ONE DAY TOURS - TRUJILLO

      Departure by private bus or car, going south on the Pan American Highway, towards the port of Chimbote (famous for its fish meal factories). Continue to the valley of Nepeña, where you visit the ruins of Sechin, near the town of Casma. This large stone temple has been restored on three sides. The walls are faced by carved stone-monoliths, representing gruesome battle scenes. The temple is pre-Chavin, about 1,500 BC. There is a small museum next to the temple. Lunch en route and return to Trujillo in the late afternoon

Sechín is one of Peru's major archaeological sites, dating from about 1600 BC. The warlike people who built this temple remain shrouded in mystery. The three outside walls of the main temple are covered in gruesome 4m (13ft) bas-relief carvings of warriors and captives being eviscerated in a grisly fashion. Inside, earlier mud structures are still being excavated; you can't go in, but there's a model in the small museum.