The Beach

After finally getting the heck out of Lima after working my last week at the bar, I went to meet with friends in Mancora, Peru for what promised to be more madness so I had to stop in Huaraz, Peru to get some alone time. Huaraz is known as the "Switzerland of the South" because of its amazing views of the Andes. It's in the middle of a valley surrounded by mountains so it's pretty great. I talked to an American from Virginia who was probably the first legitimately crazy person that I've met in South America. You begin to see alot of people like this when you travel. Old Expats that are single, usually in their mid 50s and just wandering aimlessly around South America. I may not know what I want to be when I grow up but meeting this guy made me know what I DON'T want to be. I didn't do any trekking but I went to some old ruins, only stayed for a day and a half though because I was ready for somewhere warm.

Mancora, Peru is a small beach town that's lately been flooded with tourists. Not much to do there besides drink and hang out on the beach. I met some Aussies and some others in Lima who were also there in Mancora with the promise of them renting a house on the beach (which never really materialzed). 5 minutes into meeting up with them, we were playing Bar Jenga which is, well, just a giant Jenga set with 2 x 4s and that has dares that you have to do on each plank you take out...and 5 minutes after starting, someone was running naked around the pool table. I'm glad I didn't get that one. I just had to get a girl to give me her bra...which is harder than it sounds. I tried begging, asking really nice, trading my underwear for her bra as collateral but it all failed miserably. Promising a woman alcohol usually gets her to do almost anything though in my experience and in the end, that's the strategy that won out.
I ended up renting a private cabana on the beach to sleep in which was pretty cheap actually and meeting my friends at nights at the party hostel for the fun...which there was too much of. I'm leaving tonight with a friend for Montañita, Ecuador which I hear is another great beach town. I also heard that the last person who crossed the border was tricked into illegally trafficking a baby into Ecuador. This is actually true since child trafficking is a big deal in Ecuador. Fuuuunnnnnn...