We left Lima heading north to Huaraz on a Cruz del Sur coach. This was something else - forget National Express - Pervuvians don't mess around when it comes to coach travel. The Coach terminal looked more like an airport, complete with armed security guards and baggage checkin. Exiting the terminal we were frisked and our bags where searched before we were able to board.
Once on board, our reclining "economy" seats included pillows, blankets and a hot lunch. As we were mavelling at the apparent luxury of our surroundings another yet another security guard came on board and videoed all of the passengers in one final security measure - designed to deter anybody onboard who might be considering hijacking the bus (The leaflet also boasts real time GPS tracking from the "Control centre").
Within minutes we were joined by our "hostess" and we were leaving the terminal with an information video informing us that the onboard loo was for "urination only".
Leaving the centre of Lima, the trappings of modern western cityscapes quickly fall away. From the our luxury vantage point we watched as the suburbs were left behind and the road wound through the start of the huge shanty town that surrounds Lima.
The earliest parts of the shanty - those closest to the city proper have rudimentary amenities- many of it the result of local improvisation rather than effective city planning. But as you travel further out, telegraph poles and street lights become scarcer until there are simply small hovels left, some made of mud bricks, others with woven fibre walls. These are the homes of the latest incomers, Pervians leaving the countryside in search of the prosperous city life promised to them on the small screen.
As the shanties are left behind, the road travels perilously close to the shore on oneside whilst huge sand dunes tower over you on the other. After several hours, the road climbs out of the sand dunes into an arid landscape of barren canyons, before breaking out onto the high Puna (grasslands). Here is where you get your first tantalising glimpse of the Andes.
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