¡Vamos Arriba!

I swung away two wonderful days on the boat solo (having left Guillermo and Karolina behind in the jungle) before arriving in Yurigamas. Then I spent two horrendous days on buses and taxis on my journey to the beach. It was my first time to the beach since Lima on the second day of my trip. Máncora is your typical beach town, only with a bit less flair and pizzazz. And for a beach town known for a party, it lacked that as well. The four main clubs on the beach were all situated right next door to each other. They were all blasting different music. And they were all empty of patrons. In all, it is a relatively bland beach town. Nonetheless, I found myself stuck there for a few days, mainly because of the people I had met.

I finally got some surfing in. SOME. The break was a decent left-hand point break that was decent in size while I was there. But, my out-of-shape arms only allowed me one and a half hours of surf, one day. After that, I was resigned drinking beers on the beach and body surfing.

One of the people I met in Máncora convinced most of our big group to visit him at his house in Cuenca, Ecuador. So, with a overstay tab on my visa piling up, I finally made the push north and out of Peru. Paul housed a group of us at almost all times. There always seemed to be dinner for seven or eight people and somehow beers for 25. One day, as our sizable group enlisted recruits from surrounding hostels, had a train of 12 people hiking the local Cajas National Park just outside the city.

Cuenca is a beautiful city in many ways. It’s a very international city and many of the people speak English. But, its also a very easy city as the bus system is amazing. The cathedral and main plaza are some of the best I have seen yet in South America. Being a university town, there is plenty of nightlife to keep us youngsters occupied until the wee hours of the morning. Of all the places I have visited on my travels around the world, there are few places that I can imagine myself living for over a year or two. Cuenca would definitely have a spot on such a list.