Up bright and early and after breakfast in Poki, we were on the road by 11am…:)
Catacocha is at at 1900m and already Lucy (our inflatable lamp) is looking flaccid..:) At 3000m she’s about to burst.
Colour is returning to the flowers and vegetation.
The road to the border is steadily losing elevation and by Macara, close to the border, down to 750m. Unsure of the price of diesel in Peru, we decided to refill the drive tank, and one of the jerry cans. What I really liked about Ecuador, is the price of fuel is the same, wherever you fill, city or country. Oh, many other things too.
They are growing rice!
Police checkpoint.
Approx 20k’s from the border, a military checkpoint stopped us. A stern looking older official…”vehicle papers – passport – step out – stand in front of Poki (in Spanish)” I decided to humour him. His associate wanted to photograaph us, so I waved at the camera with both arms and he got cross. I then took my camera and photographed the photographer. That was too much for him and he cracked up..:) Jen gets cross with me, as she fears we will be taken away…:)
Note the air plants on the power wires.
By 1.15pm we were at the border…but it was deserted. By 3.15pm all passport and vehicle administration had been completed. Not without some complications. Jen had to buy separate insurance for Peru, as the policy we bought in Columbia, for All South America, didn’t include Peru!! Once we had the requisite policy slip and were about to head to the department that issues TIP’s (temp vehicle import Permit) I noticed the insurance guy had put an X instead of a Y, in the reg. number. Back again, but he couldn’t change it and wanted $30 instead of the $12 we had already given him, for a manual one, as the network had gone down. Easy solution, we just changed the offending letter with a pen, and left. Future implications?
Peru.
Oh boy, immediately, there is a huge difference from Ecuador. It feels like being back in Africa. Clearly from what we have seen, and experienced, this is a poorer country. It’s very early days and patently unfair to make such a judgement, but that’s my impression. Absolutely no reflection on the people. Within 20k’s we had passed two Police checkpoints and a Customs one.
A new SIM card for Jen’s phone. I’ve lost mine..:) What was that Kelvin?…:) Only after photographing Jens’ passport 6 times and trying to thumb print her, and 30min later they called me to go through the same procedure, as the reader could not detect a thumbprint from Jen, the wifi signal failed. We walked away. Fortunately there was enough cross-border signal for us to find this hotel.
It’s hot down here at 260m above sea level, in the valley, early 30’s, but Poki loves it, and purred all the way here. There are goats and donkeys along the roadside and lots of motorbike taxi’s. The hotel has a huge covered. locked car park, so we can sleep easy. As yet, I have not heard a dog bark. OOOps, just heard one..:(
Some information about Peru…
Peru has a population of just over 34m. It has had a tortured recent history. Between leftist Presidents and incompetent military rulers, it is currently ruled by Dina Boluarte, a former lawyer who was sworn in in 2022 after her predecessor was marched out of office. While of humble middle-class upbringing, (sounds familiar) and promised to respect mothers. Her term is already marred by brutal suppression of human rights. Peru of course, had been fighting the Shining Path, a Marxist-Leninist guerilla group during the ’80’s and 90’s. It has since splintered, and there is peace from that quarter.
Looking at the map, tomorrow should see us put some serious miles on the clock as most of the touristy stuff is in the south of the country, and this part of the country appears to be relatively flat and underpopulated.
Yachting.
Congratulation to the Brits. Team Inneos Britannia succeeded in defeating Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli In the Louis Vuitton series, to contest the 37th America’s cup, with Team New Zealand.
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