Hola from Peru

Ok so I´ve been a while since posting my last blog, sorry about that. I left Guayaquil Ecuador and went to Mancora Peru. Mancora is on the beach. Actually it is a surfers destination. As a matter of fact a couple of weeks before I got there they had a woman´s surf championship there. It really is a great place if you want to hang out by the beach, drink and surf. It is also dleightfully inexpensive, there are lobster dinners for $10.00 I mentioned this to a surfer friend in Hawaii and she said I had just described surfers heaven. I was only there for a few days because if I´d stayed any longer I´d probably still be there. I tend to be a victim of inertia. And actually it was only meant to be a stopover between Guayaquil and Lima anyway. I had an interesting experience on the bus between Guayaquil and Mancora. My beard is about 4 inches long now and in Guayaquil I managed to find a santa hat. I was wearing it on the bus to Mancora and when we got off to go through customs to leave Ecuador an ecuadorian woman asked me why I was wearing the has as it wasn´t christmas yet. I told her that it was the christmas season. Then she asked me for a picture with her and I said sure. Well a few minutes before I was talking to a guy from Ecuador, they were all part of a group, and after the picture he comes up to me with a letter from one of the other people in the group, it was a letter to Santa Claus. In spanish it said something like "Dear Santa I have always wanted to meet you. So I am taking advantage of this opportunity to ask you for everything that you´ve never given me. I expect a quick response to this letter." It was a little more involved than that but you get the idea. I´m going to have it framed when I get home. At any rate, moving right along as I seldom do(copyright Dick Damron) I left Mancora and went to Lima. It was on this leg of the trip that I found the most awesome, comfortable bus I have ever been on. They have seats the same size and comfort level as first class airplane seats and they recline 100% with a foot rest and everything. It even includes dinner. Granted it is basically an airline type of meal but they give you a choice of chicken, beef or vegetarian. It is the first time I have actually been able to sleep on a bus. I was only in Lima for a few days. Lima is a nice enough city but my reason for coming to Peru was to see the Nazca lines and Machu Pichu. I am writing this on the day I am leaving Nazca. The lines are pretty cool, you go up in an airplane for about 45 minutes and the pilot takes you over all the lines. He banks to each side so the people on both sides can get a look. I took a lot of pictures but I don´t know how many will be worth anything so I also bought a lot of postcards. I also visited the Cauchilla Necropoilis. Is necropolis a cool word or what? At any rate is is a pre Inca cemetary with mummies. You get to walk around and look at several graves with mummies in them while a guide explains the significance of the different graves. It was considered a sign of status and good health to have dreads. Imagine that pre incan rastafarians. There is a local liquor here called Pisco. I tried it today, interesting stuff it tastes like a combination of tequila and kerosene. Well that´s all for now, right now I´m just hanging out until my bus to Cusco leaves at 8:00 tonight.
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.
hasta la vista baby
Charlie

Spring time in Ecuador

Greetings from Guayaquil Ecuador. I`ve been here about 5 days and so far I like it. This is the first I have been out of the mountains in a long time. I have been at altitude for so long that when I got here the first time I went out it felt like someone took off 10 pound ankle weights from each leg. I had so much energy I couldn`t believe it. Another advantage to spending a long time at altitude is when you get used to drinking there when you get back to sea level you can drink forever before you start to get drunk. I used to have the same experience when I lived in the mountains in Colorado. (remember that Peter) at any rate this is also the first time I have sweat since I left Santa Marta. The first night I got here I actually experienced a warm wind at night. Boy did that feel good. Moving right along as I seldom do (copyright Dick Damron) here are some impressions of Guayaquil.

Shopping centers.

OK in the states and in Mexico we have supermarkets and they are fine, here they have a HIPERMARKET, it is HUGE!!!!!!!!! according to one person it is 36000 square meters or about 375,000 square ft. This sucker is incredible. Imagine a Sam`s club or Costco combined with a Home Depot in one building and you are starting to get the idea of the magnitude of this place. Just think hsuband and wife could go shopping together and when they meet at the cash register later they are only $1000 poorer. Fascinating place, I love it.

The Malecon

OK in Mazatlan we have a Malecon and it is a nice wide sidewalk that follows the ocean and it is very nice. You ain`t never seen anything like this. This malecon is huge. Large parts of it are 30-40 yards wide. They one section that has a beautiful garden. Another part has an IMAX theater and an anthropology museum on another part is a food court. One part is 2 levels and on the bottom part is a commercial area with lots different stores and such and it goes on for a few hundred yards. There is a sailing ship next to the malecon where you can go on a 1 hour river cruise up and down the river. There is a sports bar on it. At the other end are Mercados Artesanias. There are bronze statues of famous people on it. There are fully equipped play grounds for children. There are fountains. Also there are usually a fair number of good looking people walking around. This is fabulous.

Otras Cosas

All you folks eat your heart out but regular unleaded gas down here is 1.50/gallon. The taxis are cheap and the people are friendly. I am enjoying the warm weather here and am in no rush to return to the mountains. Although this will be a necessity when I go to Machu Pichu. I am debating on whether or not to go to Bolivia and do the death ride. (Sounds pretty stupid doesn`t it? ("Gee should I do the death ride? I wonder) Right now with Morales there seems to be a fair amount of anti-american sentiment there. Also I have been told that a visa for americans is $100.00 Right now I am leading away from it. I think I will stay on the coast and the warm weather. Well that`s all for now.
The road goes on forebver and the party never ends
hasta la vista baby
Charlie