Hello Peru!: Sept. 25-28, 2011

I wandered around Mancora following the sound and smell of surf. Brightly coloured merchant stalls lined the main street which itself was crowded predominantly with mototaxis (3-wheeled motorbike taxis) instead of cars. The tourist district was unmistakable in towns like these... manicured cobble roadways, large open restaurants, and a dozen competing bass lines thumping away, blending together, coming into focus, and fading into the background in a doppler effect caused by my perambulating pace.

 I opened my guide book to find a nice mellow hostel to make my home for the next few days. This village was built around the beach. A perfect beach with waves you can surf literally to the steps of a cafe lounge and wander up with your board for a mid-surf snack and drink. I had read about a sweet little off-the-beaten-track hostel which, after some wandering, I stumbled across... paradise.

Once settled in I met another traveler who had just arrived, Rui, a Portuguese doctor doing a practicum in infectious diseases at Lima. Both of us had the same guide books and both of us had determined the one must-do thing around Mancora: rent dirtbikes and explore the Fernandez valley and thermal hot springs. In the morning we walked to the local open market and bought breakfast supplies while scoping out potential bike rentals. The object of our hunt found and food in hand, we spent a lazy, hot, morning making and eating food to the sound of surf in the sun while sitting under palm tree shade. Once fed, we packed our day packs and made our way to the dirtbike rental. Ten minutes later we were cruising through the desert along the Panamerican Highway to Punta Sal to have a drink by the beach before heading up the scorching hot Fernandez valley.

After an hour or so of cruising and dirtbiking we found ourselves a little lost in the back country hills... although a more stunningly beautiful place to be lost in I couldn't think of at the time. We did a little back tracking and found the turn off we had missed... a difficult to discern dirt track up an off-shooting valley. A little further past some grazing goats and horses we found the hot spring mud baths. It was one small pool nestled amongst a collection of lunar sandstone hills. the water was about 35-40 degree celcius and murky with minerals bubbling up under your feet. When I submerged myself I brought my face to the bottom of the pool where I could feel the hot water bubbling out of cracks in the earth... so cool!!

The mud baths are said to be medicinal and curative of many ailments. I don't know the truth of the matter, but I felt like a million dollars after forty minutes in there. By this time the sun was setting and we still had ten kilometres of back country roads to navigate, so we slowly made our way enjoying the blue, purple, and pink pastels of the sky as the sun set over the desert. We made it back to the rental place two hours later than we told them we would be back, but the rentals were cheap and totally worth it... what a great little adventure. That night the hostel owner had a shamman from Cuzco visit to cleanse the hostel grounds. Around a campfire we performed the Peruvian equivalent of a smudge ceremony with wood from a very fragrant tree. It was very interesting and uplifting to be included in such a work.

The next day in Mancora was very chill. After another lazy communal breakfast we headed to the beach to get some surfing in on the beautiful left breaking in front of water-side cafes and restaurants. Sun, surf, sand, and massages were the recipe for this day. I had planned to go to Chiclayo the next day, but after waking up late and doing a little more research on interesting archeological sites... I decided to skip it and jump to Trujillo with Rui. We found a cheap sleeper-night bus on our morning march to the market. So, one more day of relaxing sun and surf, and then a night sleeping our way to our next destination... Trujillo.