We are leaving Lima and heading south to Cusco but not before stopping in Huacachina for some dune-ing and sandboarding.
Lima is huge. We stayed in the Miraflores district which is nice, clean, and full of touristy shopping and luxury casino hotels. Berko and i had our taste of Cuban cigars and a bit of blackjack! We picked up Megan from the airport and are now heading away from the beach....time for altitude meds and ipod shuffling!
I forgot to post about the German violinist in Huanchaco, Peru. Berk and I had a great time chatting with him. He solo sessions up the beach where the steep sand flattens and the indigenous brush shields the wind for his ocean sunset audience. We didn't get his name, but i have a cool picture of him rocking out with a guitarist at the hostel the night we left. Here's to the random and unforgettable encounters on our voyage!
Berkley flew into Trujillo, just about 9 hours north of Lima, Peru. We met Berk at the airport, took a taxi to Huanchaco, and celebrated the three week stay of my best friend. Peeling lefts had us renting surfboards immediately. Lots of Lomo Saltado, chicken fried rice, and rum and cokes seemed to fuel the body efficiently. Berko has fallen in love with stuffed fried potatoes and left hand point breaks. We met lots of friends at this hostel, very social, laidback, and friendly and even came with two pet tortoises that roamed the common areas! I've been on an apple pie binge, trying them in every city and Huanchaco was no different :-) We visited the ancient ruins of Chan Chan....really old city made of mud walls still standing. The Incas took control at some point and the remains are on display. The sunsets at Huanchaco are amazing!
We are all headed to Lima on an overnight bus. we all have full camas, or full beds, personal tvs, Wifi, and food service...all for 30$. This blog post is from the bus. Sweet dreams!
We day bussed it to Guayaquil, a large southern city in Ecuador, which was our connecting city to cross the boarder into Peru. This overnight bus was brutal having to wake up at 2 am to go through customs...i was eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Mancora, Peru, our first stop, was a great northern beach town. My tan started to get descent by this point. We stayed in a great new hostel with large accommodations, Sebas. The left hand point break is a solid wave, and the surfboard rentals were super cheap. Much more laid back than Mantanita and really friendly locals. Pisco sours are the official drink of Peru and we had no troubles exploring those lime filled refreshments.
The mud bath slash hot spring was an adventure. We took a four person three wheeled motorcycle taxi up into the hills. I only had to get out of the cart three times to make it up the steep sections. The papaya orchard and arid landscape made for a fun ambience. The mud bath was a warm wood lined pool maybe 20x8 feet. Permanently stained boardshorts was well worth the experience.
So after leaving Quito Ecuador i met up with Janelle and Ashley. We were all needing to get to the beach fast...having withdraws. The mountains were beautiful but we were cold and needing a less hectic atmosphere. The bus, only 9 hours, put us in Manta, Ecuador late at night. Manta is a port city filled with fisherman and of little aesthetically pleasing scenery. one night was plenty. We continued south to Mantanita, a gorgeous beach town.
Mantanita was a small, dense town filled with young travelers and lots juice stands, ceviche carts, and empanada vendors. I found the crevice vendor with the most people around him. His cart was on the beach and didn't seem to have ice for refrigeration so i was worried. Its was the best dish i have had on this trip. Fresh lime, cilantro puree, onions, and the "mixto" of fish (calimari, octopus, clams, oyster, and fresh fish) I sat in the sand and ate it with a large local beer Pilsen.
The music bumps till the sun rises and the beach has an amazing amount of night beach goers. this is a total surf town. Long and wide beaches meet really warm water and powerful waves. The umbrella services are unparalleled and the batidos (fruit smoothies) are DANGEROUSLY addictive! Great beach break waves, great party town.
