me gusta Mancora

[dennislevy]

Yesterday, I started a trip report aboiut Peru.
 
This is my first full day in Mancora, on the Peruvian Pacific coast two hoirs south of the Peru Ecuador border.
 
Its the kind of place...that if you wanted to waste 6 months contemplating your navel and spend about 5,000 US and be a bum on the beach, its pretty damn easy to get lost here.
 
The food is sensational , the weather is wonderul....and its right on the ocean. I walk out of my hotel across the street and the water is there.....At 6 30 morning I was walking on a deserted beach and I saw brave souls surfing in wet suits
 
I just came cack from dinner, I had a big broiled tuna steak......with a dressing  of honey and lime, a side dish of Italian gnocchi, a small green salad and a Coke for 29 soles that s just about 10.70.
 
The town is essentially one street (the road that runs down the coast), there are dirt sidesteets and some houses and restaur<ants in the hills overlooking the town and the ocean. There is a lighhouse perched on a hill and aybe 20 minutes walking to the high end area with the fancy private hotels and private beaches. There is a wide variety of restaurants.....Peruvian, italian, a vegetarian falaffel place, Chinese....and a sushi place.....There are at least 50 moto taxis those are two weel convertible cover topped carts mounted on and behind a motorcycle. the carts hold 1 or 2 people.   
 
Tourism is slow......the tradesmen and shopkeepers  are frustrated, but there is none of the frenetic begging quality that you see..in Cartagena.   Mancora a small town atmosphere. I havent had anyone get in my face trying to get me to buy something.
 
This morning I bumped into a young Dutch couple that I had met in the L Auberge Inn hostal in Quito and that was fun. we had a good time catching up.
 
I  checked on a room for rent and Gustavo, the owner of the house was Peruvian and Swiss and had lived and worked in New York City many years ago.. in a steakhouse in midtown Manhattan that I went to frequently for lunch and he may well have served me at some time brtween 1978 and 1985....!  We had a good laugh,
 
He is about 60 with a 35 year old wife and 2 young  kids...redoing life as a family man.  He intorduced me to his wife...we all sat down at a table in the downstairs  restaurant  that is part of their home and we had a chat....mostly in Spanish because his wife doesnt speak English.  The restaurant was closed becvause there  wasnt enough traffic......I m always imoressed with the warmth and friendllesso fnew acquaintances in SA.
 
The other wonderful moment of the day...After chatting wih Gustavo and his wife, I walked down a side street,. looking for a place to eat lunch. I found some place that looked OK and ordered a dish of 8 big breaded  shrimp wtih a maracuya based dipping sauce........
 
From the first bite, I knew whoever cooked it had real talent. The taste of the flavored shrimp came through the breaded crust.....it was simple but beautifully prepared and presented.....I asked to speak to the cook and out from the kitchen came Martin, maybe 22 years old...but he had studied in a cooking school in Lima and was trying to make the restaurant go..´ At 1,30 in the afternoon, I was the only customer.....The shrimp a coke and a tip ....16 sols 50 ..... a bit over 6.00 USD.  I promised him I would comne back tomorrow......and I will.
 
What Mancora DOESN T have is availalbe women...they are pretty girls walking arond but they are traveling iwth guys who brought them. I watched 2 young bare chested Aussie guys in shorts, flip flops and shades walkiing  around  and they would ask each other in an atrocious accent......donde estan las chicas? 
 
And although its a beach town on water, and a lot of raffic gows up and down the main drag......its pretty quiet... Just perfect before I gear up for Lima and another dating campaign   

[no comment]

If you like the food in Mancora you'll love the food in Lima.  Mancora is a surfer town and it's busy in Peru's summer when school is out, from January to the beginning of March. 

[whitey]

Sounds pretty nice, Dennis ... all that's lacking is a little eye candy ... maybe a good place to settle down once you're 80 ...

[no comment]

..... a propósito ... if you're an adventurous eater look for conchas negras in the restaurants up north along the coast.  Cebiche de conchas negras is regarded as an aphrodisiac. 


Most know that Peru's trademark drink is a Pisco Sour.  A maracuya sour is another good one.  The bars along the main road are probably offering specials during the slow months. 

[dennislevy]

No comment......

thank you,  Ill try thhe conchas negras tomorrow for lunch.....I had ceviche with langostinos today...
And I dont drink...but thanks....

Ill be here at least until Wednesday....  This morning I shot the breeze with a hotel desk  desk clerk and he told me aobut Iquiitos, a city in the jungle with a reputation for ardent and beautiful women. This is  the second time someone has mentioned Iquitos to me in two days here....

Has anyone been there and can give some boots on the ground commentary? Ive read the  Frommers and wikipedia stuff, I know the women look Asian......  Im looking to connect with someone who has been there......

 

[AndyLee]

No comment......
.....  Im looking to ocnnect with someone who gas eeb there......

My guess is that after an 85 day dry spell in Ecuador you're more than ready to connect with anyone female
By the way, either your keyboard is broken or you make light of the statement you don't drink
Did you ever read The Celestine Prophecy? It's central message is that if you hear something the same say three times then it's time to act on that hunch......so you've heard about Iquitos and exotic women twice so far....if you hear it again I'd say jump the next bus heading that way...and have fun!

[opusone]

My guess is that after an 85 day dry spell in Ecuador you're more than ready to connect with anyone female
By the way, either your keyboard is broken or you make light of the statement you don't drink
Did you ever read The Celestine Prophecy? It's central message is that if you hear something the same say three times then it's time to act on that hunch......so you've heard about Iquitos and exotic women twice so far....if you hear it again I'd say jump the next bus heading that way...and have fun!

Easy there, Andy. It's probably jet lag.     [size=0px] [/size]

[dennislevy]

Andy et al

When I say connect with someone, I meant a man who had been to Inquitos and could give me some real
intel....jejejej

I really don t drink, I ve  been  dry for 31 years....no comment suggested trying available peruvian cocktails and I said thanks, but I dont drink.

The dry spell is now at 90 days...three months as of tonight. Actually I ve enjoyed most of it...but I m ready to date again. 

I have the name of a gringo contact in Inquitos that someone in Mancora gave me......And I ll write to him cold and introduce myself ...

The only ways to get into Inquitos is a fight from Lima and river boat....the boat is about 5 days, there are no busses.................. surrounded by water...its the gateway ot the North Amazon....

[no comment]

I haven't been to Iquitos but my wife went in '07 for a brief stay.  Hot & humid as you'd expect from a jungle city with sudden heavy downpours and then a clear, sunny sky.  Streets get sloppy with mud.


She says the city has a lot of foreign tourists and I think that the indigenous culture is a draw.  Many go for the ayahuasca ceremony.  DL, you mentioned that you don't drink but a Google search of "tragos de la selva" will turn up many of the concoctions devoted to boners, with names like "levantate Lazarus" which are served there.  All of Peru has something for live to eat types with something unique in each region.  I look forward to your report if you should go.

[sticky2]

I just looked up Iquitos on google earth.  There are lots of pictures, and the place looks very interesting.  There were no pictures of the women though.


I hope you really do go, that would be a very interesting trip report.


Sticky

[dennislevy]

Sticky2 et al......

If i can get some traction, some interest from women in Iquitos I may fly from Lima.I ve been talking to  men here in Mancora on the northern Peruvian coast ....hotel clerks sidewalk vendors...and every time I mention iquitos, their eyes light up and they make the woman wih curves shape with heir  two hands......

Iquitos seems to have the same reputation as Pereria in Colombia, a reputation for very ardent women.....who want to hit the sheets in the first date.

It may be the the usual folklore that men spin, no one I ve talked with has actually said they ve been to Iquitos  .but I ms till doing my due diliegence.

If I decde to go, it will be in late October or early November.

I ll keep the board posted on my travels.....Next stop is Chiclayo or Trujillo.....further down the coast road.

[dennislevy]

The daya ater tomrrow, I am leaving Mancora for Chiclayo........... a few hours down the road.

My new Peruvian friend, Gustavo /see my first post aobut Mancora)  invited me to his house for lunch. Hi shome, restaurnat and hostal is called called Desperado located om the main throughfare in Mancora its at 444 Piura.  As i said he is almpst 60, but is thin amd vibrant.  and I had guessed his wofe to be in he rmid 30s....  they have two kids, 2 and a half years old and an 8 month old.

And the señora is s 26!!!!!!!! And they ve been married 7 years, so there is  jussssssssssst a slight age difference!  I shook my head in wonder and admiration.....

She is  a terrific cook, she made an appetizer of fried shrimp puffs (called pequeñas) with an avacado diping sauce and then shrimps in a spicy cheesy sauce on top of fried potatro slices, white rice  and a small side of green salad washed down witth cold lemonade.   Wonderful chow!   After lunch, she put the kids down and stayed with them. 

Gustavo and I walked over to the beach I talked with a few hostal owners to check out prices, and  he introduced me to a fellow named John a Scotman form Dumfries,  who came ot Mancora 4 years ago and has a spectacular property of hotel rooms on the north beach of Mancora.

I also saw small hotel complex. Hotel mediterranean, which I think for the price was the  BEST value I saw in Mancora...40 dollars US a night or 112 soles for a very nice room, nice bathroom  wth a king sized bed, contiental breakkfast included. a small pool---and three steps off the property and you are on the beach, restful tranquil and beautifuñl and just a bargain for off season travel.

Mancora is a tourist spot, with beautiiful beaches, but also a surfer s town. even if you don t surf it s a great place to be for a few days. The dollar get 2.7 soles and a single gringo toursit can live nicely here for 80-90 soles a day.......call it $27 to $34 a day in a hostal.

If he needs plusher lodging as I described, obvioulsly more. Dring the season th the  prices go up, the restaurants hold their food and beverager prices steady but the town fills up and a 25 sole room even in he poor north end of town gets 60 soles and that a domitory room with bunks.

i changed hostals, but Im still on the ocean Im at Hostal Bako...but paying 25 soles  for a rom thats ok, but I walk out of my room 50 feet oto the end of the 3 rd story balcony and I ve got a 180 of the Pacific Ocean-.....And the beach is 50 from the hostal front door. 

Today at dinner in a smal restaurant  I sat and talked to a young German couple, physicians  form Lepzig, last year they had gone to tanzanoa (the old tanganyika) the old German East Africa colonial area  for their vacattion. 

Im half French....and if there is  one thing I admire aobut Europeans, they are much more adventoorus in thir travle choices then most Americans.  In Mnacora I v emet belgians, Danes, French, a couple of Lavian guys family from Argentina....

 and an American guy from Florida who is traveling just as I am.....we ve been to quite a few of the same places, although hes spent considerable time in Brazil and I spent mufh more time in Colombia.

Over and out form Mancora..