Weirdest Travel Experience I’ve Had Yet

After spending 5 days in the rain forest, it was time to head up north to the coast.  My departing flight from Puerto Maldonado was delayed which meant a much longer wait in the Lima airport than I had wanted.  After finally arriving at the Cajamarca airport, I grabbed a cab.  The ride was a little scary when the driver felt it was necessary to explain to me why he was driving in the middle of the two-lane road.  Apparently, people like to ambush cars from the edge of the road at night.  That woke me up!  Thankfully, we arrived without incident in Pacasmayo.  I was so happy I could hear the ocean from my hotel room!

In the morning I enjoyed sitting outside eating my breakfast just a few meters from the gentle waves.  And then it was time to explore the town by my favorite method:  afoot.

A surfing mecca in Peru

This park is dedicated to peace between Peru & Ecuador

As I walked around the town, at first enjoying the colors and the occasional odd sight, including ducks, guinea pigs, and chickens for sale as food, I suddenly felt waves of depression wash over me.  They soon broke and changed into flareups of extreme anger.  I had never experienced anything like this before.  I was getting concerned.  I knew I had a big event waiting for me when I got home, but could it be attributed to that?  It was just so bizarre.  Friends made suggestions, I meditated, I walked, I ate. . . nothing worked.  I kept getting these rushes of extreme emotion.  When it persisted the whole day, I decided I was out of there!  I got online and made reservations for a hotel in Trujillo, arranged a cab, and then tried to make it through the night.

The next day I left Pacasmayo.  The further the taxi drove from the coastal town, the more my mood lifted.  I was smiling again!  Colors were fantastic.  Smells from restaurants and homes brought me joy.  I shrugged and said a silent prayer that whatever dark cloud was hanging over that town would quickly dissipate.

I ended up really enjoying my short time in Trujillo.  According to the cab driver, this is the 2nd largest city in Peru.  I checked into my hotel and was pleasantly surprised.  I couldn’t believe what I was getting for the price!  I dropped off my bags and hit the pavement to explore.  I loved Trujillo!  It’s on my list to go back and check out more, especially since there are some ruins nearby which are reportedly quite interesting.  Better yet, I was the only non-South American everywhere I went.  And any place that has street vendors selling flavored popcorn for 35 cents has to be good, right?

The original water distribution system for Trujillo, c.16th century

This picture above is why I love just walking around and taking streets that seem like they may be interesting.  I just happened to run into this.

Counterfeiters are chained up for an eternity apparently.

And those weird experiences in Pacasmayo?  Never happened in Trujillo.  On my flight back to Lima to end my trip and return to the US, I picked up the local paper to read.  What was on the front page?  Pacasmayo experienced a 4.6 earthquake the day I left.  No injuries or destruction.  Is that wild or what? So if I ever get that feeling again, we’re hightailing it out of there. The only unusual behavior from animals was that I didn’t see any dogs in the town, something that isn’t normal for Peru.  No dog except for this one who was doing a fine impression of a gargoyle.

Thanks for joining me on my trip to Peru.