Week #15
From coffeeshops in Chachapoyas to beautiful nothingness at the coast in Tuquillo.
September 2, 15:34
Back in one of my favourite coffeeshops in Chachapoyas, Fusiones. One of the few places where there have multiple vegetarian food options, good coffee, a nice couch and working wifi. Just amazing!
September 3, 08:34
Today is the last day in Chacha and tonight will be the beginning of a new adventure. At 19:45 my bus will leave to Trujillo. It’s gonna be so weird, cause it’s the first time in three months that I will travel alone again. I am excited to go to the beach, but I am really going to miss Mike’s company. I don’t really have to be all dramatic about it, cause we will see each other again in a week, in Lima. But still, it’s a thing.
September 4, 06:55
I just woke up and the bus is moving along. We passed Chiclayo, which means we have arrived at the coast! I left Chacha around 20:00 yesterday and it took us the whole night to drive through the mountains to the west of Peru. Around 11:00 we should arrive in Trujillo, where I will, hopefully, take another bus to Huarmey. The city closest to a very, very small beach town, Tuquillo. I don’t even know if you can call it a town, cause Google maps just shows a few hotels and restaurants. But they are all right on the beach, so pretty much perfect.
September 5, 12:33
I sat down at ‘Cangrejo Dojo’ Beach and am looking at the birds walking along the shore. They’re sticking their beaks in the sand trying to find some food buried in there. I still have to get used to the doing of nothing. The past months, after I left Las Tunas in Ecuador, have been all about traveling and seeing new places, with little time to do nothing. That’s why I came here, a remote place at the coast, where there is literally nothing to do. Except of course for beach walks and ocean stares.
September 6, 16:58
What a view! This might be the best place at the whole coast of Peru. Granted I have only visited this small area, but other travellers have told me that the coast is very ugly and this area sure is not. There are big white sandy mountains on the right side with smaller orange and red sand dunes in front of them. To the left there are steep cliffs alternated with smooth beaches, flowing into the ocean as far as the eye can see. It’s a view that’s unlike anything I have ever seen. Surreal.
September 7, 13:27
I’m sitting in my little house, at the small wooden table. I placed it in the perfect position by the window, so I have the best view of the ocean. I just got back with a thermos full of hot water and bags of tea. My snacks are placed neatly beside it and my laptop is open. Ready for a fruitful afternoon.
What I can do is limited though, because I have no service here. But I figured it’s a good moment to catch up on some writing and dive back into my poetry. Besides two unfinished poems, I haven’t written anything in the past month. Sometimes you’re so deep in, so fully living an experience, that you forget to reflect. So, that time has come.
I feel lighter
my salty tears
flowed into the ocean
the voice of silence
surrounded me
they carried it together
taking away my heavy
September 8, 14:56
4 days is perfect. The first day you’re getting to know the place, take a walk around the area, try the first restaurant, that sort of thing. Easy day but a lot of new impressions. The second day you kinda want do to something, something active. So you go out and do whatever there is to do in said area. Third day is for relaxing. You have gotten to know the place and the tiredness of all the impressions kick in. A day inside or close to where you are staying, to do nothing except maybe some writing or reading. Then the fourth day, is the last day. One last day to enjoy whatever it is you love most about the area. You take it easy and try to take in the place as much as you can. One more night and the next day you’re gone.
5 nights and 4 full days, perfect for travel.