Hot sand on toes

The final stop on our tour of Peru was the town of Mancora in the North. Known mainly for tourism, nightlife, surf and beaches, it did not disappoint. We arrived on the first of June, and stayed for the whole month! The Kokopelli hostel had been recommended to us by many people, and we applied to work there as bar staff. For the first week we were there they had no need for staff, so we were guests, and we were met there by our two wonderful friends, Aled and Caroline (both individually of Parque Machia and Cusco fame) and also Rinku who Aled had met in Montanita. We all instantly got along, and the five days and nights we spent together were spent relaxing by the beaach or pool, splashing about and being silly, eating delicious seafood and cakes, and drinking and dancing the nights away. It was hard to say goodbye to them when the time came - but plans were made to meet up in the UK (hopefully for a New Years reunion!)

After they left, Dave and I moved in to the staff dorm and started working at the Kokopelli bar. Here we began to experience the real Mancora, and if we thought we'd partied the previous week, we were blown out of the water for the next three.  It was one of those times where everyone working and living together instantly clicked, and we formed a hilarious family. Eating, sleeping, working and playing together, and having a bar to create our own concoctions was the perfect recipe for a good time - though I still feel sick imagining the tabasco cocktail creation. We can now make some mean Mojitos!

The bar staff put on different nights each evening, ranging from Poker nights, Ping Pong tournaments (that got so epic - the rivalry between Dave and Manu was extremely tense), party nights and 'shot competition' nights (each of us took it in turns judging this, 10 plus shots made by guests of the hostel - our job was great!). 

The party nights were themed each week, and we went all out decorating the bar and pool area, and in true girl fashion, Yesh and I decorated ourselves! We all worked hard until the bar closed, and then partied hard at the beach, or wherever the night took us (normally one place, unless it was Saturday...).

After one Saturday night dancing through the sunrise, we were winding down back at the hostel when Manu woke up for his morning reception shift. He then took the time to educate Dave and I about the traditional Argentine tea, Maté, which is made of brewed herbs and served in a special vessel, with a silver straw  (which you are not meant to touch unless you own it!) The tea was very hot and quite tasty, I think one of those that the more you drink the more you enjoy it. We were especially honoured because it was actually the last of Manu's Maté and he chose to share it with us! I returned the favour by making Manu a builders brew using my PG tips, which I think he appreciated.

We ate delicious food, the sushi was a particular favourite of ours - incredible to watch being made, to see the finish product, and to taste...unbelievable. Before we left David our bar manager went to loads of effort to cook a giant barbeque for us, with rolled meat, ribs, steaks, mashed potato and loads of salad, which was delicious and felt like a family meal! One night we even caught our own crabs... Having spent the day at the beach, we came back to find Yesh and Manu cutting up old mosquito nets. They refused to tell us what they were doing, but insisted we went with them to the beach at sunset. As a group of us made our way towards the rocks it became clear - we were crab hunting! Manu showed his skills by procuring the biggest and best crabs, and when we were satisfied (and it was getting dark) we made our way back, boiled them in a kettle and ate them. 

The time spent in Mancora felt like a montage of music videos, happy healthy people having great times in beautiful weather, and going wild when the sun went down. We saw so many beautiful sunsets across the ocean, and laughed all day every day. The memories and friends made will never be forgotton (they made sure of that with the parting gift of Kokopelli t-shirts and little notes!).

Messi in La Paz

Our time in La Paz was largely spent adjusting to being in a city after a month in the jungle - and a city that really likes to party at that. We were lucky enough to meet up with some great friends in the highest capital city in the world, Rae and Stephen Mickey from Parque Machia, and also Gilbs and K-Wottz (from way back in December, the wonderful couple we camped with on the beach in Chile). We stayed in one of the infamous party hostels of the city, a couple of nights in the Wild Rover, and then a couple at the Loki. We prefered the Loki as it seemed to be a more mature crowd, though the shots still flowed at all times of the day! They are famous for their 'bloodbombs', similar to a jaegerbomb but with vodka and a red colouring - really wakes you up, and really gets you drunk!

 

We spent many an hour exploring the markets of La Paz, and bought an obscene amount of alpaca (mainly me, mainly socks) along with some other things, like a wooden recorder and a wonderful hand woven throw for when we finally get a house and settle somewhere...may be in storage for a while! We also explored the witches market here (I have stolen some photos from Gilbz and K-Wottz as we didn't have our camera on that day) - where they sell charms and bottled potions for various things; luck, wealth, travel, health... there are also haggard old crones (Dave´s words!) selling palm readings and fortune telling on the roads. We thought this was a bit of a tourist trap, but on further investigation they actually refuse to offer their services to tourists, because they believe they are sacred and an important part of their culture - not to be used for our Western amusement - which I give them serious kudos for. The main thing tourists take away from the witches market is the baby llama foetus', which are sold to be buried under new houses or buildings to bring luck and prosperity. At first I wasn't sure they were real, but I have since been convinced otherwise (and I was till too suspicious to touch one!).

 

 

We also attempted to be allowed in to San Pedro prison, after both having avidly read the popular book The Marching Powder before reaching La Paz, but unfortunately (or very possibly quite fortunately) the guards were having none of it, and even stopped people taking pictures. I managed a sneaky one though.

 

The coolest thing we did in La Paz was get tickets and go to a Bolivia V Argentina football game. I'm the first to admit I'm not a football fan, but I got involved. We all bought (fake) football shirts and got hyped up - we were pretty shocked and appalled to find that there was no alcohol served in the stadium, but it turned out the atmosphere and group spirit of the Bolivians didn't need any more fuel! The game itself was good, ending in a 1-1 drawer. We were sat in the Bolivian side, but behind several Argentinans, which added to the enjoyment and the banter between sides. One of the strangest things I noticed was that between halves, the referees were escorted on and off the pitch by armed policemen. All the boys were very happy because they got to see Messi, and our seats were pretty close. I hear he's the best in the world, but  I'm mates with Gazza so was pretty far from star struck. 

 

  

We had hoped to go to the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, Copacabana and Isla del Sol, but unfortunately there were horrendous road blocks, and we heard some nightmare tales from other travellers. And plus our Bolivian visa was up, so after an emotional Goodbye to Rae, we were off to Puno, Peru. 

PS - If you are reading this, please comment, it encourages me to keep it up to date!