San Francisco to Ushuaia in an 87 4Runner.
- Thread starter defrag4
- Start date
defrag4
Road Warrior
Come on down! Summer is starting and its beautiful down here.
defrag4
Road Warrior
Hey guys! If you havent added us on facebook, please do!
http://facebook.com/homeonthehighway
Up and on the road the next morning we quickly approached the Ecuadorian side of the border, turned in our paperwork, got our passports stamped out and jumped back in the truck. A few miles further the large Peruvian tourism logo greeted us. Welcome to PERU! Country #12.
It took us an about an hour to clear through the entry paperwork. We encountered the standard hiccups which we are used to by now. Note to future overlanders, If your car title has your license plate number listed, make sure it actually matches the tag on your truck.... Our original plates were stolen back in Baja, we were issued new ones and have the proper registration paperwork but it always causes a snag when they see the title and the registration don't match up. Just a tip!
Paperwork completed, we were free and clear for 90-days of fun in Peru!
We scooted on down through the sketchy border town of Tumbes and were soon cruising some of the best blacktop we have seen the entire trip.
Suprisingly, the landscape also quickly changed from the low-lying coastal jungle of Ecuador to straight Peruvian desert. I soon learned the entire coastline of Peru is actually a giant desert, appropriately nicknamed "The Egypt of South America". The dunes rose up out of the earth towering everything in sight. Bundle in the lower range of the Andes directly behind them and you get jaw-dropping scenery unlike anything we had ever seen before.
As we cruised along the coastline, we checked in with our friends SprinterLife for some Peruvian travel tips. SprinterLife gave us the downlow that the mountains are actually the perfect place to be right now. We cut up from the desert coast and started heading into the Andes. Closer towards the low-range of the Andes we saw the desert transform from a lifeless sandbox to lush green fields and rivers.
Climbing further up the mountain we soon discovered the source of the greenery below. A giant dam has been constructed here to collect water from the mountain snows/rains and slowly disperse it to the farms in the valleys below.
It's a dam lake
We crept further and further into the mountains until eventually arriving at a small city named Cajamarca. Cajamarca sits around 9000FT. The city has a very rich history dating back thousands of years to pre-Chavin culture. The Incas took up residence here for a while as well, before being conquered by the bloody Spainards. It has a lovely colonial style town-square, we found a cheap hostel and setup shop.
We strolled around the town taking in the beautiful colonial churches, hospitals and various other historical sites. SprinterLife had been right, the weather was perfect up here the mountains.
Located just outside of Cajamarca are the "Banos del Inca" (Inca Baths). Here there are naturally occuring hot springs that the Inca elite used for bathing and ceremonial purposes. Nowadays even regular Joe's can swim or bathe in the waters. The Peruvians have constructed a large complex of various showers, pools, and baths. You can get even get a massage on site. The baths are cheap, around $2. An hour long massage only running $10 or so.
Steaming thermal pool
Lauren testing the water in one of the ancient Inca bath houses. Yep, its hot!
We paid our soles and got our own private bathroom where they pipe in the thermal waters. The water was insanely hot straight from the tap, luckily you could regulate the temp with a series of valves. Even so, after 20 minutes of being in there we felt pretty light headed. Lauren actually had to quickly step outside and sit on a bench before she fainted.
Ladies, Try your best not to swoon.
We explored the hills around Cajamarca, passing through many small Andean villages, seeing people go about their daily lives.
Cruising these backroads you often come across locals trudging up the mountain towards their homes. One guy flagged us down and jumped on the sliders. He let me wear his sweet *** hat so it wouldnt blow off in the wind. I was pretty excited as you can see.
Currently Cajamarca and the surrounding villages are in a huge battle against large foreign gold-mining interests who have been destroying their land, rivers, and food sources. There are daily protests, roadblocks, and there have even have been some attacks on the miners by locals. Read more about the situation here.
Unfortunately, we managed to get mixed up in a roadblock where the villagers mistook our large Toyota truck as being a "Mining truck". Things got a little intense as we approached about 20 villagers including grandmas, children, and pregnant ladies all armed to the teeth with various implements of destruction. Rakes, hoes, pickaxes, and other farming tools take the place of guns here. As we approached the roadblock they started screaming and banging on the sides of the truck. I yelled out the windows that we were "solo touristas!" and pointed to the innocent looking Lauren as proof that we were in fact NOT greasy miners. Once they realized we were just a bunch of dumb gringos, they yelled at us to get the hell outta the way so they could finish their roadblock! Whew, that was a close one! Sorry no pics.
We eventually made it to our destination "Ventanillas de Otuzco"(Little Windows). The ancient Cajamarca cultures dug these small crypts out of the side of the mountain. Inside they would place the bones of deceased leaders along with tools, gold, and other important items much needed in the afterlife. Pretty cool, unfortunately looters had pillaged most everything before scientists ever got a chance to get in there.
Rest of the story, tons more pics, and SOME BIGS NEWS on the blog
[url]http://homeonthehighway.com/peru-land-of-the-incas/
[/url]
http://facebook.com/homeonthehighway
Up and on the road the next morning we quickly approached the Ecuadorian side of the border, turned in our paperwork, got our passports stamped out and jumped back in the truck. A few miles further the large Peruvian tourism logo greeted us. Welcome to PERU! Country #12.
It took us an about an hour to clear through the entry paperwork. We encountered the standard hiccups which we are used to by now. Note to future overlanders, If your car title has your license plate number listed, make sure it actually matches the tag on your truck.... Our original plates were stolen back in Baja, we were issued new ones and have the proper registration paperwork but it always causes a snag when they see the title and the registration don't match up. Just a tip!
Paperwork completed, we were free and clear for 90-days of fun in Peru!
We scooted on down through the sketchy border town of Tumbes and were soon cruising some of the best blacktop we have seen the entire trip.
Suprisingly, the landscape also quickly changed from the low-lying coastal jungle of Ecuador to straight Peruvian desert. I soon learned the entire coastline of Peru is actually a giant desert, appropriately nicknamed "The Egypt of South America". The dunes rose up out of the earth towering everything in sight. Bundle in the lower range of the Andes directly behind them and you get jaw-dropping scenery unlike anything we had ever seen before.
As we cruised along the coastline, we checked in with our friends SprinterLife for some Peruvian travel tips. SprinterLife gave us the downlow that the mountains are actually the perfect place to be right now. We cut up from the desert coast and started heading into the Andes. Closer towards the low-range of the Andes we saw the desert transform from a lifeless sandbox to lush green fields and rivers.
Climbing further up the mountain we soon discovered the source of the greenery below. A giant dam has been constructed here to collect water from the mountain snows/rains and slowly disperse it to the farms in the valleys below.
It's a dam lake
We crept further and further into the mountains until eventually arriving at a small city named Cajamarca. Cajamarca sits around 9000FT. The city has a very rich history dating back thousands of years to pre-Chavin culture. The Incas took up residence here for a while as well, before being conquered by the bloody Spainards. It has a lovely colonial style town-square, we found a cheap hostel and setup shop.
We strolled around the town taking in the beautiful colonial churches, hospitals and various other historical sites. SprinterLife had been right, the weather was perfect up here the mountains.
Located just outside of Cajamarca are the "Banos del Inca" (Inca Baths). Here there are naturally occuring hot springs that the Inca elite used for bathing and ceremonial purposes. Nowadays even regular Joe's can swim or bathe in the waters. The Peruvians have constructed a large complex of various showers, pools, and baths. You can get even get a massage on site. The baths are cheap, around $2. An hour long massage only running $10 or so.
Steaming thermal pool
Lauren testing the water in one of the ancient Inca bath houses. Yep, its hot!
We paid our soles and got our own private bathroom where they pipe in the thermal waters. The water was insanely hot straight from the tap, luckily you could regulate the temp with a series of valves. Even so, after 20 minutes of being in there we felt pretty light headed. Lauren actually had to quickly step outside and sit on a bench before she fainted.
Ladies, Try your best not to swoon.
We explored the hills around Cajamarca, passing through many small Andean villages, seeing people go about their daily lives.
Cruising these backroads you often come across locals trudging up the mountain towards their homes. One guy flagged us down and jumped on the sliders. He let me wear his sweet *** hat so it wouldnt blow off in the wind. I was pretty excited as you can see.
Currently Cajamarca and the surrounding villages are in a huge battle against large foreign gold-mining interests who have been destroying their land, rivers, and food sources. There are daily protests, roadblocks, and there have even have been some attacks on the miners by locals. Read more about the situation here.
Unfortunately, we managed to get mixed up in a roadblock where the villagers mistook our large Toyota truck as being a "Mining truck". Things got a little intense as we approached about 20 villagers including grandmas, children, and pregnant ladies all armed to the teeth with various implements of destruction. Rakes, hoes, pickaxes, and other farming tools take the place of guns here. As we approached the roadblock they started screaming and banging on the sides of the truck. I yelled out the windows that we were "solo touristas!" and pointed to the innocent looking Lauren as proof that we were in fact NOT greasy miners. Once they realized we were just a bunch of dumb gringos, they yelled at us to get the hell outta the way so they could finish their roadblock! Whew, that was a close one! Sorry no pics.
We eventually made it to our destination "Ventanillas de Otuzco"(Little Windows). The ancient Cajamarca cultures dug these small crypts out of the side of the mountain. Inside they would place the bones of deceased leaders along with tools, gold, and other important items much needed in the afterlife. Pretty cool, unfortunately looters had pillaged most everything before scientists ever got a chance to get in there.
Rest of the story, tons more pics, and SOME BIGS NEWS on the blog
[url]http://homeonthehighway.com/peru-land-of-the-incas/
[/url]
nwoods
Expedition Leader
I loved the expanded version of the story, with all the awesome ruins. I think you completely posted the wrong person's photo in the spas though....
So what's the BIG NEWS? I didn't see it, other than the accommodations?
nwoods
Expedition Leader
Cool, looks like a great place to chill out. Please don't let that keep you from posting up photos and commentary. Your blog is one of the best things on the Internet. Just needs more Lauren in it! Speaking of which, she hasn't posted anything in quite a while....
defrag4
Road Warrior
still got a few posts to go before we are all caught up to present day :costumed-smiley-007
D
Deleted member 12023
Guest
James, you wanna go into the tire business in Peru with me?
ab1985
Explorer
Man, I am glad I "liked" you guys on facebook. The mini updates are great in between the full blown blog posts. I had to use my wife's FB since I don't have an account so the added benefit is she is starting to ask me questions about overlanding (evil grin). Glad to hear you're back on the road. :safari-rig:
TheBuddyExpedition
Adventurer
BEST.THREAD.EVER!
defrag4
Road Warrior
If you are interested in more check out: http://homeonthehighway.com
Also if you have a facebook, please add us at http://facebook.com/homeonthehighway
We settled into to life at our apartment. It was nice to have some routine after being on the move for so long. We would wake up in the morning, make some coffee, and hang out on the roof of our apartment watching the waves, the sun, and life waking up in our little town of Huanchaco.
It didn't take long for word to trickle out on the streets that "Home on the Highway" had a sweet beach pad and the visitors soon started rolling in.
Our first friends who came were our Canadian buds we had recently met in Ecuador. We spent lots of time strolling the town together, drinking Trujillo beers, and sitting on the beach. Standard Hunachaco life.
We paid a visit to Trujillo's largest ruin, the infamous CHAN-CHAN... ChanChan is a massive ruin covering over 20KM of land. It is actually the largest Pre-Columbian ruin in all of South America. The main complex is surrounded by giant adobe walls and divided up into various sections inside for ceremony, farming, and everyday life. At its peak over 30,000 people lived in this city. It was the capital of the Chimu empire.
The adobe walls are full of intricate patterns occasionally depicting animals as well.
Squirrels?
Pelicans?
ChanChan was kind of cool at first, however, after strolling along through the mud hallways eventually it gets pretty damn boring. We usually shy away from guides and prefer to discover a place by ourselves, I feel ChanChan needs a guide to do it justice.
We are headed out of the mud fortress when we come across a Peruvian family who has drug its 2-year old little boy out to see the mud. Surprisingly, the boy is not at all interested in staring at brown walls for hours at a time and its throwing a straight up tantrum as his clearly annoyed parents continue to drag him through the ruins.
At one point the crying kid walks in front of me and plops down directly in front of my feet as I am walking, not thinking much of it and not wanting to punt the kid, I just step over him and keep on strolling.
Looking back... perhaps that wasn't the best move.
A few seconds later I hear loud shouting behind me, I turn around and find a red-faced 5ft tall Peruvian man holding his kid in his arms screaming his *** off at me. His overweight equally red-faced wife behind him also yelling. Surprisingly, for the first time all day, the baby is silent...
I glean from the screaming that he is mad that I walked over his kid, I apologize but the man won't let us alone. He starts cursing at me, screaming about how Americans come to their country and disrespect them. Lo Siento Senor, No queiro problemas. At this point his loud shouting had gathered quite a crowd all standing around to watch the show. I stand there a while more getting threatened by this little red-faced man until a security guard comes over and tells us our group of 4 gringos we should probably leave. As I eyeballed 20 Peruvian males all around us itching to let out some pent-up aggression, I agreed.
We all hauled *** outta ChanChan laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Hey, at least we got some excitement out of the place!
Our Canadian friends hit the road and our next set of visitors arrived, the infamous Team LifeRemotely.
We had not seen each other since Costa Rica, and had lots of catching up to do. We quickly fell back into our routine of gluttony and excessive libations.
Jared went crazy finally having access to a real full sized kitchen and cooked up all kinds of deliciousness. Kobus busted out his world-famous empanadas, while Lauren and Jessica provided moral-support from the sidelines, their enthusiasm fueled by the finest of boxed red wine ("Gato" is the finest if you were wondering...)
It was during Life Remotely's visit that we first discovered our downstairs neighbor had recently acquired a new kitten.
Unfortunately my neighbor is not home much and the very young kitten was left on the backpatio alone for most of the day and night. He spent most of his time meowing and crying for some attention. I would sling down some tunafish from the second-story window from time to time to shut him up, but inevitably he would start back up again. Eventually the cat would cry himself hoarse and start doing this weird squeaking noise. Hence we named this random cat whom we had never actually met, Squeakers.
It was a combination of being tired of listening to Squeakers whine all damn day, a lot of rum, and Jared's comment of "If you don't rescue that cat soon he is going to have permanent severe mental problems" that sprung us into action.
Unable to access the first floor patio, we had to somehow catch him from the 2nd story. We rigged up a wicker basket, some rope, and a can of tuna fish trying to create a sort of trap for the cat. Hoping he would jump into the basket and we could pull him up.
We were able to get him into the basket but he would bonzai jump out as we were trying to bring him up to the second story. Not wanting to be a part of a kitty suicide we shelved the plan. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
The next day we waved goodbye to Life Remotely and waved hello to our pals from DriveNachoDrive
Brad and Sheena were onboard instantly with the cat rescue operation. We upgraded from our crappy wicker basket to a high-sided bin and soon enough. We had him!
As luck would have it our neighbor came home just as we are stealing the cat. As Lauren and Sheena pull the cat up into our apartment. I run downstairs to explain to our confused neighbor why she sees her cat being carted away to the 2nd floor in some old plastic bin....
I don't think she really understood my horrible spanish but she got that jist that we had just stole her cat and she didn't seem to mind too much. OK?
He was one dirty and pissed off cat, the girls, of course, instantly fell in love.
We put a shine on him and he cleaned up pretty good, I usually HATE cats, but even I had to admit he was pretty damn cute.
We burned through the days playing cards, taking advantage of having an oven, and playing with the cat.
Rooftop Card Sesh. Sheena is the worlds fastest card player. Brad, antsy to throw down his last card and call Rummy.
Brad is a master Nacho chef. He loves them so much his blog is named after them. Well not really, but the man does love some nachos.
We said goodbye to Brad and Sheena and prepared for our next adventure. Lauren's friend is flying into Lima in just a few days. We will meet her there and then drive to Machu Picchu.
First leg of the trip... the 9 hour drive from Huanchaco to Lima.
We hit the road south and soon were cruising through giant sand dunes and the beautiful desolate shoreline of the Peruvian coast.
Also if you have a facebook, please add us at http://facebook.com/homeonthehighway
We settled into to life at our apartment. It was nice to have some routine after being on the move for so long. We would wake up in the morning, make some coffee, and hang out on the roof of our apartment watching the waves, the sun, and life waking up in our little town of Huanchaco.
It didn't take long for word to trickle out on the streets that "Home on the Highway" had a sweet beach pad and the visitors soon started rolling in.
Our first friends who came were our Canadian buds we had recently met in Ecuador. We spent lots of time strolling the town together, drinking Trujillo beers, and sitting on the beach. Standard Hunachaco life.
We paid a visit to Trujillo's largest ruin, the infamous CHAN-CHAN... ChanChan is a massive ruin covering over 20KM of land. It is actually the largest Pre-Columbian ruin in all of South America. The main complex is surrounded by giant adobe walls and divided up into various sections inside for ceremony, farming, and everyday life. At its peak over 30,000 people lived in this city. It was the capital of the Chimu empire.
The adobe walls are full of intricate patterns occasionally depicting animals as well.
Squirrels?
Pelicans?
ChanChan was kind of cool at first, however, after strolling along through the mud hallways eventually it gets pretty damn boring. We usually shy away from guides and prefer to discover a place by ourselves, I feel ChanChan needs a guide to do it justice.
We are headed out of the mud fortress when we come across a Peruvian family who has drug its 2-year old little boy out to see the mud. Surprisingly, the boy is not at all interested in staring at brown walls for hours at a time and its throwing a straight up tantrum as his clearly annoyed parents continue to drag him through the ruins.
At one point the crying kid walks in front of me and plops down directly in front of my feet as I am walking, not thinking much of it and not wanting to punt the kid, I just step over him and keep on strolling.
Looking back... perhaps that wasn't the best move.
A few seconds later I hear loud shouting behind me, I turn around and find a red-faced 5ft tall Peruvian man holding his kid in his arms screaming his *** off at me. His overweight equally red-faced wife behind him also yelling. Surprisingly, for the first time all day, the baby is silent...
I glean from the screaming that he is mad that I walked over his kid, I apologize but the man won't let us alone. He starts cursing at me, screaming about how Americans come to their country and disrespect them. Lo Siento Senor, No queiro problemas. At this point his loud shouting had gathered quite a crowd all standing around to watch the show. I stand there a while more getting threatened by this little red-faced man until a security guard comes over and tells us our group of 4 gringos we should probably leave. As I eyeballed 20 Peruvian males all around us itching to let out some pent-up aggression, I agreed.
We all hauled *** outta ChanChan laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Hey, at least we got some excitement out of the place!
Our Canadian friends hit the road and our next set of visitors arrived, the infamous Team LifeRemotely.
We had not seen each other since Costa Rica, and had lots of catching up to do. We quickly fell back into our routine of gluttony and excessive libations.
Jared went crazy finally having access to a real full sized kitchen and cooked up all kinds of deliciousness. Kobus busted out his world-famous empanadas, while Lauren and Jessica provided moral-support from the sidelines, their enthusiasm fueled by the finest of boxed red wine ("Gato" is the finest if you were wondering...)
It was during Life Remotely's visit that we first discovered our downstairs neighbor had recently acquired a new kitten.
Unfortunately my neighbor is not home much and the very young kitten was left on the backpatio alone for most of the day and night. He spent most of his time meowing and crying for some attention. I would sling down some tunafish from the second-story window from time to time to shut him up, but inevitably he would start back up again. Eventually the cat would cry himself hoarse and start doing this weird squeaking noise. Hence we named this random cat whom we had never actually met, Squeakers.
It was a combination of being tired of listening to Squeakers whine all damn day, a lot of rum, and Jared's comment of "If you don't rescue that cat soon he is going to have permanent severe mental problems" that sprung us into action.
Unable to access the first floor patio, we had to somehow catch him from the 2nd story. We rigged up a wicker basket, some rope, and a can of tuna fish trying to create a sort of trap for the cat. Hoping he would jump into the basket and we could pull him up.
We were able to get him into the basket but he would bonzai jump out as we were trying to bring him up to the second story. Not wanting to be a part of a kitty suicide we shelved the plan. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
The next day we waved goodbye to Life Remotely and waved hello to our pals from DriveNachoDrive
Brad and Sheena were onboard instantly with the cat rescue operation. We upgraded from our crappy wicker basket to a high-sided bin and soon enough. We had him!
As luck would have it our neighbor came home just as we are stealing the cat. As Lauren and Sheena pull the cat up into our apartment. I run downstairs to explain to our confused neighbor why she sees her cat being carted away to the 2nd floor in some old plastic bin....
I don't think she really understood my horrible spanish but she got that jist that we had just stole her cat and she didn't seem to mind too much. OK?
He was one dirty and pissed off cat, the girls, of course, instantly fell in love.
We put a shine on him and he cleaned up pretty good, I usually HATE cats, but even I had to admit he was pretty damn cute.
We burned through the days playing cards, taking advantage of having an oven, and playing with the cat.
Rooftop Card Sesh. Sheena is the worlds fastest card player. Brad, antsy to throw down his last card and call Rummy.
Brad is a master Nacho chef. He loves them so much his blog is named after them. Well not really, but the man does love some nachos.
We said goodbye to Brad and Sheena and prepared for our next adventure. Lauren's friend is flying into Lima in just a few days. We will meet her there and then drive to Machu Picchu.
First leg of the trip... the 9 hour drive from Huanchaco to Lima.
We hit the road south and soon were cruising through giant sand dunes and the beautiful desolate shoreline of the Peruvian coast.
defrag4
Road Warrior
haha, we always need more fowls in our flock. bring her on!