Departed Loja, Ecuador for Peru on 12 May. Was hoping my last day would be dry however that was not to be. The roads E35 & E50 through the mountains to the Huaquillas were nice and during clear weather I'm sure the views would be amazing. Once I got to west side and started dropping things cleared up and it got quite warm.

Weather break and water stop in Ecuador:
From May 16, 2014

From May 16, 2014

The border crossing was easy, took about an hour to get out of Ecuador and into Peru, felt good to enter a new country! It was a bit late in the day, however I rode on to Mancora and got settled in and then spent an extra day getting money and being dry. The northwest part of Peru is desert and nothing I care to spend time in so I decided to make a run to Olmos and then head for Chachapoyas in mountains on the 15th.

t was raining some when I departed Olmos and as I progressed into the mountains it went from light to heavy most of the ride to Chachapoyas. I did get a break passing through one of the valleys. The weather changes very quick here.

I guess they frown on fishing the fun way:
From May 16, 2014

Lots of rice farms along the river valley:
From May 16, 2014

Twenty minutes north of Chachapoyas is Gocta waterfall which is supposedly the third tallest waterfall in the world, 771 meters. It's a two part falls so I guess this comes into question for some so it maybe the fifth tallest. This was the best view I got of it.
From May 16, 2014

Arrived in Chachapoyas about an hour before dark and didn't spend much time roaming the town. Went out for dinner, had a couple beers and ended it early. From what I did see, it's a very nice place. A cold wet day.

Got up early this morning hoping to get an early start however, it was raining. Went for a leisurely breakfast and waited in hopes it would clear. By 08:30 things looked promising and I was on the road by 9:00. The plan, ride south to Celendin. The weather held for about an hour then I was riding in the rain again. The road is single lane paved through the mountains and in many places it's very narrow, going was very slow due to the sharp curves, rocks in the road and chance of meeting traffic.

Crossed to mountain ranges, this was the first pass:
From May 16, 2014

Looking back:
From May 16, 2014

Looking ahead:
From May 16, 2014

Every now and then I'd get a fantastic view:
From May 16, 2014

Any break in the weather and the animals would come out to lay in the road, pigs, dogs, cows, donkeys and an occasional kid.
From May 16, 2014

Just need to descend, cross the river and then get over the next mountain range. It was raining when I took this photo.
From May 16, 2014

Looking back from across the river, I was somewhere along that road when I took the before photo. Weather looks great now.
From May 16, 2014

It took seven hours to ride 142 miles, stopping only for short periods. Even with the wet weather it was an amazing ride.