It had been about three and a half months since I’d left Australia and only twice had I been to the beach. After spending some much time in cities and in high altitude all this little black duck wanted to do was have some quality beach time. After we returned to Huaraz, L and I booked a night bus pronto to sea level and hung out at the hostel watching movies until it was 10pm and time for our bus.
We were heading north to Trujillo, where close by there was a small beach town called Huanchaco which sounded perfect for us to recover after our five days hiking. We reached Trujillo in the early hours of the morning and shared a taxi with a French couple to Huanchaco. The taxi ride took all of 20 minutes and before I knew it, I was breathing in the salty air that I haven’t breathed in so long. It was about 6:30am by the time we got to Huanchaco and of course we hadn’t booked a hostel, so we spent some time on a park bench eating biscuits until the hostels receptions starting opening.
Crossing town with our backpacks, we finally found a hostel that would take us. Naylamp Hostel & Camping was on the outer of the main street but was a peaceful little area, perfect for us to recuperate. We checked in to a six-bed dorm but had managed to score the room to ourselves. Spreading out our bags from one end to the other, we made ourselves at home and had a little nap to catch up on the missed sleep from the overnight bus.
Around 9am we headed out to explore the little town and find breakfast. Huanchaco was a sleepy little fishing village that just looked like someone had starting building a resort town and kind of gave up half way. Stray dogs roamed the streets and surfy looking dudes called out offering surf lessons. The streets were cracked and uneven and the buildings were unfinished and bare. It was like Huaraz except at the beach. However there was a certain charm to this little town and I had a feeling I would be spending more than a couple of days here.
In one of the back streets we found the Mercado and ordered breakfast from a little lady in one of the cafes at the back. Paying about $4AUD for two egg, avocado and cheese sandwiches sided with fresh juice and a coffee, we were pleased with the cheap prices here. The rest of the day was a bit of a write-off as we lazed about the hostel, found a delicious bakery and watched the sunset on the beach.
The following couple of days went similarly to the previous one. We slept in, ate lots and sunbaked on the beach. The laidback vibe of Huanchacho hit us hard and the motivation to do things was hard to muster. One morning we did visit the ancient ruins of Chan Chan – the largest pre-Colombian in South America. It was once the capital of the historical Chimor Empire from AD 900-1470 until they were defeated and incorporated into the Inca Empire.
After a few days L left me to head further north, whereas I was content with staying for a couple more days. After she left I switched to a different hostel right on the beach front. The Meri Surf Hostel was like a big old house made for backpackers. There was a rooftop terrace, outdoor kitchen and huge sitting areas. They had heaps of surfboards for rent and the TV was always playing clips of surfing videos. Even those I had no intention of trying out surfing here (after years of Dad trying to teach me I find it more satisfying to watch) it felt like home.
It was like a family at Meri, everyone knew everybody and we spent hours lounging in hammocks just talking about anything and everything. We gorged ourselves on chocolate croissants at the nearby bakery and got brown by the Peruvian sun. I was so chilled out that it was struggle to move further north.
After four days I took a nightbus with three other girls to Mancora to spend some more time at the beach. Mancora was a little more touristy than Huanchaco, with its main street lined with stalls selling everything beach related and many restaurants with persistent waiters encouraging you in. The beach was definitely nicer than it was in Huanchaco and the weather much hotter, so we spent most of our time either at the beach or by the pool.
I was staying at the infamous Loki del Mar Hostel, which was popular amongst backpackers for its crazy parties and resort-style set up. The girls and I split ways after a couple of days, with them heading to Ecuador while I stayed in Mancora waiting for a friend to arrive. After the girls left I have to admit I didn’t do a whole lot. The ‘Loki spell’ trapped me and I was definitely spellbound. Between the awesome people that I met, the crazy nights and the familiar sound of the happy hour song, my days here blurred into one long, happy stay at Loki.
Early Thursday morning my friend J finally arrived and I had to say my goodbyes to this fun place and head north to Colombia. We had this insane plan to travel all the way to Cartagena by bus to meet friends of his and to get some real, Caribbean beach time. It wasn’t the most conventional way to travel South America but the both of us had zig-zagged across the continent already so we figured going a bit more out of the way wouldn’t hurt. Unfortunately my phone and thongs had decided to grow legs and disappear the night before so I was now phone-less and thong-less, which didn’t make for a great start for our journey. J was also feeling under the weather having spent the week travelling on buses but we booked our bus tickets to the first stop in Guayaquil, Ecuador, dubbed ourselves Team Dumb and Dumber and left Mancora with our fingers crossed that we would survive our massive journey.
Stay tuned for how our journey ended up!
J. x
A Blonde and Her Passport 