10408 km Trujillo

After the long stop in Cuzco, it was time to get moving again and do some cycling. I was unsure on what route to take through Peru, but I finally decided on going through the mountains for the most part. Going via Nasca and then moving up along the coast would probably have been the easiest route, but I did not feel like doing any more dessert cycling. Also I am not that keen on visiting Lima. There really does not seem to be that much special to see there and cycling in and out of big towns like this is never particularly fun. So in the end the following route was taken: Cuzco - Abancay - Ayacucho - Huancayo - La Oroya. Then from there to the coast via a nice rocky B-road and further north to Chimbote and Trujillo

It's been a great couple of weeks cycling this route. The scenery in Peru is amazing and it's a privilege to be cycling in the mountains here. The views are great and it's a nice challenge on top of that. The climbs are long. Usually the valleys are on 1500-1700m and the road goes all the way up to 4000-4300m. This makes for very long climbs that can easily take you almost a full day of cycling. It's a fight getting up there, but I have enjoyed every second of it. As a bonus you get rewarded with nice long descents of an hour or more all the way back down. Luckily the altitude has not been much of a problem. I guess the body is pretty much used to lower oxygen levels at hight, after spending a month or more on this level. I really haven't been down at all ever since I started climbing up, when I left San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. I have been making very long days on the bike, usually I started to pedal around 6.30 am and going on till just before sundown around 17.00. Because of this it went a lot faster than anticipated. Still going a little over 100km day, which is more than expected possible here. Maybe it helped that I had a long break in Cuzco, where I didn't cycle for almost 10 days. Guess I was eager to get going again. 

I haven't camped much since I left Cuzco, because to my surprise even the smallest of villages usually have a place where you can sleep. Don't expect fancy wifi or warm water though for your eur 3-6, because it's not gonna be there. Luckily I don't need much more then a bed and some rest. Not a time to be picky. The bike has held up nicely as well. I did get my fifth flat tire, but these things just happen. It happened in the middle of a small town and when a little boy, he must have been around 9 years old, saw me fixing the bike he went and got his own little crossbike out of his house and showed me his flat tire. He pulled a very sad face, so it was pretty clear what he wanted. Of course I offered to help him out and we fixed his bike together. Another girl showed up with her bike, so there I was doing the third fix of the day. After that, it seems the village was finally out of broken bicycles and I could be on my way again. It actually was quite fun showing these kids how to fix a tire. They seemed to enjoy the lessons as well, I don't think to many gringo's pass here so it must have been quite a sight for them as well.

The last few days along the coast to Trujillo have not been to interesting. Cycling on the Panamericana is busy and not particularly fun. Luckily it's fairly flat here for Peruvian standards, so I could make my way over to Trujillo quickly. Here in Trujillo there is a lot to see. I went to the Chan Chan archeological site which shows the old capital of the Chimu. A pre Inca civilazation. It's an impressive site to see. Near Trujillo there are also sites showing the marvels of the Moche civilisation which came before the Chimu around 100-800 ad. Remarkable what people could build already so long ago. I will stay in Trujillo a few more days to check out the local museums and then I'll be heading of again. Further north. A bit more dessert cycling and then it's time for a new experience, Ecuador. I'm curious what it will have to offer. There is no need to rush, because I'm well ahead of 'schedule' for my flight for the Galapagos islands on the 28th of October from Quito.

Thats it for now folks, take care and the next update will likely come from country nr 7.