The family of my friend was kind enough to welcome me into their home for a second stint of time (I first visited Chiclayo in mid January) as I make my way North which is great because they provide fantastic company and even better home-cooked meals :) More farewells and hellos await me which has become increasingly bittersweet especially since the final resting place for the trip in creeping closer with each passing day. After receiving my second dosage of Chiclayo for a few days I will bid a sad farewell to Peru and trek further north into Ecuador to enjoy the final few legs of this journey which is within short distance of reaching a duration of seven months.
The weather today is nice and overcast which is a comfortable transition from the uncomfortably hot temperatures that accompanied my stay in Trujillo. Before Chiclayo I spent 5 days between Trujillo and Huanchaco to see another great friend whom I met through Couchsurfing last January. The majority of the time there was spent watching cheesy bridal movies dubbed in Spanish but overall it was nice to be back but even harder to say goodbye because Trujillo has become one of my favorite cities in this journey. Reality of life after vacationing used to feel like a gush of gentle breeze but now winds are roaring and preparations for storms of responsibility are taking inventory.
I found myself back in Trujillo last Wednesday morning after boarding a night bus that originated in the capital city of Lima. This is a very condensed city that fills pedestrians ears with the sounds of speeding comvi busses while still offering the leisures of breathtaking ocean sunsets. With a population hovering at about nine million inhabitants Lima is surprisingly a very pleasant place to stay and can provide travelers with a wide range of activities. I spent two weekends ago in the bustling metropolis primarily to visit a handful of very close friends that I had met during prior moments of the trip. On Friday some very cool people named Melody and Lizeth joined me at a bar called "Botika" located in the beautiful Miraflores district in order to meet a large group of other Couchsurfers for drinks and fun conversations. The following Saturday consisted of reconnecting with a great buddy named John whom I met four months ago in Quito and two other former co-workers from Cusco, Nayla and Stefan, for some dancing at a club called "El Dragon". It was a fun coincidence to see so many familiar faces and combining this with Lima a meeting place made for a weekend that I feel very lucky to have experienced. Parting ways for maybe but hopefully not the last time with these extraordinary people was very difficult but in my heart I know that we are all meant to be friends forever. If anyone is looking for a chilled out backpackers hostel that has a cosy atmosphere then "Ekekos" is a recommendation and Juan Miguel who works there is hilarious.
Before Lima I was fortunate to have taken a two day tour of Colca Canyon which is a massive mountainous valley that is peppered with a series of tiny villages winding a few hours away from Arequipa. This time of year is quite rainy within the Peruvian mountainous regions and this provided a vividly green series of landscapes for our group who embarked on the tour. The trip was unfortunately filled with scarce amounts walking but nevertheless very worthwhile because it was enjoyed with some interesting people from various parts of the world such as Poland and Brazil. Colca offers travelers an endless assortment of stunning sights at a very reasonable price compared to Machu Pichu or other natural wonders of Peru. The final days in Arequipa once the tour of Colca had been completed consisted of hanging out with Barbara, the Couchsurfing friend who hosted me, and her family plus going out to a bar called Deja Vu with people who were visiting the city during the same stretch of time. Arequipa is a beautiful place to see in Peru and sorely will be missed.
Writing this blog post I realize that the number of remaining entries for this story are becoming severely limited because the trail towards home is shorter with each passing day. March 27 is the official day when I touch back down into San Francisco and its shocking how quickly moments in time have passed by. On March 26th a plane will send me from Bogota, Colombia to Fort Lauderdale, Florida then over to Los Angeles and finally to the City by the Bay. From the moment of final landing I frankly have no idea what life will bring or what kind of new experiences and tests are waiting but this is why life is do damn beautiful. Thank you for reading this blog it's been my pleasure writing you.
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