Mancora Nights to Lima Days

Today is Tuesday and currently my friend Sean and I are staying at a family run hostel called Alpackers located within the Miraflores District of Lima. This location is very comfortable with fairly relaxed owners and hot showers which is a nice change from the opposite environment in Mancora. We have made Alpackers a home base since Friday night after a 22 hour bus ride from the North coast.

After five nights living in the crazed Loki hostel in Mancora, sleeping in the sun by day and exploring various forms of nightlife after dark, it has been nice taking a step back and enjoying downtime. Not much was accomplished in the sunburned surf town besides making some good new friends and meeting some crazy locals. The beaches there are great and food is very inexpensive despite being a tourist hub. Motorcycle taxi outnumber cars and loud Latin music is normally the last thing you hear before you fall asleep. Loki is a must see place and it's social atmosphere mixed with limitless amenities influences unexpectedly prolonged stays.

The original plan from Mancora was to take a 9 hour bus ride south to Trujillo which sits at the halfway point towards the Peruvian capital of Lima but not one terminal along the route offered a direct form of transport. After three buses and two taxi rides we found ourselves rolling into our destination at close to 1am. It wasn't worth booking a hostel and luck finally came our way because we managed to hop onto a last minute double decker bus enroute to Lima a handful of minutes before it left the station. 11am was when we arrived and a taxi took us to the first hostel we saw, Alpackers, and sleep felt like a gift.

At first glance Lima is a huge and un attractive city which houses close to 9 million people. After being here a few days this impression has changed because we have met hands down some of the warmest people in South America. Boasting an endless coastline, trendy cafes, a crazy yet fun bus system, and outrageously good food, the capital city is worth visiting.

The big reason for seeing Lima was to attend the Creamfields electronic music festival this past Saturday. We also met a handful of locals who were on vacation in Mancora while we were there as well so overall it was a good opportunity to reconnect with some good friends and to dance like it was the Spring of 1997. Creamfields took a year off of our lives and since arriving we have also been spending time with our friends who are from Lima named Aldo, Marcio, and Lizeth. We tried some great traditional restaurants and have gotten a fun perspective of Lima from an insider's viewpoint. I will forever be thankful for their generosity.

Yesterday I met a friend from Couchsurfing to practice Spanish and we explored the Plaza Mayor, Iglesia de San Francisco, and the bohemian Barranco District. It was a good experience and today will hopefully be more exploring before leaving for the sand dune oasis of Huacachina! I hope everyone is doing well and more updates coming soon!p