We got up early and shared a cab to Loja with Canadian biologist Duane and his retire teacher wife Susan. By 7:30 we were on the bus to Piura, Peru. It is about an 8 hour ride, including an hour at the border. Obviously, we were riding in style –
When we reached the border, we all had to get out of the bus for customs at the Ecuador side, then walk across to customs on the Peru side. It was hot and dry, the start of the desert. There are no public bathrooms, so most people just walk behind the buildings and take care of business.
Border Crossing from Ecuador to Peru
It seemed almost immediate, that the landscape went dry and dirty. There is litter throughout Ecuador, but in Peru there was trash thrown on the side of the road.
Peru Landscape Just Across the Border
Trash Everywhere
We eventually got to Piura, a town of about 250,000 in the middle of the desert. There is water in the rivers, so some areas are irrigated, and there are plenty of rice fields and mango plantations.
Rice Fields
Piura doesn’t have much going for it, except that it is a thriving and energetic community. We found dinner, slept, ate breakfast, and left for a few days at the beach in Máncora, a surfing town of northern Peru.
We’d heard Máncora compared to Montañita in Ecuador. It is where the Lima jet set comes to vacation at the beach. It wasn’t all that. We had booked a cabana at the Kontiki Lodge, on a hill overlooking the town and ocean. While it did have a wonderful view, crisp sea breezes, and a great Swiss proprietor, it also suffered from being on top of a hill that the local taxis and mototaxis (tuktuks) refused to drive up. We had to carry our bags up the steep stairs on the side of the hill. The room was spacious, but smelled of insecticide.
Kontiki Inn in Máncora
Kontiki Inn in Máncora
Kontiki Inn in Máncora
View from Kontiki Inn in Máncora
View of Surfers from Kontiki Inn in Máncora
We trekked down the hill and checked things out. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the beach in Ecuador, and we found ourselves walking through streets of garbage. We decided to speak with the proprietor about cutting our visit short. We left the next day. He handled it superbly, and even drove us down to the bus stations and helped us get tickets our of town.
This became our first experience with a Peruvian long distance bus.
Panoramic Seats – Second Floor Front
Seats Behind Us
Typical Long Distance Bus in Peru – First Floor is First Class
We were seated in the front on the top floor, and except for the writing on the window, had a great view of the landscape. To be sure, the landscape consisted primarily of rocks and desert sands with occasional areas of irrigated fields or towns. We also saw buildings, walls, and signs everywhere painted for any of the 19 candidates for president and their local congress person.
We made it to Chiclayo, another town of about a quarter of a million, again bustling and energetic and filled with trash. We saw miles of piles of trash just outside the city limits, filling the desert as far as once could see.
The good thing about Chiclayo is the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán in nearby Lambayeque. “Senor Sipán” is called the “King Tut of the Americas.” After the museum, we climbed on another bus for the four hour trip to Trujillo.
We found Chan Chan, a historic site outside of Trujillo, to be a worthwhile stop. This civilization was independent and dominant on the coast until the Inca’s conquered them shortly before the Spanish took them down.
Your other experiences at the border and the northern Peruvian towns sounds like it’s not changed much in 30 years (technology aside.)
Chan Chan has been pretty extensively damaged by El Nino floods unfortunately. We decided to pass.