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TRAVERSE 35
T
o be honest, initially
I had mixed feelings
about Peru. I don't know
why. I'd heard people
saying on social media
about how grumpy the
Peruvians were, issues with police and
that they were going to get through
Peru as fast as possible and so on.
These feelings were immediately
swept aside and I realised how nega-
tive some travellers can be. As with
most places in the world, locals are
going about their daily business, yet
just a simple smile and a "buenas dias"
can turn someone’s blank expression
into a beaming smile! Two seconds is
all it takes!
We had planned to be in Ecuador
for Christmas however, their visa ex-
tension system was a little bit of a ball-
ache and all the rules had just changed,
plus they wanted a couple of hundred
dollars from us, so we changed our
plans and headed through the dirt
road border from Ecuador into Peru,
in a tiny village called Las Balsas.
What a breeze!
We were also accompanied by our
South African friends, Michnus and
Elsebie, so even waiting for our docu-
ments was a good laugh!
Elsebie had found a great AirBnB
to stay at over the Christmas and New
Year period in Pedro Ruiz, which was
made even better by being served a
Christmas feast on Boxing Day, includ-
ing a huge Turkey ... yes, the owner
was British!
Then came the next best bit about
changing our plans last minute; we
realised that the Dakar rally was start-
ing in Lima on 6th January so we just
had to go!
We left Pedro Ruiz on the 2nd of
January, the start of a four day trip to
Lima, and it would be far from boring.
We decided to try to avoid the bor-
ing tarmac of the 'PanAm' and head
to Lima via the inland, mountainous
route.
The first day, heading to Cajamarca
was stunning! We stopped multiple
times to take photos, the only down-