Open Wide.

So, welcome to Peru.

The weather is still fine, the roads are a little bumpier and the Peruvians (unlike the Chileans) don't deem it necessary to keep hold of the receipt from every commercial transaction ever embarked upon during your life - presumably this was to show at the gates of heaven for the purposes of GST relief.

It definitely feels a little bit different.

My point of entry is Tacna. And truth be told, it is a fairly non descript town. Nothing much good, nothing much bad. It is a bit like Tijuana - lots of cheap bling for sale, pirated CDs and DVDs a plenty (anybody want the Da Vinci code?) and money changers on every corner.

But add to this a new one- a service I found, just a little bit strange. You see, Tacna is a city of Dentists. And I am not saying that I have noticed one or two more than I would have expected. I mean that I have walked past ENTIRE city blocks with NOTHING except DENTISTS (oh, and the odd orthodontist). Walking out of a hotel to be faced with a veritable constellation of signs in the shape of teeth (molars to be precise) can be an unsettling experience. I actually thought I was about to be mauled by one neo colonial ediface.

I asked one of the Chileans on the train on the way here (who by the way were ALL travelling for the day in order to get a quality fluorine treatment and perhaps the odd bit of cosmetic root canal work) - Why is this so? She wasn't quite sure, she knew it was a bit cheaper, a bit, not a lot cheaper - but she pretty much said that this was just the way things were done here. Peru was the place to show a stranger the insides of your mouth.

As that ad for a product I can´t remember says - the world is an amazing place.

Oh, and last night was the 75th anniversy of primary education in Tacna... there was a street parade and talent quest! Party on! No, don't just party...

Rock and Roll.

Paddy.