Leaving the Ecuador border we pass through Sallalan, but instead of turning South we head North West to the coast where we remember were beautiful beaches. Just north of Mancura, to Punta Del Sal we stayed at our favourite Hotel "Caballito de Mar", with fond memories from our 2001 South American trip.

The Hotel was a bit run down, but the same position, right on the beach with very few tourists. After 3 days of beach walking, mud bathing and restaurant sampling, we pointed south again to the remote beach town of Cabo, well off the main road, and guess what? Belinda finds a shortcut! Why has Pat not learned that shortcuts take twice as long and we usually arrive exhausted?

Not only did we get more secluded beaches, but the town boasted the oldest church in South America. Why it was built in this remote spot...we have no idea?
Next day luckily we got off to an early start to Chiclayo as near the midway point Pat noticed that the road had developed a strange rippling effect that was wobbling the whole bike. After a couple of minutes of this Pat thought he had better stop and check the bike as he could not see what was causing this. He checked the tyres first and sure enough... the rear tyre was completely flat!
No problem- we have a puncture repair kit and a bicycle pump for the tubeless tyres. Rotating the tyre Pat found no puncture, but 3 tears showing sliced steel cords from the tyres interior. Oh shit, in the middle of a hot, dry desert!

Even though we have an emergency inner tube, this requires a flat bed truck! "Belinda, we just passed 2 empty car carriers.... stop them to give us a lift!" Being quick to react Belinda runs back 50m and sure enough... here they come! After many exagerated signs of desperation to the first driver he pulls over and offers to put the bike on the back. Within 10 minutes of noticing the flat tyre, we are on our way to Chiclayo in the comfort of an airconditioned semi.

Our rescuer Jose, was a real character and talked very loudly a mile a minute in Spanish, most of which we could not understand. He explained that he had to stay on the Pan Am and could not go looking down side streets for a tyre supply store. None of the locals rode anything bigger than a 150CC, so we thought we would have to bring a tyre up from Lima. Midway through Chiclayo Jose and the other truck pulled up next to a taxi rank and talked to the taxi driver about finding a shop. Jose motioned for Pat to jump in the taxi to go in search of the tyre. Belinda stayed with the 2 truckies for over an hour waiting for Pat's return! Luckily, we were parked next to a restaurant and it was lunch time.
After many unsuccessful shops Pat found a store with the right sized tyre. The taxi driver was fantastic and took on the job to find the right tyre, with Pat almost being a bystander. As luck would have it there was a tyre repair shop next to the restaurant, so we all unloaded the bike and the truckies were off with full bellies and a nice tip in hand!
It was all finished by 3pm, so we had plenty of time to find accommodation near 2 museums.
Lesson learnt: Plan on getting to your destination early as a puncture like that at nightfall may cause you to sleep at the side of the road as no-one wants to stop for dark figures at night.

We noticed a strange custom that drivers have in South America that we really do not agree with. Here vehicles drive on the right lane and if you want to pass them on the left they will put on their left indicator to tell you when it is safe to pass. They will also put on their left indicators if they want to turn left or change to the left lane! We have seen some very close calls because of this custom.
This is February... the rainy season in the Andes, so we missed out on many mountain roads like Cordillo Blanco and Cuzco. Luckily the Pan Am hugs the west coast and is relatively rain free and very scenic with pastel coloured deserts.

Friends recommended we visit the surf town called Huanchaco Beach, near Trujillo and we loved it there. We found a hospitaje on the waterfront just opposite the stage where bands played all weekend for the surf competition with great views of the surf!

The town had great seafood restaurants and icecream shops. The ruins of Chan Chan, a pre Colombian city built around AD1300 which housed approx 60,000 people was there and the whole coast seemed full of ancient mud ruins.

Friends Juan and Lia were a few days ahead of us and mentioned that it took 3.5hours to drive through Lima to get through to the trendy suburb Miraflores. Not wanting this traffic congestion torture, we approached Lima really early Sunday morning and made it through in 35 minutes, arriving in time at Hitchhikers Hostel to meet up with our new friends ... Lisa Morris and Jason Spafford from Two Wheeled Nomad.

They then led us to the Touratech Peru shop a few kilometres south. Ivan, the owner was very helpful and allowed us to service and clean the bike in his shop while Jason flew his drone around filming the premises. Ivan and Ines took all of us on a sightseeing tour of Mirafores on a Sunday... very crowded beaches.

Our accommodation was an old monastery with dirty linen, cold showers, and no atmosphere. No wonder why all the nuns have left! Luckily it was cheap and close to Touratech and the markets.
Our next destination continuing south was the gorgeous desert oasis town of Huacachina, completely surrounded by mountainous sand dunes.

As the setting is so picturesque, especially at sunset, there are many tourists and plenty of Hostals and restaurants.
It was a bucket list experience to fly over the Desert art of the Nasca Lines, which can only be properly viewed from the air.

No-one really knows how or why these PreIncan people embarked on the task of its creation. It will only take one huge rainstorm over this dry desert and they will be gone!
The Chillean border crossing would have been speedy, if it weren't for the need to xray ALL luggage from everyone with random searches for fruit and vegetables and we guess drugs.
Thank you Peru for an awesome time, even though we were dodging rainstorms and weather planning our route the whole way.... it was the wet season after all!