WERNER DOES NORTHERN PERU AND ECUADOR TO QUITO
Leaving Caraz was difficult, since I did not know when I would be residing in such a nice place again. Thanks for the good time, and the good food at Hostal Chamanna, Caraz, Peru.
The road to the coast through the Canon del Pato, Canyon of the Duck, is spectacular. An old railroad track is used, very narrow, with 35 dark tunnels. Most of it is unpaved, but reasonably good to travel. Beyond the canyon, the road gets a bit rough, but easily passable all the way to the coast. I made it to Huanchaco, a fishing village near Trujillo, 500km north of Lima. Its a small seaside resort where local fisherman still ride the waves with their tiny boards made from reed. The nearby ruins of Chan Chan, once a thriving city of 28 square kilometers in size, gave only partly a feeling for the huge city that still existed when the spaniards conquered the area. My next destination was Cajamarca, the city where the last king of the Incas, Atahualpa was killed. Its situated in the Andes, 200km from the coast. The weather was mixed, with sun in the morning, but heavy rain in the afternoon. The room, where Atahualpa was kept as a prisoner is now a museum. The Spanish conquistadores demanded a room full of gold for his release. Atahualpa delivered, but was nevertheless killed. There are some nice churches and many old buildings in Cajamarca. The road through the Andes is fully paved and scenic. This made up a bit for the next boring stretch of road through the desert near the coast. After a night in Piura, a boring town in northern Peru, I went to the border with Ecuador at Macara. Just before the border, I had my first flat tyre of the entire journey. With the help of a local motorcyclist who stopped when he saw my problem, it was resolved within 30 minutes.
At the border, which is said to be much easier than the main border crossing at the coast, I had no problems at all. I showed my international registration, and the officials put a stamp in it, no question for a carnet de passage. We talked about the World Cup Qualification where Ecuador qualified ahead of Brazil, and Germany with some problems just a day before. They did not even stamp the motorcycle into my passport as they often do. Football seems to ease the process at borders.
From Macara I took the road to Cariamanga. It must be very scenic, but I did not see all of it, since the clouds were low and a long stretch of the road was covered in dense fog. But the rich tropical vegetation was a sharp contrast to the desert of Peru, and Bolivia, and Chile, before. Unfortunately, the unpaved road is going to be paved. There was a long construction area, where loose gravel, mud and heavy rains made it difficult to get through. At one point, the whole road was just a quagmire, and all cars and buses were stuck in the mud. With some luck I got through. I reached my destination, Vilcabamba just before it got dark. The hostal las Ruinas is a paradise. A great place to chill out. They have a pool, jacuzzi, Turkish bath, sauna, volleyball field and much more. The staff is very friendly, and it cost 10 US$ including two meals per room.
The roads in southern Ecuador are a bikers dream. Many curves, going up and down mountain passes with great views. Only the police checks of all passing vehicles in every town are a nuisance. They always want to see the drivers licence and the vehicle registration. But they have not checked yet, if the registration is for this bike. One time, there were 3 police checks within 15km.
I enjoyed the nice colonial town of Cuenca, before enjoying more curves on the way north to Banos. In Riobamba I asked several times for the road to Banos, and I found it. But I was very surprised when I reached a point, where the road was washed away, and there was just a narrow, sandy deviation through the ravine where a truck got stuck. No way to get past him. I was told, that there were more washouts from the recent eruption of the nearby volcano Tungurahua, which was clearly visible above, with a big cloud of smoke. But with the bike it should be no problem people said. I continued and had to do some nice Enduro riding before I got to a steep and long climb. What looked from below pretty easy turned out to be impassable for a heavy Transalp. After about 300m climb, the ground became loose sand and gravel, the bike dug in and it was almost impossible to get it out of the hole the reartyre dug itself in the steep grade. I dropped the bike several times since my feet slided away in the loose gravel. I unloaded the bike, but to no avail. After one drop, somehow the gearbox was in neutral, and when I picked up the bike, it rolled backwards with me clinging to it. All I could do was to throw it against the wall of sand before it could fall down into the river. All the meters I had gained and worked so hard on were lost, and I gave up, turned around and did a 150km detour to reach Banos. I later learned, that I was only ten Kilometers from Banos and only 200m from the paved road. Do not try this road on your own with a heavy bike. Its passable with a light Enduro, or if there is somebody to push through the loose sections.
Banos is a smalltown in a nice tropical environment with six thermal baths, many restaurants, bars, ice cream shops and tourists.
Tomorrow I will go to Quito, the last part of this journey, before I will fly back to Germany on Saturday.
WERNER
An email from Werner
> >Where are you in Peru.
in Paradise, Hostal Chamanna in Caraz. A beautiful garden, great food, nice cabanas, very friendly. Do you now it? Yesterday I went to Lagunas LLaganuco and the Pass behind them. Marvellous, glaciers all over the place. But today there are just clouds, no mountains. Tomorrow I will go to Huanico near Trujillo and then move up north.
cu in Spring, enjoy winter..
Werner
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