Blogs from Máncora, Piura, Peru, South America - page 11

Par dni dozadu, uz ani nevieme kolko, sme zacali nasu strastiplnu cestu na sever do teplych krajin. Znie to divne ze na sever, ale ak chcete teplo, na juznej pologuli proste musite ist na sever. Ked tento fakt nase hlavy akceptovali, nasadli sme na bus a islo sa. Plan bol ist z Arequipy do Nazcy, odtial do Limy a pokial mozno bez pauzy pokracovat do Mancory na severe Peru. Presun do Nazcy bol v pohode. Prisli sme tam asi po deviatich hodinach cesty o tretej rano. Nechcelo sa nam na tych par hodin vybavovat hotel, tak sme zakempovali na namesti s tym, ze nadranom skocime na letisko vybavit vyhliadkovy let ponad obrazce v pusti. Hned ako sme sa usadili na namesti, obklucili nas miestni nocni straznici. Skusali aj nejaku konverzaciu, ale bolo to marne. Ale pochopili ... read more

We last wrote to you from the mountains of Cajamarca - we were definitely off the tourist beaten track there and were the only gringos walking around, which was great!! However, with small out-of-the-way villages comes a very inadequate transport system and the only way to go further east was to Celendin and then Chachapoyas... the views from our cramped, bone shattering bus seats made the trip worthwhile though. We weaved over and down a whole mountain range, through spectacular passes at incredible heights with sensational panoramic views... but it took forever (five hours!!) for a 98km journey! Eventually, the bus pulled in to Celendin which was another quaint, quiet Wild West type town. Every other week of the year, it seemed, nothing happens here, but fortunately we had landed right in the middle of their ... read more

My next few days were spent in Mancora, a coastal holiday resort and party town with one of Peru´s finest beaches. Here a multitude of backpackers rub shoulders with the Peruvian jet-set. I had come here to fufill a major desire of mine, to learn a very cool activity which I had lusted after for years. KITESURFING! For those of you not familiar with kitesurfing, you are firmly attached by a harness to an enormous kite the size of a parachute, and then pulled along the water on a board at ludicrous speeds. Unfortunately my travel insurance did not cover me for this. I had specifically asked and they wouldn´t. Why oh why?? I am insured for mountain climbing, abseiling, snowboarding, parachuting, bungee jumping, rafting and a myriad of other things which involve falling, jumping, flying ... read more

It was time to leave Ecuador and enter Peru, across what the Lonely Planet guide calls “South America´s worst border crossing”. One of the problems is the border guards charging you an exit or entry fee which doesn´t exist. The simple solution is to ask for a receipt. Suddenly you will get through without any charge! But the trickiest and most ridiculous thing is the oficial exit requirements from Ecuador.In an ideal world, a border crossing goes like this: 1. Leave Ecuador, get an exit stamp 2. Enter Peru, get an entry stamp Simple,yes? But for Ecuador you also need to fill out a “T-3 Immigration” card when you leave the country. Common sense would have these available at the border. But noooooooo, that would be far too easy. You can only get this form at ... read more

Well, yesterday we started our trip for real. After a quick wander round Piura for some brekkie and a money stop, we hopped on a bus to Máncora - a beach in the middle of the desert! Consequently is pretty hot..and looks like a scene from "The Hills Have Eyes" - one of the many qualitly films me and Kat have seen on buses since being in South America. Still, wasnt quite as good as "Dogs of the Devil..3!!" which was a piece of cinematic genius..ahem.. Anyway, Had a lovely S/. 10 dinner and tried Cristal - the national beer of Perú! Got to be done..! Off for an early night after that! On our second day we..well sunbathed! We had planned to surf, but the rocks didnt look to friendly so we gave up ... read more