Back to coastal Peru: Máncora
We stayed an extra day in Tarapoto, enjoying woodfired pizzas while Matt fought whatever flu virus attacked him. We took the Sol Peruano night bus to Mancora. It was not a good busride. We were told it was pretty direct and was a semicama, and the bus made a LOT of stops and the seats barely reclined. I think my karma lately has been to attract bratty kids to sit behind me and kick my seat, pull my hair and have parents with no sense of discipline or consideration. I don’t know how to make right my karma, but I’m trying to be patient. Anyways, I do NOT recommend anyone taking Sol Peruano bus. The only good thing is that they didn’t play any movies and barely any music (if you don’t count the mother singing and stomping her feet behind me). Oh, just so you know, after 8 hours of listening to them (it was a 20 hr busride), I asked them nicely to hush up so I could sleep, they were the ONLY ones talking and they laughed at me and said lovely things in Spanish like who am I to prohibit them from laughing and singing in their own country. ohhhhhhhhh…
But onto other things, we arrived in Mancora, on the coast, via Sullana (note to travellers: avoid transferring in Sullana if you can help it. Stay in Piura, there’s food and other buses to choose from and they don’t charge you a transfer fee.) Mancora is known as the year-round sunny spot in Peru, on the northern coast. Unlike the rest of the coast, which is desert, this area is less deserty. There are palm trees and some green and it is HOT.
It is also very touristy and the most expensive town we have been to in regards to lodging and food. But the food’s good, we found a breakfast place called Green Eggs and Ham that has genuine waffles, hashbrowns (cooked perfectly), homefries and french toast. It’s a little pricey but it’s worth it with a view of the ocean. We also found our first vegetarian restaurant (Angela’s Place) that has an emphasis on whole grains, legumes and vegetables. She has gluten free bread, cookies and all vegan items are marked on her menu. That’s a first! Most veggie places here are peruvian food with carne de soya replacing the meat, or really high on the starch and really low on green veggies and protein. It’s run by an Austrian woman and yesterday Matt had a bean and veggie burrito and I had a spinach pie and stewed quinoa.
We rented some surf boards yesterday and attempted to remember what we learned in October. We both got thoroughly thrashed. I almost made it past the wave breaks and spent all my energy fighting the monster waves. The surf was strong and hard, I think I’ll wait until we go back to Huanchaco for another lesson from Juan Carlos. Matt eventually made it behind the wave break and sort of caught a wave, which means he didn’t get tossed like a rag doll. Neither of us were able to stand up on the boards, but it was fun to try again. And since it’s so warm, we just surfed in our bathing suits. I almost lost my bottoms each time the wave broke on me, though. I don’t know how those surfer girls keep their clothes on while surfing; there’s a challenge that never occurred to me.
We also got sunburned while surfing. We have nice waterproof sunblock, but we should’ve reapplied every hour or so since the sun here is STRONG. We’re at 4 degrees from the Equator and it feels like it. It cools down a little at night and there’s more mosquitos here than we saw in the jungle town of Tarapoto.
It’s nice to back on the coast, although I am already missing the mountains, clean air, somewhat drinkable water and friendly people there. I forgot how badly the locals on the coast take advantage of the tourists. They double the prices and you have to call them out on everything from a simple moto ride to a bottle of water. It’s frustrating and the taxi drivers are angry at you if you would rather walk. I’ve had a few guys yell and make the kissy sounds at me when I walk down the street without Matt. Laundry is a bit more expensive than Trujillo but a lot cheaper than the jungle (they tried to charge us sl.42 in Tarapoto, here it’s sl.23, but we paid sl. 12 ($4) in Huanchaco), but another traveller warning, don’t go to Encuentro for laundry, they lost one of my nice rei breathable tank tops and refuse to take responsibility for it. I’ll have to readjust to noisy, dusty, coastal Peru again, but at least it’s warmer than in October. We feel like swimming because it’s so hot. And it’s so nice to swim in the ocean. There are mud baths outside of town that we may go to later today, but it’s so hot the prospect of a hot springs seems a little counter productive.