Victoria and Justin: Mancora es de puta madre

Mancora is an ugly little shanty town on the far North coast of Peru, not much itself but it does boost some of the nicest sandy beaches in Peru (and good surf, in summer). We arrived early on Wednesday morning, after our unusual border crossing (see previous blog). So, we got into one of the hundreds of tuk tuks already romming the streets and headed for the beach. We stayed at "The Point" hostel, which was right on the beach front about 1km down from the town centre. A welcomed retreat from the chaos of the town centre. We managed to book a private bungaloo about 100m from the sea, waking and falling asleep to the sounds of the ocean, something neither of us had enjoyed for quite some time.

On the first afternoon we meet up with the guys we partied with in Quito, James and Alan, and an English couple we met in Baños, Sam and Lisa. They were all staying at "The Loki", widely recognised as the "party hostel" in Mancora, which was good news for us. We could come and go as we pleased, party at the Loki and then escape for a good night sleep, which we only did a few times.

Now, spending a week on the beach doesn't really make for entertaining reading, most days consisted of "waking up, breakfast, beach time, lunch, pool time, beers, dinner, beers, sleep". So, i've offered up a few highlights from the week.

1. The infamous "Cinco alley", as we called it, was a dirt road running from the beach to the main street with about 6 restaurants each offering a "5 soles almuerzo" (or US$1.66 set lunch). The 'cinco' meal deal included a local dish called 'cevicha' (raw fish with lime juice and onion) to starter, followed by a main dish of either beef, chicken, fish or prawns with rice or fries. Top quality stuff. I must admit a few of the guys had a couple of difficult bathroom sessions but it was still great value.

2. Getting back on the wagon - One morning I got up early, left Victoria in bed, walked down the beach and rented a surfboard for a couple of hours. To quote the great George Costanza "the sea was angry that day my friends". The surf was at best 3 foot, nothing special, but great to get back in the water after 5 years away from a surf board. My performance was mixed, I caught (and rode) about 5 waves all the way in, not too bad. After about 11am the surf is gone, blown out by the onshore winds which are typical for this time of year.

3. The desserts - We found a little shop on the main street which made some awesome desserts, as quoted in the guide book. Well, we hit the place twice (i went 3 times...). The house speciality was the "Tres Leches" or 3 milks, you'd never think they could make a dessert from fresh milk, UHT milk and cream, amazing!

Anyway, that was Mancora, just a fun week at the beach. And for those wondering, yes, i'm still sporting the sluggos on the beach (and around the pool area).

p.s. "es de puta madre" is spanish slang for "awesome" but if literately translated it's rather offensive. It's just one of the many crap tshirts being sold in every shop in town.