August 6-8, 2006
Day 312-314
Fransisco, Robyn, and I took a bus to Piura and had a look around. The Lonely Planet says that it's a small colonial city centered around a plaza with a large church, but most of the old architecture was destroyed in an earthquake. Gee, that could describe just about any city in Peru. We only stayed for breakfast and decided to try and find a nice place to chill out for a few days.
We ended up going to Mancora, a small beach town along the northern coastline. Right away, I loved it. Everyday the weather was hot but not too hot without a cloud in the sky. There were lots of tourists, but not too many gringos, and the locals were friendly. Right away, I noticed a thriving community of hippies who sell jewelry for a few hours a day and hang out on the beach the rest of the time. It was impossible to be in a bad mood because nobody in town had a care in the world.
I ended up sticking around Mancora for three days. There were no great adventures, but I made a lot of friends and generally had a good time. With my trip coming to a close, my motivation to do spectacular things was gone. But really, given my time constraints, my only choices were to stay in Mancora or go to Guayaquil for a few days. That decision was a no-brainer.
