We left Cusco after Peter had listened to Watford being beaten by Crystal palace in the Playoffs at Wembley, oh dear. We decided to head back the way we had come as this was the quickest way to get down to a better altitude. About an hour into the drive we hit road works which involved the road being closed for 3 hours. There were some very unhappy Peruvians. I felt sorry for the two women who were in charge of stopping the traffic. I don't know exactly what was being said to them but the tone and volume suggested it was not nice. We did the only thing one could - we made lunch and sat in our chairs by the side of the road with a cup of tea. That caused a few odd looks. Because of this delay we were not able to reach the camp spot we had used on the way from Nasca to Cusco. We finally stopped by the side of a river as darkness fell. Within seconds of putting the light on Gerty was full of moths and other assorted insects. Poor Peter stayed outside trying to cook with insects flying all around. He kept quiet about the insects that landed in the pan of beans until after dinner. Next morning we found the original campsite 100 metres along the road.

After a long drive we managed to reach Ica and stayed at the oasis hotel we had stopped at previously. This meant we had an easy mornings drive to Lima the following day and headed for our first possible shipping agent. We found him in a rather grubby backstreet office which did not instil confidence. His quote left us shaking. The next day we found our second agent and felt much happier in his pristine modern office. He advised he was able to put Gerty in a container the following week and ship her the week after that. We hadn't envisaged that early but after lengthy discussions we decided we would. We both agreed we felt absolutely shattered and really needed a holiday. We have both loved the adventure but felt we had reached the end of what we wanted to do. We had to wait a few more days for everything to be finalised but found a nice apartment with kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living room. We didn’t find Lima a very interesting capital so did little site seeing. We were able to have lunch at the British Embassy, which was very posh. We were the only travellers there. Peter enjoyed 2 helpings of good British roast beef. So finally after 25,000 kilometres Gerty was stuffed (technical term used in S.America for placing items in containers) for the journey home.

So what did we think of Peru? We have only travelled around the south of the country having visited the north a few years ago. Overall Peru felt a bit touristy. However their tourist industry is not very well organised so a lot of patience is required and at times you feel they are a bit fed up with tourists!

We visited many sites, especially Inca sites, and they were quite amazing. The Incas were incredibly advanced and I don’t think a lot of people realise this. They did of course pinch a lot of technical innovations from the peoples they conquered. We loved Cusco with all its sites and especially Machu Picchu - the highlight of any visit to the area. Like the Bolivians we found Peruvians to be very friendly except when they get behind the wheel of a car. At this point they change into frenzied creatures. We again had to drive long distances between sites, except around Cusco where there are over 10 Inca sites. Most roads were in a very good condition. The driving of the microbuses and taxis again left Gerty shaking in her tyres - it must be a Latin American thing. The use of the horn is as popular here, if not more so than in Bolivia. In addition the police have whistles and do they use them! The purchasing of diesel has been easy as there are petrol stations everywhere and most towns, even small ones, have a least four. In one town we counted fifteen.

For the first time on our adventure we visited the Amazon basin which was incredible if a little too hot and muggy for us. It was therefore a rather short visit but we got the idea. The weather at the coast has been very misty and hot but higher up it has again been warm during the day and chilly if not rather cold at night and the high altitude has continued to affect both of us- we must be getting old. My nice Chilean tan has almost disappeared. The scenery in Southern Peru was not as dramatic as that around the Andes in Chile and Argentina, but still impressive, especially the drive down into the Amazon.

As with Bolivia there has been a marked absence of campsites but we have managed to camp wild more here than in Bolivia and have only stayed in hotels in the towns. I am getting to quite like the wild camping even the lack of bathroom facilities is not too worrying as those in campsites have generally been yukee.


And Finally !

We have enjoyed making this blog and we hope you have enjoyed following it. We would like to thank you for viewing it and in particular all of those who have left comments on the entries and photos. It was great to hear from you and greatly appreciated.

We have an option to have the Blog published as a book to remind us of our travels which is great as we both need to look at the Blog to remind us what we did at the start; well actually anything over a week ago!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at home, sleeping in a nice comfy bed and shopping at Waitrose!

THE END

Peter and Lesley Boast


FOOTNOTE: Gerty arrived back in Tilbury the second week of July.