Peru border and Desert
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2008
1
26
41
Trip End
Feb 28, 2009
Chiclayo,
Peru
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
I awaken this morning sneezing and coughing I have caught another cold, the weather is dark and I am sure it is going to rain. We try to find a place for breakfast this morning, however Loja is a very religious city and there is very little open on Sundayīs. After walking around for 20 minutes we give up our search. We try to leave town and get lost twice, considering nothing is open there is a lot of traffic. Once on the Pan Am highway we were greeted with a well paved road. We spent most of the day twisting our way down from the Andes into the town of Macara. The temperature here is much warmer than in the Andes. The town itself is a typical border town of which I despise.There is very little vegetation here and everything is dusty. Very little is open in town and we are hungry for some supper. We found a bar open and go inside this dark, filthy little hole in the wall. Men so drunk they are passed out on the table. Others singing out of tune to some depressing Spanish music. Others still hustling girls who look no older than 16 while the rest of them drink their spirits and constantly spit on the floor. We sit as close to the door as possible in case some machismo male decides he is a bigger man than another. We order some food and eat quickly. Considering how shady the bar is the food isn't half bad. We retire back to our room after buying a couple of beers from the hotel clerk.
Monday December 8th
After a very poor night of sleep trying to fight my fever and cold I awaken at 7:00, Iīm sure psychologically the border crossing today didn't help. We pack the bikes up, find a place to eat and head for the border. We stop one last time in Ecuador for Gas which I need to mention cost a whopping $1.38 per gallon.
In less than 15 minutes we sit at the Peru border. Leaving Ecuador took us less than 10 minutes. A quick stamp of the passport, hand over our immigration papers for the bikes and itīs off to the Peru border. Again the process is simple. We get ourselves into the country then see the authority to get the bikes into Peru. The gentleman that helped us had no routine or methodology and it took him almost an hour to get the paperwork ready for Mikes bike, mine was done in half the time. I didn't mind though he was a good natured older gentleman laughing with us, asking us questions trying to decipher what he meant. I really felt like he was enjoying our company and didn't want us to leave. The final process was to have the police sign our paperwork and we were done.
As we enter Peru in less than 5 kilometers the poverty and rough way of life became immediately apparent. Homes are once again made out of bamboo and mud or mud bricks. There are stunted trees and very few crops. The appearance of the locals is a little rougher, their faces seem more sunken, their clothes older and not nearly as clean. However the rough way of life doesn't seem to discourage them. All day as we are driving towards the city of Piura people are waving at us, giving us thumbs up. Children are running out of their homes just too see us. The human spirit amazes me, it seems the poorer people are the more kind and friendly they become. We have read and heard many stories about how corrupt the Peruvian police are. We have decide it best to take our time and not speed in this country. Once at our hotel we celebrated our 7th week on the road.
Tuesday December 9th
We have a short day of riding ahead of us today, I manage to check CBC news on line and catch up on Canadian news. Itīs amazing how distant it all feels. As we left Piura this morning we are sent back driving through the desert. The Pan AM highway dotted with little towns for the first 40 kilometers.Again I canīt help asking myself how do these people live here or maybe I am just trying to grasp at why. There is little if no water, they canīt grow crops, thereīs is no vegetation to keep animals and yet, somehow these towns exist.
Later there is nothing but desert, huge sand dunes tumbling over each other, river beds completely dried out, sand tornadoes twirling about across the horizon.The road straight for almost 200 kilometers. The wind blowing very strong from our Starboard side, the sand etching itīs way into our eyes, mouth, ears...everywhere. The prevailing winds so strong there is no vegetation at all.
There were a total of 5 curves between Piura and Chiclayo, this is the straightest road we have seen since we left the U.S. Itīs hard to believe but it was a nice change. It gave me a chance too allow my thoughts to drift...........
Comments
Sand or Snow???
I'm not sure what I would rather have...2 feet of snow like back home or sand dunes with no water???
Sounds like quite the adventure...take lots of pictures and if you guys are going anywhere close to Curitiba Brazil...say Merry Christmas to my dad for me...I'm sure he would put you up for as long as you needed as well...cheers
Humbled
In my limited travels I have always been amazed at how people live with so little. This has made realize so much more how fortunate I am. On a brighter note petrol can be found in the Dayton OH area for $1.38 also. Get healthy and stay safe.
Paul