Unconventional Travel

David travels to the "bottom of the world" in Land Cruiser.

I met David in the sleepy jungle village of Lagunas, Peru after he had just come out of a 12-day jaunt through the thick jungle rain forest of Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in Peru. For some weird reason we did not speak to each other for a couple days at the hostel we were staying at. I thought he might not want to speak English or he was a jerk. In actuality he was just getting readjusted to the real world again after traveling by canoe, sleeping in the bug ridden jungle and eating what he could catch from the back jungle rivers for chow.

Finally I said hi and we began a friendship. We came back on a river barge together to Yurimaguas, Peru. David is a very tolerant long-term traveler I learned. He put up with my bullshit one night in Yurimaguas when I fell off the booze wagon and I was preaching about death, destruction and hanging myself from the nearest tree. He accepted my faults and our friendship continued.

David is a world traveler and his new expedition is traveling in a classic Toyota Land Cruiser (1986) from California, to “the bottom of the world” in South America. David has been on the road for roughly 2 years and is in no rush to reach, “the bottom of the world.” Traveling “off the beaten path” seems to be what keeps him going.

Traveling by vehicle can be a little more expensive than using the bus system that most backpackers use. So in Yurimaguas, David offered me the chance to travel with him to Huaraz, if I would split the cost of fuel. I told him I would have to pass since my budget is a little tight. So off he went down the road and I staying behind in Yurimaguas.

Finally I hit the road and reach the town of Huanuco, Peru and get an email from him on the route I should take to reach Huaraz by bus, due to inaccessible roads. I inform him that I’m already down the road further than him. So I give him my hostel address and a couple days later he appears in my lobby haggard from the days driving through the jungle roads. David said, “you made my day when I learned you had beat me to Huanuco!” In David’s travel world, “ the first one there… loses!”

“Bug eyed and stressed out,” is how I would describe David on our rendezvous in Huanuco. I asked him if he wanted to grab a bite to eat and he informed me that he had no tolerance for the traffic or me being a pain on choosing a restaurant. We agreed on Chinese food and I took him directly to the most densely populated block with Chinese restaurants for David to make a pick. He chose two and let me have the final pick.

We sit down and I inform him that he looks rather tired and stressed. He looks at me with amazement and says, “really?” I say, “yeah.” David does some pondering and thinks he has reached another 8-month travel burnout. It is normal for long-term travelers to burnout and then, “get their shit together” and keep heading down the road.

After dinner David tells me that he needs to get some work done to his Land Cruiser. So over the next few days we meet for a few meals and shoot-the-shit.

Out of pity or my great company (maybe both), David says I can ride with him to Huaraz, if I pay him what it would of cost me in bus fair toward his fuel expense. We have not left for Huaraz yet, as of this writing.

The land cruiser is all clean, lubed and repaired. “Lets hit the off beaten trail for a day trip,” David says, pointing to the giant looming mountains surrounding the town of Huanuco, Peru.

Next thing I know, David has me going up some hair pinned dirt mountain road, as I cling to the safety bars in his Land cruiser. “Bastard is going to get me killed,” I’m thinking to myself as he maneuvers the Land Cruiser up the steep, rocky mountain road…that sometimes, the nose of the Land Cruiser peeks over the cliffs edge.

After two years of driving through Mexico, Central America and now South America. You could say, “David has the hang of four wheeling!” His Land Cruiser has the sure-footedness of a veteran Peruvian mountain mule.