On October 30, 2022, I started a backpacking journey from Colombia south to Uruguay and then back north to Colombia. I wrote about it in several parts: part one was on March 25, 2023, part two was on April 24, 2023, part three was on July 26, and finally, on September 29 I summarized the journey. I then spent six months in Colombia before starting another backpacking journey south. But this second time I skipped over Ecuador. The problem was this: the government of Ecuador and the governments of several other countries including the US, Canada, England, and others, all discouraged foreigners from visiting Ecuador due to kidnappings, general crime, and so on. Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa announced a nationwide state of emergency and curfews due to the escaped Jose Adolfo Macias, alias Fito. He is the head of the powerful gang Los Choneros, and was in prison for organized crime, drug trafficking, and murder since 2011. He had been serving a 34-year sentence. So, things are not good in Ecuador these days. When I arrived at Tumbes, at the northern Ecuador/Colombia border, I got on a bus and headed directly to the southern border town of Huaquillas, and went directly into Perú. That was on March 9, 2024. I've been on the road for about two months now and have decided I will stop and look for a place to live here in Arequipa, Perú.

Majes/El Pedregal, Perú, has a population of around 52,000. The city was established in 1999 as a district with the town of El Pedregal as its capital. The metropolitan area is young but there is evidence of the area having been inhabited long before, as in thousands of years ago. There is nothing left of any archeological significance in the area, though.

Chala, Perú, has a population of around 10,000. The city was established in 1857 but its founding hasn't been well-documented. and this area has been inhabited much further back, by the Incas. Chala is a busy fishing port, as you can see in the photos in the photo album.

Nazca, Perú, has a population of around 40,000. The city was established by the Spanish in 1591 though it goes back much further. The city is located at the edge of the Atacama Desert and is extremely dry. This was my second visit to Nazca so I only spent one night. I arrived at about 9am and arranged for a room but had to wait until 2pm to actually get into the room, so I spent the five hours walking around town.

Palpa, Perú, has a population of around 9,000. The city was established in 1963 though it goes back much further. Most of the houses are probably more than a hundred years old, not that that makes them interesting. This town is definitely on the downhill-side of its life. Everything is deteriorating. There are few new buildings, and only a couple of new construction/renovations that I saw. So, what does this town have to offer the visitor? The town itself - nothing.