Day 337 Monday 12th August Vilcabamba to San Ignacio (Peru) 221km

We had a lovely afternoon and evening out our little hotel, the holidaymakers and families were swimming and laughing and it was nice to chill next to the pool and watch the interactions between the families. We had a great dinner and the Owner\Manager spoke very good English and we bombarded him about his country and the drug-problem in the coastal\harbour province. He took our laundry into town and promised to collect it and bring to us before we leave at 8h30.

Yesterday when we went through Loja we made a decision to break away from the normal route and try the un-known Adventurous Route passing through a small border in the mountains, the Normal Route everyone takes turns West to Piura, we continued South, the blue dot is us tonight:

It was sunny and blue skies and I was on a high, there were NO Cars on the road, Apple Music was making some good choices and most of all my riding gear, including my boots were dry, my smelly clothes has been washed (the poor lady that had to wash my Mushroom-muff-clothes must have wondered about the class of Biker who could possibly have such a smelly wardrobe. But 23km into ride we saw the mist and rain ahead and stopped to put on the rain-jackets, luckily right next to some impressive landscape:

If you look carefully at the above photo you can see the graves of those buried with a great view.

At the back of my mind I was a little worried why Proff Google was telling us that it was going to take us 5 hours to do 200km, surely the Proff was wrong, surely we could average more than 40km per hour???

But even the Proff was wrong as he did not take into account the rain and the mist we were going to deal with, neither the 100km gravel surprise waiting for us!!!!

it was great that we saw no other vehicles, (but this should also have given the surprise away.) The rain was falling softly and I could stop for photos, but then we were in the mist and it started to rain hard and the fun was over and top concentration was needed. Once when I went around a corner and opened the throttle my back wheel spun out, long before my old reflexes could close the throttle the bikes Traction Control “caught” DadAss for me, (my throttle had was mush softer thereafter.)

It started just like that surprise day in Colombia, 1st there is a short 100m gravel section, the tar again, then you go around a bend and another stretch of gravel, 200m, then back to tar and before you can say “What is Happening” it only gravel, and the rain that spoiled the twisty tar was now making you very awake on the snotty gravel:

We have a saying in Afrikaans, “Hoe Laater Hoe Kwaadter” (things get worse as things progress,) and this road did deteriorate fast, going was difficult, but at least we were out of the rain and sucking-up-dust, sweet sweet dust:

I was very grateful for my new Michelin Tyres, they saved the day:

Luckily we were the only vehicles on the road and we must have ridden and past through 2 dozen settlements, scaring the locals and the dogs who has never seen or heard these big-engine-bikes.

We got separated as some stopped to take photos, others like Rocky who hates being hot or cold stopped several times to adjust his clothing, light rain leads to just adding the rain-suite jacket, then it rains harder and he stops for the rain suite trousers, then we go around a corner and its sunny, so we stop to take off the trousers, later we stop to remove the jacket, which is a sure sign the Bir Rain lies over the next mountain. I stopped for lots of photos when it wasn’t raining, so the two of us were in-sync for most of the trip. Pie and Millsy were playing Dakar and racing each other to the imaginary finish-line, the border, and Tex, well he was all over the place as he bought a new Helmet Camera which he can’t work, and he tried stopping today to take photos with his phone as he has given-up with the helmet camera, for now.

Then all of a sudden we reached the border, there were no other travellers passing and we were out of Ecuador and into Peru, all 5 of us, in under 2 hours.

This is the Border:

The rain lasted for 10 minutes and then the sun came out again, we had to stamp our passports in this little building, the building with the BIG SIGN:

When I saw this Tuk-Tuk I knew the gravel was over and we could expect some tar:

I still dont know what they are drying next to the road as the chicken walk around it and are not eating it????

This town had no accommodation for us, so we soldiers on :

Bus :

The next town was a small town, and we rode around for a while looking for hotels that had not closed down, and then  a local on a bike came past and said we should follow him, he lead us to this small hotel which had rooms for us, at the grand price of $12 per person.

We now have to stay on the small back roads as there are no other roads going West that can take us to the bigger roads near the coast, so who knows how far tomorrows roads will allow us to progress???

Have Great Week Folks

Fleisch