After much procrastinating we left Cajamarca with the plan of riding for 3 more days and then jumping on a bus (well, multiple buses) and getting ourselves to Santiago de Chile...where the weather is good for touring.
So our first stop was San Marcos. The ride was stunning and oh so peaceful. We did experience some rain in the arvo which stopped us for maybe 30mins. But on arrival, we weren't that impressed with the town and it began raining again. It just so happens that we stumbled on a bus company that had a bus leaving for the coast that night, putting us in Trujillo in the morning...we took it...and then jumped on another one that morning for a 10 hour trip to Lima.
Well the stark landscape composed of desert mountains and sanduness was eerie and on top of this were shanty towns dispersed throughout. The houses were either square blocks made of bricks the colour of dirt and all joined together or they were made of woven straw and everything was covered in a film of dust, so even if anyone did bother to paint some colour into the lansscape, it all just looked dirty and grey- I also doubt if many had running water or electricity! It was very depressing, and though we could see the ocean- goodluck getting to it as it would have been over an hour walk thru dunes of hot, burning sand! Ughh!
We entered Lima much later than anticipated and the 9pm bus to Tacna didn't exist, so we decided to stay the night and get on the 11am bus in the morning. So we found a hostel, and walked around the area only to find lovely parks, people making music or just hanging out and a really good feel to the place. What a surprise! We postponed our departure a day to check it out.
Our day in Lima was spent riding around- they even had nice bike paths- mainly the suburb of Miraflores, which is on the beach. We people watched, enjoyed the weather and views, found some great ceviche, and not so great craft beer and even watched the sunset over the ocean.
It was such a fun day, and we really liked Lima- especially for a massive city. But, it was really hard for me to get the scenes of the poverty of the people living only 50km's away. The difference in the lifestyles is so so huge and I wonder if each is even aware of the other. It was difficult to not feel guilty as we rode through manicured beachfront public gardens and watched people throwing down decent amounts of cash on food and drinks and living a seemingly carefree, spoilt life. I know this topic can open a can of worms and we really don't know who has the better quality of life, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. Back to the trip..
It was a long, painful 23 hour bus ride to Tacna- with more incredible landscapes- we felt like we could have beenon the set for Starwars and thankfully the poverty wasn't as bad south of Lima.
When we arrived at Tacna bus station the display read 33 degrees C at 10am- we decided it wasn't a good idea to ride in the heat of the day, so we postponed our departure a day. It was a cool centre with lots of bustle, people and shops. We found more great ceviche and pisco sours.
The next day we rode throughthe desert with strong winds- never behind us- for 55km's to Arica, Chile. We both found the ride very boring and unpleasant and were glad when it was over. Once again, we were virtually invisible at the border crossing- with cars all lined up being searched and us riding straight through!
Arica was a super-cool beach town in the middle of the desert. We stayed the night, and after sleeping in- the 2hour time change got us- we were tempted to stay another night, but instead, jumped on our final bus to get us to Santiago- a 30hour trip! But it was the best bus yet with comfy chairs, lots of legroom, movies until bedtime and we even got served 3 snacks over the course of the trip. These buses are trying to simulate flight services and are doing a darn good job!!
We arrived in Santiago in the evening, found a hostel, stayed for two nights, met some cool people, checked out the sights and then departed for a quick tour of the coast before heading onwards to the Lakes District.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Peruvian Way
Well, just over a week ago we made it into Peru. The border crossing was hilarious, after quite a ride from the last town of Zumba, Ecuador we rode on dirt, bumpy and muddy (it´s been raining every night all night and heavy!) road up and down hills, in high humidity (we´d dropped out of the mountains) and in the middle of nowhere. Marco got a flat, again, it was the tube splitting, not the tyre and we both had rack issues- our salsa racks have not held up to the conditions down here.
Anyway we ride into this area of three shops and the customs building, reward oursleves with a beer, wash myself off (I had a bad experience with a massive puddle and LOTS of mud!) and then head in to get our passports stamped. The ófficial´was shirtless, hanging out with his lady friend and listening to music! Needless to say, it was a very quick and painless crossing! Over to Peru, pretty chill there too, although this guy had his shirt on.
Now, I must say, I´d been quite concerned about Peru. We´d heard a few negative experiences such as rock throwing and theft and just not nice people...well, not 2minutes into the ride to the first town from the border, it started raining rocks!!!! I couldn´t believe it! We´re in the middle of nowhere and some people are throwing rocks at us from a bluff overhead. I yelled out some profanities in Italian (I figure it doesn´t matter what language I speak, they don´t understand me anyway!). Well, the rocks weren´t that big, and they had terrible aim and afterwards, I found the whole experience quite hilarious.
Our first night was spent in a tiny town, in a new hotel with a nice owner. The next day we opted to get a ride to San Ignacio after it rained all night, again, and the road was unpaved until there (or so we had been told!). We spent New Years in San Ignacio, where I decided that Peru wasn´t so bad after all. Everyone was super-friendly, we sat on the side of the road and watched all the antics of NYE and people just kept coming up to us to meet and talk with us and of course, share a few beers. Which, the act of drinking beer here deserves it´s own paragraph...
One 650ml beer is purchased, no matter how many people are drinking, and upon purchase, the group receives one small glass. You then take turns pouring yourself a couple of gulps, passing the bottle on, drinking your sips, pouring the dregs out of the glass and then passing the glass on to the next person. AND, they usually leave the last few sips in the bottle (or if you´re in a restaurant- you get a different cup to pour the last sips out into). It certainly creates a feeling of friendship and comeradery very quickly in the group. An interesting custom, but I must admit, I like it.
Well, NYE we hung out with a few people, had dinner, watched a parade and some traditional dancing and then went to bed to the sounds of music blaring- which ended up going until 8am!!! Not a very good night´s sleep! We should have just stayed up and partied with everyone.
Anyway, the next morning we started off early only to find that the pavement doesn´t really start until another 60km down the road!! And it had rained again all night, so once again it was a soggy, muddy ride with some rain aswell, but it was warm, so we didn´t mind so much except for the potholes. We were in the land of rice paddy´s and tropical fruit- had some of the best bananas ever. Stopped for a break and shared a beer and christmas cake with some nice ladies and then made it to Perico where we heard there was a guy who took in bike tourists. Instead, we were merrily greeted by just about everyone on the main road (which was probably everyone in the town)- we rode thru, turned back and were stopped by a group of people hanging out the front of their house. First they wanted a photo with us, then they made us sit and drink beer (the Peruvian way) and then they took us inside, made us dance to their music and then ours and then they even fed us!!! One of them even took us to his grandmother´s house where we could sleep the night!
Marco and I were still hungry, so we went looking for more food only to run into another friendly guy who made us drink beer with him and then he took us to his house, where his mum cooked us another dinner! We were even invited back for breakfast the next day. Such friendly and generous people in Perico!
It was another beautiful ride thru a lush valley of rice paddy´s, a large winding river, birds chirping, friendly waves from locals and some crazy landscapes similar to the Owyhee River. Oh, and most importantly- we had pavement!!
Since Perico, we´ve been thru Jaen, a big ugly city. Hitched a ride into the mountains to Capilla, then rode dirt roads for many, many kilometres thru Cutervo, Chota, Bombamarca, Hualguyoc and to Cajamarca. I had a meltdown on one day- I was not feeling up to dealing with all the challenges- rain and muddy roads, cars honking at us, people staring or asking all sorts of questions, me not being able to understand people, having my lights stolen (karma will work it´s magic!) and the road we were on was supposed to be paved by now. When we had to cross one of the many streams flowing across the road, I ended up taking my shoes off and walking thru it (I fell on a previous occasion!), I had been crying too. Well we took a break, Marco gave me a big hug and after that we rode together and I started feeling better.
Well, the town we got to was small, and unfriendly, but we managed to find some really nice people who let us camp in their house. The next day we climbed to 4400m- our highest thus far! And then rode on a plateau up and down little hills in amazing countryside. We ended up putting in a lot of miles and made it to the city of Cajamarca for a well deserved break. The city is clean, safe, nice and friendly. Tomorrow we head off again...but with an everlooming question about our trip...Where to next??
You see, the rain is getting worse, it´s not fun riding in the rain and getting cold and February is more of the same. So we´re wondering if we just suck it up and keep going, or fly to our south point in Argentina and then ride north from there, or just turn around now and ride all the way back to Mt Shasta!!! It is proving to be a most difficult decision to make....stay tuned....
Anyway we ride into this area of three shops and the customs building, reward oursleves with a beer, wash myself off (I had a bad experience with a massive puddle and LOTS of mud!) and then head in to get our passports stamped. The ófficial´was shirtless, hanging out with his lady friend and listening to music! Needless to say, it was a very quick and painless crossing! Over to Peru, pretty chill there too, although this guy had his shirt on.
Now, I must say, I´d been quite concerned about Peru. We´d heard a few negative experiences such as rock throwing and theft and just not nice people...well, not 2minutes into the ride to the first town from the border, it started raining rocks!!!! I couldn´t believe it! We´re in the middle of nowhere and some people are throwing rocks at us from a bluff overhead. I yelled out some profanities in Italian (I figure it doesn´t matter what language I speak, they don´t understand me anyway!). Well, the rocks weren´t that big, and they had terrible aim and afterwards, I found the whole experience quite hilarious.
Our first night was spent in a tiny town, in a new hotel with a nice owner. The next day we opted to get a ride to San Ignacio after it rained all night, again, and the road was unpaved until there (or so we had been told!). We spent New Years in San Ignacio, where I decided that Peru wasn´t so bad after all. Everyone was super-friendly, we sat on the side of the road and watched all the antics of NYE and people just kept coming up to us to meet and talk with us and of course, share a few beers. Which, the act of drinking beer here deserves it´s own paragraph...
One 650ml beer is purchased, no matter how many people are drinking, and upon purchase, the group receives one small glass. You then take turns pouring yourself a couple of gulps, passing the bottle on, drinking your sips, pouring the dregs out of the glass and then passing the glass on to the next person. AND, they usually leave the last few sips in the bottle (or if you´re in a restaurant- you get a different cup to pour the last sips out into). It certainly creates a feeling of friendship and comeradery very quickly in the group. An interesting custom, but I must admit, I like it.
Well, NYE we hung out with a few people, had dinner, watched a parade and some traditional dancing and then went to bed to the sounds of music blaring- which ended up going until 8am!!! Not a very good night´s sleep! We should have just stayed up and partied with everyone.
Anyway, the next morning we started off early only to find that the pavement doesn´t really start until another 60km down the road!! And it had rained again all night, so once again it was a soggy, muddy ride with some rain aswell, but it was warm, so we didn´t mind so much except for the potholes. We were in the land of rice paddy´s and tropical fruit- had some of the best bananas ever. Stopped for a break and shared a beer and christmas cake with some nice ladies and then made it to Perico where we heard there was a guy who took in bike tourists. Instead, we were merrily greeted by just about everyone on the main road (which was probably everyone in the town)- we rode thru, turned back and were stopped by a group of people hanging out the front of their house. First they wanted a photo with us, then they made us sit and drink beer (the Peruvian way) and then they took us inside, made us dance to their music and then ours and then they even fed us!!! One of them even took us to his grandmother´s house where we could sleep the night!
Marco and I were still hungry, so we went looking for more food only to run into another friendly guy who made us drink beer with him and then he took us to his house, where his mum cooked us another dinner! We were even invited back for breakfast the next day. Such friendly and generous people in Perico!
It was another beautiful ride thru a lush valley of rice paddy´s, a large winding river, birds chirping, friendly waves from locals and some crazy landscapes similar to the Owyhee River. Oh, and most importantly- we had pavement!!
Since Perico, we´ve been thru Jaen, a big ugly city. Hitched a ride into the mountains to Capilla, then rode dirt roads for many, many kilometres thru Cutervo, Chota, Bombamarca, Hualguyoc and to Cajamarca. I had a meltdown on one day- I was not feeling up to dealing with all the challenges- rain and muddy roads, cars honking at us, people staring or asking all sorts of questions, me not being able to understand people, having my lights stolen (karma will work it´s magic!) and the road we were on was supposed to be paved by now. When we had to cross one of the many streams flowing across the road, I ended up taking my shoes off and walking thru it (I fell on a previous occasion!), I had been crying too. Well we took a break, Marco gave me a big hug and after that we rode together and I started feeling better.
Well, the town we got to was small, and unfriendly, but we managed to find some really nice people who let us camp in their house. The next day we climbed to 4400m- our highest thus far! And then rode on a plateau up and down little hills in amazing countryside. We ended up putting in a lot of miles and made it to the city of Cajamarca for a well deserved break. The city is clean, safe, nice and friendly. Tomorrow we head off again...but with an everlooming question about our trip...Where to next??
You see, the rain is getting worse, it´s not fun riding in the rain and getting cold and February is more of the same. So we´re wondering if we just suck it up and keep going, or fly to our south point in Argentina and then ride north from there, or just turn around now and ride all the way back to Mt Shasta!!! It is proving to be a most difficult decision to make....stay tuned....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)