Today was always going to be a long day but at the last minute they changed the route due to some problems with protests about something or other, anyway our intended route was blocked and we were obliged to take a longer but considerably smoother road which suited us fine as we are still nursing problems with the car.
We cracked off at 7.30 with a regularity up a steep and windy mountain road for 25 kms which went fairly smoothly, then set off on the long drive towards Cusco. We covered the equivalent of the length of England today, this might sound boring but it was anything but. The landscape was just astonishing, we have been up and down mountain passes, driven past a lake with flamingos feeding (at 4500 metres!), across wide plains, through lush green valleys, and through towns that reminded us of India. It is difficult to explain the scale of things here, everything seems to be the worlds highest, deepest longest or most beautiful.
Things are very Peruvian, that may sound silly as of course we are in Peru but to give you a flavour, the locals in the country areas are all in traditional dress, the women wear woolly stockings, skirts several layers thick and several cardigans, topped off with a pointy wide brimmed hat, despite it being a lovely warm sunny day. One hopes this look will not catch on in the UK! The women seem to do all the work especially shepherding duties, although the children take over when school finishes. We saw children walking home from school on their own, playing by the side of the road, one little girl who can't have been much more than seven or eight was herding half a dozen cattle up the road on her own, she had a stick with a bit of string on the end to shoo them along.
So our impression of South America is that it's a phenomenal place, we have driven 8000 kms and been to three countries so far, and seen a tiny fraction of the continent. If you want to go somewhere where you can find great food, culture, generally good roads, friendly people, lots of sunshine, free wi- fi and great mobile phone reception get yourself over here!
We have a couple of days off now, fixing the car and having a look around Cusco tomorrow, then off to Machu Pichu on Wednesday.
Hello Roy and Peter!
ReplyDeleteI hang my head in shame as I've only just remembered to check your blog out. But I have been chuckling away to myself for half an hour now reading about your exploits. Favourite bits so far are the overly precise description of the baby whale as a LONG WHEELBASE Sprinter van, the bit about waking Brian up in the middle of the night on holiday and the mention of a bathroom with two entrances. I think I saw a very late night film about that kind of thing once!
Keep going boys, it sounds like a brilliant adventure and I am very jealous sitting here in freezing Aberdeen listening to our crap politicians on the news. But just don't eat any of the penguins as my wife won't be very happy.
Oh, and Roy, when you get back give me a ring. I find I need a co-driver next year for the 4-round GT & Sports Car Cup series (Silverstone, Monza, Dijon, Paul Ricard).
Cheers
Rod