The best touring of the Andean highlands is during the dry Peruvian winter. It is also a time of continual thick low clouds along the coast which, despite the lively chaos of its traffic, makes Lima seem a bit dreary. We toured the city and its environs, passing the vast barriadas (sanctioned squatter districts) that surround the city, then traveled north to the towns of Turjillo and Chiclayo which served as stopping points in our tour of pre-Inca coastal archeological sites.