11/13/2010 - Máncora, Perú: Where Am I?

Fact: northern Peru is massive, and is pretty much one huge ass desert. It's so wild when you cross a border and the landscape changes dramatically. The first stop is a long haul from our last stop in Cuenca, Ecuador to Máncora, Perú. It was quite a drive, with a long border crossing. It was all kind of exhausting, since the border guy was an idiot, and I had to fill in my paperwork about five times for him. But when we finally ended up in Máncora, it was fabulous and I was instantly brought back to life. I was at a great hostel, and while playing a game of pool, BJ notices some friends that we met in Cartagena, Colombia. Stoked, that they're there, I get some beers and my teammate Christina and I start kicking some ass at fooseball.

Typical northern Peru.  Whole lot of nada.

Hostels are funny places. I've travelled a bit, and I wouldn't do it any other way. The people are just friendlier, and not always secluded in thier room. Hostels kind of force people to meet and talk to each other. Which for me is great, since I didn't come here to know everything about BJ. I've met some incredible people at hostels, but what I love the most is random coincidence. All along the gringo trail, like minded people somehow end up in the same cities at the same places. Not always because of Lonely Planet, but there's a certain crowd. There were the Germans girls I saw all over Nicaragua and Costa Rica, or this Canadian dude I saw in Panama and a few places in Colombia. So you can imagine, when BJ and I saw some super fun girls we'd met previously in northern Colombia. We were happy to hang again. It was easy to have fun, of course, since our hostel is what's known as a party hostel. Tell tale sign: it has a bar. It's far too easy to get roped into these bars because they're always filled with like minded travelers. Why go out and see the city, when there's a great group of people already here? Who knows, sometimes life is filled with so many damn difficult decisions. Oh well, that night was easy and fun. It got weird the next day with the girls though.


We had planned the night before to go on a motorcycle ride the next day. All of us were kind of hungover, so after a long directionless ride, we decided to picnic in the wilderness under some shady trees. It soon become apparent that Christina and Aeriel are the exact female equivalent of BJ and I. It was really uncanny to talk about. Christina like me, does about zero planning and can go with the flow really easily. Where am I? Oh, Máncora? Cool. While BJ and Aeriel are a bit more calculated in their traveling. Also, they're a little less reserved, BJ makes clear whatever is on his mind. An example while talking with females: "it's so crazy, chicks just get fat while they travel, and guys just continue to lose weight." All hilarious, but it was also funny seeing another set of same sex travel partners interact after such a long time together. BJ and I travel together, but were still pretty independent. You hungry buddy? Nope? Ok, see you after lunch. All pretty easy. They seem to have a similar groove. It was like looking into a travel mirror and seeing our chick twinsies. Weird, but great since of course we got along wonderfully.

After we said our fond farewells, BJ and I took off the next day heading south. The girls were heading on a twenty hour bus ride directly to Lima. BJ refused to believe that there was nothing worthwhile to see in Northern Perú, but after scouring on the Internet and guidebook, he found squat. Looks like camping in the desert is the best option. Too bad we're stuck in sand dunes, and just locating a spot far enough away and secluded enough from the highway is a hassle. Deep sand isn't a motorcyclists best friend. You've pretty much can't stop, or you'll sink and spin the tires until you're too frustrated that you stop, tip the bike over, and fill in the massive hole your tire just created. It's a bit of work since my bike weighs over five hundred pound loaded, so you can imagine dropping it and picking it up really isn't the easiest thing to do. But I'll have to say that I love desert camping. It's what I grew up with. There's wood to burn, the stars are fabulous, the solitude is a nice change, and it's usually hot and dry. Perfect for writing a shitty song in Spanish, reading a good book, or catching up on some needed sleep. It's simple, relaxing, and I suppose something that I was looking forward to on this trip.

Standard procedure when driving on deep sand. Fun!