Mancora, Peru

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The trip to Peru yesterday was long and boring, although the border crossing wasn't as bad as we had been anticipating. There was a 5-hour bus to the Ecuadorian Immingration office, then a short bus to the border, which exists in the middle of the border town Huaquillas. We opted to get a private mini-van for $4 each to get us to Mancora in 2.5 hours - half the time that the other option of 3 buses would have taken!

The Peruvian landscape is very different to Ecuador - whilst Ecuador is green and full of life, Peru is dry and arid. Most of the journey here was like driving through the desert. Mancora itself is one main road which stretches along the length of the beach - the sandy beach that has warm water, by the way!

Our hotel backs onto the beach and the sea is all of 2 metres away at high tide. Last night we got a bottle of rum and drank our way through that (shared between 7 of us so not a heavy night). We've had a very relaxing day on the beach and wandering through town - there's not much more to see here and that suits us fine - we feel like we deserve some chillout time! Another day in the sun tomorrow to top up the tan before a night bus will be taking us to Huanchaco.

I think the main cities of Lima and Cusco will be a shock to us after the hippie lifestyle in Mancora. We all wish we could stay here for longer, but there's just too much of the continent to see! Still, we will probably be out for more drinks tonight - what else is there to do in a beach town once the sun has gone down?!

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