13/11/2022 Mancora, Peru
Welcome to Peru
At 3.30 a.m. we made it to Peru!
Luckily, we could catch a night bus from Guayaquil to Mancora after arriving in Guayaquil by plane from the Galapagos Islands.
Easy immigration process
At 0.30 a.m. the whole bus got woken up to get out for the border crossing. It was actually one of the easiest border crossings yet, as exiting Ecuador and entering Peru were both in the same building (nor did you need to show proof of vaccination, any other forms or proof of an exiting flight).
What to expect
Mancora
Please let us in!
Next we got woken up at 3.30 a.m. as we had reached our final destination: Mancora.
The only problem was that we had only booked a room for the following night. Who could know we’d arrive this early?! There was a tuk tuk driver waiting for us (who also offered us all types of drugs) and drove us to our accommodation Allyuwasi Hostel.
Luckily, the receptionist let us in and even had a private room available for us (for $9 p.p. including free breakfast).
Feeling refreshed
In the next morning after “enjoying” a cold shower and the free breakfast, we felt refreshed and ready for a new country.
Relax at the beach
We relaxed at the beach, walked through town and had our first Peruvian ceviche.
Eat ceviche (Peruvian style)
Everyone raves about the Peruvian food including its ceviche, so we wanted to try it first hand. And what better way to enjoy it as to have it right at the beach?
To be honest, we weren’t as blown away by it as everyone had promised us. Furthermore, with $11 per fish ceviche, it was one of our more expensive meals in South America (we usually pay $5-8 per dinner).
Watch sunset at the lighthouse
We bought some sunset beers and walked up to the lighthouse from where we enjoyed a very beautiful, but also very windy sunset.
The start to Peru has already been great! Let’s see what else it has to offer!
14/11/2022 Mancora
The next day in Mancora started as relaxing as the last day had ended.
Laundry day
After bringing our huge laundry bags to the “lavanderia” next door, we headed to a breakfast place for an acai bowl for Blake. Sometimes the free breakfast is just not enough for him 😉.
More beach time
Afterwards we rented some sunbeds and an umbrella (for $2.50 each) at the beach, bought some churros and fresh coconuts and soaked up more sun (and wind). It’s always nice to slowly ease into a new country. We are taking that part very seriously 😉.
Sunset and dinner
In the evening we watched sunset from the beach and then went out for local food (shrimp omelette) later (okay, and for more street food afterwards)
I tried!
We went to one of the party hostels at the beach in the hope for some beer pong, but the so-called party hostel was pretty party-less. Oh well, Blake can’t blame me for not trying 😉.
15/11/2022 From Mancora to Huaraz
Another very relaxing day
After picking up our laundry and checking out of the hostel, we walked back to the beach, got two sunbeds, a coconut and a cookie and just enjoyed life. It’s nice to take a break from the stressful backpacker life every now and then 😉.
For sunset we walked along the beach to find a better place to see the sun go down. All three sunsets have been incredible in Mancora!
Finally sushi again
After sunset we had sushi – my favourite – and it was sooo good! Blake, of course, ordered something else but also enjoyed it a lot.
Bus leaving without us?
We were supposed to be at the bus stop at 10 p.m. for our 10.30 p.m. bus to Huaraz. However, when I checked my phone I had a text from an unknown number (bus company) saying that our bus leaves at 9 p.m..
It was 9 p.m. now! What was happening? We quickly grabbed our backpacks, got a tuk tuk off the street and sped to the bus terminal. And yes, our bus was already (or still) there. Three different people yelled at us “Huaraz?”. We could only nod, before they ripped our backpacks off our backs, looked at our ticket and hushed us on the bus – and off we were. We double checked our tickets which really did say 10 p.m… So at least it wasn’t our fault 😉. What I was most upset about, however, was that we hadn’t had time to buy snacks for the 16-hour-bus-ride! Luckily, most of the ride was happening during the night so I guuueess, I will survive 😉.
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