As I left for the airport to head back to the mainland from The Galapagos, my main aim was to catch a night bus to Mancora that same evening. Getting an email about a 1,5 hour delay of my flight definitely wasn’t a part off my plan, but being the cheap backpacker that I am I still left for the airport on the last possible bus, which leaves as early as 8am. That would give me about five hours of waiting at Seymour Airport, but also save me 20 USD so I decided it was worth it. Upon arrival at the airport I was informed that my flight was another 2,5 hours delayed and I started suspecting that I was going to miss my connecting flight in Quito, which might mean I would have to spend the night there. So not ideal. Slightly stressed I went to the check-in counter, prepared to beg them to put me on the earlier flight that they had that day which I would just be able to make due to that flight also being delayed. Luckily for me the man behind the counter suggested the very same option that I had in mind right away, and no begging turned out to be needed. Suddenly I had a direct flight to Guayaquil instead of having to stop by Quito, and would arrive with plenty of time to sort my night bus out. I guess sometimes things just work out, and I felt extremely pleased with myself for choosing the early bus rather than a taxi at a later time, as that is what made these changes possible. My stinginess was rewarded.
Once in Guayaquil I booked myself onto the 9pm bus to Mancora with the company CIVA. I had heard mixed things about this company, but they seemed to be the best choice at the time, and I had a great experience crossing the border to Peru with them. We arrived at the border around 00:30, had our luggage checked, stamped out of Ecuador and into Peru and got back onto the bus. An 1,5 hour border crossing in the middle of the night is never amusing, but I still don’t think things could have gone any more smoothly. The town of Máncora is about 2 hours away from the border, so I arrived around 4am, walked down the street to my hostel and was luckily able to check in and get a bed right away. It was great getting a few hours of proper sleep before starting the day.
The following days were lazy, just like I wanted them to be. My plan of trading the Ecuadorean coast for the Peruvian one to get as much sun as possible seemed to be working, and as my hostel was more like a resort than a hostel I didn’t really have to move around much. The days were spent lying on the sun bed, participating in different activities, taking strolls on the beach and having relatively healthy food in the hostel restaurant. Amongst backpackers Mancora is known as a party town, and as I for once had decided to book myself into a party hostel, the first few evenings were spent consuming alcohol and playing drinking games. I lasted in the hostel for almost three days, before deciding on going somewhere calmer, and felt a bit old for a minute before appreciating the fact that I’m growing up. It was fun while it lasted.
Two nights later I found myself back in my old dorm in Loki Hostel, this time sleeping in my bikini in a random empty bed, to avoid a dodgy walk back to my hostel at 3am. I’ll admit I spent a second asking myself why I even left, as I headed back in the morning to collect my free breakfast. To be fair Psygon Surf Camp turned out to be a way better fit for me than the Loki, and I enjoyed being able to start my days with a yoga class or a Muay Thai lesson, before having amazing sushi for lunch in the hostel restaurant. By the end of the week a couple of old travel buddies were set to turn up in town, so I waited around for them and by that ended up spending a whole week in Máncora. Probably too much time spent in a town that offers nothing but beaches and parties, especially when you don't surf or kitesurf, but I still had a good time relaxing and reuniting with quite a few friends during my time there.
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