Peru!

May 8th
We left for the border of peru from cuenca early so we could cross during the day. We took a bus ar 10 that took 5 hours to get to the border town of huayquillas. Once we got there, we had to figure out how to actually get into another country. The city was crazy with hagglers and taxis and was annoying to get offered so many things. and we had all of our bags and money on us also. So we took a taxi to peru immigration and realized we never got an exit stamp from ecuador. So we left all the way across town and went and got the exit stamp and then all the way back to enter peru. A really long process, like 3 hours or so. From immigration we took a bus to the beach town of Mancora Peru. Of course right away our tire went flat so the trip there took 4 hours total. Got in around 8 pm and went to a beach hostel called angeles del mar. Not a very nice place but 5 dollars a night. Mancora is a great small beach town and is just being discovered for tourism. There are a number of tourists but everyone is around my age. We went out to the bars and took advantage of some happy hours but soon found out that peru will be expensive to be in. Nothing compares to the 70cents beers in venezuela! Got back to the hostal late and got really bit up by mosquitos. Long Day!
May 9th
Not much. Which was so perfect to hang out after a long day of travel. The beaches are warm and secluded and really beautiful. Drank beers and played cards for a long time and watched the sunset. Took some great naps on the beach. At night we bought a couple bottles of wine and chilled on the beach for the night. Also listened to some great live salsa in the plaza.
May 10th
another great day on the beach. A little too windy but got some great naps in nonetheless. More beers and cards. It seems that bringing a cribbage board was a great idea! We spent the day at the beach and caught a bus to Trujillo overnight at 10pm. The bus was a total of 9 hours. I popped a couple sleeping pills which was a great idea and slept the whole way!
May 11th
Got into Trujillo around 7am. Trujillo was just a day trip so we didnt have to bus all the way to lima in a day. Got a room in a hostal to put all of our stuff in for 9dollars in total. Trujillo is a bigger city of 750000 but still has a great smaller town feel. It has a really amazing plaza and historical district. I really liked the city better than cuenca which was supposed to be amazingly beautiful. Walked around and visited the supposed house of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of 4 south american countries. After we went to a really cool toy museum full of all kinds of old toys. After we visited a couple of amazing ruins. The first was called chan chan. It is the largest clay city in the world. It was something like 100 ad. Really well preserved and amazingly huge. Great courtyards and even a catacomb. After chan chan we went to another old temple where human sacrifices occured. Really well preserved and even older than chan chan. Came back and chilled and caught a bus for lima at 10pm. Took more pills and was out.
May 12th
Got into lima around 7am and checked into a hostal for 10dollars a night. We stayed in a neighborhood in lima called miraflores. It is a really nice safe neighborhod in lima. A little pricey to eat but really beautiful. We hopped on a bus to see the downtown. Lima is so huge at 7.8 million and the bus was long to the city center. We saw the main plaza and where the president lives. Really great historical center also in lima. Ah a side note. There is a soda down here that i absolutely love, Inka Kola. Its kinda like a cream soda but soo much better. We then went to a church called San Francisco. It is famous for is huge catacombs with thousands of bones. Really great but spooky tour. After we went to a spanish inquisition museum with real parts and pieces from the inquisition. After because it was our first night in lima we had to celebrate, so we all bought cigars and went to the casino. Lost some money on blackjack but really fun. After we went out to a more touristy part of town to go to a bar. Went to a bar called son de cuba. Had an amazing live salsa band and had some of the best dancers i have ever seen in my life. Great scene but really expensive.
May 13th
Decided to change hostal for a better scene and location. We changes to a hostal for backpackers called pariwana. Amazing hostal for the same price as the other place. Lots of great people, fooseball, cheap food, and just a great atmosphere. We hung at the hostal and played some cards. After anyas brother zach who lives in lima came to hang and go to the inka market with us. Saw some great stuff but am going to hold out for cuzco. After we came back and ate some great lasagna at the hostal for cheap. After we got ready and went to a party and then to a couple bars. Really fun night which included some drawings of us by an artist. At around 3 we went to get some street burgers which really hit the spot.
May 14th
Today was a pretty lazy day. Woke up late and chilled on the patio for a while. After we all got ready and went to a part of town called Borranco. Its the bohemian part of town where a lot of hippies and artists hang out. A really different part of town but amazingly chill. Went to the beach which was nice actually, to my suprise. After got some peruvian food in a nice fish platter and some sangria. Hung in borranco for a while but came back and played cards and fooseball. We are leaving to the airport to go to cuzco at 3am so we are just going to chill for the night
Until Next Time!