Thursday, May 6, 2010

Radio Silence / Peru

A quick update for the moment - sorry for the radio silence.  We have been traveling to places where we didn't have very good (or any Internet).  Leaving Loja, we went south an hour to the town of Vilcabamba, in the so-called valley of longevity, where we spent four nights at the wonderful Rumi-Wilco eco-lodge, in a pole house (think rustic cabin on stilts) next to the river.  We did some hiking, some wandering around the town, some hanging out in hammocks, some cooking, and even went on a six hour horseback ride that entered el Parque Nacional Podocarpus.


After Vilcabamba, we returned briefly to Loja (basically to spend the night), then caught the 7 am bus to Piura, Peru, last night.  We met several other International travelers en route, including a couple from Australia, a woman from the States (who grew up near where Karla grew up and happens to be moving to Baltimore in the fall to go to nursing school), and a woman from China.

The border crossing was a bit interesting.  The bus stopped at the border, which happened to be a river, and we all dismounted, only to be left to our devices to figure out exactly which offices we were supposed to go to get our exit and entry stamps.  Collectively, we figured it out, though, obtaining our exit stamps from Ecuador, then crossing the bridge by foot to get our passports stamped for entry into Peru and to be given our short-term tourist visas.  After this, we had to cross the street and report to the Peruvian National Police, who scrutinized our passports and the tourist visas (already approved by another Peruvian official - I don't really understand this protocol), who stamped the back of our visas.  Then we walked back out onto the road and got back into the bus.

We arrived in Piura, Peru, a few hours later, and spent a few additional hours with the couple from Australia.  They left our company after dinner for Chiclayo and parts beyond.  Anyway, after spending the night in Piura, Karla and I thought we'd head to Trujillo today, but discovered that the only direct bus leaving left in the middle of the night.  We decided we'd head to Chiclayo instead (buses left every hour), where we are now, halfway between Piura and Trujillo.  Buses depart Chiclayo to Trujillo every hour.

Anyway, so, we're in Peru, which operates at a different, much fast, more intense pace than laid-back Ecuador.  We'll be making our way down the coast over the next several days, until we arrive in Lima, then fly to Cusco next Thursday.  Hopefully we can get some more information up between now and then, and even possibly upload some of our backlog of pictures.

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