Today a lot of cycling on a flat but bumpy road.

Left Olmos and passed under the arch. I found it a reasonable little town with a lot of market areas. The first 8km was a steady uphill climb and after that most rest of the day was a very small downhill grade.

These folks were using the river as a car wash.

This photo of the houses shows how common these moto-taxis are. I see some cars and trucks but a lot of local traffic is a variation of the moto taxi.

At 27km was nice-looking little town of Motupe. Too early for lunch but stopped for a quick rest.

Good example of the road today. Pretty much flat without hills to climb over. As the day went on, the surface of the road started to get more bumpy.

Saw corn again. Also see these vines that look like some variation of melon or squash. I found the area surprisingly lush given that I expect the desert to be not far from here.

Jayanca got my nomination for “worst town streets” so far. The road became very rough with pot holes and broken pavement, eventually just becoming rutted dirt. Perhaps to keep the dust down, but they then poured water on this leading to occasional mud puddles. It was rough enough that I walked a short stretch in town. On the other end, found a reasonable restaurant and had lunch.

Corn was out to dry here.

Tucume had runner up for “worst town streets”. The pavement first became narrow and then again a lot of these little ridges and bumps. Unlike Jayanca, they had not poured water on top. There were two large trucks following me and they were going so slow that when I walked a section of town, they were still going at the same pace. Eventually got to other end of town with pavement again. However, by now the pavement seemed to also have a fair amount of bumps as well. I was happy to reach the Pan American at end of the day and be back on smoother riding again.

Saw signs in Tucume for “pyramids”. Apparently, still some archaeological sites that are not fully excavated but one can see the rough pyramid outlines in a few hills.

Just before the junction to Lambayeque. This is bit more touristy town with a number of hotels. Also have rejoined the Pan-American that came directly across the desert from Piura. Overall, except for some poor bumpy roads today, I would recommend taking my alternate route. Not sure on crossing the desert but accounts I’ve read make it seem like a long windy haul without services – in contrast I kept passing little towns along the way.