Today was the antithesis of yesterday. The lush mountains faded away and became an arid plain. The rollicking twisties turned into a flat, unbending ribbon of asphalt.

The border crossing today was the easiest I have encountered. I arrived before 8AM so I was pretty much the only one there. What really made the difference though was that both Ecuador and Peru's border officials shared the same building. I parked the bike and went into the main building and found the Ecuadorian immigration officer. He quickly stamped my passport and I was done with that. I only had to take three step to get to the Peruvian Immigration officer who also quickly stamped my passport. Next was processing my vehicle import permit. This took a little longer but again the two offices were right next to each other. Lastly I had to buy the mandatory vehicle insurance (called a SOAT) for $30 and that office was also right here in the same building. So easy! It only took 45 minutes from the time I parked to the time I rolled out. About ten miles over the border there was a customs checkpoint in which I had to park and have all of the documents checked. That only took a few minutes and the officers were very friendly.

Onward into Peru. I could tell immediately that I was in a less developed country. As I descended the last of the hills onto the plain the road was lined with shabby houses constructed of sticks and/or mud bricks. The land looked pretty barren and it seemed that people here were scratching out an existence without much. The road was lined with heaps of trash and there were many animals including donkeys, small horses and many dogs on the roadway.

Once I joined with the Panamerican Highway in Puira the road become more lonely with almost no buildings. Just an endless straight road dashing off into a distant horizon. The sun glare was horrible causing heat mirages on the road and making it difficult to see oncoming vehicles. There was a significant cross wind causing my neck muscles to strain. For about 50 miles there was a fence running along the road to keep the sand from drifting on the road. It created turbulence which buffeted my head and caused me to have double vision. I slowed down to reduce the shaking which did help but I didn't like being overtaken by big trucks that were moving extremely fast. Peruvians seem to think that this two lane highway can handle five lanes of traffic so I had to be extra alert.

Let's just say that I prefer the twisties.

I was happy to get to my hotel a little early today. When I did my bike inspection this morning, I noticed that my rear brake pads were shot. I wanted to have time to replace them. For dinner I had a Peruvian barbecue dish that was very tasty.

I think my day tomorrow will be fairly similar as I push toward Lima. I am going to venture up into the mountains when I get a little closer.