Into Peru

From Vilcabamba we travelled by bus to Loja, and from there into Peru. The ride west and then south from Loja may have provided the best scenery of the trip yet. The bus climbed and descended, travelling along roads cut into the sides of mountains and protected from driving off the steep edge only by piles of dirt (presumably left there after the making of the road) or by nothing at all. The road edge is usually only about a foot from the precipice, the lip often invisible from the bus window seat. As far as we could see hillsides rose and fell, each mountian partially eclipsing a larger one behind it. For some time we were surrounded by cloud, and the temperature dropped, and the greens of the sun dappled valleys visible beneath us were made more brilliant by our gloomy viewpoint.

Often the views were on the left and from the right window I craned my neck to see, only to frequently miss spectacular sights suddenly appearing right next to me. At one stage as we descended I glanced up to see two animals, possibly goats, seemingly "standing" on a completely sheer vertical cliff face, their profiles clear against the beige rock. The improbability of their position was underlined by the sight of numerous vultures waiting overhead. At another point I had a clear view down another green valley, the sides neatly framing a massive mountain in the distance. The mountain peak was occluded by a dark storm cloud that stretched across at valley rim height and sat on some dead level air pressure table. Our bus continued and the view was blocked by cloud for some time until we rounded a valley fold and the sky ahead was clear. The gloom transformed into the bright pastels of sunset with the newly revealed mountains reduced to a mere sideshow. I had no need for books or other entertainments.

Almost instantly upon crossing the border into Peru the beautiful views disappeared and the road quality improved enormously. Our overall enjoyment of the bus ride was marginally reduced by the stench of northern Peruvian agricultural industry as night fell. We were in the desert.