Public life and the people in Peru are about the same as in Bolivia. The people (countryside and mountains) are just as poor and wear the same (traditional) clothing. Laundry is done in the river, the land is being worked by oxen and donkeys are still used for transport. Garbage is dumped and dead animals are left to rot and stink alongside the roads, just like in Bolivia.

Also, public life is mostly on the streets and markets and the daily menu is mostly chicken and rice, just like in Bolivia. The choice of fruits and vegetables on the markets was not as diverse as in Bolivia and it also didn’t look quite as good. The prices were about the same as in Bolivia, maybe a little bit higher.

Unfortunately we haven’t been able to find really good pie in Peru, where in Bolivia we were able to eat a delicious pie in every (larger) town we entered.

Typical Peruvian is Inca Cola, not to be mistaken by Coca Cola. Inca Cola is a yellow drink with gas that tastes like
bubble gum. Also typical Peruvian are the many Tuktuks (motortaxi’s), of which the streets are full of. They race through traffic, often endangering themselves and their passengers. There are not many private vehicles, most people can’t afford a car. Instead they have a small motorcycle on which they transport everything and everybody. Three or four persons on one of those motorcycles is very normal.

The constant honking of horns drove us crazy. They honk for everything; as a greeting, move over/ out of my way, I’m gonna pass, taxi available, before a corner and so on.

What we liked a lot about Peru were the Chifa restaurants, Chinese restaurants where you get a bowl of soup and a big plate of food for little money. A nice change from the traditional chicken and rice.

Also, Machu Picchu was a very good experience. Even though they charge you ridiculous amounts of money to
get there and it is very touristy, it was well worth it. It’s a mysterious and magical place which silences you for a moment. The city of Cusco was a nice place to relax. We met many cyclists in hostal Estrallita which made us have a very good time. The city center itself has beautiful colonial buildings and a nice atmosphere.

Still, we didn’t like Peru as much as we liked Bolivia. The people we saw along the road were just as friendly, they also waved and greeted us with enthusiasm. But when we needed anything, like a room and/or food, we saw a different side of (those specific) people. As soon as they had your money, they didn’t care (anymore). Whenever we bought something on the market, we never knew if they gave us an honest price or not. Many other cyclists shared that opinion.

In the moutains we often got approached by women who would seem interested in us. But always, after a few words or sentences the real reason for the approach showed; if we would give her some money. Like we’re a walking ATM…!

Because of all this and some other reasons, we decided to skip the larger part of Peru and get to Ecuador as soon as possible.

Peru is huge and the most interesting route (through the mountains) would probably take us months because the passes are high and the road is hard. Other cyclists had told us that Colombia and Mexico are very beautiful and we would rather spend our time in those countries. The route along the coast is much faster, but very boring and we didn’t feel like cycling that.

The dogs in Peru (mountains) are very aggressive and many cyclist (and motorcyclists!) have been bitten by one of them. Our Belgian friend Kristof also got bitten by a dog just recently and ended up with a nasty wound. There’s always the risk of rabies when you get bitten over here.

Because many said that the Peruvian mountains are very beautiful, we decided to cycle just a small section of it: the very know Cañon del Pato with its many tunnels. This was supposed to be one of the best parts of the mountains. It was indeed a very nice stretch and we’re happy we did cycle it.

The ‘Casa de cyclistas’ in Trujillo is a special place and the city itself isn’t as terrible as we had thought, it was quite nice. After Trujillo we went to the border as soon as possible to try our luck in Ecuador.