We drove 121 miles down the coast of Peru on Monday. We covered more miles but ended up that far from our starting point on the mango farm.
Rusty enjoyed the stop as much as we did. $10 for hot showers with the possibility of electrical plug in that we didn’t need and a great chat with Francisco who gave us some good ideas about our route south.
In line with a comment posted here yesterday he recommended going to Cusco via Arequipa further down the coast as the route inland has some interesting stops. We took notes.
Our drive south was for us highly enjoyable and I have to say most travelers coming north told us the coast was dead boring. Indeed a comment yesterday described the desert as depressing so we are in a tiny minority.
Last year driving I-10 through the Texas desert (Fort Stockton) I had a grand time on our way to the border at Laredo. I enjoy sitting back on a smooth mostly straight highway with a lane dedicated to passing, it is my zen meditation moment.
The Pacific Ocean overcast is the same as the marine inversion you get in summer on the west coast in the US so it was 55 degrees when we got up and barely 60 by early afternoon. We drove with the windows closed and no air conditioning. With a detective Bosch story on the radio we drove through a wonderland of colored sand dunes at 50 to 60 miles an hour.
For me it’s a meditation, one hand on the wheel, Layne in the back making a cup of tea, Rusty laying on his bed under the passenger seat, the miles rolled away for three hours and I could easily have kept going.
We stopped for lunch in town and found a middle class eatery. I’ve mentioned it before but street food in Peru is often served from rather unsanitary looking huts that are a bit too rustic even for us.
Layne had octopus that she found a bit too tough but I had my favorite which is a sort of beef stew in a sweet and savory sauce. At $11 it wasn’t cheap but included a Coke and a tablecloth.
I’m including some pictures of our drive that you can decide for yourself if these scenery is appealing.
We enjoyed the mountains but I love the oxygen at sea level and the easy driving for a change. We did get GANNET2 washed which was lovely but I have no doubt the desert will coat us with dust soon enough.
Meeting a slow moving fishing boat on the highway was a new one for me but it’s a reminder to give yourself time to slow down. Fishing boats and speed bumps in the inhabited areas…
And always the fleets of three wheelers.
No idea who what or why:
Rumble strips to slow you down before a corner:
I find these views fascinating.
A tuk tuk in the middle of nowhere is a reminder that these desert roads are just another day at home for these hardy people.
And he was booking it, close to 40 mph I thought. Slow down the sign said, sandy area.
I followed him for a bit in that desolate area.
There are pre-Inca ruins everywhere along this coast.
We went food shopping in the city of Huacho stopping at Tottus, a supermarket chain owned by Walmart and followed up with Layne’s favorite Plazavea which is another big chain. Between them she got her groceries but it was getting dark after all that.
We haven’t found one store with everything in one place in this country. Shopping is one of those things you adapt to in each country you drive through. You’d be amazed how many familiar products you can find on the shelves, sometimes in bags instead of cans. Barbecue sauce? No problem. I never escorted that kid of stuff on the shelves.
I’ve never seen a supermarket built on prime waterfront real estate either but here we are. We thought about spending the night here on the street but Huacho is another coastal Peruvian turn with not a great vibe.
We ended up driving north for forty minutes, back the way we came in the dark which was less than brilliant. We found the gas station listed on iOverlander and when they said we could stay the night we filled our tank with regular at $4:60 a gallon. Huacho has a run down air:
Our drive down the coast:
The blue fog is our Monday night gas station parking spot. The red spot is our destination Tuesday morning which is a ruin not often visited by tourists. Huacho is the city down the coast where we did our shopping.
If you are like me you will be astonished to learn that Caral is believed to be the oldest city in history. Move aside Mesopotamia.
