Enjoying Mancora. Went for a walk on the beech this morning. Sat at the seaside, people watched and drank beer at 10:30am.. Got to be 12 somewhere in South America. Had a dip in the pool and blogged.
Jan 24, 2011
Last day in Peru..
January 24, 2011
Enjoying Mancora. Went for a walk on the beech this morning. Sat at the seaside, people watched and drank beer at 10:30am.. Got to be 12 somewhere in South America. Had a dip in the pool and blogged.
Enjoying Mancora. Went for a walk on the beech this morning. Sat at the seaside, people watched and drank beer at 10:30am.. Got to be 12 somewhere in South America. Had a dip in the pool and blogged.
January 23, 2011
Rode to Mancora today. Same old same old. Tony, our friend from Guayaquil recommended we stay here. Great little seaside tourist town. Beautiful 28º, sun and beer. A Richshaw driver recommended a place to us and we followed him. Able to get a dorm room with no one else in the dorm for $15can each per night including breakfast. Great deal and very nice.
Rode to Mancora today. Same old same old. Tony, our friend from Guayaquil recommended we stay here. Great little seaside tourist town. Beautiful 28º, sun and beer. A Richshaw driver recommended a place to us and we followed him. Able to get a dorm room with no one else in the dorm for $15can each per night including breakfast. Great deal and very nice.
On the road to Trujillo.
January 22, 2011
Short day, wanted to see Chan Chan Ruins just outside of Trujillo and stayed at Huanchaco. Nice little tourist town. Chan Chan was nice but everything was made out of sand and is being restored. Learnt about the Chincu people who predated and were conquered by the Inkas. The curators are expecting a lot of rain in February this years as it is a La Nina year. Last time of a La Nina was 1998 and many bridges and roads were washed away. Even the Chincu knew about La nina years as the guide informed us with the wall displays that depict the ocean currents in the opposite directions of normal. The curators have erected roofs over some of the walls toprotect them from rain because it hasn't rained there since 1998.
Checked out the town for dinner. I could write and take pics of the desert much more, but have said it all im many earlier posts. We get to see lots of desert, but now there are many more fruitful green valleys and more water in the rivers.
Short day, wanted to see Chan Chan Ruins just outside of Trujillo and stayed at Huanchaco. Nice little tourist town. Chan Chan was nice but everything was made out of sand and is being restored. Learnt about the Chincu people who predated and were conquered by the Inkas. The curators are expecting a lot of rain in February this years as it is a La Nina year. Last time of a La Nina was 1998 and many bridges and roads were washed away. Even the Chincu knew about La nina years as the guide informed us with the wall displays that depict the ocean currents in the opposite directions of normal. The curators have erected roofs over some of the walls toprotect them from rain because it hasn't rained there since 1998.
Natural spring to supply the ruler's needs Over 144 throughout the valley.
Checked out the town for dinner. I could write and take pics of the desert much more, but have said it all im many earlier posts. We get to see lots of desert, but now there are many more fruitful green valleys and more water in the rivers.
January 21, 2011
350kms from Lima. Lima is a huge city andwe don't want to stop. It took us over 2 hours to drive the PanAmerican Highway through Lima, due to getting lost, traffic, accidents and construction. Finally through, no fun. Our planned stop was Barranca, but when we got to the outskirts, a cop stopped us for speeding. Ended up giving a bribe and then asked for economical accommodations. He told us 80kms north in Huarmey. After more construction, we arrived and found a little town, not touristy and after searching, got a hostel for $40soles. Didn't have a toilet seat and the whole bathroom was 3ft X 6ft. Noisey, but it had good secure motorcycle parking.
350kms from Lima. Lima is a huge city andwe don't want to stop. It took us over 2 hours to drive the PanAmerican Highway through Lima, due to getting lost, traffic, accidents and construction. Finally through, no fun. Our planned stop was Barranca, but when we got to the outskirts, a cop stopped us for speeding. Ended up giving a bribe and then asked for economical accommodations. He told us 80kms north in Huarmey. After more construction, we arrived and found a little town, not touristy and after searching, got a hostel for $40soles. Didn't have a toilet seat and the whole bathroom was 3ft X 6ft. Noisey, but it had good secure motorcycle parking.
Jan 21, 2011
January 20, 2011
Short day, we rode to Huacachina and stayed in the same place as 3 months ago. This is the oasis just outside of Ica where Michael did his sand surfing. People remembered us and gave us a cut rate on the room. Thanks guys.. Rest of the day was spent drinking beer around the pool and enjoying 33º heat.
Short day, we rode to Huacachina and stayed in the same place as 3 months ago. This is the oasis just outside of Ica where Michael did his sand surfing. People remembered us and gave us a cut rate on the room. Thanks guys.. Rest of the day was spent drinking beer around the pool and enjoying 33º heat.
Road from Cusco to Nazca.
January 19, 2011
We had heard that this road is the best motorcycling road in South America. We had rode from Abancay to Cusco 3 months ago and was extremely impressed with the pavement and twisties/switchbacks. Today, we got over 8 hours of curves, corners, switchbacks, up hills, down hills, 5 or 6 mountain passes at 4000 to 4500 meter elevations and twisting into river valleys, over high plains. Temperatures ranged from 26º in some of the valleys to 6º on the high plains. Needless to say, the rumours were true to reputation. 670 kilometres of virtually uninterrupted curves and hills. We started out of Cusco about 8:30am with a big breakfast in our bellies and then rode, stopping for gas and the odd butt break. The last 100kms were more of an endurance adventure than enjoyment as we were tired, hot and hungry. Arrived in Nazca about 5:00pm and went to the hotel that we stayed at on our first pass through town. At the hotel, we met our next door neighbours who informed us that there would be a car rally the next day on the same road and the road would be closed while the 46 contestants raced to Cusco. In the central plaza was a huge celebration where the cars and drivers were introduced and announced to everyone. These cars were quite cool with many hopped up to the 9s, including NOS…
We had heard that this road is the best motorcycling road in South America. We had rode from Abancay to Cusco 3 months ago and was extremely impressed with the pavement and twisties/switchbacks. Today, we got over 8 hours of curves, corners, switchbacks, up hills, down hills, 5 or 6 mountain passes at 4000 to 4500 meter elevations and twisting into river valleys, over high plains. Temperatures ranged from 26º in some of the valleys to 6º on the high plains. Needless to say, the rumours were true to reputation. 670 kilometres of virtually uninterrupted curves and hills. We started out of Cusco about 8:30am with a big breakfast in our bellies and then rode, stopping for gas and the odd butt break. The last 100kms were more of an endurance adventure than enjoyment as we were tired, hot and hungry. Arrived in Nazca about 5:00pm and went to the hotel that we stayed at on our first pass through town. At the hotel, we met our next door neighbours who informed us that there would be a car rally the next day on the same road and the road would be closed while the 46 contestants raced to Cusco. In the central plaza was a huge celebration where the cars and drivers were introduced and announced to everyone. These cars were quite cool with many hopped up to the 9s, including NOS…
January 18, 2011
Maintenance day for the bikes, the blog updates. Met Martin, Griff and Lisa at Norton's for beer and American style burgers. They all went to Machu Piccu today.
The countryside is much greener now, than 3 months ago and the greenery hide much of the garbage that is strewn along the roadside. South Americans litter a lot! One negative about our trip is the amount of garbage. Plastic bags and bottles are everywhere. It is sad to see this amount of garbage. And the worst part is watching people just toss garbage from car or bus windows or just drop wrappers as the walk the streets. Its amazing how many diapers we have dodged on the highways. The worst part is the thought of all this trash being flushed down creeks, streams and into rivers which end up dumping into the ocean. I understand there is a huge plastic wasteland in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, no wonder…. 3 months ago I had mentioned the smell of urine and thought it may get washed away with the coming rains, It hasn't.. Still urine smells as we pass by many populated areas of Peru. I have to qualify this statement. There was very little urine smell in Chile and Argentina, and outhouses were much more visible in the countryside. It appears the lower economic status, the more urine we smell.
Maintenance day for the bikes, the blog updates. Met Martin, Griff and Lisa at Norton's for beer and American style burgers. They all went to Machu Piccu today.
The countryside is much greener now, than 3 months ago and the greenery hide much of the garbage that is strewn along the roadside. South Americans litter a lot! One negative about our trip is the amount of garbage. Plastic bags and bottles are everywhere. It is sad to see this amount of garbage. And the worst part is watching people just toss garbage from car or bus windows or just drop wrappers as the walk the streets. Its amazing how many diapers we have dodged on the highways. The worst part is the thought of all this trash being flushed down creeks, streams and into rivers which end up dumping into the ocean. I understand there is a huge plastic wasteland in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, no wonder…. 3 months ago I had mentioned the smell of urine and thought it may get washed away with the coming rains, It hasn't.. Still urine smells as we pass by many populated areas of Peru. I have to qualify this statement. There was very little urine smell in Chile and Argentina, and outhouses were much more visible in the countryside. It appears the lower economic status, the more urine we smell.
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