Crossing the border and other stories

Following the theft of Steve´s beloved camera, we notified the bus conductor, whose response was the most apathetic shrug I´ve ever witnessed, though not at all surprising. The people at the bus company office were no help either. Upon our arrival at the small village of Vilcabamba in the south of Ecuador, we made our way to the local police station just to get a report for the insurance, anything in writing with a signature or stamp on it, but alas, twas not to be.

So, went for a 5 hour walk to a waterfall, saw some cows and some snakes and some birds of prey. Steve fell in the river. After Mexican food 3 days running, we tried "the best Italian food in Ecuador". Didn´t quite live up to expectations. Cost all of about 3 english pounds though.

Head off again on Monday morning, getting a small bus (bags on the roof!) to Loja where we got on a long distance bus that took us to Macara, over the border into Peru and left us in Piura. The border crossing was simple, though walking across the international bridge yielded more mosquito bites than the amazon rainforest did, and most importantly, our bus didn´t crash (I hear this is a fairly common thing in Peru). Arrived in Piura at around 10.00pm, got a "taxi" (in Peru anyone can stick a sign in their window and be a bus or taxi) who took us to a dark corner where a man mysteriously appeared to change our dollaros into soles, got a teensy bit ripped off but oh well, then took us to another bus station (more of a shed) where we waited in the hope that the 11.00pm bus to Lima actually existed. We were joined by an English guy from Coventry (who knew the Leicester Noodle Bar!) who bailed us out big time by lending us some cash for the bus ticket (in being ripped off by the money changer, we were now just a little bit short). The bus that turned up was a big thing, like the buses in Argentina, well worth the 20 quid for 16 hours of travel. Sleeep.

Woke up to see the Pacific Ocean out my window. Arrived in Lima, shared a taxi with Stefan from Germany, and spent a few nights in the Stop and Drop Hostel. Went to the beach. Didn´t go surfing or paragliding (will do that somewhere else). Did win lots of toy army men at the amusement arcades playing a basketball game. I didn´t think people could drive crazier than they do in Argentina, but Lima wins, hands down. Isn´t it great when a mundane activity such as a taxi ride can be really fun?

Got a 24 hour bus to Cusco. Had a briefing for our Machu Picchu trek. We´re at a pretty high altitude here, I get out of breath walking up the stairs. Climbing up a mountain to 4300 metres might be a bit tricky...