We have made really quick tracks across northern Peru to arrive in Lima two nights ago. The drive from Huanchaco on the coast to the capital was still filled with a lot of desert and shantytowns, but also mountains and canyons and interesting little towns.
Juan had been looking forward to driving through the Cañón del Pato, a canyon road that winds through these crazy hand-cut tunnels in the rock. To get there, we took a private road that cost us 12 soles (about $4.50), a road that the security guard told us had recently seen a group of 15 Dutchmen on motorcycles. Wow.
I am not a fan of these twisting roads, but on this drive, I was not made nervous by the idea of plummeting off of a cliff, but of being buried under a mountain of earth and rocks. The canyon bears a lot of evidence of landslides, and a few collapsed tunnels as well. Even when we camped, I was a little afraid that the ground below us would dump us into the riverbed.
After a restful night in the canyon, we proceeded to the town of Caraz for their Sunday market. I have to be honest: all of the markets are starting to look alike to me, but what makes them different is the way the women dress.
I shot a lot of photos in this market because the people didn’t seem to care.
The town square was also very beautiful and tranquil. That night, we drove on south, eventually settling into a grassy embankment by the town of Recuay to camp for the night.
After a few nights of our riverside camping, we were ready to face the city. This is not my first time in Lima. A few years ago, my younger brother and I decided to go on a trip together, and we decided to meet in Lima because the airport code is our complete last name: LIM. (Yes, this is how we make decisions in my family.) Our Peru trip was something of a disaster, starting in Lima, where we were told that the transportation company was on strike and we would not be able to complete the first item on our itinerary, which was to go to Nasca to see the Nasca lines, the ancient formations of patterns and animals that you can see from the sky. We dejectedly spent the next day in Lima trying to make arrangements to get to our next leg of the trip, Cusco, where more problems would await us. But on the plus side, it wasn’t until we arrived at our hotel in Miraflores that I realized that Lima has a beautiful coastline.
Our entry into Lima was sort of comical and not much better this second time around. We followed the advice of some American friends and, upon arrival into Lima (a slow, slow, arrival–traffic was absolutely horrible), we made our way to Club Germania, a German social club that we’d been told allow overlanders to camp on their nice property alongside a grassy soccer field. Unfortunately, our reception there was anything but hospitable. They turned us away at the gate, telling us that the club only granted camping privileges to Europeans and Americans. Not exactly great PR for the Germans. We next headed to our backup plan, the Hitchhikers’ Hostal, but found them completely full (they only have space for four vehicles). Next, we tried a nearby hotel from our guide and found the building to be condemned. At this point, it was very dark and late and we had been driving all day dreaming of a shower. We tried another hotel, only to be denied because of the dog, and not even permitted to park in their unused lot. We ended up driving around for another hour, and then, on the advice of the apologetic receptionist, settling in Chorrillos, on the southern end of the city, camped in a parking lot in front of the ocean, and backed by a strip of restaurants and discos.
Oh, Lima, how you never fail to…fail. Many more photos of Peru over at limpire.
