It was all about driving through Peru. We started to drive on Monday and didn’t stop to rest until the next Tuesday when we were well into Ecuador. Pilots often get get-home-itis syndrome – the desire to reach a chosen destination even if getting to that destination becomes risky or impossible. Although our road was not risky we didn’t waste any time looking at much along the way. We were focused on getting to the ferry at Cartagena, Colombia, with all our paperwork in place, as soon as possible.
Cleaning sand off the road
Even so, we managed to do a little off-roading in an area full of Incan ruins we found when we were looking for a hotel/campsite on the coast. We weren’t really lost…
We took the wrong road
Nancy and Capi walked ahead to check the road.
We stopped at Nazca, home of the famed Nazca lines. Since we’d seen them from the air on a previous trip, we didn’t fly over them this time, but speculated about them as we drove. As they really aren’t visible unless you fly over them, they weren’t discovered until the 1930s. The Pan American highway cuts through them.
At Lambayeque, just north of the dreaded Chiclayo, we visited the Museum of Sipan. The Museum is designed like a pyramid, and the lowest floor is the tomb. The artifacts are amazing, gold and turquoise, reminiscent of Egyptian artifacts.
It’s rainy season here, or appears to be. We ran into several washouts, and, at one place, a flooded valley where the highway was underwater.
Flooded road
We overnighted at places we’d been before, and at a couple of new ones along the way. On at least two nights we rented a room but cooked in the camper.
Hospedaje Barcelona Beach, Peru
At El Farol Hostel in Tortuga, we brought food from the restaurant back to the deck outside our room.
The filete d’ pescado was excellent.
Bill took a video at Punto Ballenas for us to watch at home next winter.
At Mancora we took a picture of a moto-taxi. Peru is full of these. There are great herds of them in the cities. They are powered by motorcycles with chains drives to the rear wheels. They come in all colours, decorated with anything the owner finds appropriate.
Moto taxi
Peruvians tend to be pigeon plump. The North American BMI Chart does not apply. What the BMI calls overweight is the norm here. It’s undoubtedly genetic, as people appear to be slimmer the further north we travel. At any rate, Peru is the perfect place to visit if you ever feel the pressure to have a perfect body. Perfect is different in Peru.
City streets
