Tarapoto to Lima

This was to be a 3-day drive, around 7 hours each day. We realised after the first 6-7 hours driving that finding hotels in northern Peru is difficult and it is definitely not set up to cater for tourists. The first day took us to where the 18A road started, and once we got there we found a place to stay.

The first leg was still in the Amazonas, and it is stunning. Some parts have been cut down to provide for humans, but some others are virgin and still giving the experience of being in the jungle. In Tarapoto we were introduced to a new fruit, cocona. The hotel gave us a welcome drink of cocona and it was delicious.

After a short sleep in Naranjillo, we were up early and agreed to go to Lima in one step. It was going to be a long day, but finding accommodation is so hard and takes so much time that going straight felt like the best option. We were taken by surprise by the changes in nature, and how different the road quality would be. Even more surprising was the arrival to Lima. Arriving on the 20A road from the north, we arrived through an area of complete dust. The air was full of dust, the mountains were completely covered in dust, and the poor people living there were forced to inhale this.

But, before that, we had been in the jungle, in the parts with cultivated land, up and down mountains, on to the mountains that looked like topography with steppe, barren rocks, the stone forest, Andes mountain tops with snow, herds of llamas, the odd populated village, and even passed a jammed truck in a crossing using the footpath and some typical Harold craziness.

The total drive from Cajamarca to Lima took 5 days, gave us a spectacle of so many various kinds of nature and terrain, and memories for life. Amazing!