Author Archives: mev

Piura

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Easy ride today on flat roads.

Slept in for an extra hour since I knew the distance wouldn’t be long. Discovered my rear tire had gone flat overnight. There had been a second small hole around the tire boot that I had missed. So fixed that flat and also fixed the flat inner tube from yesterday morning. All in all, left about an hour and half later than normal. The wind did start to blow later in morning, but still not very much.

Once I got through town of Sullana, the major road was four lanes. These “Plaza Vea” shops seem similar to a Super Walmart in US, with both groceries as well as general department store items. Each town, I often have to look around to figure out where I might find grocery store and Plaza Vea has been a good bet.

Good example of the four lane road as well as minimal vegetation along the way. Today was also pretty flat.

Occasionally these trucks will have mural on back, often a religious version but sometimes other paintings as well.

This is the third toll booth I’ve crossed in Peru and the first one that was collecting money. Bicycles and motorcycles are free here and there was small separate lane that I could cycle through.

Kilometer post says 1005, which I believe is distance on Pan-American Highway to Lima.

There road into Piura was occasionally rough but traffic was reasonable. Here was statue in main square. I found a hotel not far from here.

Part of the church in the main square.

South of Piura there is a choice of roads. The new Pan-American Highway goes straight across the desert for ~215km. There is not much of any restaurant, store or anything in the first ~170km of this route and headwinds can pick up. The old Pan-American highway goes further inland and is ~60km longer. It is still sparse but there is an occasional village and even a town with a hostal. Still headwinds and occasionally hot temperatures on this route as well. After reading a number of the journals on these routes, expect I will try the slightly longer route as it had a bit more in terms of villages later on, though do expect to camp somewhere in the desert the first night.

Sullana

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Today was tougher than average.

I was up early and on the road before sunrise. My hope was to get some distance before the wind picked up. However, it was already blowing when I started and really didn’t let up or get stronger all morning. I slowly climbed the hill and cycled back to the junction. It was mostly cross-wind here but after the junction it looked like 50km of directly into the wind.

My front tire felt squishy. Stopped and fixed a flat. Looks like I ran over a thumb tack. Cycled down the road and front tire was squishy again. Sigh, not sure what happened, but stopped this time next to a wind farm and replaced the tube. After that, the front tire held.

Sign tells us to not leave rocks in the road. I say that goes for thumb tacks as well.

This first section looked pretty bleak, here was a typical house I saw along the way.

Here was a another house. Some of them were inhabited because I could see chickens around as well as sometimes dogs coming out to bark at me. The headwind continued here and I was riding perhaps 12km into the wind, hoping the wind didn’t strengthen and calculating that at 60km mark the road would make slight turn away from directly in the wind.

Somehow around 40km I crossed one or two little hills and surprisingly the wind also started to become less. Hooray! This next stretch started to have some irrigated fields and even saw sugar cane in one of them.

At 58km was the promised turn and just thereafter a small hamlet of San Pedro. I stopped here for lunch.

There are many of these “moto-taxis” here in Peru. Not quite like the three wheelers in India, but similar. Seem to be built around a motorcycle with back wheel replaced. This collection was picking children up from school just as it let out.

After San Pedro the road became really rough for a while. I also then noticed my rear tire going squishy. Stopped and fixed this flat as well. Not quite sure what caused it, but I had put in a boot after a flat in Ambato, Ecuador since there was a hole that went all the way through the tire. The problem here wasn’t at this hole but along edge of the boot. I patched this one as well and held for rest of the day.

More crops along the way. After this stopped to check out a hotel at the 80km mark. It had neither wifi nor hot water so decided to cycle just a bit further and into middle of Sullana. Busy town and my room faces the street. Can hear a lot of honking and other street noise, but nice to be right among stores and restaurants. Tomorrow plan is a shorter day to Piura.

Talara

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Early to bed and early to rise. In Colombia, I started with early departures as a way of beating the afternoon heat. In Ecuador, the mornings had less chance of rain. In Peru, it will be the wind that picks up in the afternoon.

It was cloudy and overcast when I left and stayed this way much of the morning. It never got much over 30C (86F) in afternoon so this was also a bonus. Fishing ships moored offshore in Macala.

Climbed over a low hill and followed the coast to next village of Los Organos. Today had fewer villages and also a lot fewer tourist type hotels along the coast. After Los Organos at 13km, the route also went more inland.

This was just before the largest hill of the day, climbing almost 300m (1000ft) in a six kilometer stretch.

Halfway up one could still see one of the smaller coastal settlements. This one was advertising whale trips between July and October.

Flatter near the top without much vegetation. The wind also slowly started to pick up here. A diagonal cross-wind that was more head wind than tail wind.

A number of these small pumper oil wells in the area.

Sign suggests they’ve been pumping oil here since 1952.

Good example of a small settlement near the top: an oil truck, a simple church and a closed restaurant.

A pipeline to right of the road and wind turbines higher up on the hill.

Another view of those wind turbines, they were definitely producing power when I cycled past.

At 72 kilometers there was a road junction and turnoff. Just over 8km away was town of Talara. Talara seems to be an air force town with the road going around a large runway and several airplane mock-ups at road intersections. I cycled down to the coast and found reasonable hotel here. Tomorrow will need to ride back up the hill and to the road junction, but still nicer to stay in a hotel than to camp at the road junction.

Early to bed again tonight.

Mancora

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A mostly flat ride along the coast. This area is fairly dry with several small resort towns. My destination of Mancora is known as a place for surfers to congregate. Signs were now already giving me distances to Lima (my assumed distance is slightly longer since I may not take the most direct route).

A new country means trying to figure out the gas prices. As best I can tell, amounts are measured in gallons and are slightly over $3 US per gallon, so higher than the subsidized prices in Ecuador.

The area had some agriculture, but was mostly dry and primary industry seemed to be tourism more than anything else.

Photo shows it is already drier here than Ecuador.

Found it interesting that the sign was in English.

Zorritos was a nice small town at about the 28km mark. Not sure what those animals are on the sign.

Also here were evacuation signs for Tsunami warnings.

Boats and a pier in one of the places we came along the water.

A mermaid monument.

The town of Acapulco was one of these small places I crossed.

Next town was advertising for a triathlon to be held in September.

Looked at stopping in Canosas for lunch but was mostly through the town before I found an inviting place.

There was an agricultural inspection station and then the road went more inland.

By mid-afternoon I was in Mancora. Found a reasonable hotel and got lunch as well as groceries for next day. Saw a number of tourists walking around that didn’t appear to be from Peru.

Tumbes, Peru

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So long Ecuador, hello Peru! An easy border crossing today as I am slowly heading for drier areas.
It was already 21C (70F) and slightly humid when I left. Just a few days ago, that could have been the high temperature for the day. Fortunately, it didn’t get extremely warm today. It was also a very flat day of cycling, less uphill than any riding day since I started in South America. Airplane above was at junction of road from Santa Rosa to the main highway heading to the border.

Santa Rosa averages 19 inches (49cm) of rain a year and Tumbes only 12 inches (31cm) a year, so I am already heading to drier regions. Photo above was on the Ecuador side not long before the border. The road crosses through an ecological preserve and photo shows vegetation.

Also some large snails on the road.

A small church on the way.

Diesel gasoline has two prices, a normal price ($1.04/gallon) and international price ($3.51/gallon), showing it is subsidized here in Ecuador. Will need to see corresponding prices in Peru.

The border itself was in middle of a no-mans land. There are signs thanking you for visiting Ecuador and welcome signs for Peru, but otherwise not much for 2km on each side of this. I actually stopped briefly on the Ecuador side immigration office on other side of the road to make sure I didn’t need to do anything special to check out. Nope, one can check out of Ecuador and into Peru at the same building.

Official border sign. I believe the EU helped in building the road and hence this is why the EU flag is there along with Ecuador and Peru.

Welcome to Peru!

Here was the sign at the customs building.

This was as smooth a crossing as any I’ve had so far. I went into one building and first went to a line that said “Salida Ecuador”. They looked at my passport and stamped it. Next, I went one line over to the “Entrada Peru”. The woman handed me an immigration form that I completed. I came back to the line and had indicated that I might want to stay up to three months in Peru (I expect to cycle across quicker than that, but better to have enough time than to get caught). She stamped my passport and gave me a 180 day visa. After that I was done.

The only downside is I didn’t see any money changers at the border to change some dollars into Peruvian sol.

Here was vegetation on the Peruvian side of the border. The shoulder wasn’t great and disappeared not long after this. However, traffic was still fine so not a big deal.

Without too much trouble, found myself in Tumbes and a reasonable hotel. They do appear to be more expensive here than Ecuador. I then walked around. First to an ATM. It unfortunately only gave larger bills. Next to a restaurant that told me they would be able to take a larger bill. I had a good plate of rice and a not so good piece of meat with it. The entrepreneur didn’t quite give me all my change back, I think he said something like, “an extra tip” in Spanish, but still didn’t quite feel right.

One side of the plaza has this bandstand.

Another side has a church.

Not far away.

Otherwise walked a little around town. Wasn’t able to find a larger supermarket type store, but was able to get things separately at a fruit stand, a bakery and a small mini-mart. I did have someone suggest I put my camera away as it might not be safe. Otherwise, a warm afternoon as I slowly get me “Peru legs” under me.

Santa Rosa

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A descent today to land of banana plantations and air conditioned hotels.

I left early. Place next door was already open serving breakfast but had lights on. Overall today descended 2035m (66677 ft) and climbed only 652m (2139 ft). So there were a few shorter climbs but overall easier than yesterday. The descents were also not quite as steep. There was however a fair amount of road construction and places where pavement was replaced with gravel.

Followed a narrow canyon down the hill. Initially it looked dry without much vegetation.

Here was concrete pad used for drying some crops (coffee beans?)

There was a short tunnel.

As I got lower down, it became more lush again. These bananas are locally grown in small scale, likely close to the stall that sells them.

A little creek in one of the lush areas.

Several spots had signs with Chinese lettering, I believe some sort of joint project is being carried out.

There were also signs talking about a larger hydro project being built. Interesting that it listed both the energy output and the CO2 savings effects.

Eventually around 75km, I got to bottom of the hill with flat terrain after that. I spied this restaurant to stop for lunch. However, nobody came when I sat there, so after a bit I went another 5km to Buena Vista to another restaurant.

This is banana country with plantations on both left and right sides of the road.

Bananas themselves are covered with a protective packaging.

Buena Vista even had a banana monument in the central town square.

Also this church off the square.

Not sure why this guy was posing with the monument at entry to the town, but got a photo anyways.

After Buena Vista, I continued until meeting a major north/south route that goes to the border.

However, that is saved for another day, I cycled into town of Santa Rosa. The monuments already have more to do with the sea.

Downtown Santa Rosa streets were town up and town didn’t give best impression. However, found a reasonable hotel in downtown. First one in a while with air conditioning and that was useful this afternoon.

Santa Isabel

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Halfway down from the mountains to the plains. Today 1770m (5810ft) of descent and only 804m (2638ft) of climbing as I started leaving the mountains on my way to the coast. It is already warmer here. My shower water never really warmed up and this didn’t matter as I was hot anyways.

Left a little later so as to have breakfast in the hotel before departure. The first 3.5km was riding through the city, first on cobblestones and then on back streets. After this I was on the main highway, though still in Cuenca until ~9km or so. Photo above was a bike repair place I happened to pass on my way out.

These folks were preparing a road pig. I see more of them at places along the way.

At 21km there was a fork in the road. Going left would stay in the mountains to Loja at least. Going right was still flat for another 11km but then started steeper descents. I decided I would try the coast for a while, knowing that I’ll trade cold and climbing for heat and headwinds.

This gas station had a nice little shop and place to eat a snack.

End of the flat at 31km just as I crested the hill into the downhill. While there was a fair amount of downhill, I was surprised at the amount of shorter sharp, 10-11% climbs that I still had. The road would dip down, go around a bend and then climb back over the next ridge. This happened multiple time and accounts for much of the 800m of climbing for the day.

A view of the valley from the top. While the road never really got close to the river, it did roughly follow the valley down. At town of Giron at 45km, I stopped and had lunch. Breaded chicken, rice, fries, avocado and slice of tomato. These “plate of the day” meals are pretty good in Ecuador.

Small church that I passed. From Giron in particular, I had a lot of the short sharp climbs, so a bit slower cycling. However, nice to come up to Santa Isabel with one last 160m (500ft) climb from the low point. The actual town of Santa Isabel is still at least 100m higher, but there are two roadside hostals here on the main road.

A view from my hostal room looking back up the valley.

Overall, nice to have part of the descent done so far. Tomorrow expect to finish descending down to close to sea level and hence exit the mountains. I am already lower in elevation than I’ve been in Ecuador.

Cuenca

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A relaxing rest day in Cuenca including purchase of additional spare brake pads and studying blogs for Peru.

Today was an easy day looking around Cuenca as well as looking at some other blogs. It was sunny morning with many people on the streets.

The pigeons were out and no longer hiding under the eaves to get away from the rain.

I saw the inside of the new church.

Here is the old church.

Hardly the only church as they seem to be on many street corners, as well as other interesting historic buildings.

Here is a more typical street again.

Given that I was on a rest day, I also tried an experiment to see the local bike shops. In Ecuador as in Colombia, it seems like repairs and new sales are sometimes different shops. I had brought with me to Cartagena, two spare sets of brake pads. One had been used in Pasto, when I had them replaced but I still had a spare set. The ones on the bike now have worn, but also don’t need to be replaced yet. So, I figured I could easily get to Lima before it would be useful to find pads again.

However, since I had a rest day, I tried to find a local bike shop from Google Maps and see about getting another spare set of pads. Finding the shop was the first hurdle. I had gone looking yesterday in the rain and despite back and forth on the street, I never found a shop. So I read the Facebook description more closely and seemed to say they were located inside a medical clinic. This morning, I found the clinic and started asking. At first they didn’t know anything about a bike shop, but then told me two local entrepreneurs sometimes used their offices. They weren’t there but would be in an hour.

I came back in an hour and met two young gentlemen. No real shop, but these were the mechanics. I had brought with me a worn set of disc brake pads, still in the original package. I showed them the details, model numbers, etc and asked if two replacements (front and back) could be found in Cuenca? They weren’t sure but started dialing their contacts with cell phone. They were able to locate the pads, at a place that wasn’t nearby. I gave them $ for the pads and we arranged they would drop by the hotel in afternoon with spare pads.

They just recently arrived. Interestingly enough, it is the exact same packaging as I had as well. So, Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes are still a fairly common model, in USA as well as Ecuador. It took a bit, but once I got in touch with locals, they were able to locate the right spares. This should last me for a while now.

I’ve also been looking through several blogs for the coast of Peru. It will likely take two days to reach the lowlands and then another day to enter Peru. From there to Lima is along the coast. It isn’t all flat, but should be considerably flatter and drier than here in Ecuador. The challenge appears to be wind. The Humboldt Current brings waters to coast of Peru and when deflected by the Andes turns north. Hence, prevailing winds are from south or southwest and can sometimes be strong headwinds. Will see what I get in that next stretch.

Cuenca

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Over the hill and into the city.

First a photo from yesterday of the main church in El Tambo.

One blog I had been following cycled from El Tambo to Cuenca in two days. I decided it probably wasn’t too difficult to ride it in a day (only 75km) and then take a rest day.

The first three kilometers were downhill. After that the next fourteen climbed up and over a larger hill. However, again grades were never very steep.

On the way up was this monument in Canar.

Looking back on Canar itself. Not long after this, it became more cloudy as I climbed into and through some of the clouds.
Not too far from the top was this radio station. Always nice to see those towers and stations since give a good indication one is almost all the way up.

Here was the top itself, second highest point I’ve cycled on the trip and don’t expect to exceed this until later in Peru/Bolivia.

Bibilian had this nice little shop. By now it was off and on drizzle. This also marked bottom of the hill after ~600m (2000ft) of descent from the top. Some hills to climb over here to Azogues. This is where other cyclists had stayed and given it was still early, made sense to keep going.

The road became three lanes but never extremely busy so for most part traffic moved around me. It was mostly descent until the 55km mark. After this a slow but overall climb back up to Cuenca. Without too much difficulty, I found myself to the central square.

Above is a picture of the New Cathedral, completed in 1885.

Statue in one of the parks.

By now it was raining more heavily. The pigeons had taken roost under the eaves to get out of the rain.

There was a nice indoor market here.

Overall, look forward to a rest day here in Cuenca. Chance to look around a bit more. Also, after this I expect to descend down to the lowlands and coast before crossing into Peru. Hence, will also be a chance to review some of the blogs of others that have ridden north coast of Peru.

El Tambo

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Climbed a mile today, 5300ft/1616m. Overall a beautiful ride as the road skirted around edges of steep valleys.

I was on the road early since I expected a lot of climbing. Not far out of town I went through a chain-link fence gate which seemed strange. The road went down out a valley and then slowly came back on the other side. Photo above is Chunchi from perhaps a kilometer away, though I had already cycled five kilometers along the valley edges.

I soon discovered the other half of the chain-link fence. In photo above there is a fence with large piece of construction equipment parked behind it. Apparently, the main road was closed off for construction with a detour. Easier to see from this end, where it would be tough to accidentally go through the fence. I do think I saved some climbing as the detour much have gone through the valley where it is even deeper.

A small church in one of the villages I passed. That restful dog to the right is deceiving, today I had quite a few barking dogs come out to meet my bike. Almost all of them were just making a lot of noise and running along, though one dog did decide to bite my pannier.

This cow did not want to be led, eventually it gave up and came along.

The truck was doing a milk run. It stopped ahead of me and met someone with a large container. The top went open and contents were deposited into the tank.

Both these purple and yellow wildflowers are common here.

This was looking down into the valley and beyond, with clouds below. My route went from 2240m to 3080m (10,100ft) today. I got the sense that it wasn’t too far west to descend down to the lowlands. I’ll be up at this altitude for a few more days before descending to the coast. Expect it to be warmer, flatter and a lot windier.

At 42km I came to Zhud and chance for lunch pictured above. This crossroads town featured in several blogs I had read as wasn’t clear if there was a hotel or not and by now there was already a lot of climbing. It was still early in the day, so made sense to go the last 18km over a few more hills to El Tambo.

Ecuadorans on a bench.

Got into El Tambo not too late and found nice hostal. Time to relax after a good day of climbing.