Máncora, Peru

We had a hell of a time crossing the border. Actually getting there and walking across the bridge into peru was quite easy, but we got across and it was quite hot and we were tired of being hassled by cab drivers and so we went into a police station to see what we should do. They recommended we get a taxi to the immigrations office which was 5 km further down the road from the border. So we did for 10 soles… not a bad price. But once we got there and got the entrance stamp in the passport we just got back into the taxi not thinking about anything and they took us to the next town called Tumbes and upon arrival charged us an additional 50 soles per person… the total came to 110 soles which was about US$30. We had been had! we just weren’t paying close attention and so after that we got out and found a ride to the surf town of Máncora another hour and a half away for 5 soles. Máncora was quite cool… there was a nice left break for us goofy footed people. It was low season and there weren’t too many people about but the hotel we chose to stay at had a huge group of older people staying there and they were celebrating the birthday of the owner of the hotel. It was quite funny to see these people dancing to salsa music and stuff, but after we’d had enough of that we went out walking down the main street… which was the only street actually. There wasnt much going on so we bought a couple cervezas and wine in a box and went and chilled onthe beach with local kid. The next day we booked a bus cama (bus with beds) for the 16 hour journey south to Lima. The bus was to leave at 4:30 PM so we had all day to hang out at the beach, and I was plannning to wake up really early and rent a surf board but when I got up at 8 it was quite overcast and there were no waves. There were actually no waves all and a fierce on shore wind was causing the water to be quite choppy and not even worth swimming in. The small town was quite excellent and we will probably stop back by there on the way back to Ecuador at the end of our trip… hoping for better weather. The good end to this story was that we caught the bus and it was quite luxurious. I slept rather well on the overnight ride to Lima and arived Thursday morning around 11:00.