Chillin’ at Loki and Relaxin’ all Cool

Monday September 9, 2013

I can’t believe I’m saying this after all the whining and complaining I did back in June that ‘All these islands are starting to look the same, I just want to get to a big city’, I was so happy to come across a beach again.  Right now we are settled in the little town of Mancora, Peru, up on Northwest side, just under Ecuador.  I think we’re both ready to take a little time off from strutting through historic towns to kick back and relax for a few days with our toes in the sand and a cold beer in our hands.  Matt especially, who’s tensions seemed to be running a little high after being cooped up in a bus for another 17 hours.  I think these continuous rides are starting to take a toll on him.  As we were exiting the bus today and waiting for our luggage to be unloaded, dozens of tuk tuk drivers would hound you for a fare, not even giving you room to breath.  Matt may have had a little outburst at them while simultaneously yelling “JESSICA!!” to summon me to his side, which left the drivers laughing at his expense.  Poor guy needs some ceviche and a beer, stat.

We found the only driver out on the side that wasn’t bothering us, and gave him our business.  Our hostel, Loki del Mar, was less than a half mile up the road and we realized we could have walked it ourselves.  Oh well.  Getting ourselves checked in, we once again realized that this looked like a party hostel with a very young crowd.  And why wouldn’t it be?  It has it’s own slice of ocean front property, a swimming pool, cabanas, a bar, and dorm rooms for $8/night.  Yes, this place looked to be thriving on college kids out for holiday.  While making conversation with the girl behind the desk, we mentioned how the two of us stood out as much older than everyone else.

“How old are you two?”

“31”

“Yeah, you’re much older than everyone here.  I’m only 27, and usually I feel like the old one.”

“Oh.  Awesome.”

Chucking our bags in our dorm room, we set out about town to find me a new swimsuit.  You know, the kinds that are prominent in Brazil and Colombia, and cover more in the front than they do in the back?  I kinda think I need one of those. Literally hours were wasted as I tried on suit after suit since this is the one place in Peru we’ve been to where no one speaks English and it was hard to get across the T style vs the V style I was looking for.  In the end I decided on one set of bottoms from a higher class swimsuit shop, and then a top and bottom (interchangeable with the other bottoms) from a cheap street vendor. Prior to your trip, you may already avail your swimsuit online, such as those matching swimwear if you’re travelling with your lover.

It’s also worth mentioning that for lunch we finally tried one of those Peruvian set menus where you get a drink, appetizer, and entree, for some seriously low prices.  It had taken us this long to research the items that were constantly showing on these menus and realizing that they were things we actually wanted to eat.  You mean that ‘Lomo Saltado’ that I’d been seeing everywhere pretty much translates to ‘Steak stir-fry’?  One of those with a juice and and appetizer of ceviche for just over $3?  I was ready to set down roots.

After lunch it was time to head to the beach in my new suit and tan my pasty white bum.  We found a vendor selling liter bottles of beer for $2, and plopped down in the sand to catch the last few hours of afternoon sun.  I have to say, I think I’m gonna like it here.

While I was down here trying to take a photo to get a vibe of the place, one of the guys turns at me and goes

“Can you take our picture?”

“Sure.”

“Are you going to put that up on Facebook?”

“Yeah, … I guess I can.”

“Cool, see ya later!”

No name, no email address, nothing.  I ended up posting it to Loki’s Facebook page, just so I could say I held up my part of the deal.  Good luck finding it guy…