Mike writes:
We were relieved to leave Nazca this morning as our hotel had been invaded by inconsiderate Chinese tourists who thought that 5A.M. was a reasonable time to hold a boisterous meeting and chant Communist party slogans (or so it seemed) in the corridor outside our bedrooms. An early start was therefore not a problem. We had 400 kms to cover to get to Camana, a beach resort to the south.
Southern Peru is almost entirely desert. The first 150 kms took us through a relentlessly barren lunar landscape with zero vegetation and few signs of life of any kind. Chris said it reminded him of Syria. Syria after the war.
However things improved markedly as the road turned down towards the coast. Despite frequent signs warning that the area was prone to fog, the sun shone and we enjoyed a great run down an excellent stretch of road which snakes its way along the coast affording spectacular views round every corner.
This part of the Pan American is Peru’s answer to California’s Highway One, just with fewer grey haired Harley Davidson riders. While there were a number of big trucks on the road, progress was fast as we could get past them with ease, often using the famous speed bump technique we had perfected in Colombia. We are still reluctant to adopt the other local overtaking technique which is to wait for blind corners and just go for it.
Meanwhile the dramatic scenery just got better and better. The road follows the coastline faithfully for almost 200 kms almost entirely carved out of the cliff face high above the sea.
We were pulled over twice by the police, who were clearly suspicious of our aging Bolivian registered vehicle. We were also suspicious of it initially in view of its age and high mileage, but it acquitted itself admirably today and we are becoming quite attached to it. Who needs ABS, blue tooth, central locking, rear headrests, crumple zones, automatic transmission, working radio and inertia reel seatbelts anyway?
We were able to talk our way past the police road blocks by feigning (?) complete ignorance of Spanish and producing a vast file of documentation, which impressed them hugely. We’ve now been stopped by the police half a dozen times without being tapped for bribes or being locked up yet.
7 hours later we arrived in the lively little town of Camana where John managed to get a hair-cut for $2 beating Doug’s $3 record! Doug on the other hand spent a similar sum on a lifetime supply of doughnuts.
Tomorrow we start to climb higher – to 11,000 feet at Cabanaconde. Altitude sickness pills may be required.
Our America’s Challenge Drive 