Hola Everybody:

Hope you are all well and the weather is finally more temperate where you are. We are nearing the end of our trip in Peru. When we crossed the border they only gave us one month even though we are entitled to three. I wasn't quick enough and didn't catch it till it was too late to do anything about it. In any case we must leave before April 6 which is fine because we still have all of Ecuador to explore. We left Lima for the town of Huaraz smack in the center of the Andes. There is the Cordillera Negra on one side and the Cordillera Blanca on the other. We didn't see the top of the tallest mountain in Peru, Huascaran, but we still got a pretty good look.

The cordillera was a very pleasant change from the coast. On the negro side the mountains appear dark brown but they are actually verdant with vegetation and crops. On the white side the mountains are steeper and snowcapped. The Andes are the only tropical mountains in the world that have glaciers. We took a tour to a beautiful laguna which looked a lot like Lake Louise without the development. This laguna is in Huascaran Park which is a paradise for mountain climbers and real alpinists, the kind that scales peaks. We are neither of those but were content enough to go for a walk in the area surrounding the laguna. It's bizarre because you're very close to a glacier yet it's not cold at all. You can walk in your short sleeves.

The town of Huaraz was bustling with activity and its setting, surrounded as it is, by gorgeous mountains made it a prettier site than many of the other cities where we have been. We also scored our cheapest hotel here: 13 dollars Canadian a night and we still had t.v. with cable but the remote didn't work and hot water in the shower well let's just say they lied when they said 24 hours.

We usually stay 3 days or 4 and then move on. We wanted to go back to Trujillo, on the coast, but we didn't want to take the night bus, those are killers and you can't see anything,. We found out that there was an "economico" kind of minibus, a bus but not full size, that was going to Chimbote from an alternative route and leaving at 8.00 so we decided to take that. Well, we were in for quite a ride. First of all we were the only "extranjeros" on this bus. All the luggage is stored on top, not the first time for us so that was O.K. The road is basically a thin ribbon and I mean thin hammered out of the Cordillera snaking its way upwards and then downwards. It's unpaved, full of rocks, washed out in parts and skirts precipices that are so high and the road so narrow that from your window it feels like you're going to drop down any minute and be lost forever into that Peruvian abyss. I mean it was freaky. I happened to be sitting by the window and honestly there were many times I had to close my eyes, it was that scary. Even Stan was scared. Everybody else on the bus appeared quite oblivious. That's another thing. They kept letting people onto the bus, a bus which only had 30 seats was now carrying 50 with all the extra people in the aisle so you couldn't move at all. At one point we were so high that we were in the clouds, literally, you couldn't even see below which was a relief I suppose but the driver had very little visibility and had to negotiate those endlessly tight corners. This went on for at least 5 hours before we finally reached the bottom and then a paved highway. The scenery was beautiful but I have to admit that when you're white knuckling it, scenery becomes a distant consideration. What a trip that was, a memorable one for the books.

We are now in Huanchaco which is as good a seaside resort as Peru can offer and spoling ourselves in a three start resort with a beautiful setting, pool, really, really clean roon etc.. It's a bit of a treat for us and we're enjoying it. Hope everybody is well.

Josiane