Punta Sal

 

 

The road from Zorritos to Punta Sal ran mostly along the ocean, along sandy, scrub-covered cliffs. There were many hotels and there were many new houses being built in the poor pueblos. The Northern coast of Peru is in the process of being bought up and transformed.

 

 

It was only 50km to Punta Sal and I had planned to stay perhaps a week there, but there is no bank in the town. I rode back north to the pueblo of Las Canchas where I was told there was a ATM machine, only to find it had been turned off and the door to it padlocked. It had not been working for almost 2 weeks a woman told me. She didn’t know if it would ever work again. There were no banks in the town and I wondered what these people did for money. Perhaps they traded with each other and did not need currency at all. I had only enough money for two nights in Punta Sal and barely enough for food. I would have to go to Mancora, 20 km further down the coast.

 

 

Punta Sal was a strange place. Parts of it were still poor but there were several large resorts for the wealthy and in the center of the town had been built a strange, jaggedly shaped, postmodern white and red building with blue reflective glass. This monstrosity was at least 4 stories tall and towered over the town. I believed it was some sort of hotel. 

 

 

Perhaps because it was low season there also wasn’t a great selection in the few restaurants in the town. At one I asked about breakfast and was told there were only olives. I asked what would be that day's lunch menu and was again told there are only olives. I asked about coffee. They had coffee. Did I want coffee? Yes, I wanted coffee. Did I want olives with the coffee? It was that kind of town. Even if I did have money there was no store to buy food I could cook with my stove. I needed to leave for Mancora.