63. Border Crossing to Peru

We said goodbye to Cuenca and headed for the border to Peru, where we passed through quickly and without ado. Kudos to Craig for having all of his paperwork in good order.

Our first real destination point is Lima, which is 712 miles from the border, so we have some long driving days ahead of us. Heading through south Ecuador to the border (again through the Andes) was mountainous and beautiful, but once in Peru, we hit a long stretch of straight road through sandy desert like terrain, that was alternately barren, or filled with poverty-stricken communities.

The word community may be misleading. There were no stores or shops, no parks or playgrounds, no cars in driveways (no driveways), just miles of falling down shacks often without doors or windows, and some without 4 walls. I've never seen anything like it.Read more