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Published: June 21st 2008
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Hola Amigos and greetings from Peru!
We´ve been here for just over a week now and it´s been great fun so far. After a monster drive from the Highlands of Ecuador we reached the border with Peru. The countryside really changed and from having been used to seeing trees and rivers, all we could see now was desert. It was definately not the image of Peru which we had in our heads.
We made it to Punta Sal on the north west coast of the country and had three relaxed nights camping on the beach. To be woken by the sunlight streaming in to the tent and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach was cool and we could definately get used to that. It was pretty relaxed on the beach with the days being occupied by playing sport (we managed our first run in ages!), swimming in the sea and eating great food: plenty of fresh fish cooked on the bbq and chicken roasted on the spit, all washed down with plenty of cerveza and vino tinto! Helen found a little cuddly friend to keep herself occupied!
After a few days at Punta Sal we
moved further down the coast to Huanchaco, a little surfy town close to the Chan Chan ruins. These were the ruins of the Chimu people who ruled over the Southern part of Ecuador and as far down as Lima in Peru. Eventually they were overpowered by the Incas but not before they had built the largest city in the world constructed of mud bricks. The archeologists are still working on the place and have come up ideas of how the sculptures on the wall represent the fish they caught from the sea or the waves. I think most of our group were a bit sceptical as it just looked like pretty patterns to us! The ruins were pretty impressive though given the size and scale of them. I guess it´s just a pity that they are in a country such as Peru where all the focus for ruins tends to be on what the Incas built.
Later on we all took a surf lesson which was great fun. All of us on long boards so we couldn´t really fail to stand up but it was good to give it a go despite swallowing a fair amount of sea water!
All the local fishermen here use surfboards made out of reeds to go and collect their fish and it was great just to watch how easy it was for them to paddle out, collect their nets and then surf back in to the shore.
From sea level it was time to head in to the Andes and work our lungs a bit harder in the high altitude. We reached Huaraz after a long drive up a gravel track containing 47 tunnels. The scenery was fantastic with us driving along next to the river with huge stone cliffs either side of us and then the snowcapped mountains even higher. Eventually we started climbing on the narrow roads, going through the tunnels which had been carved out of the side of the mountains. We were pretty lucky as only once did we meet a bus comming the other way in one of the tunnels. This was a bit of fun as there was a bit of a stand off between Andy our driver and the Peruvian bus driver as to who was going to back out of the tunnel first. We were forced to back down and out we went, reversing out of a tunnel with a steep drop on one side and barely room for two vehicles to pass!
Huaraz is the main town close to the Cordillero Blanco mountain range. The mountains are amazing with around 30 peaks over 5000 metres (North America only has 3 such mountains and Europe has none). This was the place where "touching the void" occurred for those that have heard of it! We´ve got the Inca Trail coming up so thught it would be a good idea to get the walking boots on and have a practice. We climbed to 4500 metres and it literally took our breath away. The air was so thin, making it hard to get a good deep breath but we were rewarded with some awesome views of the mountains and the deep blue coloured lakes. It was a fantastic day out.
If we had a great first day in Huaraz, the second wasn´t so good as we were both laid up in bed or trying not to bump in to each other as we ran for the toilet. Not sure if it was altitude, food poisoning, a bug or a combo of all three but it´s fair to say the toilet took a battering! I guess it´s all part of the experience though! Fingers crossed we´ve done our time for being ill and some good health is on the way!
So now we are in Lima the capital of Peru. We don´t have a lot of time here but it has been nice to walk around the city centre, admire the buildings and be interviewed by the local school kids. The next few weeks are going to be pretty full on so we can´t wait. Travelling on the truck is great fun, our group are really friendly and South America has been good to us so far. Bring it on!
Hope everyone is well, take care
Helen & Craig x
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