28/12/2011- 01/01/2012 New years eve 2012

this is where I was going to celebrate it, Máncora a dusty surfing and THE touristy town on the edge of the Pan American highway in Northern Peru This place gets packed full of people for this time of year meaning prices skyrocket, accommodation becomes scares and running water runs dry.
Arriving in town in the very early hours of the morning Jessica and I were swarmed by the local rickshaw drivers offering their choices of hotels that they would receive commission for our stay there. It was all too much to take on on such an early hour of the morning as we were both drowsy from the sleeping pills we had taken a few hours beforehand. After shhhh-ing most of them away we got one of hem to take us to some places listed in the lonely planet - either fully booked or too expensive because of high season we took to cheapest we could find; much pricier than Ecuador we stayed only one night and moved to somewhere small camping ground in a very convenient location on the beach but also next to all the noise surrounding the place - actually so much so that I had to shout to talk to Jessica with her tent beside mine.
At no point when I was here in Máncora I thought this would be the place where Peruvian holiday makers would come celebrate NYE overcrowding the dusty and dirty streets and beaches.
As Jessica and i arrived a few days before new years we didnt really do anything but chill and relax.
Many of the other backpackers who came to town had reserved accommodation in the almost resort-like hostel of Loki which offered a competitive price, swimming pool, free breakfast, independent security guards and high locked gates - I can understand why people spent so much time in this place as it is a refuge filled with other Westerners; I'm not saying I didn't like it but in fact I spent a hell of a lot of time there using the wifi to book my flights back to Canada, eating the free breakys and dipping in the pool once in a while, not to mention drinking many many beers at the bar (come happy hour :) )
It had been over a week and my ear from diving was still messed up, I thought it was about time to get it checked out, Jessica helped with the translation and 15 minutes later I had a extra large, novelty looking syringe poking into my ear about to flush it out. It hurt a fuck-tonne as they applied way too much pressure but after several rinses I was all back to normal and I could hear again. I was glad all it needed was a clean and it wasn't anything serious.
Moving into the food with what they have to offer here in Peru. Ceviche is always the best option as it is so incredibly fresh and so very tasty, followed by some sort of fried meat, fried potatoes and rice - rice, rice, rice, they love their rice here, I would hate not being a fan as almost certainly it will come with most if not all of the meals you eat here.
For two days following NYE, I made a suggestion to Jessica (actually more of a joke) to buy a moto-rickshaw and take it traveling along the coast of Peru. We were both inspired by this idea and followed it through by asking how much? Later a Danish guy who runs a bar helped us out and suggested where we could buy one and we went to the police station to see what paperwork we would have to go through. It seemed all too good to be true and everything was piecing together so well, but it was only the issue with the seller coming to meet us with the proper paperwork; you see Latin American attitude is lazy and takes 10 times longer for things to get done; saying 10 times longer is a fair estimate, well between this and will never get done. This meant our excitement of cruising the coast of Peru crumbled and we were left with proceeding to travel in the not so exciting buses, sigh.
I did run into two Swedish girls I met in Columbia 10 months ago, and ill be honest I did not recognize them in the slightest, i didn't want to disappoint those happy faces when they saw me and so I went with it. It was embarrassing for me as I made a fool out of myself trying to figure out where I met these girls and how they remembered every detail i told them about me and me not even recognizing their faces but after some beers at the bar I drowned that embarrassment away.