Adios Peru. Hola Chile!
We had an unexpected bonus in Arequipa before leaving this morning. We wandered down to the lovely Plaza Armas to look inside the Cathedral. What a sight awaited us. There was some sort of ceremony going on with very important people under a scruffy canopy. Think lots of gold braid and over large military caps. There was a band playing wonky tunes and the whole, enormous square was full of army people and policemen with riot shields. It was a quite terrifying display of weaponry. There was even a gun salute.
The sideshow of all this was a Trades Union protest to do with mining and jobs. It was all a bit half hearted just a few desultory placards and a miserably small group of protesters. The placards each had a country name on them showing solidarity. I'm very pleased to report to you that Great Britain was not among them. If Arthur Scargill was still around he would have no doubt flown over a handful of people first class for a jolly in Peru to support the rights of the mine workers.
We are now on Arica which is just across the border into Chile. Hot, unbelievably arid desert has replaced the splendour of the Andes, for the time being anyway. We are on the shores of the Pacific and so have traversed 'from sea to shining sea'. It is certainly a relief for most to be back at sea level.
The best news though, is that we now have a splendid shiny bright red pick-up courtesy of Hertz which we have managed to rent as far as Pucon. Southern progress is being made!
All cars were in for dinner again which was excellent. I was most surprised to see Steve and Jan roll in early as they had a problem with the engine mount in Arequipa and did not have the wherewithal to get it fixed on a Sunday morning. Somehow, Steve had tied it all up securely with something' (probably gaffer tape as it seems the answer to everything on this rally) and they zoomed here. The ingenuity of people on this rally is quite astounding.
To sleep now with the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean our lullaby.
The sideshow of all this was a Trades Union protest to do with mining and jobs. It was all a bit half hearted just a few desultory placards and a miserably small group of protesters. The placards each had a country name on them showing solidarity. I'm very pleased to report to you that Great Britain was not among them. If Arthur Scargill was still around he would have no doubt flown over a handful of people first class for a jolly in Peru to support the rights of the mine workers.
We are now on Arica which is just across the border into Chile. Hot, unbelievably arid desert has replaced the splendour of the Andes, for the time being anyway. We are on the shores of the Pacific and so have traversed 'from sea to shining sea'. It is certainly a relief for most to be back at sea level.
The best news though, is that we now have a splendid shiny bright red pick-up courtesy of Hertz which we have managed to rent as far as Pucon. Southern progress is being made!
All cars were in for dinner again which was excellent. I was most surprised to see Steve and Jan roll in early as they had a problem with the engine mount in Arequipa and did not have the wherewithal to get it fixed on a Sunday morning. Somehow, Steve had tied it all up securely with something' (probably gaffer tape as it seems the answer to everything on this rally) and they zoomed here. The ingenuity of people on this rally is quite astounding.
To sleep now with the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean our lullaby.
Hi Barbara - just found this site, although I've been following the rally on several other sites since day one, and have been wondering about you and the other hors combat teams. Very sorry to hear about your woes. Sounds like this one is tougher than P2P which we're doing in a few months.
ReplyDeleteJohn
https://www.facebook.com/PekingToParis2013LittleRed
Yes John, we think it is tougher! The 'Hertz' crew is growing apace. We are still able to have lots of adventures though! Good luck with P2P - we had a blast on that!
ReplyDelete