Winter Break Travel Journal: Quito, Ecuador to Cusco, Peru…and back!

PART 1: Quito, Ecuador to Chiclayo, Peru

Between fall and winter quarters at my school in Quito, I found myself with exactly one month of absolutely free time. Thankfully South America is full of wonders and I set off to see what Peru could offer, with the main goal of making it to Cusco for at least a week and getting to see the ruins of Machu Picchu.

My friend Katrina from Evergreen met up with me on December 10^th in Cuenca, Ecuador, after I took an 8 hour night bus from Quito. She spent the morning showing me around the town, which is her favorite in Ecuador and where she spent multiple weeks this fall. Cuenca is famous for its beautiful old architecture and it apparently has a church for every Sunday of the year! We ate the first of many gluten-free breakfasts (Katrina can´t eat wheat), walked along with river and checked out the Aboriginal Museum to see some neat artifacts. Before catching our next bus, we ate seafood soup and fresh coconut smoothies in Cuenca´s bustling, yet very clean market.

My favorite building in Cuenca, it's so marbled! 

Cathedral in the Central Plaza with school kids in the foreground 

Another Cuenca church

Hummingbird! 

 Inside the Aboriginal Peoples Museum 

Smoothies in the Market! YUM!

Our bus took us in 5 hours to Machala, the banana capital located on the southern coast of Ecuador. It´s interesting to note though, that it was actually quite difficult to find a good banana to eat in the town because everything is exported! The town was a bit grimy around the edges, but the thick air and humidity was actually very refreshing coming from the Sierra. We located our couchsurfing (see note) family rather easily and chatted with Fannie, a French student finishing up an internship in the area, and the mom of the house during a dinner she prepared for us. Later on we got to meet our other CS host, Andrea, and along with Katrina and Fannie, the four of us got along quite nicely, being all approximately the same age!

In front of the Christmas tree in Machala with Andrea, Fannie, Andrea's mom, Katrina and myself

Early the next morning we set out for the famous local beach, Jambelí (pronounced hahm-bell-E). We were very thankful to get a ride with members of the family we were staying with. We took an open boat ride through a mangrove forest, which acts as a natural wildlife sanctuary, especially for birds. We arrived in a small town on the island, which was touristy, but not over developed and actually it seemed much more geared towards visiting Ecuadorian families instead of gringos. Katrina and I ate more seafood and played in the calm water and sand all day on a nearly empty beach that seemed to stretch on forever.

 At the entrance to Jambelí

 Across the street from the beach

Mangrove forest 

On December 12, we ventured into Peru and crossed the border between the cities of Huaquillas, Ecuador and Tumbes, Peru. Unfortunately these towns are not even very close and the whole border process is quite a mess! We made it through more or less unscathed and were even able to change some of our US dollars (Ecuadorian money) into Soles (Peruvian money). The most important part of the day was definitely learning border-crossing tips for the future, especially when traveling between countries that have not always have good relations, so their border offices are miles apart and two separate passport stamps are required.

The reward at the end of the day was definitely reaching Máncora, a small surfer town right on the beach. We relaxed after the stressful border crossing by checking into a cheap hostel, walking along the golden sand and eating more ceviche!

The following day was completely devoted to being on the beach in the sunshine! We walked to some interesting natural tide pools/hot tubs in the morning and then spent the afternoon rolling in the sand, swimming in the crashing surf, watching wave and wind surfers and reading. After showering off we watched a gorgeous sunset and treated ourselves to a special dinner at a healthy vegetarian restaurant run by an immigrant from Austria. To Katrina´s wondrous surprise, they also baked their own gluten-free bread!

Sunset in Máncora

The next day's bus took us through 6 hours of hot desert to Chiclayo, a very non-touristy town surrounded by pre-Inca ruins. Unfortunately when we arrived we couldn´t locate our couchsurfing host, Maricruz, so we checked into a hostel and explored the town instead. I quickly deemed Chiclayo the “street food capital of Peru”, with the top winner being the rice pudding! We also walked for the first of many times among the narrow passageways of the Mercado Moderno, a huge maze of clothing, food, gadgets, witch cleansings, haircuts and more! It was easily the most impressive (and disorganized) market of the whole trip through the land of towns with amazing markets.

The following morning we did find Maricruz and she fed us breakfast and then gave us some great tips and sent us on our way by “combi” (public minibus that they use all over Peru, but not in Ecuador) to the town of Tucume, where we hiked around the Valley of the Pyramids. There were at least 20 pyramids in this one small area with a great range in size, and they are currently trying to preserve them from the strong El Niño rains that come through every few years. After another lunch at a bustling market, we took a mototaxi tour of the Batan Grande Dry Forest. The mototaxi ride (Katrina called it a motorcycle-turned-buggy) was exciting enough, and then we even got to see woodpeckers, a giant lizard crossing the road right in front of us and a wildcat in the bushes! 

Valley of the Pyramids

Crazily intriquette designs!

Peruvian Ceviche with yuca, toasted corn and sweet potato!

We returned to Chiclayo and ate some incredible ice cream to cool off before heading back to Maricruz´s for a shower and to get ready for her son´s 5^th grade graduation celebration taking place that night. It turned out to be the biggest party in town and we ended up staying there until past 2 am dancing, singing and watching the kids in his class do little performances and parade around while the parents and teachers got really drunk and danced like crazy! It was so fun and I was so honored to be invited by Maricruz. She was actually one of the few single moms out of about 30 families, but she didn´t let that stop her from dancing and her other son (age 16) and daughter (age 14) would dance with her too! What an awesome family!

The living room of Maricruz´s house in Chiclayo

The whole family at the 5th grade graduation party. The graduate, Gino, is second from the left.

Dancing at the grad party

The next morning after the party we woke up a bit later and then took a combi to Lambayeque to the Museum of the Señor de Sipan. This turned out to be my favorite museum of the trip, as it showcased tons of artifacts that they had excavated from the nearby tombs of an ancient ruler of the Mochica tribe. The amount of gold, silver, turquoise and other stonework that they uncovered was incredible! Afterwards we walked back out into the hot Peruvian desert, took a bus back to Chiclayo and ate lunch at a very local place that served a great vegetable soup! We said goodbye to Maricruz and the family and took a very nice bus to Trujillo. 

Señor de Sipan Museum