Catching up in Peru- we sold our car!... a month ago.

Dear family, friends and anyone who may be following our trip,

I must first apologize for our lack of postings and updates of our trip thus far. However in doing so, I would have to apologize for the accessibilty and quality of internet throughout Latin America.

Currently we are in Piura, Peru awaiting a bus to Lima where we can hopefully meet up with our buddy Chad for a day or two. Lets take a few steps back though, as it had come to our attention that you guys dont even know that we sold our car.. err.. nearly a month ago. But if you thought we parked it on the boat with captain insano, you would have been mistaken.

Our first attempt to sell our car took place in Costa Rica. We decided (regretably) to head towards a border town to pitch the sale to a few used car lots. Since we generally move to places at high speeds we thought it would be a good idea to summit a mountain which- we later found out was called the Sierra of Death- late at night. Hm. And we did summit the mountain that night.. through thick fog, windy roads and uncomfortably large potholes.. only to reach the top and be turned around by the police. So we spent the night sleeping (more along the lines of laying awake with our eyes shut) in the car, in a random mountain village. I woke up around 5am to find three white hooded men walking past our car - KKK style. Needless to say we peeled out of the town dukes of hazard style in the pursuing seconds. Thankfully the police let us through the blockade at that hour. Unthankfully our car was running on fumes so we had to coast down the hill and slid into a gas station. Filled ´er up and headed down the road to find some car lots. But. The car began making spuratic thrusts forward. Our baby was unhappy and the purr of our diesel engine had transformed into some sort of a mechanical gargle. After coasting (yeah there was alot of downhill action) to a few different mechanics* (*note- here each mechanic knows a single piece of the car and that is it. So if you havent the slightest idea of what your problem is, youre punked). The radiator man, engine man and clutch man all turned us away and we eventually hit the diesel man, who decided to take a look under the hood. Pulled apart the fuel injection line and gave her a sniff check. He was quick to point out our car had been filled with gasoline that morning -oh wow. After a bit of hasseling and a tow truck (and free ride in the big rig) we made it back to the gas station where the syphon mechanic sucked our fuel out with his mouth. With the uproar in car problems we decided it was time to put forth a huge effort to selling our car. And we did - nearly sold it that afternoon, but lost the sale on the way to the bank. I think we had the tri fecta of bad circumstance on our side - christmas, the economy, and sketchy car that was bleeding black smoke out the exhaust after the gasoline incident (sorry girl!). We ripped out (as fast as a 52 hp car full of unnecessary gear could go) of Costa Rica and into Panama with hopes of better luck.

And luck is what we found in David, Panama. Sold the car to a man at the aduana (customs office) and closed the deal in one afternoon. Probably a record by Canadian standards let alone siesta driven countries. In fact most foreigners have to end up ditching their cars on side roads because they cannot sell it in time! Heroes? Business Students?.. Probably just really lucky. I must say though, it was pretty depressing saying bye to the Blueish/Greyish + misc. rust coloured stallion. But we were ready to embark on the whole backpacking adventuresque thing.

So after Pan City, we made our way to Puerto Linda where we met up that skinny, greasy, disgusting,miserable being- Ape.

*INSERT B´s STORY OF THE HIGH SEAS*

I think we have recovered by this point. Upset stomachs have subsided, seasickness washed away and nightmares of being held captive on the vessel have been replaced with dreams of gorgeous Colombian women. Since Cartagena we have been kicking it pretty hard on the bus maybe 20 hrs straight, then taking a day to recover. Bs birthday was pretty fun too - street burgs, a cream cheese pizza that made us want to vomit, a bottle of wine and an entire cake (of course he had feliz compleanos benjamin scribbled on haha). So pretty well a carb load night.

Ecuador was fast, and moderately furious. The bus travelling has been progressively sketchier and ghettoer (not sure if that is a word) but it is quite reminicient of our car travel days. On one bus ride we grew massive headaches due to a strange smell. But when smoke started creeping us from the floor, it made sense. The bus broke down and we had to wait 3 hrs for a new one to be sent. Our patience for these kind of things has grown tremendously, so it wasnt a big deal. When the new bus showed up, it was full of other passangers. Being polite Canadians.. we alternated sleeping on the bus floor the entire night. Miserable. But Id like to think generosity goes a long way here too! People are friendly folk, so it has worked out well.

Anyways thats about all the time I have for storytelling. Lots more to catch up on, and hopefully you´ll be able to when we get around to posting videos. The plan is to get caught up by the new year! ... but thats being pretty ambitious.

All the best, and happy holidays to all,
Besos.
Chris