Inka Kola

We finally left the friendliness of Ecuador and headed into Peru. Its

amazing what differences an imaginary line can create not only with

people but with landscapes as well. As we crossed the border we drove

from endless green banana plantations into desert... like serious

desert. And it began right when we crossed over the bridge that

separates these two countries. As Ecuador is on the up and up with

their new president (or so we were told by the people) Peru seems to

be slipping into disarray with an election in a couple months and only

the option to choose the slightly lesser of two evils. Some people are

even removing their money from the banks in fear that the new

president will freeze all their assets to divide equally among the

poor. In a world where Inka Kola rules over Coca Cola it seems

slightly like an upside down world.

That being said, as in all the other countries we have found amazing
beauty, even within the sandy desert of Peru's western coast.

A sign in the glass... It was too cute to let me pass it by without a
picture

One snapshot from the cool city of Cuenca, Ecuador where we spent a couple of days. Thanks to Christian for showing us around!!

Leaving Ecuador... the very official Aduana station... 5 kilometers before the border

Its official!

Surprisingly there are some amazingly white sandy beaches on the coast. We began to think we were back in Mexico!

We stopped for Easter at the surfer's haven of Mancora, rented a surf board for a few hours and enjoyed the sun we had been missing for the past month! Easter is possibly the biggest holiday in Latin America and the Peruvians were out in full force!

Some of the simple dwellings scattered through out the desert. This was possibly one of the more luxurious ones.

More desert shacks

I wonder if they can hear the highway from that location?

Sand... Sand... and more sand... 1300kms to be exact.

There were some amazing rock formations along the drive

The scenery really was beautiful. This is on the road heading up to Huaraz in the mountains. Actually the Cordillera Blanca, the second highest mountain range in the world!! More to come on that epic section in the next blog.