Máncora

Day 119 (October 25, 2018) – Máncora, Perú

We arrived in Máncora before dawn after taking an overnight bus from Cuenca. The ride was about 9 hours, but it felt like we had gotten on a plane and flew half way across the world. The difference between Cuenca and Máncora is shocking. We left the regal, grand, and ornate city of Cuenca and got dropped off in the sandy, dusty, and strewn together beachside town of Máncora.

At the Ecuador/Perú border. Tons of people waiting around to get through, even in the middle of the night. This was at the far end of the crossing where people had space to stretch out. The crowds were even greater near the immigration buildings. 

The bus ride was comfortable, but we were woken up at 2 in the morning to cross the border from Ecuador into Perú. We read it was supposed to be an easy border crossing, with one being able to check out of Ecuador and then immediately check into Perú at the next table over, but that didn’t seem to be the case for us. The border was quite chaotic. I don’t know if this was because we were passing through in the middle of the night or because of the ongoing Venezuela crisis. There were hundreds of Venezuelans camped out at the border. The line for immigration stretched on seemingly forever. It’s no wonder they had to camp out there for a couple days to pass through. Fortunately for us, we seemed to get priority for having traveled by bus and were ushered through to the front of the line. The main confusion around the whole process was that the building to exit Ecuador was closer to Perú and the building to enter Perú was closer to Ecuador, so you had to walk around in a circle and double back a couple times to get all the right stamps, all while weaving in and out of the crowds of people.

Hanging out on the beach. 

Máncora is supposed to be one of Perú’s most happening beach towns, but it took a little getting used to. The Pan-American Highway runs right through the center of town. In fact, it is Máncora’s main downtown street and lined with the usual array of restaurants, bars, and hotels. It is also one of the only paved roads in town. The rest of Máncora consists of a random hodgepodge of buildings that have thrown any notion of city planning to the wind. Sand alleyways twist and turn to the contours of the buildings, most just large enough to fit a tuk-tuk, and connect the main street to the rest of town.

The moon rising after sunset. 

The Peruvian coast is entirely a desert. There isn’t a huge difference between the sand from the beach and the dust from the desert. Regardless of where it comes from, sand gets everywhere. It doesn’t matter how much you try to shake your clothes and shoes out, we each ended up carrying about half a pound of sand back in our bags. We can say that the weather was picture perfect. There was rarely a cloud in the sky and rain is practically unheard of. It can get windy on the beach however, making it a bit chilly at times, but this brings out dozens of surfers and kitesurfers to the ocean who were always entertaining to watch.

The beach at Máncora. It's not particularly clean or nice, but it works.

One of the highlights of Máncora, other than getting to spend time on the beach, was the food. We were finally out of the mountains and back on the coast and with that came phenomenal seafood. We’ve gone out for sushi in almost every major city that we’ve pass through on this trip. My conclusion from all these restaurants is that South America simply does not know how to prepare good sushi. The exception to this rule might be in Máncora.

The sandy alleyways between buildings.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Tokuyo, and it was simply incredible. We had a sampling of various Peruvian-inspired sushi rolls and each one was better than the last. We were so impressed with this restaurant we even ordered dessert, which we almost never do. It too was as delicious as the dinner. We also found a restaurant called Yuka, that we visited twice for dinner, because of their outstanding Poké bowls. These too were served with a Peruvian flair, replacing the usual white rice with a bed of quinoa, topped with our choice of fish and a myriad of tasty toppings and dressings. We had some of our best meals of the trip in Máncora, which was such a pleasant surprise coming from this disheveled and dusty town.

Dinner at Tokuyo, round one. 

Even the dessert was amazing.

Máncora was only a quick stop for us on our way to southern Peru. It was nice to see the ocean again, relax by the beach, and have some truly amazing food. I may want to return to visit those two restaurants again, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to make a special trip to Máncora. It has potential, but it just feels dusty and a bit dirty, and for reasons we don’t understand often smells of sewer. Next time, I think we’ll stay on the Pan-American highway and fly through the center of town along with the other buses and semi-trucks that go barreling by.