My bus to the border in Huaquillas was at 3 am. I fell asleep but at one point the bus was swinging so much that I woke up and I looked through the window. What I saw shocked me - it was a desert. Sand everywhere... the bus was struggling to get through. Initially I got very scared because I thought that the bus had been hijacked and the capturers were going to kill us in the desert... (you have these thoughts after 9 months of travelling in South America). Luckily everything was fine, it was a normal bus route - through the dunes and mountains. The view was amazing, kind of a Moon surface (not that I have been on the Moon, not yet, but this is how you see it in films). Absolutely breathtaking.
Crossing the border was an experience. Well, I already learnt that crossing South American borders always means challenge and adventure, especially for lonely travellers. A funny thing was that both borders (Ecuadorian and Peruvian) are in completely different places, 10 kilometers apart from each other. When you arrive to the bus station in Huaquillas you have to take a taxi to the Ecuadorian border, then come back to the bus station and take another taxi with a Peruvian driver to the Peruvian border in Aguas Verdes. From the border you take a taxi again to a terminal in Tumbes (30 km distance) where you find buses to Trujillo, Lima and other cities. I got really tired because I had to negotiate hard all the prices. I paid 9 pounds to get everywhere comfortably. I also bought a Claro sim card (3 pounds 50 pence) and I phoned my hosts to say that I have arrived.
The bus to Trujillo was filthy and had no toilet but the drivers were very nice and chatty, and it made me feel good. We crossed the north part of Peru - everything was a desert. In some parts it is a dry land, in some it is white sand, and there are even villages built on the sand. Well, it looks completely different than Morocco for example. There is nothing to offer on the desert in Peru: no camels, no donkeys, no caravans - just some amazing views (in the picture). I would advise all the travellers to take bus instead of plane, despite the fact that the journey takes many hours. What you see you will remember forever.
For an unknown reason my bus terminated 3 hours away from Trujillo, in Chiclayo. The people in the station were extremely helpful. They showed me where to take another bus and were warning me all the time about pickpocketers in Peru. The bus company gave me some money back for not taking me to Trujillo. I have to say that the organisation and bureaucracy in the bus station surprised me a lot. For example, a security officer films faces of all the passengers on the bus before departure. If there is a trouble your face is on the camera. I suppose it reduces crime a lot.
