Cuzco - Lima - Huanchaco - Mancora

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First of all a huge apology to all of you that have been waiting to hear from us, I hope you´ll be glad to know that we are in fact safe and just been really bad at keeping up to date with the blog.

Once we had conquered Machu Picchu we hung around in Cuzco for a couple of days, once again enjoying the beautiful mix of colonial architecture and Inca ruins while we waited for Dave, Ollie and the three guys they were travelling with to finish their trek. A big night out later to say goodbye to Cuzco and we were all on our way straight to Lima where we checked into a hostel with three tier bunk beds for a couple of days. I have to admit that we didn't see much of the city in the day, although with the constant thick grey cloud it wasn't a very appealing prospect, the night life however was a different story altogether. We all had two slightly crazy nights there, the first one meaning that a few of us didn't go quite as wild the second night, but none the less it was fun to let our hair down after the gruelling treks we had all undertaken to see Machu Picchu! The guys all left heading straight to Mancora on the northern coast, with our bus leaving in the evening to Huanchaco, another small beach town near Trujillo. Dani, Kim and I decided then that we would use this time well and go and see at least one sight that Lima had to offer, ending up at a huge complex of spectacular fountains, the dancing water lit up in the dark by perfectly synchronised coloured lights, one of which formed a tunnel of water through which we could walk. Feeling satisfied that we had seen something other than the nightlife we hgeaded back to the hostel where after dinner the owner took us all to the bus stop, promising to pick Kim up again on her way back for the flight!

We arrived in Trujillo early in the morning and instantly made our way to Huanchaco where we found a hostel on the beach front run by a little old man who gave us a discount because his rooms were slightly out of our price range! Shattered from our bus ride and with Dani ill we had a lazy morning, mainly sleeping, on the beach and when awake watching the fishermen surf in the traditional boats (tiny little cigar shaped reed surfboards). For lunch we found a fantastic little cafe that served us pumpkin soup followed by a spiced sea food dish, full of sea food, for only $2! With our bellies full we decided that we would make our way up the coast to Mancora and meet the guys the following evening and so headed into town in the afternoon. We soon realised that the small town had very little to offer the tourist in terms of sight seeing and so booked our bus tickets before heading back to our hostel. The following morning, with grey cloud that we thought we had escaped, Kim and I headed to Chan Chan, leaving Dani in bed to hopefully recover enough to handle the bus. Chan Chan, built by the Chimu tribe around AD 850 and conquered by the Incas around 1500, was at one point the largest adobe city in the world, home to an estimated 30,000 people. Now, most of the city is little more than piles of mud, however sections have been painstakingly restored and proved to be a very interesting way to spend the morning taking in the amazingly consistent reliefs on many of the walls surrounding temples and plazas alike.

Satisfied with our small insight into another Peruvian tribal history we headed back to Huanchaco, glad to find Dani more active and ready for an afternoon on the beach, watching surfers in the water as we enjoyed a beer over sunset. Before long it was once again that time to board a bus and head off to Mancora, where Dani and I hoped to find some work with one of the big hostel chains in Bolivia anda Peru, Loki.

Considering that we arrived in Mancora at about 6.00am we were not in the best of moods to find out that the hostel had managed to mess up our reservation meaning we would have to wait until 1.00pm just to see if we could all get a bed, let alone together. With this we decided to simply catch a tuk tuk to the hostel with all the guys in and soon found ourselves with a room together, a rainbow sunrise and only 50m from our bed to the sea. We spent nearly a week in Mancora with Dave etc. which included a few very fun nights, a pirate party and a full moon party to name two, lazy days around the pool or on the beach and plently of good food to boot. Unfortunately one of those days we found an injured pelican on the beach, what would become a common sight due to the fishing boats just off shore, and when we returned later found two local boys throwing the still breathing bird at each other by it beak, wings, legs etc. Needless to say we were all horrified and quickly approached the youths, they gave some feeble excuse about pelicans being poisonous and then soon went on their way, leaving the poor animal to die in peace. Once the guys left we had a few last days with Kim before she headed back to Lima to face the slightly creepy hostel owner, us being offered work the day before we were due to leave. While working behind the bar in the hostel for 2 weeks we made a lot of great friends and had many a great night, to list but a few more pirate parties, anything but clothes, animal night, super hero night, toga party etc., with everyone making great efforts with fancy dress, although it soon became apparent that most themes can be accomplished with few clothes and a lot of body paint! It wasn't all drinking though, honest, with chill out nights set into the schedule such as bonfire night, pub quiz and the sunday BBQ, one of which I ended up cooking with one chef ill and one in a strop so she went home early!

I'm sure the image of the pelican horrified many of you, but unfortunately that wasn't it for injured animals due to the fishing boats, others found on the beach including 2 dead sea turtles, a chunk of dolphin flesh, more unwanted fish than i can count, more dead pelicans, blue footed boobies, the list goes on, the vultures and crabs on the beach about the only things benefiting from the slaughter. Grim though it was we also saw mant live animals, such as huge pods of dolphins, whales, sea turtles, the majestic frigate bird, not to mention the lovable hostel pets, the dogs (Moche (our baby), Patricia (whos ears were full of ticks), Dingo (who nearly had his leg ripped off by a pit bull just as we were leaving) and Ash (a puppy found left on the street with bad skin problems and under fed)) and the cats (Tigre (a beautiful grey tom cat), Pregnant Cat (a moody hormonal cat who had little time for anybody), Major (a kitten and Tigres playmate who managed to fall about 15 feet of a balcony tangled in a set of keys and keep running) and his runt brother Bandito (who was scared of everyone and had to be fed by hand)).

Although staying in Mancora for over three weeks meant that we have less time to see Peru and Ecuador neither of us would change it for the world, having had a great time with new friends from all corners of the globe and managing to save money in the process, all the while on an idilic beach with some of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen, one of which had an hourglass shaped sun! Oh, and we managed to find a mexican restaurant serving the best mexican food we've ever eaten, and yes that does include in Mexico, not to mention all the fresh fish and sea food! As I'm sure you can all tell I could keep rambling on about our time spent there, but I'll assume you get the idea.

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