Advertisement
Published: October 19th 2009
Edit Blog Post
The VIP section of the bus to Mancora was sold out, so we had to make do with 2nd class, which is still luxurious. We arrived in Mancora in the morning, and after haggling with a tuk tuk driver we settled on staying at Kon Tiki Bungalows, a little bit of luxury to end my trip. They are set slightly above the town, and he soon realised his tuk tuk couldn't make the journey, so we had to walk.
It was worth the walk tho, great views of the town and the ocean, a stunning restaurant bar, and 3 little bungalows. 1 was free, and altho a little pricier than the hostels in town, well worth it. We said we wanted to stay for 5 nights and could we get a discount if we paid upfront. Deal. We ended up paying the same as a dodgy dorm room in town. A great 2 storey bungalow, brand new, overlooking the ocean with a terrace, chairs & hammock. Hands down the best accomodation i've stayed in on this trip. A bed downstairs, and another bed on the mezzanine level, perfect!
Mancora is a little beach resort, with good nightlife. He explained
the treks & tours on offer, but i wasn't intrested in that...5 days of doing nothing was all i wanted to do.
After a quick look around town and some great Thai food, we got some chilled beers and retreated back up to the bungalow. A sneaky shortcut down the hill meant it only took 2 minutes to get right into town. Chilled on the terrace for a good few hours admiring the views, then went out into town later. Had a cracking tuna steak, almost raw, and went to a few of the bars. Not as lively as i thought it would be, but not too bad.
Up early the next day, and a cracking wakey wakey eggs & bakey brekkars on the terrace restaurant with fresh juice, proper coffee and fruits. Chilled in the hammock for a bit and went down to lie on the beach and watch the surfers. We were warned not to eat food near the beach as it ain't the freshest, but i ignored this and went to a little place for a 2 course meal for a pound. A cerviche starter followed by battered white fish, squid & langostines, washed down
with fresh juice and a beer. All for a pound, really good food. Needless to say i went back everyday! Had a few beers with the owner of the bungalows that night, as we were up early to go fishing on his neighbours boat.
We pootled out a good distance and fished unsuccessfully for a good while, but it mattered not. First we saw loads of Sealions swim around us, then, even better 2 HUGE whales came close and stayed for a while, then another whale with a baby. Then to cap it off, way over 100 dolphins swam over and stayed with the boat for a while. Pretty spectacular. The captain saw some killer whales the week before, and scarily, a Great White swam past his boat too!! Had a few beers that night with a huge beach barbecued burger.
Next day was a lazy one, big brekkars, hammock, beach, beers & hammock, then a planned big night out. It was 6pm so we decided to get an hours kip as it was too early to go out. It felt like i'd slept for 30 minutes when Matt shouted down asking what time it was. I looked
at my watch and it was 2.30am. This lazing about all day takes it out of you. Was wide awake then, so watched a film and waited for breakfast.
That day was spent at the beach, and i bumped into a lad who was on the Salkantay trek with me, so we had a few beers, and we all went out that night to watch a local band play on the beach. They were rubbish, as most South American music seems to be.
So, today, Matt left early on a bus up to Ecuador, and i'm currently waiting for my 5pm VIP bus back to Lima for my flight. The owner has kindly let me stay in the Bungalow till i leave, so it's a Hammock day for me. I was all geared up to watch the City game this morning, but there was a big local concert last night, and the muppets managed to blow the electricity for the whole town, so no joy.
Now sat in a nice Lima hotel, 3 star no less, trawled the web and got a room for a tenner, happy chap. Just waiting for my flight tomorrow. Bring on Madrid!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.118s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 12; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0638s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb