Pov in Peru

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Well next instalment on the travel drivvle is bound to be odd. To be fair, my idea of Peru has always focused on mountains, lushness and Machu Picchu. And for the last few days I have struggled to remember where I am. Its a mash of previous places and experiences and not at all what I expected. So thats pretty cool. Feels like Morrocan desert, Indian poverty and Asian rickshaws thrown in.

After a long overnight bus from Southern Ecuador we arrived at some ungodly hour at the Peruvian border and due to the darkness along the way failed to see the change in landscape from lushness to dry coastal desert and much more poverty.

We are in the Northern coastal region of Peru now, doing some killer bus hours over a few days to make it to the capital Lima in a day or two. The landscape as we head south is flat greyish ocean to the right, low Andean mountains to the left and expansive, camel coloured desert in between. The whole colour palette has changed to dirty straw, punctuated with coloured plastic rubbish. The smell is burning rubber mixed with farmyard animal smells and urine. Yum. The buildings look like a war has occured recently and nothing is really finished. All to be expected of course for such a poor country, but after Ecuador, rich in comparison, it is just starting to sink in where I am.

Today we visited a very cool museum that was basically the Peruvian version of Tutankamuns (spelling?) tomb, gorgeous jewellery, funerary ornaments and all incredibly preserved in the dry landscape underneath an ancient pyramid. The cultural coolness is a buzz for me and more than compensates for the current surrounds.

On the music front though its a little dire but hilarious. Phil Collins greatest hits has been converted to instrumental Pan Pipe music played at just annoying volume on the bus and over hours everyone begins to play guess the hideous song. Unfortunately alot of Western music has been converted in this way. Yet to hear some amazing music but live in hope 😊

Our new guide wins the sleazebag award and has already scared most of the females in the group away with his gyrating performance at a bar the other night! We are actually changing groups in LIma so just 4 of us are continuing on together with a new guide and some new recruits. Works for me!!

Cant believe how two countries so close together can appear so drastically different, people even look clearly different, still short and cute but facially different somehow.

Off to dinner now in a coastal town called Trujillo and seeing some pre-Inca ruins tomorrow, cant wait for that! Hope everyone is travelling well, yeah its Friday.

Kris
xxx

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