Having explored nearly every region of Peru - the jungle, the desert and the mountains - I decided to spend my last weekend here discovering the northern coast. On the last of my many excursions around this beautiful country, my friends and I visited the pre-Columbian ruins of Chan Chan and Las Huacas del Sol y de la Luna (Temples of the Sun and Moon), while also finding enough time to relax at the beachside village of Huanchaco.

After a nine-hour bus ride to Trujillo, the third-largest city in Peru, we were off to the ruins at Las Huacas del Sol y de la Luna. These huge temples were the capital for the Moche civilization, which was formed in 100 A.D. and lasted for about 700 years. Walking in the Huaca de la Luna, we were able to see colorful imagery on the walls that had managed to last for more than a thousand years. These sites were probably used for sacrifices, both of animals and humans, and were still being excavated as we walked through.

After rereading that dry and fact-filled paragraph, I finally realize what my friends Caroline, Hannah, and Liz meant when they said I had already become a 45-year-old Dad that was a bit too fascinated by educational excursions. Never mind those Debbie Downers, we were off to our next ruins!

The fortress of Chan Chan were created by the Chimu kingdom, which sprouted out from the Moche civilization and was eventually conquered by the Incas. Chan Chan was constructed completely out of adobe brick and its passageways bear a striking resemblance to the setting of David Bowie's epic fantasy "Labyrinth".

Much of the complex of Chan Chan (12 square miles) is decorated with tons of carvings and drawings, which was refreshing scenery after seeing the work of the inartistically inclined Incas. I would like to point out that the previous alliteration was both accidental and awesome. That one too.

After our day visiting these ruins, it was off to the relaxing village of Huanchaco, just west of Trujillo and directly on the coast. Despite the fog, the water was filled with surfers, but I decided not to give the sport another shot as I thought the poor weather would not make it the best time to be lost at sea.

The beaches were also decorated with the famous "caballitos de totora," or reedboats, that local fishermen have continued to use for hundreds of years. Many in Huanchaco believe that surfing was invented here, as local fishermen rode the waves using these tiny boats. After a night in Huanchaco and somehow receiving severe sunburn through miles of fog, we headed back to Lima for the final time, realizing that our crazy weekend excursions through South America were all but finished. Almost completely satisfied, I had seen nearly everything that I had hoped to see before coming to Peru.

Oh yeah! And we saw this incredibly hideous dog! Now I had seen everything on my list!