Pease read below for a detailed account of the past week and a half.
I haven´t had time to sort through all the photos, but am sending this out now...because otherwise it will be another week until I finish.
(of course, you may look at the photos and read the blog, but I understand if you just skip to the photos)
We began our trip with an overnight bus to Chiclayo. We left at 9:30 p.m. and were supposed to arrive at 8:30 a.m. Instead, we awoke at our arrival time to discover that we were lost somewhere in Trujillo (a stop about three hours south of our destination). The driver was literally pulling over on the side of the road to ask other drivers. One of the other passengers went down to talk to the driver who explained "You see, the problem is that I'm lost." The entire bus could hear him say this and unanimously broke out in laughter and jokes. As if driving around in circles and stopping every five minutes to ask where to go wasn't enough clues that we were lost. Eventually, we got to our destination about four hours late.
We hopped in a cab and, after about five minutes, hired Pablo to drive us around for the day. We explained that we were updating a guide and we needed to go around the city to many hotels and restaurants. Of course, we didn't mention this was our first time doing this and, many hours later, we were all exhausted and realized this was more work than it sounds. We also quickly realized that three and four star hotels do not hand out free rooms to scrubby looking people who had clearly slept in their clothes (on the bus, though!). However, we did manage to find an affordable room at a place Pablo knew, had a semi-hot shower and finished almost all of the hotels and restaurants, as well as stopping at several of the sites and the Peru Information office for tourist information.
Along the way, we also found out restaurants liked to give a discount or a free dessert, but that little was given for free...this may also have been the result of the fact that 99% of the people had never heard of a travel guide for Peru. It wasn't just that they didn't know about Fodor's - they had never heard of Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Footprint, etc. and didn't understand the importance of this guide to tourists. After much consideration, we decided that budget accommodation and restaurants realized their importance, but that the upscale places we were visiting didn't have any experience with backpackers walking in, clutching their 'bible' travel guide.
After a late dinner, although exhausted, we went out to the three discotecas that were listed in Fodor's. By 12:30 a.m. we were on our way back to our hotel and the line at the new hot spot in town was literally around the block. The next morning, Pablo came to meet us at 8:00 a.m. and we began our tour of the three different outlaying areas with ruins and museums. These were far away from each other and in the middle of nowhere, but were incredibly interesting. Sipan, Sican and the world-class museums were amazing...and sadly I was the only foreigner there.
From Chiclayo, we took another overnight bus to Tumbes, a small town about near the Ecuador border. This is where most people stay before/after crossing the border. I always find border towns fascinating, although Tumbes was definitely the least interesting border town I've ever been to. The best thing I can say about it is that it was warm and sunny (near the equator and all). After our luck in Chiclayo with Palbo, our favorite taxi driver, we quickly hired Alberto to take us around the town and to the surrounding national preserves. Instead, he took us to an area near the mangrove preserve which, although nice in its own right, it not what we needed to see. He assured us that he knew where to go and was just confused and then did, in fact, bring us to the right place...but then we missed the window of high tide which was needed to canoe through the preserve. Next, we went to a nearby small beach town to stay...and then were taken into the middle of nowhere, were promised it was the only way he knew to get to the forest preserve. Let's just say that Arturo taught me a few new Spanish words and we turned around and went to our wonderful little hostel on the beach, swung on the hammocks, walked along the beach, went out to a delicious fresh fish and seafood dinner, and passed out from exhaustion.
Oh, and we also found out that just down the street was an agency that organized actual trips to the preserves. So, the next morning, we sat down with the lovely couple, originally from Lima, and got all the information we could have ever wanted. We hope to go back north soon to do the canoe, trekking and camping in the area.
From there, we took a collectivo (local type of bus) to the nearby beach resort area of Punta Sal, followed by Mancora, another beach area. We were tired and worn out, but managed to finish by late afternoon to have some time to relax. The weather was delicious - sunny, hot, cool breeze, and a sandy beach everywhere. Arturo's brother and girlfriend were also there, coincidentally, and we were able to relax at their hotel until our bus left at 9:30 p.m. Arturo managed to take a dip in the warm ocean...forgetting the warning about the rocks and completely cutting up one of his feet. He came back limping, bleeding, but still smiling -- and ready for a beer.
Our next stop, after a six hour overnight bus (aka: very little sleep), was Piura. This was one of the better looking cities we'd been to in the north and we very much enjoyed walking around and seeing the beautiful colonial architecture and eating in some delicious restaurants. Also, much to our enjoyment, all of the sites were near each other and did not require much travel to get to. We even had time to check our email - at which point I leaned over to move the small backless plastic stool and smashed my head on the side of the computer desk. Tired? Oh yes! But, we realized that if we hurried we could also get to Trujillo and, thus, not have any cities more than a few hours away from Lima left to cover for Fodor's.
Trujillo was clean, fresh and sunny (although cooler). The city has some incredible architecture, as well as nearby ruins to explore and learn about. This was what was missing in Chiclayo - a beautiful city. Also, Arturo's friend Fito was in Trujillo so we had our own personal chauffeur and tour guide...one we trusted. We explored the city and had a big night out (until 2:00 a.m. - early by Peruvian standards, late by my standards considering I was exhausted). The next day we went to the Chan Chan ruins and the adorable beach community of Huanchico. I left later that night on a 1st class sofa-bed sleeper to Lima where I think I had the best night sleep the entire trip. Arturo stayed one extra night to enjoy the International Spring Festival.
Overall, the trip was both incredible and exhausting. Now, I am back home in Lima and - more than I expected - that was how it felt to come back. Teaching at Newton College has begun, my Spanish classes are starting again and we are settling into the apartment (more on both later).
THE TRIP
No comments:
Post a Comment