Blogs from Trujillo, Peru, South America - page 11

To get out of the jungle we had a final boat, which pulled up at a port with far too many taxi drivers for the passengers. The drivers had a fight, and we ended up being driven by a maniac at 100mph down terrible roads, and being over charged for it. Mustn't grumble though, we were apparently in the old area held by the Peruvian terrorists The Shining Path, and we had no terrorist troubles. Apparently they've moved on. From there we headed to Lima, where we had hot water and fast food and all the things we'd missed for the last couple of weeks. We didn't really do much, just rested up and maybe hit the town a little bit. We're here in Trujillo now, on the north coast of Peru, working with SKIP (Supporting ... read more

A great day of food and entertainment. Firstly, lunch was a STEAL at 88p for 2 fish courses and a drink! Cheaper than Bolivia, probably because Trujillo is lacking tourists. We met up with Erin and Heather again to take snaps of the plaza. Another cloudy day, we mused over our options with a coffee. Not interested in the Temples of the Sun and Moon, of the Moche culture, due to the cost of reaching them and fearing they would look very similar to the pyramid in Lima, and the weather not good enough for sunset in Huanchaco... we chose the cinema! And what a great choice - haven't laughed so much at a film in god knows how long. I would thoroughly recommend Date Night (although, us being so out of touch with cinema, music ... read more

This is only a little blog as we had just the one night in Trujillo. Continuing from where I left off in Huaraz... Dana, James and I boarded an overnight bus to Trujillo the day after returning from the trek, and arrived fairly early to a barrage of taxis clamouring for attention. We asked about a hostel that was in the Lonely Planet and the taxi driver told us it was closed, and recommended another one. I had heard about these scams to take backpackers to hostels they earn commission for, so we came close to calling him a liar and insisted he take us to the address we had. Unfortunately, he was right, and we all felt suitably terrible! We got out of the taxi, however, and went for a wander to find a different ... read more

Hola a Peru - Tierra de las civilizaciones antiguas First…the bus ride and the border crossing. We left the city of Loja, Ecuador early in the morning on March 17th. The am street crossing of a 4-lane highway with the 250 luggage wasn’t as bad as we anticipated, and we were glad to get onto the bus and get ourselves settled in for a long day. A couple of hours out from Loja, we stopped for breakfast. It was a cute little town…but there was really nothing for us to eat…or drink…plus we had great fears of being left..so onward, onward, onward through the incredibly windy Pan-American highway…the ups and downs and twists and turns nearly made me nauseous. Finally, after we reached the border town of Mancara, we all got off the bus and first ... read more

Our next leg of the journey was another surf binge. The northern coast of Peru is known for its long left-hand point breaks in desolate locations. We went to several throughout the next couple of weeks...Mancora, Lobitos, Huanchaco, and Chicama. Great surf at every location...unforgetable times. Mancora was like another Montanita...lots of tourists and crowded lineup. Taylor and I got real cheap and stayed in crappy living quarters for our time there. The mattresses were nothing more than flimsy foam pads, and the walls were just cheap plywood panels. We were bitten by bugs all night and sleeping in a tinderbox...luckily no one dropped a match. By now we are champions of cheapness. Our next stop was Lobitos...a town in the middle of the Peruvian desert. Nothing exists but dirt and really good surf. Oh...and really ... read more