Beach!!

Trip Start Jul 16, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Peru  ,
Thursday, October 16, 2008

I left Chiclayo early in the morning as planned. The trip to Mancora was a bit more complicated than other bus trips in Peru as there was no direct bus. So I took a bus to Piura where I then had to change to a van type vehicle. I don`t know if there is no big bus that goes directly there because it is such a tourist place so they use nicer vehicles and then charge a lot more. The 3 hour ride to Piura was around 15 soles and the 2 hour ride from Piura to Mancora was 25 soles. I was the only non-Peruvian in the van however. We got stopped on the way by the transit police, something that never happened when I was in the south of Peru but the police seem more prevalent up north. The police officer asked for everyone`s ID card. I took out my passport but when he saw it was a US passport he told me it was fine and I put it away. But, he checked all the other identity cards, I`m not sure for what. Everything must have been fine because after about 5 minutes everyone got their cards backand we were on our way. The only other interesting thing that happened on the bus was when the guy sitting next to me finished his bag of chifles (banana chips) and handed the empty bag to the driver who just immediately threw it out the window. There was no conversation about it. It was like the driver knew that of course the other guy wanted him to throw his garbage out the window for him. Needless to say, there is lots of garbage on the side of the roads, and along the coast as I soon discovered.

After my expensive hostel in Chiclayo I decided to stay somewhere cheap. The mototaxi driver took me to this place that turned out to be really gross, but it was really cheap. I had heard from other travelers that they didn`t have water at their hostal in Mancora so that was the first question I asked when I got there and was told that yes, there was water, 24 hours a day. So I figured, as gross as it was I could handle it. Of course, when I got to my room and went to the bathroom, the toilet didn`t flush and I couldn`t wash my hands. When I said something to the guy on my way to the beach he promised me there would be water when I returned from the beach...

The beach in Mancora was nice. Not very wide but good sand and the water looked pretty. There was a string of restuarants with 5 sole menus, all with an appetizer of ceviche and main courses of fish. I was a little skeptical of such cheap ceviche but it was good! After my lunch I spent a few hours laying out on the beach then took a walk. Unfortunately I didn`t enjoy the beach walk as I was continually approached by locals trying to talk to me. Usually when you say you don`t want to buy what they are selling they will leave you alone but that didn`t happen and I was feeling a bit uncomfortable so I headed off the beach and wandered around the town. It is just one little street, with restaurants and bakeries all along it. I wandered a bit out of the touristy area. Found it interesting that I was bothered a lot less when I was surrounded by locals then when I was surrounded by tourists! I found a little children`s library with signs for a reading group and tutoring, which I thought was interesting. Haven`t seen anything like that so far.

Headed back to the hostel, ready for a nice shower and...NO water. The bathroom was also FULL of bugs. I remembered a sign I had seen in town saying there was a bus leaving that evening at 11:30 pm, headed for Ecuador. I decided that I would take it. My visa is already 3 days expired, my hostel is gross, and I´m not loving Mancora. So, I booked a ticket, went out for a nice dinner (tried to get rid of the rest of my soles...), and got ready for my trip into Ecuador!
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