The Road to Máncora

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We hopped off the bus in Tumbes around 4:30 and caught a tuk-tuk to the bus station where we could get a bus to Máncora. A tuk-tuk is part motorbike, part rick-shaw that was LOTS OF FUN! We made it to the bus station just in time and were able to hop on the 5pm bus to Máncora. It was a dirty, smelly bus but our only mode of transportation to our Shangrila on the beach! I popped open the window and started my nap. It took about 2 hours to get here, but it already feels well worth the trip.

We were told it was Montañita 2.0 and it definitely felt bigger. When we hopped off the bus, some tuk-tuk drivers were asking if we wanted a taxi (they will be called taxis from now on). We said no and were just going to hoof it down to the beach and start walking to find a place to stay tonight...it was already dark. Not 3 minutes into our walk down the street towards the beach did 2 taxi drivers pull over and yell "peligraso, peligraso"...which means danger danger. They explained through visual expressions that this part of town is not safe for tourists and you will most surely be robbed by knifepoint of all your belongings.

We decided it would be safe to hop in the little taxi and have him take us to the good part of town for 1 sol (about 30 cents). He took us to a row of hostels and hotels where we found rooms for 60 sols a night with a pool! We can splurge our first night!...and we were super exhausted from such an early morning. We checked into our rooms and headed down the beach to find a place to eat.

We eventually found a spot that looked pretty nice. The special was spaghetti (however you wanted it...alfredo, spicy, regular, etc.), some wine, and bread for 10 sols...not a bad deal. Braden and I ordered spicy spaghetti while Raya ordered vegetable spaghetti. The owner, Rudy (A Swiss ex-pat) came by to greet us. He asked if we wanted the pasta spicy or not so spicy. I told him spicy in which he replied, "so you want a towel to wipe the sweat from your head?"...hmmm, prob not that spicy... I asked him just enough for a kick. The pasta came out VERY good with just enough kick to it. The garlic bread was delicious...the house red wine was OK (I´m not much of a Wino).

He came out to check how everything was, we said it was great. He told us there were only 2 rules in his place...1)we must finish everything and 2) all meals must be followed by a shot of pisco (the local peruvian alcohol)...Braden and I won´t have any problem finishing our plates, but I have yet to see Raya finish anything. She´s a small girl and doesn´t eat a lot to fill up, so at least half of what she orders, Braden usually eats...SO Braden ended up eating his plate as well as half of hers. After dinner Rudy ordered us each a shot on the house as well as one for him. Before we toasted he presented us with another rule...you must down the shot in 1 drink...gosh...I hate taking shots and this stuff smells like a mix between rubbing alcohol and tequila. But, when it Rome... We all toasted and took our shots in one gulp. It wasn´t too bad - a little warm in the chest but overall pretty easy to take. Dinner for each of us turned out to be a little over $3 bucks a piece...10 sols.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel to drink some wine and play cards. Raya and I felt the pool and it felt pretty warm, so we decided to drink and take a swim. WOW...the pool was not as warm as I remembered it 10 minutes before, it was pretty chilly and VERY windy. There was a hose running into the pool with warm water that we all took turns huddling around. While Raya and Braden were making kissy face in the pool near the stairs, I went to the opposite end and pulled off my shorts real quick so I could say I skinny dipped in 2 pools in 2 countries in 2 consecutive nights! I dropped trow, submerged, and put them back on in 10 seconds flat!...you know skinny dipping only counts if you submerge completely!

We called it quits for the pool after about 15 minutes of swimming around and opted for hot showers then cards. Needless to say when I got back to the shower, no hot shower! Apparently hot water is pretty non-existent here because of the climate and the solar heated water on roofs...so I took a cold shower and threw on my shorts and hoody and headed over to their room. I got there and both were super tired from the trip (it was only around 1030pm now) so we all decided to call it a night. I headed back to my room and turned on the TV and found cinemax... I watched some B-movie called Gabriel (about Angels battling in Purgatory that reminded me of sin city) til midnight at which point I called it a night too and hit the hay.

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