Lima was a welcome break after the epic journey to get there, and thankfully due to the wonders of Money Gram we once again had some money in our pockets to go and enjoy Blenks birthday. The rest of the time in Lima was mainly spent sitting on the hostel sofa watching films and eating curry.
Leaving Lima we were excited about the prospect of an easy couple of weeks flying up the coastal Pan American which we had been assured had a lovely south to north wind, and which we assumed would be pretty flat. The first few days didnt really go to plan though - huge hills and no wind to blow us up them had us cursing all the cyclists who told us it would be easy going North. We did however have some great camping spots up this stretch including a Hare Krishna commune and a cliff over looking a Pacific beach.
A bir further up North and we started getting warned about certain areas being dangerous. The worst was when a police checkpoint stopped us just before heading into a desert and asked where we would be staying. On replying that we intended on just camping in the desert somewhere he pretty much shouted "NO" at us whilst making two pistols with his hands and putting them up to his head. So thats not a good idea then?! He assured us that there was another police check point 30km into the desert and that we could camp there. So off we went only to discover that the police are only there during the day! Not much use to us. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, certain that we would be shot if we stayed for the night we could do nothing but accept a lift in the back of a truck to the next town 22km away where we managed to blag camping on a police football pitch.
There were quite a few worrying moments like this on the way up Peru. Many people asked if we had been robbed, some making the pistol to the head sign as they said it, and most were very surprised we hadn´t. Apparently being pickpocketed doesnt count, i think there needs to be some kind of weapon involved!
I had actually been getting a bit tired of Peru for the apparent Gringo money grabbingness and thievery, but a few days from Lima we met a man who restored all our faith in the Peruvian people. We had been told from our cyclist mate John to stop at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere 347km noth of Lima. So we did. Here we were met by Clemente. On entering we immediately got offered a fish dinner for free and shown a guestbook of all the touring cyclists that had passed through. We then got offered a bed for the night in a room with private bathroom - more than we ever have in hostels - and in the morning two breakfasts! All this without asking for a single thing in return. I think he just likes talking to travellers and hearing their stories. All the guestbook entries suggested that he offered all cyclists the same hospitality. Absolute legend!
We met another great guy in Trujillo, a cyclist who has a Casa de Ciclistas - a free house for anyone passing through on bike. Lucho was extremely helpful and friendly and again put us up for a couple of nights for free. He is also completely obsessed with cycling, even naming his son Lance after Lance Armstrong. We didnt have the heart to tell him what we really think of cycling these days!!
It was also time for my birthday in Trujillo - was a bit of a random night, we stuffed our faces with chicken and chips (surprise surprise) then spent the rest of the night drinking in a plaza with a gang called the Latin Kings! Definately one of my more unusal birthdays.
North of Trujillo we got the tailwinds we had been waiting for and flew up the rest of the way towards Ecuador managing a new record day of 203km. I managed to get ill (again) in Piura the next day and was stuck in bed with a fever for a few days. Once over the worst of it Blenk cracked on to the Ecuadorian border, I had to catch up by bus again.
Fighting fit once again we crossed into Ecuador at Aguas Verdes together by bike. One of the first things on my list of things to do in Ecuador was to cut the "barnet of death" as it had been described. I know you all had a good laugh at the photo but I´m afraid you´ll have to find another source of entertainment, it was way out of control. Due to my lack of hair related spanish vocab the resulting boosh ended up looking a bit Jarhead, but what can you expect for 75p!
A little way up the coast we passed by Machala, the self proclaimed banana capital of the world. Sounds exciting after the nothingness of north Peru, but fields of banana trees soon lose their appeal after countless kilometers! Just beyond this we once again headed up into the hills on our climb up to Quito. There was no easy warm down for us though, the Pan American highway through Ecuador took us up the steepest hills we have seen in the entire trip.
We were planning on a nice easy 140km over a couple of days into Quito so we would arrive early. As usual though when reaching a big city we got a bit excited and by lunchtime decided we would hammer it to get there that night. We made it in time to go out and celebrate the start of our holidays, but on checking the odometer we discovered we had something much bigger to celebrate. Thanks to getting slightly lost in a town earlier that day which added a few kilometers to our journey, on arriving at our hostel in Quito we had reached a trip total of 10,002km. A fine way to arrive and start our months holiday off the bikes. At the end of the month we will be bussing to Bogota in Colombia as the south is too dangerous to cycle. Here we will meet up with our mate Robin who is coming out to cycle the final two weeks with us to Cartagena where we finish. Two weeks, TWO WEEKS - thats all we have left!! I cant believe we are nearly at the end of this, it really does feel like we´ve been doing this for a lifetime.
The beach is now calling, the next couple of weeks are going to be spent attempting, and probably failing to surf. Expect the next blog to be filled with Point Break quotes!
Rich
Leaving Lima we were excited about the prospect of an easy couple of weeks flying up the coastal Pan American which we had been assured had a lovely south to north wind, and which we assumed would be pretty flat. The first few days didnt really go to plan though - huge hills and no wind to blow us up them had us cursing all the cyclists who told us it would be easy going North. We did however have some great camping spots up this stretch including a Hare Krishna commune and a cliff over looking a Pacific beach.
A bir further up North and we started getting warned about certain areas being dangerous. The worst was when a police checkpoint stopped us just before heading into a desert and asked where we would be staying. On replying that we intended on just camping in the desert somewhere he pretty much shouted "NO" at us whilst making two pistols with his hands and putting them up to his head. So thats not a good idea then?! He assured us that there was another police check point 30km into the desert and that we could camp there. So off we went only to discover that the police are only there during the day! Not much use to us. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, certain that we would be shot if we stayed for the night we could do nothing but accept a lift in the back of a truck to the next town 22km away where we managed to blag camping on a police football pitch.
There were quite a few worrying moments like this on the way up Peru. Many people asked if we had been robbed, some making the pistol to the head sign as they said it, and most were very surprised we hadn´t. Apparently being pickpocketed doesnt count, i think there needs to be some kind of weapon involved!
I had actually been getting a bit tired of Peru for the apparent Gringo money grabbingness and thievery, but a few days from Lima we met a man who restored all our faith in the Peruvian people. We had been told from our cyclist mate John to stop at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere 347km noth of Lima. So we did. Here we were met by Clemente. On entering we immediately got offered a fish dinner for free and shown a guestbook of all the touring cyclists that had passed through. We then got offered a bed for the night in a room with private bathroom - more than we ever have in hostels - and in the morning two breakfasts! All this without asking for a single thing in return. I think he just likes talking to travellers and hearing their stories. All the guestbook entries suggested that he offered all cyclists the same hospitality. Absolute legend!
We met another great guy in Trujillo, a cyclist who has a Casa de Ciclistas - a free house for anyone passing through on bike. Lucho was extremely helpful and friendly and again put us up for a couple of nights for free. He is also completely obsessed with cycling, even naming his son Lance after Lance Armstrong. We didnt have the heart to tell him what we really think of cycling these days!!
It was also time for my birthday in Trujillo - was a bit of a random night, we stuffed our faces with chicken and chips (surprise surprise) then spent the rest of the night drinking in a plaza with a gang called the Latin Kings! Definately one of my more unusal birthdays.
North of Trujillo we got the tailwinds we had been waiting for and flew up the rest of the way towards Ecuador managing a new record day of 203km. I managed to get ill (again) in Piura the next day and was stuck in bed with a fever for a few days. Once over the worst of it Blenk cracked on to the Ecuadorian border, I had to catch up by bus again.
Fighting fit once again we crossed into Ecuador at Aguas Verdes together by bike. One of the first things on my list of things to do in Ecuador was to cut the "barnet of death" as it had been described. I know you all had a good laugh at the photo but I´m afraid you´ll have to find another source of entertainment, it was way out of control. Due to my lack of hair related spanish vocab the resulting boosh ended up looking a bit Jarhead, but what can you expect for 75p!
A little way up the coast we passed by Machala, the self proclaimed banana capital of the world. Sounds exciting after the nothingness of north Peru, but fields of banana trees soon lose their appeal after countless kilometers! Just beyond this we once again headed up into the hills on our climb up to Quito. There was no easy warm down for us though, the Pan American highway through Ecuador took us up the steepest hills we have seen in the entire trip.
We were planning on a nice easy 140km over a couple of days into Quito so we would arrive early. As usual though when reaching a big city we got a bit excited and by lunchtime decided we would hammer it to get there that night. We made it in time to go out and celebrate the start of our holidays, but on checking the odometer we discovered we had something much bigger to celebrate. Thanks to getting slightly lost in a town earlier that day which added a few kilometers to our journey, on arriving at our hostel in Quito we had reached a trip total of 10,002km. A fine way to arrive and start our months holiday off the bikes. At the end of the month we will be bussing to Bogota in Colombia as the south is too dangerous to cycle. Here we will meet up with our mate Robin who is coming out to cycle the final two weeks with us to Cartagena where we finish. Two weeks, TWO WEEKS - thats all we have left!! I cant believe we are nearly at the end of this, it really does feel like we´ve been doing this for a lifetime.
The beach is now calling, the next couple of weeks are going to be spent attempting, and probably failing to surf. Expect the next blog to be filled with Point Break quotes!
Rich
on June 13, 2007, 1:45 pm
How's it being back in Ecuador? Have you gone to surf in Montanita?
Oh the memories!!
take care in columbia fellas
chuck
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