Who ordered all the sand
We missed our contact in Cuenco, Jose and Mary from Calgary, and decided to move towards the Peruvian border. Leaving Cuenco the terrain changed from green farmland filled with cows to dry canyonlands with little vegetation. Once again we were met with an obstacle in the form of a blocked road, reason unknown. The next 1 1/2 hrs. were spent navigating our bikes down a steep grade of dust, gravel and rocks while large trucks passed us on the way up. Apparently they were making a new road and were diverting traffic around their construction but had failed to mark the by-pass properly, so we naturally took the wrong turn. We had to wait about 30 mins. at one point to allow a CAT to clear a bunch of debris created by a hoe perched 40ft. above the road. We made our way all the down to the river only to have to go back up another 1/4 mile down the track.
Our goal was to make it to Machala that day, another 4 hrs. away. Machala calls itself the "banana capitol of the world" and with good reason as miles before and after are covered with the potassium filled yellow fruit. We read somewhere that the fruit is so plentiful that it is offered free at any meal, we never saw one.
In preparation for Peru, I decided to get my mirror broken in Mexico, fixed. No need to give the police a reason to give me a ticket. After checking a couple of shops we were referred to a mechanic a few blocks away. He had to weld a threaded section to my mirror arm in order for it to be re-attached to the handlebars. He took a page out of the Orange County Chopper handbook and welded the two parts together with no welding helmet, just stabbing the welding rod at it's intended victim. Don't try this at home kids, he is a professional. His welding machine was another accident waiting to happen. Rather than having a regular plug on the end of the machine, he had 2 bare wires that he wrapped around large nails on a wooden pole. He would then pull his 220 power coming into his work area and attach these wire to the nails, one at a time. It worked, and he had all his fingers so I was confident in his ability. A little grinding, a splash of black paint and I was good to go.
We spent the next day getting laundry done and Carol getting her hair cut. She got into a discussion with another patron about the fact that Canada is not apart of the United States, something the patron wasn't willing to believe. At night we had some BBQ from a stall vendor and fed a couple of stray dogs.
As seems to be our modus operandi we blew past the customs office leaving Ecuador, crossed a bridge and found ourselves in Peru. We had to go back 10 kms. and process the paperwork, no big deal, just another example of strangers in a strange land. Just when you think you have it figured out, they change the location. At the Peruvian border we met a German couple driving an RV built for the Armeggedon. A German military truck with a fiberglas trailer body on top of the frame, formerly used by fire-fighters with some retro-fitting. They have been travelling for several years starting with the truck being sent to Newfoundland and then driving down to South America. The process at the entrance to Peru was as good as any border crossing can get. This being Christmas Eve, there were no line ups, and the customs official was happy to practise her English. We asked about the need for motorcycle insurance and was assured as tourists it was not required. We had heard horror stories about having to buy insurance for a minimum of a year at $500/yr. No insurance provider is at the border, so many riders when pulled over tell the police that they will purchase it in Lima. This is our biggest fear, running the gauntlet to Lima and beyond.
It seems that the used car of choice in Northern Peru is the Dodge or Chrysler of the late 1970's or early 80's. Large 4 door cars with the rear end jacked up high by use shackles, just like back in the day.The rear tires look over-sized, maybe truck tires. Most have whisky wrinkles on all four corners, while others have been restored nicely. None the less, a little trip down memory lane.
Travelling to Piura we passed miles and miles of desert, with small settlements along the way consisting of homes made from reed matts, mud bricks and some pieces of wood. Often there was no rhyme or reason for houses to be in the middle of the desert, miles from water, electricity or stores for food. These people live under some severe conditions. Often we would be roaring down the highway to find an individual waiting fo r a bus along the side of the road, sometimes 50 kms. from the nearest town. He is literally in the desert in the middle of nowhere, or at least you can see nowhere from there. On occasion we would see a converted motorcycle cum taxi, picking people up or dropping them off in the middle of nowhere/desert.
Then rounding a corner or riding over a pass would be this oasis/town with rich vegetation everywhere. Huge fields of sugar cane or corn or potatoes. Here in Peru if you have a source of water, you can grow anything, a sharp contrast to the endless kms. of some of the driest lands in the world.
Gone were the $1.48/gal gas bars in Ecuador, to be replaced $5/gal bio-fuel with a low(83) octane rating. It was important to monitor fuel consumption as distances between towns are great enough to run out of fuel. It's wise to fill up where you can because some towns have only one service station.
Christmas Eve in Canada is a quiet time in the city, while here in Peru, the streets were filled with families shopping. Buying fireworks and firecrackers seem to be a prime directive for revellers with Christmas Eve being bigger than New Years Eve here. We managed to find a hotel close to downtown much to our surprise considering summer and Christmas holidays at the same time. Secure parking around the corner shared with all the moto-taxis was available.
The next day we made it to Trujillo, staying at the Colonial Hotel, near the Plaza de Armas. They let us park our bikes in the lobby. A very nice hotel, with courtyard in the middle, vintage trimmings, tour info and attached cafe'.
We took an all day tour the next day, seeing remnants from the Moche and Chimu cultures. Built around 1300 A.D., Chan Chan was the largest pre-columbian city in the Americas and largest mud adobe city in the world. The Peruvian gov't has nothing to do with these sites, concentrating their efforts on Macchu Pichu and Lake Titikaka locations. These sites get their funding from the U.S. gov't, Swiss gov't and a beer company. The Chan Chan location contained up to 10,000 structures, including burial mounds and royal palaces lined with precious metals. The Moche temples include the largest pyramid in the southern hemiphere, made from 140 million adobe bricks, built around 600 A.D. Erosion has taken it's toll and now appears as only a massive sand pile. While next door at the Huaca de la Luna, many ceramic friezes have been uncovered and archeologists are still busy peeling away the layers. We saw a pair of famous Peruvian hairless dogs, known for their ability to help heal people with arthritis, as body warmers, because the dogs body temperature is higher than normal dogs. We ended the tour by going to Huanchaco, a fishing village turned week-end resort for surfers complete with board shops, high end designer shops and a slew of restaurants. It also hosts reed made boats, with the ends turned up like the shoes from Alladin, used by fisherman to bring in their catch.