28.08: Casma - on the way to Ecuador

28.08.

Driving through a city of 10 to 20 million people on a Monday morning is already an experience.
Since I had my domicile in the south, I have the entire city to cross. The driving style of the Peruvians is more hectic today than when I arrived. My multitasking skills are in demand because I lack the navigation voice in my ear and I have to keep looking at the display of my phone to turn into the right streets, take the right exits from the roundabouts, observe the collletivos and buses, for which there is no bus lane, and which brake without warning on the right lane to pick up passengers, to overtake on time, to keep an eye on motorbikes passing on the right, and to leave behind the SUVs that own the road.
It's cloudy, there's a light drizzle that impairs visibility, and the traffic density is slowly decreasing. Out of the corner of my eye, I see shanties clinging to the slopes on the right and left, and people who have to live there. Mostly refugees from the countryside who hope for a future in the city.
Done! I can drive with long-sightedness again, but only for a few kilometers, because then the fog sets in, which makes driving difficult for me in addition to the drizzle. But that's also soon over, I drive through barren desert mountains, lunar landscapes, and then again through flat land, and after a curve, suddenly everything is green again. Vegetables grow here thanks to a river, potatoes, tangerines, olive trees. Fruit is sold again on the streets, trees line the road, the sky slowly clears from the clouds, it gets brighter, the sky clears up, and finally, she is back.

pictures that look familiar to me. Road workers clear the desert sand from the shoulder with shovels.

The wind is coming from behind, the Pan-American Highway is almost empty, at the toll stations I am allowed to pass on a side road, I take a few photos and want to cover kilometers.
When I arrive in Casma, I have covered almost 400 km.
Tomorrow, there will be no stress in Lima, but an empty highway. Maybe another 400 km are possible. What I didn't expect is that a thick foam cushion for the seat bench wouldn't be bad...