Back in Lima

Heading on back to Cusco/Cuzco/Qosqo on Tuesday, so I hopped a bus from Huaraz to Lima this morning. I'll be here in lovely, lovely San Isidro (where there's not much going on except good restaurants, pretty parks, and lots and lots of construction) until Tuesday, when I catch my flight back up to Cusco, "navel of the earth."

The ride from Huaraz is beautiful, and not too bad in length--only eight hours--but I hadn't seen it on my way up there, since I wasn't able to find a bus that went during the day. I don't understand the Peruvian fondness for night buses, and this time, I was able to find a company that runs a bus that leaves at 9am.

The trip is simply incredible. I'll put up the pictures when I get a chance--though most of them were taken through the bus window, so I'm not sure how they'll turn out.

Starts out high in the mountains, of course, in Huaraz, and climbs up above treeline, then plunges down a long canyon, through some of the most incredible scenery I've seen down here. As it's the rainy season, there are incredible waterfalls, and the landscape is lush and green.

Once you get to the base of the canyon, however, you start to notice that it seems drier, and in the distance of only ten or fifteen kilometers, you go from this lush, green landscape to yellow-orange desert. Once you get out of the canyon altogether, even the irrigated cropland of the valley floor disappears, and you're out among the dunes, but with a view of the ocean.

In places, you wouldn't know you were on the coast, when the ocean is out of view. In other places, it looks like the Pacific Coast Highway, except that instead of a green landscape, you're in amongst the sand and rocks.

And, of course, the shanty towns. Houses that are made out of little more than bamboo and straw, and if the residents are prosperous, adobe or concrete block.

No need for a roof that keeps the rain out, since there isn't much of that, so many houses are literally nothing more than bamboo and grass. All in all, it must be a hard life. Although these areas do seem to support some commercial agriculture.

When we got closer to Lima, I saw a couple of sailboats, including at least one beautiful catamaran. Looking at the ocean got me thinking about kayaking, although my skills are certainly not up to paddling the kind of waves that the Pacific produces on anything but the calmest days. Someday, though.

Really, when I'm on the road like that, I miss the freedom to be able to go where I want and stop where I want. If I had the time or the money, I would get a small motorcycle to travel around in down here. I could probably afford it, but it's far too much expense and hassle for the relatively short time I'm in the country.