Mission Complete

We drove out to a viewpoint before Mt. Mismi, the farthest source of the Rio Amazonas. The river itself was a several-day hike around to the other side, but on this side there were alpacas and pink flamingos lolling around a small lake, which was good enough for us. We declared victory.

Yesterday was pretty easy. The trip between Chivay and the principal highway, which took us 7+ hours on the way in, we covered in about half that time on the way out. It was strange to finally see the landscape we had previously trudged through in darkness: a totally barren, lunar-esque pass at 4800 meters, with views of massive volcanoes in every direction. Even Mismi got its viewpoint.

When we got to the highway, we confronted our final trial. It turns out that the road between Juliaca and Arequipa, of which we´d covered several hundred kilometers already, is part of the Panamerican Highway, on which vehicles as light as ours are not allowed. For a while it seemed the police at the checkpoint would force us to go back to Chivay and continue to Arequipa on dirt roads, or else flag down a truck to ship ourselves and our vehicles on. Finally they relented—without even asking for a bribe—and said that while they weren't giving us permission per se, we should be very careful, drive slowly, and keep right. I think they realized it was the easiest way of dealing with us.

They were right to be worried for our safety. Every minute or two we we passed by a fuel truck, bus, or semi, sometimes on curves with poor visibility. But it was only an hour and a half's drive into town, descending thousands of meters. The lower we go the happier my engine was, and I was back to taking hills at speed.

Arequipa is pretty and quaint, its drivers more disciplined and its offerings more cosmopolitan than elsewhere in Perú. I don't really understand why it's here—the landscape everywhere around appears to bear few of the essentials for life, let alone a flourishing city—but it's been a nice place to relax and celebrate the end of our trip. I'm sorry that the rest of our convoy, especially Matt and Charis, couldn't make it to this point.

Arequipa also has faster Internet than elswhere, and I just finished uploading a new batch of photos to Flickr. You can also look on Sarah's Gallery for some more excellent photos.