Crossing the border into Peru

I left Cuenca with the resolution to make it all the way to Vilcabamba, a little village next to the border with Peru, where people (supposedly) live long happy lives. As it often happens, my plans changed as I arrived in Loja to change buses to go to my destination. My bus ride had been relatively unpleasant due to the stinky old man, which when combined with the little girl vomiting and the few chickens in the bus made the idea of another bus ride completely unappealing. As I got off the bus I met 3 polish travellers who mentionned that they were going to cross the border into Peru that night. Aaah...ooohh...well why not? I decided that I was well due to be in Peru and joined them on the night bus 8 hours later.


The border crossing was relatively uneventful although I am still wondering why bus drivers have this crazy idea that "lights off" also means "music on". Can someone please explain to me the logic of having reggaeton blarring out all night during a night journey?


We arrived in Piura, Peru at 8 am completely exhausted. We all checked into a hotel and slept for a good 5 hours. I had rather enjoyed the company of my new polish friends and decided to join one of them to Mancora for a few days of rest by the beach. But before that I got treated to a succulent meat feast as Bartek (one of the Poles) was celebrating his 30th (see below).

The next day we left for Mancora, Peru; a small isolated village two hours north of Piura. It is famous for its beach, its surfers and its laid back atmosphere. It was all that ...and more as we ended up staying during the Women´s World Surf Championships.

Quizz: Did you know that the best two female surfers are Peruvian? Well I didn´t know either but now we both do!

The ride there was also entertaining as we boarded an old beat up american car (1975) which boasted a driver that looked like an older version of Johnny Depp in his Druggie film in Las Vegas. See for yourself....

The next two days where spent lazying around the pool, reading in a hammoc listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach...and trying desperately to change my skin colour from white to pinky (painfully successful). I tasted my first ceviche (raw fish that is marinated into lime and then cooked by the marinate...friggin´ beautiful) and drank Inka Cola (the peruvian -and yellow- version of Coke..erhem...not as excited about that one!).

After two days of lazying around, I decided that if I stayed another day I would never leave. I took the brave decision to take a night bus down to Trujillo, a historic town full of ruins midway to Lima.