Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
After leaving Chala in the dust, Carr Panamericana Sur heads south for 220km, clinging
tortuously to sand dunes dropping down to the sea, until it reaches positively urban
Camaná. This coastal city has long been a summer resort popular with
arequipeños
(in-
habitants of Arequipa) who flock to its beaches, about 5km from the center.
The main plaza is about a 15-minute walk toward the coast along the road where all the
buses stop. To get to the coast,
colectivos
to La Punta beach (S1, 10 minutes) leave from
the intersection where Av Lima turns into a pedestrian walkway.
At the beach there are a few sparse restaurants and hotels, some bearing scars from a
2001 tsunami. Hotels get busy on summer weekends from January to April, even in the
city center. A cut above the competition,
Hotel de Turistas
( 57-1113; Lima 138; s/d/
tr incl breakfast S90/115/155; )
is housed in a large elegant building set in spacious
gardens. It has a restaurant and is just a short walk or taxi ride from the bus stations.
Frequent bus services to Arequipa (S12 to S45, 3½ hours) are provided by several com-
panies, all of which are found along Lima, including luxurious
Cruz del Sur
Offline map
Google map
( 57-1013; Lima 200)
. Cruz del Sur and other smaller bus companies also
have daily services to Lima (S35 to S135, 12 hours) that stop at most intermediate coastal
points, such as Chala (S15, 4½ hours) and Nazca (S45, seven hours).
Mollendo
054 / POP 22,800
The gringo trail takes a sharp left turn south of Camaná as it heads inland toward Are-
quipa, leaving the next stop on the coast, Mollendo, to diehard locals plus a seasonal in-
flux of beach-starved
arequipeños
. Don't expect any Huacachina-style banana pancake
restaurants here, although the beaches are ample, if a little lacking in atmosphere outside
of the summer season (January to April). Mollendo's history testifies to occupations by
the Incas and the Chileans. More notoriously, it was the birthplace of Abimael Guzmán,
aka Presidente Gonzalo, the philosophy professor turned political agitator who became
leader of the Sendero Lumioso (Shining Path) in 1980. Among nonsunbathers, Mollendo
is revered for its bird reserve at the nearby Lagunas de Mejía.
