Everybody go Surfin', Surfin' in Peru

After we left Lima, Sam and I spent the following week traveling a lot  on buses and being beach bums on the coast of northern Peru. One can get used to living on the beach and reading and relaxing all day!



We arrived in Trujillo, Peru on Sunday morning (May 6) after another overnight bus, from Lima. Trujillo, like Cusco, has a lot of Inca ruins. However, instead of doing anything education or cultural, we grabbed a cab and headed to the little fishing village of Huanchaco, about 30 minutes from Trujillo. 

view from our hostel

There we lounged on the beach, ate delicious seafood, and even took a surfing lesson!

we <3 chicaron (fried seafood)

Surfing, I have decided is not for me--I came about thisclose to standing up on the board but gave up about an hour into our 2-hour lesson. Sam, however, is a natural apparently and was able to ride a few waves. I was actually really impressed with his surfing skills.


More photos from Huanchaco:

2012.5 Huanchaco, Peru

We were then on way farther north to the town of Mancora, which is a town popular with surfers who like to party (the picture of who Sam and I are). Unfortunately the only buses we could find between Trujillo and Mancora arrive at around 4:00 am, so instead we opted to take the longer route and crash in a little town called Piura. We had a 7-hour busride in the afternoon, where for most of the busride Sam and I were the only passengers and we got to watch Megamind for about the third time on this trip (it's pretty amazing for the number of movies out there how certain ones tend to repeat, such as Real Steal). 


The next morning we were off to Mancora, which we had been looking forward to since we had arrived in Peru. We had opted to treat ourselves to a beachfront resort, this being our honeymoon and all, instead of one of the hostels where the party-goers tend to stay, and it was glorious! We had a balcony with a hammock overlooking the ocean and an "infinity" pool. 

view from our hotel

traveling is hard stuff

Unfortunately Sam had read an article warning people not to go swimming on the coast of northern Peru as dolphins and pelicans were randomly showing up dead for unknown reasons, so we opted to stay out of the ocean. Aside from another bout of traveler's sickness on my end (I was so close to making it through Peru without it!), we had another lovely lazy 3 days on the beach.


More photos from Mancora:

2012.5 Mancora, Peru

Finally on Sunday (5/13) it was time to make our way to Ecuador, but I will leave that for another post.