We have been traveling through remote areas of eastern Peru and setting up Starlink has been too much trouble honestly after a days driving in high insect jungle camps…oh yes we’re back in high humidity and lots of no see’ums. But let’s go back to Monday morning when we said goodbye to Josue and his lovely hostel in the valley at 12,000 feet, cool crisp and sunny.
Our goal a modest 83 miles away was Kuporo Lodge which promised a lovely refuge at 2500 feet altitude in the jungle. No more waking up to cold mornings. The only problem we faced was a pass at 15,400 feet before we got there.
I was I will admit a bit apprehensive about the drive, even higher than yesterday’s 13,750 foot pass with lots more hairpins.
Early on it was obvious the mountain road takes its toll.
The big disappointment was the paucity of interesting roadside food stands. Layne looked at me like I was ill when I sprang a buck fifty for a jello pudding cup. Hey, I grew up in an English boarding school and my taste buds got warped (as well as my sense of humor).
It was a long slow drive up but the road remained perfectly paved as we drove between 15 and 30 mph.
We saw at least half a dozen trucks struggling with roadside repairs and a tow truck hooking up a tour bus.
In fact when we stopped to cool our brakes a tow truck stopped by to see if we were okay. I liked that giving us a sense we weren’t far from help.
Notice also how vegetation is making a come back, and we were glad to see it as we descended toward the Amazon Basin. We are a little tired of the desert. Lunch was taken in a small roadside diner for three dollars each for soup and main. I had chicken while Layne had a pork chop. The television was showing the news with a report of a clash between Peru and Colombia. The two countries are arguing over Santa Rosa Island with 3,000 inhabitants in the Amazon River. So far no shooting but stupidity is endemic all over the world.Bolivia had inconclusive ejections but the socialist left which been running the country has collapsed and won’t be in the October runoff. I only care as next year we want to have another go at visiting and a centrist government may be more US friendly. And maybe the people of Bolivia will have a chance at some economic improvement and they need it as the pace is a corrupt basket case.The road had a whole load of wash outs with landslides which held us up over and over again but only for ten minutes or so as the traffic on the InterOceanic highway was surprisingly light. 
It was early afternoon but we had decided to stop early after only 83 miles. It was tiring driving but there was another issue ahead. If I say the road ahead is dangerous I trust you will appreciate that I am not in the habit of overstating the case but the road to Puerto Maldonado runs through an area notorious for banditry and violence other overlanders have reported seeing signs saying foreigners go home. Our plan was to stop for the night before that section of road and then get through it early in the day next day. We found a place that sounded great just off the highway.When we arrived the owner Claus originally from Czechoslovakia thirty five years ago showed us a gravel lot with no amenities on it. Apparently nowadays the showers and WiFi are for the rental cabins up the hill. But that was okay, for $8:50 we had a safe place to spend the night out of sight of the illegal miners and loggers in the world outside. Luckily we are self contained and it was no problem not having facilities but I got a horrible reminder we were out of the desert. I spoke with Claus and paid and got back aboard GANNET2 and my legs were on fire absolutely agonizing. After that we napped, ran the rooftop a/c, read our books, watched some TV, let Rusty out as he is immune to biting insects and eventually all three of us went to sleep. It wasn’t actually too hot, around 70 degrees and we got some heavy rain overnight. We were sung and breathing comfortably at 2500 feet. Tomorrow: the danger zone at the mining township of Mazuko.
