The South of Ecuador

I got into Ecuador and received a safety guide. You can tell Ecuador is ready for tourism! 

They give out phenomenal brochures with clear and concise information. 

For the first 24 hours in this country and on the south side where I am, I am completely amazed at how clean it is. Seriously. For a "3rd world country", it blew my mind. You don't see garbage in the ditches, or piles near shanty homes. Buses are old, but not dirty. No one sticks gum to windows or seats. No one throws garbage out the window.

Highways are green and beautiful!! It's tropical...

It's really a lovely place! 

I found it quite interesting how they use the 'US dollar', bills they use normally yet for coins it's like a mix of cultures...

Waking up in Loja wasn't the worse thing that could've happened. It's a small little town full of shops. I had breakfast in a small cafe infront of the plaza. I went around and got deodorant, baby wipes, socks and a new shirt. 

Then tried to get a 3$ haircut, what a disaster, this woman had no idea!! Hahaha!

Went back to the hotel, took another shower, packed and got a cab to the bus station.

Got a bus to Vilcabamba ($1.30) and an hour later... I'm in a hostel in the mountains.

Today I had my first neck, back and arms massage. It was phenomenal. $12. 

I only wish the lady weren't breathing like the guy from Star Wars, that would've helped me relax...

Wish I could be staying here longer than 2 days, that's for sure! The sun is strong and the pool is nice.

People living here past the age of 100, is a myth, as many have confessed to have lied about their age... But there sure is a lot of old people here!!! 

Crossing into Ecuador

There are a few crossing from Peru to Ecuador. 

The most common tourist path is going through Tumbes straight to Guayaquil or Cuenca.

I went to a few agencies, looking for a way to go to Loja, with the final destination being Vilcabamba, a little town I've been hearing about since I entered Peru. People there live easily past 100!

All the agencies told me the exact same route. They said: departure at 8am, go to Sullana, change buses there, cross at Macara at around 11am and then go straight to Loja! 

Sounds long, but great I thought, for the peace of mind and especially because the Tumbes border Lonely Planet rants about being sketchy.

I googled other blogs and most didn't mention how they got from Mancora, Peru to Loja / Vilcabamba, Ecuador. 

I read a few that went the other way though: Loja / Vilcabamba, Ecuador to Piura, Peru!

So here's my (if I knew then, what I know now) tip! 

• Take an early mini van to Tumbes (15Soles) and get dropped off at CIFA agency. (Infront of the Villa Naval!) 
• Buy a ticket to Huaquillas. (4Soles) Departures at 10am, then 1:15pm!
• In Huaquillas walk a few blocks to the Loja station and buy your ticket to Loja (usd$6). Departs at 6pm.

The next morning, I go to the agency and waited till the lady arrives, late and tells me to go to another agency! There I await for a bus that's suppose to bring me to Sullana, hah! Wrong! They put me in a van and bring me to Tumbes. At that agency, we arrive late, so we have to wait for the next bus. The border was fine. Then another bus, and then wait for another bus.

The positive side of this, is that it went past the North coast of Peru... And there they have impressive beaches and for the most part, it's still unoccupied! It blew my mind! If rich people in the USA knew, they'd buy it all up like they did in Costa Rica and every other coast!

The beach that I thought was nicest was Zorritos. Wow! 

Where I'm at!

After 30 days in Peru, I'm in Ecuador! :D

Mancora - NOT "like the Cancun" of Peru...

Everyone told me I'd love Mancora, it's "like the Cancun" of Peru. Ummm, no.

Don't get me wrong, the ocean is beautiful... But mean and windy!! There's hardly any beach area.

The town is getting eaten by the ocean. This can be seen along the main beach, the shore/tide is coming up and not receding.

The town is bigger than I thought, the touristy part is rundown and consists on 2.5 main roads. 

The first is the PanAm North where the clothes & craft market is along with bakeries, tourism agencies, banks, pharmacies and little grocery stores. the other is the main to the beach which has expensive crap for the beach and some restaurants and then along the sea shore there's restaurants and bars.

There are sea food restaurants everywhere!

There are tuktuks everywhere. 

Along the main, in the direction of the market, there's the 7soles family runned lunch place, where all the tuktuk drivers go. It's called Restaurante Oriental. Don't order Tallarin of anything. 

What annoys me about Mancora is that they're not trying to keep it nice! Like, it has a few resorts, but not at all like Cancun quality! 

I went once, I don't usually go to resorts, but I sure know what the quality's like in Mexico... 

So, the sand is not as thin, there isin't much beach space and it's kinda all crumbling/falling apart. 

There's also a ton of hippies. Especially the ones that come to the place whilst you're eating. They play 2-3 shitty songs and want you to give them a coin. Assholes.

Time to move on. Tomorrow: Ecuador! :)

Ugliest Dog Ever:

"Peruvian Inca Orchid"

Seriously.

Google that, I'm not making it up. 

They're everywhere. 

Lima - Cloud, Capital & Coast

It's been cloudy ever since I got here. 

It doesn't rain though.

It gets pretty cold at night.

This capital isin't as scary as it seems. It's spread out and has a few favelas. 

Miraflores is an awesome and touristy place. 

I met up with Daniel and Ina and we randomly went to La Lucha, which is famous. I had their "asado" sandwich and I hope to eat there again... It was delicious!

We hung out, caught up and walked numerous times around the cat park. A group of girls interviewed us for their English class.

The next day we took the "free walking tour" and maybe it's because we did them at other places, but they're just not as interesting...

They took us to the centre of Lima. We watched the changing of guards. Took us to a market. Showed us a few churches... Gave us free samples of pisco. And collected their tips and we had to find our way home alone!

Then we went to get ceviche at "Punto Azul", it was delicious!! El Muelle in Barranco is good too, terrible service though! I suggest everyone try Peruvian ceviche atleast once in your life! 

Lima has so many food choices that don't make you sick!!! :)

It's also pretty clean. It's just a little difficult to navigate sometimes. Taxis are usually assholes that over charge me. Buses are always packed and stuck in traffic.

Barranco is interesting at night. It's hipster and fancy. Limeños love to dance and that's where you can find them.

Lima has coast, but it's a cliff... So no possibility of beaching! Not that you'd want to, because it's always cloudy and never rains!

Best museum is: Larco, it has a fascinating collection of pottery! 

Even an erotic section. 

Going to the movies is 9soles.

Kaclla Hostel is Miraflores was phenomenal, I got great sleep there! Their showers suck though. Maybe 6drops per minute? The manager lady is pretty rude too.

Check out LarcoMar mall, it's pretty nifty.

Leaving Lima, and going north, I booked the panoramic seat on top, on the left... I got to see a lot of the coast.

It was fascinating to see so much sand, and little homes built on top of it. 

Once in the state of Piura, you can see them drilling for oil and you can see the palm trees.

Nasca & Huacachina

I took a 14 hour bus from Cusco to Nasca. 

Once there I got lucky, an Asian girl got off the same bus as me and wanted to go see the lines as well. After storing my baggage at the terminal we go out to be harassed by all the taxi drivers. We get driven to the airport... During the ride we get the same bullshit discourse from the taxi driver of: "Have you booked? Can't fly if you haven't.... I can get you a special price...Blablabla..."

Got there and it was fine, there was lots of options.

It cost 70$USD. We took Aero Paracas!

Seeing the lines was one of the coolest things I've done. They were definitely hard to see, even though the airplane is swaying from side to side.... But they were AMAZING! 

Here are some photos I took! :)

It blew my mind how they were discovered in the first place, because they aren't so visible all the time...

Once that was done, they drove us back to the terminal and I took the cheap bus to Ica, where I got on a tuktuk to Huacachina!

I herd about this place through friends. It's fascinating because it's a little oasis... There I stayed at a fun hostel: Desert Nights. I got to be in a room in the back and that was great cause we didn't hear any noise from the kitchen, bar or reception! 

I took the tour and rode out in the desert- and as you know it... 

It's beautiful, but 5 minutes in and damn it, I hate sand... It's everywhere!!

Stayed two nights there and took the 5 hour bus to Lima!!

It's good to be in a city where I don't feel sick... Despite the fact that I'm currently battling some bites! Lol...