Beginning in Lima, we wandered the Cordillera Blanca of northern Peru, stopping along the way at two seldom visited but important ancient pre-Inca sites. From the high Andes we dropped down into the Amazon basin to the end of the road at Yurimaguas. There we took local river boats down Rio Huallaga, Rio Maranon and Rio Amazonas to Manaus, where we traveled north out of the Amazon basin…
Our narrow tandem tires cut into the dust and bounce and slide from one auto-tire slickened rock to another. We hope to avoid the shattered and sharpened hidden ones, capable of ruining our day, and one of our tires. We have one spare, and wonder if we should not have brought two. A few times a particularly viscous rock (by the second day I was attributing evil intent to certain rocks) would throw the front wheel toward the abyss, necessitating a dual bail out.
Sleeping in airports is all part of the experience these days if, like us, you go for the cheap ticket, no matter what. But lots of people get stuck for reasons of weather or airline screw-ups, so if you travel much, your day will come. Don’t worry. Just go with the flow and enjoy the experience. You’ll be surprised how comfortable you can get on your own little corner of carpet. We both slept for a few hours. We almost didn’t wake up in time for our required 5am check in time.
There have been a very few times in my life when time seemed to slow, if not stand still, and this was one. I could see the car headed for us broad side, in slow motion, too late to brake, to late for our acceleration to help. Neither the driver or us even considered involving the police: He because he was Brazilian and has known all his life to distrust them, and we because we had been warned not to involve police in anything, not even an injury accident.
