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Peru mountains Day 4
Arriving at the 3S 2 hours after we had left it we were now still 80 km from Huánuco. This stretch of the 3S north is in the worst condition of any road we have seen. There is intermittent dirt/gravel with a very few patches of good pavement. It is mostly very badly pot-holed pavement requiring total concentration. Our poor bikes! That and there are tons of trucks and locals driving like maniacs all over the road and at speed.
We finally managed to break free of the pack after a town crowded with people in the street market and were able to pass a bunch of trucks. Again we were fighting the sunset and arrived just after dark and another 400 km. We spotted a hotel right away with good parking and hot water for 16$. I know I said this yesterday, but we do need a break today. The first plan was to get to La Union 130 km away on the 3N. This took 4 hours. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5556/...caec2679_o.png Screen Shot 2014-05-25 at 11.38.46 PM https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/...3b8fe5a66a.jpg peru mtn 4 2 |
Got MUD?
The last 25 km of the road is full of mud sections for an added challenge. Arriving for lunch at la Union we were bagged at 1 pm, but we had 260 km to go to Caraz.
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Peru mountains Day 4
We finally got a break! The 3N north of La Union is smooth pavement and two real lanes wide. The views are awesome and we crossed a pass at 4600 m. The road heads southwest until Conochoca where it finally goes north.
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Carez
From here we had 111 km to go at 415 and we decided to go for it. The road from here is smooth, two lanes, with actual yellow lines down the middle and everything. That said with more civilization there is more traffic and more towns with speed bumps and so we again were arriving at dusk at 6.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/...e93ce20690.jpg peru mtn 4 74 We punched hotel in to the GPS and a lodge came up. Feeling like we deserved a break we headed there. Ahhhh comfy bed and hot water for 2 nights is heaven. Caraz in a picturesque little town with nice restaurants. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3743/...3710b8fdbe.jpg canyon del pato 17 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/...7b612ff250.jpg canyon del pato 12 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3766/...1c418d30c5.jpg canyon del pato 16 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3826/...e5784165d0.jpg canyon del pato 15 |
Welding
We also had some time to look over the bikes and Dan found that his pannier rack was broken. This was either too much rough road or one of the deeper mud patches had a big buried rock. The hotel owner went with him to a local welder who fixed it up in no time. These are the bare wires he put in the socket to weld.
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Canyon del Pato
Well today is the big day we spent 4 days to get to. The famous Canyon del Pato. It is a short drive up the 3 N on the pavement until you hit the canyon. The final destination for the day was Huacho in 460 km.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5511/...20759be1_o.pngScreen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.52.32 PM https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/...59a34e349b.jpg canyon del pato 20 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5034/...d9ef1096ab.jpg canyon del pato 68 Dan’s 800 hit a big one today! https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/...2eb45467ce.jpg canyon del pato 69 We were sadly under whelmed. There is about a 20 km section with cool narrow tunnels, but not much else. It is not even in our top 100 rides let alone top ride as others have claimed. It is lucky however that the 4 days to get here were epic. The canyon section is now paved, but covered in gravel for added danger. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/...64d0d1f169.jpg canyon del pato 22 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3814/...96f6301596.jpg canyon del pato 25 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5111/...14556ed55f.jpg canyon del pato 30 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3725/...96d5dfbd89.jpg canyon del pato 43 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5234/...dfc5d738a3.jpg canyon del pato 73 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3814/...df132bcc3f.jpg canyon del pato 47 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/...cb63ed8197.jpg canyon del pato 71 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3699/...4223f674aa.jpg canyon del pato 75 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3743/...ddd3568cb8.jpg canyon del pato 76 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3778/...6d631a876d.jpg canyon del pato 78 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3758/...56834050a2.jpg canyon del pato 61 |
south again
The rest of the 150 km is not scenic, but is good dirt except the last 50 km, which is washboard and potholes. We were happy to make it off to the pavement at that rate.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2925/...0bcbda902d.jpg canyon del pato 54 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2918/...02f9df9f29.jpg canyon del pato 79 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3665/...fbdbd0493d.jpg canyon del pato 81 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/...60cdba0bbb.jpg canyon del pato 83 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2927/...dc9c58ed37.jpg canyon del pato 62 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/...35aa6aa803.jpg canyon del pato 84 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/...af1e932a89.jpg canyon del pato 59 Now we headed the 50 km to the Pan Americana and then south to Huacho. Last December we had stayed here and knew we could cross Lima and make it to Nazca in 600 km in one long day. We had forgotten the coast view = sand all day. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5544/...741ce858_o.png Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.53.05 PM https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3708/...87bd6b08e1.jpg canyon del pato 67 |
To Arequipa
Getting on the road at 6 am it was just light and so we made it to Lima and through to the other side at 150 km in 3 hours in very heavy traffic. In fact on 3 occasions the entire freeway was stopped for up 10 min. Last time we were in Nazca we had an even longer day and arrived at dark, while today we arrived at 4 pm.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5563/...20cca07ec5.jpg FILE0464 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5471/...436057e584.jpg FILE0503 We planned for another mega day today of 588 km on the Pan Americana. It is at least scenic south of Nazca and curves along the seaside and then inland to Arequipa. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/...c180fdcc_o.png Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.53.26 PM https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/...e4f49890_c.jpg FILE0665 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2916/...b0723faf_c.jpg FILE0724 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2922/...3a27fc15_c.jpg DSC08606 |
Arequipa
There was an amazing amount of truck traffic. The last 50 km into Arequipa took over an hour and then the entry to the city from the south is totally blocked so you have to detour 10 km to the north entry to access the historic center. We were so mentally and physically burnt by the time we arrived we could not remember the name of our hotel. Luckily the traffic police let us park here and we used a nearby hotel’s wifi.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/...7a461e36c6.jpg FILE0796 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2924/...25bd7291_c.jpgDSC08608 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2904/...094cb09c_c.jpg DSC08612 This town has a very nice historic center but does not hold a candle to Cusco. We were beat so we just relaxed and did a bit of walking around the Plaza de Armas. There is a nice bridge near by built by Eiffel. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5549/...1951c227_c.jpg DSC08614 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5152/...2de49a67_c.jpg DSC08621 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5152/...0a8e244e_c.jpg DSC08615 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2923/...273f295d_c.jpg DSC08618 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/...e9038b68_c.jpg DSC08616 |
Zig zag
We went to a great restaurant called Zigzag for a “fancy night out”. You had to wear a bib to project your clothes from the sizzling meat.
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Chivay
Picking up the bikes at the Cochera (parkade) we met a large group of riders from Sweden. We are actually FB friends with one of them Thomas and he has been following our blog. They all know our good friend Orvar (king of Sweden).
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5077/...e3e7af99_c.jpg colca canyon 1 We decided at the last minute to forgo the apparently very bad road in the back way to Chivay and opted for the paved 180 km. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2909/...ee989de3_c.jpg colca canyon 2 This is a stunning ride over a pass to almost 4900 m. There are tons of stacks of rocks left by other travellers. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2930/...5fb04b47_c.jpg colca canyon 8 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2909/...c6ac82e2_c.jpg colca canyon 5 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2936/...c36d4f30_c.jpg colca canyon 9 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2904/...baac4794_c.jpg colca canyon 6 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5112/...9520797a_c.jpg colca canyon 7 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5516/...b83e2473_c.jpg colca canyon 10 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2903/...c4106e93_c.jpg colca canyon 12 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5152/...d18cdc4e_c.jpg colca canyon 13 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/...ac8c9e2c_c.jpg colca canyon 14 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5071/...e6e3d6ec_c.jpg colca canyon 15 |
Fatastic RR, I really do enjoy. :thumbup1:
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hi
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Hey thanks!!!! SP & DP |
Anniversary
It was 2 years ago today that we left Vancouver, BC to head north to Inuvik. Since then we have been in 16 countries and made it to Ushuaia and back to the north of Peru.
It was also 18 years ago today we got married!! Wow we looked young! :clap:clap https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/...c1549aa0_c.jpgJune 22 1996 |
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