8th country!!!! So I´ve arrived safe and sound in Peru. I took a bus (supposedly 7 hours, but more like 10) from Loja in Ecuador to Piura in Peru. I haven´t done anything too exciting in the last few days so no beautiful photos to post. But I thought I might document one of my long bus journies, and what better than a border crossing. The photos reflect the journey, so if you find them boring, then perhaps travelling in S. A. doesn´t suit you! Please bear in mind that most of the photos were taken on/from a moving bus. So in cronological order...

Above the clouds, leaving the highlands in Ecuador:

Scenery, to compare with for later:

My reflection, well I did have to look at it for 10 hours!! (honey, can you flip it around for me xxx):

Police check point (not border) See my passport?:

The very first rice paddy fields I saw.. EVER:

Exit Ecuador:

Enter Peru:

Passport exit and entry stamps:

Road side restaurant, ( note I did not eat there nor will I ever eat the meat!)

Craig, my border crossing buddy, and little curious girl:

Road side dwellings: Bad dubbed movie entertainment, a free flight to Peru to anyone who can name the actor (easy) and movie! :

Mud road... bump bump bump:

Peruvian dessert, and it´s really hot,´it won´t be long till I´ll be heading back up into my beautiful green highlands, me thinks:

Another police check point (and more desert): This region is famous for it´s limes. We also passed kilometers of mango plantations:

Unfortunitly, Peru isn´t the cleanest of countries. I had heard it from fellow travellers, but it´s horrible to see for yourself. The whole desert seems to be covered in rubbish. And it doesn´t always smell too nice either:

Another bus driver catching a rest in the shade of the luggage hold: So here I am now in Piura and I´m going to revert to the guide book for it´s elegant description.. " After several hours of crossing the vast emptiness of the Sechura Desert, Piura materializes like a mirage on the horizon, enveloped in quivering waves of heat. It´s hard to ignore the sence of physical isolation forced on you by this unforgiving environment." (I wish I conuld write like that)

xxx Roz

Map updated... with Peru !!