Donde Esta Mis Pantilones¿?¿

Okay, this is probably going to be the most energy I´vd expelled in some time, please excuse if my fingers if they can´t take the workout, I will later post photos of Melanie squirting gatorade in my mouth as I conjur up the necessary energy.

Yup, we´ve been pretty relaxed this past week. Our hotel is a small slice of paradise, the biggest challenge of the day is squinting our eyes shut on the back of motorcycle taxi´s (similar to tuk-tuk´s in Thailand) while they blast down the 2 miles of cliff trodden gravel road to our tucked away hotel. Luckily most of the time the motorcycle´s barely have enough juice to make it up hill, but on the downhill the driver´s like to make up for speed with the extra inertia, which makes us subconsciously cradle the family jewels in winded anticipation of disaster. Once we arrive our destination (which really, there is only two, our hotel and the town center where there are restaurants), it´s a short walk to a stool/lounge chair/bed/pool/bar/ocean etc.

We tried unsuccessfully to go for a hike yesterday. We got word from our much attended vegetarian restaurant that a hike only 2 miles from town can bring you to a national park. Well, we walked for some time, but the vegetation was so ugly and murky we decided we´d have a better time going back to our routine. Wake-up, read, shower (maybe), walk downstairs for breakfast overlooking the ocean, eat while playing dominoes, walk back upstairs (one flight), read some more, walk to the beach, Tony eats up the sun while Melanie hides in the shade, walk to the pool to cool off, moto-taxi into town for lunch and dominoes, internet (for investigative purposes on further Peru locations only, promise), moto-taxi back to the hotel, more reading, more pool time, walk on the beach to watch indescribable sunsets, back to the room for more reading or NPR podcasts, moto-taxi into town for dinner, Tony eats incredible seafood while Melanie eats a bit of dust with rice and beans, moto-taxi back home for more reading and then eventually sleep.

That mostly sums up our days here. The food (for me) has been incredibly good. All sorts of fish and ceviche, very fresh and well prepared. Mancora was a fishing town before it became a surfing mecca, it´s managed to hold on to that vibe despite all the really buff guys with perfect teeth huddled next to their boards with empty beer bottles littered about like swarming sharks. Fishing still thrives here and is the backbone to the beach front tourism, you can smell it in the air wherever you go. We found a great spot that serves fresh fish and sweet potato chips with an icy cold beer (stored at 3 degrees) for only $4. Lucky for me they have really good rice and beans for Melanie so I get to go back. There are a couple of fancy pants restaurants in town, specialising in deep sea tuna cooked and sauced to perfection.

There is a great breakfast join in town called ¨Green Eggs and Ham¨. They serve up real good gringo breakfast. Melanie has had great omelette's´s with spicy home-fries and crispy hashbrowns. I had some great pancakes and waffles splattered with fresh mango, bananas, and pineapple in coconut cream and vanilla yogurt. We also found a small bakery and I had a surprisingly great piece of pecan pie with vanilla ice cream.

The town fluctuates from quiet to busy with no particular schedule. Being right on the Pan-American highway draws lots of cars and big dirty diesel trucks overflowing with various products, buldging as if it were going to implode. It´s not that bad, the biggest drawback is the honking in this town. You´re in the middle of a nice meal on a patio and the cars 10 feet away from you start blaring on their horn.

Tomorrow we leave paradise and it´s back to normal traveling. We fly into Lima for a night and then on to Cuzco the following day. We have an outline of a plan, but nothing set in stone except our plane tickets. It´s hard to figure out since it will be unknown how the altitude will affect us. Its a good time of the year to go river rafting through the Sacred Valley which we´re hoping to do if the altitude allows. This whole easter thing has been a bump in the travel road. We have been hearing more stories how tourist destinations fill up, one popular hotel here in Mancora has over 300 people on a wait list.

A short list of random images Id like not to forget.

Moto-taxi ride with an older man with a giant handlbar mustache and sherlock holmes-like spectacles.
Moto-taxis dragging up to 20 feet of cargo that slides on the ground, bush trimmings, lead pipes, cement mixers
Watching 4 vultures, 3 red heads and one black head, fight over a fish carcuss from our balcony
The feeling of a deserted town with the street lamps off and everybody indoors watching the Peru vs. Brasil soccer match.

Been reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, whew, darn good book but really depressing. Sorry no photos in this blog, 3 internet cafes in row didnt have usb ports for us to plug in. I will try and put some up later.
Hope all is well

-T