Samana Chakra Mancora

... teh sun, sea and sand! and the seafood...which was amazing!

We watched the sunset, with a sangria... and stargazed on the beach as it was a perfectly clear night again... beautiful place and really nice to spend more than just one night in one place....! went to sleep listening to the sound of the sea...

We decided to DIY it for breakfast as we had seen a nice bakery... so we had caramel filled croissants, and ham sandwiches, and fruit... (brunch really ...

... out at them. They came back again the next day and one of the locals who had a catamaran for taking tourists out onto the water, lept into his boat to try and follow them. He didnīt even come close.

The days were never too different. Mancora was like a little holiday from our travelling. It was so nice to let our guard down for a while. Not having to worry about passports and bags making it to the next ...

... tough decision to either go back to sleep, wander down to town to the markets, go to the beach, lie in the sun and watch the surfers, get an ice-cold beer or recline in the hammock! Happy days...

I did try my hand at surfing though... Dropping Ang off at the spa for a massage I located a chap on the beach for a quick lesson. You might recall us doing this in Jericoacoara when we were in Brazil, but this time it was a little more successful. Two ...

... for the terminal. Once we got there we grabbed our bags and were unknowingly in the middle of a taxi war. When we first got off the bus we found a moto that would take us to our hotel, at least Kristen did while I smacked the bus. We then got in a different moto and he followed the bus to the terminal with the first moto we had talked to following. We decided to stick with the driver who got us to the terminal , and after we snuck past the other driver we were off to ...

... the bus depot and we were all told to take our luggage and get off... After much talking aload in Spanish by our tour leader and the bus company we found out the there was a strike 10 minutes down the road and the protesters were not allowing traffic through, no one had any idea how long the strike would last for, all we could do was wait in the depot!!!

Eight hours later we left Tumbres and gingerly passed through ...

... was when Antonio and I first met and heīs been so awesome.

Evan: Yeah, it was really cool of him to let us know that we had missed the immigration office leaving Ecuador since we were sleeping on the bus. I still canīt believe the bus driver didnīt wake us up! At least the border crossing wasnīt too far back so we could just take a taxi.

Sophie: So lucky once again. Also with the two Argentinian guys showing us where to stay and ...

... and now and then there are groups of fishing vessels at anchor in the glistening ocean as the sun sinks lower in the sky.
We are heading for Mancora a quite beach town which turned out to be further than we thought 120km instead of the 80km using those bad maps again!
We arrive before dark and find the Hospedaje Angeles del Mar a spartan hostel made of bamboo, mossies and ants are additional occupants!

... awful I think.

A couple we met while working at Secret Garden came to stay in the same hostel as us in Mancora, and w spent a big night on the town, where we feasted on Ceviche and drank a few cocktails (this seemed to be Milli's undoing as she spent the next day wearing out the floor between the bed and the toilet).

The day after that we were to leave for the town of Trujillo, but we only got half way there when milli's spew bag sprung a leak and the ...

So here starts the story of our stay in Mancora, a beach resort in the far north of Peru, but before that, here is the eventful story of howwe got there. As usual in Peru, we were travelling by Cruz del Sur bus, we had booked in Arequipa, a bus from Arequipa to Lima, then a few hours later, we would take a another bus from Lima to Mancora. The bus left Arequipa as normal at around 7pm and the journey was uneventful until the early hours of the ...

... Peru a number of years before. He was travelling through and stopped at Mancora where he decided to settle. He is now married to a Peruvian and loves living in Mancora. We chatted for a short while and recommended to me what I should have for lunch. I watched mototaxis going past as I waited for my food to come out. One particular mototaxi seemed familiar and the driver kept looking back at me. I then realized that he was the same driver that ...