand was built. This was so that Sporting Cristal could use the stadium during the 1984 Copa Libertadores. It wasn’t until 1993 that artificial lighting was added to the stadium which allowed for matches to be played after dark.
I got on a bus for 4 Intis to Huanchaco. A young girl in a white dress got up to offer me her seat. A pleasant surprise but I asked her to sit back down. Trujillo is a pretty non-descript town, but I had done my tourist/traveller duty.
Back at the “Sol y Mar” I finished reading “The Clowns of God” lying on a sun lounger out on the mezzanine patio. There were a few spots of rain, but the temperature was pleasant despite the grey sky and limited visibility.
In the evening I walked into the village which had that sad, desolate atmosphere of a holiday resort out of season. I at alone in the “El Poseidon” café and bought a big bag of Mar Puffs to eat on the way back.
In the hotel I watched another silly Benny Hill-style comedy on the flickering black and white television before going to sleep.
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