After all the hiking around Huaraz we’ve undergone a huge change of pace.  We took the Yungay Express from Huaraz to Chimbote (around 4 hours along some rather abused roads with lots of rock falls to negotiate).  Chimbote is not a place to stay - it’s a large fishing port and transport hub.  We only went there to make our connection to Mancora but we had a few hours to spare.

We had no intention of heading into town but we were pleased to see that directly across the highway from the bus station was a large modern shopping mall.  I know, it’s not the sort of thing you should be pleased to see but it had a huge supermarket.  After a while in small towns with small shops it’s really nice to get to a big supermarket, browsing aimlessly for a while and picking up a few luxuries.  So, that’s what we did - killing an hour or two and buying some food for our dinner.  Then, at 9.30 it was time to catch our next bus all the way through to Mancora.  The bus was late (about an hour) and it turns out in speaking with others that it’s regularly an hour late.  It comes from Lima and I guess it always has trouble with the traffic there and gets delayed.

The fact that it was late reinforced that we had made a good decision to go via Chimbote though.  The “obvious” route was to take a proper bus like Cruz del Sur to Trujillo and get the connection there to mancora.  We had met two separate groups of people both doing the trip that way.  However, it’s the same bus to Mancora that we caught except it passes through Trujillo at midnight - do you really want to wait up in a bus station until midnight to catch a bus?  How about 1am because it’s always late?  So, I think we did Ok with this trip.  Admittedly the Yungay Express bus was a little questionable (too hot and one of the windows which was broken became sufficiently dangerous they stopped the bus and took the glass out half way through the journey!) but we had some great views and everything else went very smoothly.

Arriving in Mancora was a little traumatic.  We had become very used to taking buses that stop in either a bus station or a compound so that there’s some security when you get off the bus.  In Mancora it just stops on the main road and you are mobbed by taxi and moto drivers offering their services, plus all the guys trying to sell you trips even before you’ve recovered your backpacks.  This came as a complete shock to me (we had stuff like this before but not recently and we weren’t expecting it).  In hindsight, I see why when the bus stopped the conductor made sure we were ready to get off and had all our stuff before he opened the door!  Anyhow, it was fine of course.  We got our bags and just walked away from the hubbub, with only one persistent seller following us.  He gave up eventually.

Mancora

[caption id=”attachment_3189” align=”alignright” width=”300”] Mancora beach[/caption]

Mancora is a seaside town with a huge clean beach facing out to nothing but sea.  A great place to chill out for a few days.  Our first “change in pace” was the temperature - 30C or so during the day and still very warm in the evenings.. Nothing surprising there but it took a while to adjust to.  Secondly, instead of trekking most days we did nothing during the day.  We just sat around enjoying the warmth, strolled along the beach, ate ceviche and drank rum.  It was great.

[caption id=”attachment_3191” align=”alignright” width=”169”] Arroz con mariscos[/caption]

The seafood was really good too.  We had ceviche a couple of times, along with arroz con mariscos (rice with seafood).  We went to the same place both times - not that we know it was a particularly good place to go but the price was good and we certainly enjoyed the food (plus a view of the beach while we ate).  We also had tuna several times, and it was beautifully cooked - still pink in the middle, tender and tasty.  Amazingly this included having tuna in a fixed price lunch deal (15 soles - under £4 - for garlic bread, main meal and a drink).  In the evenings it was still salads back at the ranch, but accompanied by rum which is never a bad thing.

[caption id=”attachment_3190” align=”aligncenter” width=”300”] Ceviche[/caption]

There are a few activities you can do in Mancora and we did consider them, but none really excited us.  You can do diving around an old oil platform (one couple did this and told us there were strong currents and it was hard work), you can hire surf boards (but the surf isn’t great in Mancora - you need to go up the coast an hour or so for the great surf) and you can go and swim with turtles.  This last one sounds fun, but it’s not an ethical operation - they feed the turtles to get them to come to the swimming area, so we decided not to support that.

The sunsets were a real highlight, setting over the sea each evening.   We were amazed how quickly it happens near the equator - I would say no more than a couple of minutes from when the sun touches the horizon to when it’s completely gone.  We went out several evenings to paddle in the sea and watch the sun setting, then, once it’s done, it’s a quick dash back to the accommodation before it gets dark (that happens quickly too). They have security guards on the beach during the day (yes, it’s still that sort of place apparently) but they leave as soon as the sun sets so you don’t want to hang around.

[caption id=”attachment_3204” align=”aligncenter” width=”1024”] Sunset[/caption]

Crickets

[caption id=”attachment_3187” align=”alignright” width=”169”] Crickets[/caption]

I have to mention the crickets.  A couple of months before we got here Peru had some pretty devastating rain.  Lots of roads washed out, people killed by flooding and mud slides.  Mancora is in the region that was affected by this and was affected by flooding.  However as a side effect of that they later had a plague of frogs.  Following on from the frogs they then had a plague of crickets (what next, the four horsemen?).  The owner of the accommodation said a week or two earlier the sky had quite literally been black with crickets.  We were lucky that there were only “huge numbers” of them now.  They were apparently a nocturnal cricket and at night they would crawl under the door to get into the room - we all had towels jammed under the doors to stop them!  Even so, every evening was a bit of a battle to keep them out or deal with the ones that got in.  They got everywhere (in all our bags, in our shoes) and Sue had a bit of trouble dealing with them because they looked a lot like cockroaches.  They were mostly harmless although they could nibble holes in things if they wanted and could be quite noisy.

While wandering around one day we came across a big pond full of birds and we noted with interest that it was full of tadpoles (the water was black as far as we could see!).  I think Mancora is due another visitation from the plague of frogs!).

Other Wildlife

[caption id=”attachment_3188” align=”alignright” width=”300”] Hungry pelicans[/caption]

Mancora is a fishing port as well as a beach town, so there are lots of birds around looking to get scraps from the fishing fleet.  In particular we saw lots of pelicans, which was a novel sight for us.  They look so cumbersome in flight it’s amazing they get out of the water.

On the advice of the accommodation owner we took a walk for an hour or so south along the beach and reached a posher resort area that has some rocks along the water line.  At low tide you are left with rock pools where we happily wandered along looking for interesting wildlife.  I was surprised at the almost complete lack of plant life in the pools. We saw many crabs and also small fish and snails, but no anemones and almost no seaweed/coral type growths.

[caption id=”attachment_3186” align=”alignnone” width=”1024”] Lurking crab[/caption]

The night crossing

After five days of unashamed laziness it was time to move on again and time for our next country - Ecuador.  Most of the buses from Mancora go to Guayaquil but we didn’t want to go there.  Our goal was to get to Cuenca.  It was a bit tricky working out how to do this - it turns out there are a few buses going there but they’re not easy.  During the day there are three or four, but they are not direct - you have to change buses at or near the border.  The only direct bus we could find was a night bus (leaving at 11.30pm) which was fine.  It meant that we would cross the border in the middle of the night which is both good (it’s really quiet so it doesn’t take long) and bad (it’s 2am - who wants to wake up and deal with red tape then?).  The night bus is run by Azuay (all the others are run by another company) and they don’t appear to have an office or online presence for buying tickets. This was part of the difficulty with the bus - there are a bunch of shops along the main street in Mancora (all CIFA branded) which sell tickets for this bus and it seems they take it in turns to be “the bus stop” for the night bus.

Anyhow, the night bus it was.  We paid a half day rate at the accommodation to keep the use of the room until around 11pm (not a bad deal). Normally we would not have bothered (we could have stayed in the communal areas without paying) but with the crickets it really wasn’t appealing to sit out in the dark for so long.  Then it was a late night auto (or tuk tuk as they call them in Asia) to the bus stop which, on this particular day, was one of the closest points on the main street to our accommodation.

Everyone was just hanging around on the pavement waiting for the bus and we had some peruvian money to burn so I popped over to the local shop.  What could I buy for 7 soles and 80c?  The answer is a fistful of snack packs of Oreos - the snack of choice for pretty much our entire trip so far.  This was a new record for us - we left the country with zero peruvian currency in our pockets.

The trip was “interesting” and didn’t involve nearly as much sleep as I would like.  The driver clearly thought we were in a race and threw the bus around in ways I didn’t think were possible.  We were woken at 2am for the border crossing which took around half an hour or so.  It was really easy (queue at the “goodbye Peru” desk then queue at the “hello Ecuador” desk).  No forms for us to fill in (I think the locals had to do paper work) and no money to pay.  It was only marred slightly by the first pair in the queue who had lost their peruvian “slip of paper” that goes with the passport. They had to pay a fine, but didn’t have any Soles.  Then they paid in dollars, but didn’t have change and neither did the border guard.  That was all a bit tedious.

After successfully navigating the border and going back to sleep we were stopped at 3am and the police boarded and searched the bus - I’m not sure if that always happens or was some sort of random check but it woke us all again.  Then, we arrived in Cuenca early (thanks to the racing bus driver).  We don’t often complain about being early, but getting in at 6.30am when you don’t expect it isn’t so great - it was scheduled to arrive after 9am! Not all streets are yet safe at that time for a start.

Anyhow, we got our stuff and walked to the accommodation (a couple of km), arriving a little after 7am.  Yet again, our room was ready!  Unbelievable.  So we got checked in, settled and headed out for our first day in Ecuador.

Cuenca

We really enjoyed our short stay here.  The atmosphere is nice and laid back with wide streets and lots of lovely old buildings to see.  Recently the majority of the museums became free to enter which means you can pop in and out without worrying about whether it will interest you or not (and is particularly helpful when it starts raining!).

[caption id=”attachment_3216” align=”alignright” width=”300”] New cathedral[/caption]

We had breakfast in the main square which is flanked by two cathedrals (the “Old Cathedral” and, can you guess?, the “New Cathedral”).  The new cathedral is a little odd.  Apparently someone made an error designing it so you have a huge and impressive building with two bell towers that are supposed to tower over the square but in fact barely reach above the main building because  it wasn’t strong enough to take the weight of the full size towers.  Ooops. It really does look rather out of proportion. Breakfast, anyhow, was just about right.  As normal we’re saving money so no cafe breakfast for us.  We had rolls, avocado and tomato for breakfast and then went in search of a good coffee shop for a hit of caffeine.  We haven’t had “good” coffee for such a long time and, at last, we’re getting deeper into coffee growing country.

[caption id=”attachment_3227” align=”alignright” width=”300”] Pulled pork. Mmmmm.[/caption]

Cuenca is renowned for having (north) americans.  Lots of them retire here (same currency as at home but you get a lot more for your money in Ecuador).  This american presence was very evident (this isn’t a complaint, just an observation).  English was very widely spoken, plenty of americans to talk to and quite a few up market foody places rather than just the normal eateries for locals. In particular, we did visit the Carolina Smokehouse and bought some bacon and pulled pork - delicious!  Once we had found the place for our morning coffee (made easier by most of the public squares having free wifi) we sat down and discovered the only other person in there was an ex-pat american.  We had a very nice chat with him.  His dog was called Rebus (after Inspector Rebus based in Edinburgh!  What a coincidence).

Following his recommendations we went to Pumaponga which is both a museum and an old Inca site in town.  The site itself wasn’t so earth shattering for us (having come up through Peru) but it was a lovely garden area too that we enjoyed walking through and they had an aviary with some stunning birds.  The museum wasn’t very interesting though - much of it was closed (in particular the “second floor” which is where they normally have a display of shrunken heads apparently).  There was an exhibition on Ecuadorian money systems which was interesting - particularly since they abdicated all monetary responsibility in 2000 and adopted the US dollar.  I knew they had done this but hadn’t realised it was quite so recent.

[gallery ids=”3223,3224,3225” type=”rectangular”]

Our habit recently has been to have a good meal at lunch time and then salad in the evenings and today we had a target for lunch. We were, however defeated initially by the stupidity of the cafe owners.  They were closed at 1pm because they had someone in doing a photoshoot.  Who closes their lunch time business at lunch time for an indoor photoshoot that could be done any time?  They do apparently.  Despite this we were keen to have lunch there so we went off and had a fruit juice (beetroot and apple - lovely!) and a slice of coconut cake to keep us going.  Then after wandering the streets for an hour or so we returned and they were open.  It was worth it - lunch was their speciality which was a thai style noodle and fresh veg dish.  Some of the best flavours we’ve had this trip! We were reminded by this meal just how many dishes in south america can be a little bland.  They tend to salt things heavily and often add strong chilli heat but don’t use much in the way of spice and herb flavouring.  Anyhow, if you’re in Cuenca, you can do worse than have lunch at the Pedir de Boca, if it’s open.

Lunch complete, it started raining.  Fortunately the newly opened Museo Remigio Crespo Toral was just a block away so we whiled away another hour or two in there.  The highlight was a group of elderly locals all in traditional outfits that were getting a tour round the museum.   Sue followed them like paparazzi!

[gallery ids=”3215,3214” columns=”2” link=”file” size=”large”]

In the evening we just had to find a supermarket (or market) to pick up a couple of things for dinner.  We went to three (count them - three) separate supermarkets marked on our online maps.  Not a single one existed.  Unbelievable.  We gave up in disgust and had bakery products for dinner (we weren’t terribly hungry after a late lunch and had picked up some buns earlier in the afternoon).  The next morning we at least found a market to get some fresh produce but it looks like all the supermarkets are well out of town.

We only had one day in Cuenca and the next morning we did a quick bit of sight seeing, visited the museum of modern art (not very good unfortunately) and then started our trip to San Pedro de Alausi where we planned to take a trip on the Devil’s Nose railway.

Buses in Ecuador

It seems that we’ve taken a step down in bus usability since coming to Ecuador.  In Peru we used Cruz del Sur - they had a web site, fixed itineraries and you could book online. It was, therefore, relatively easy to plan your journey.  In Ecuador things seem rather more opaque.   Sue had read that you can get a bus from Cuenca to Alausi and that it takes around four hours.  However, nothing (really, absolutely nothing) online tells you where the bus goes from, what the bus company is called et c.

When we arrived in town we noted that the Terminal Terrestre was pretty big so we took a gamble and headed out there to try and find a bus.  We had planned to walk but it was a warm day and we didn’t want to get all sweaty (!) so we took a local bus.  Quite entertaining with large backpacks but only 25c each for the trip.  In the main bus terminal I had a look around and not a single bus company was advertising going to Alausi.  In desperation I looked at the departure screens and saw a bus that included Alausi on its list of stops.  We ended up paying a bit more than we should have (Sue read that it should cost $4 each but we paid $6) to travel with Patria buses at 2pm from the main terminal.  It was a really nice new bus (although they didn’t turn on the a/c which would have been nice) and despite there being a long detour for a blocked road (landslide again) we arrived pretty much on time in Alausi.

[caption id=”attachment_3228” align=”alignright” width=”300”] Fire pit[/caption]

That night in the Killa Wasi hostel we were treated to a fire in the firepit and the other people staying there had been out to buy rum so they shared their supply of mojitos with us - very generous and a lovely evening under the stars with them all.  Killa Wasi is a hostel and working farm so there was organic mint and organic limes to go in the drinks - all very enjoyable.  We did have to limit our intake though as we planned to be up early (6.30) to get to the train station for the Devil’s Nose train trip - but that’s a topic for another post.