My loose intent was to ride out of the mountains, down the coast and then through Lima. I decided Im gonna skip whatever cultural highlights await the weary traveller in Lima and if I feel like it then I expect Ill be back this way when I ride north later in the trip...
But to get the day going, first I rode back along the way I came for a bit to get some views of the large mountains... It had been very cloudy when I rode in the other day and there were no good views.
But it was relatively fine this morning and views were nice.
Then I rode back through Huaraz which in the season is a "Mecca" for trekking and mountain climbing tourists... But its not the season for that now and there are almost no tourists at all in town. So, the town reverts to its main function of being a commercial hub for the hinterland... And its definitely a busy little city with all sorts of activity and the local Inca descendants wearing the traditional clothes with their felt hats :)
Then I rode South as is my "normal" plan. Its green and rolling country again up here in the mountains, but its also quite cold and Im at about 3000m. The road is a very small paved highway with some gravel sections and its fair share of potholes.
The road climbs slowly for about an hour or so and Im riding along at over 4000m ... The bike is running great - Love that fuel injection technology :) If I had an older bike with carburettors then it would be running very badly at this altitude... But as it is, the bike senses the lower oxygen in the intake air supply and reduces the amount of fuel being injected to compensate :)))
There are no trees up here, just grass land and snow and ice covered mountain peaks... Very nice.
I cross a gentle pass and the road starts to head down hill quite quickly. This is a good thing cos its cold up high. The temperature rises slowly and the country gets greener and then there are shrubs and then trees etc...
At one point there is a truck that must have reversed just a bit too far and its well and truly stuck off the side of the road. Any further and the truck would have gone "for the big drop"! All the hill sides are 40 degrees or more and thats very steep.
Im going down hill constantly and quite quickly... Over the next hour and a half I drop 4000m down to just above sea level... Thats quite a descent !
And then Im back in the hot arid country of the coastal area, but the valleys where the rivers flow (where Im riding) are very green and heavily cultivated for a couple of hundred metres either side of the river.
I come around a corner and there is a 4WD laying on its side across both lanes. The accident (single vehicle) seems to have happened just a few minutes ago. I stop and ask if everything is OK, and it seems to be so (no one badly hurt), but Im dispatched to go tell the police down the road. Its about 30Km away and so I head off and tell them when I get there... Ok, on my way again.
A bit further on and there is a pall of dark smoke from a burning field. As I get closer I see its just that they are burning the dried leaves off of a field of sugar cane that is ready for harvest... The flames are leaping 10m in the air... quite impressive... I ride on.
Then Im riding right along the coast. It seems to be along the side of massive (500m high) sand dunes that drop right into the Pacific ocean. Nice :))
Then Im in the outskirts of Peru's capital - Lima.
My GPS got upgraded with some more detailed maps from another rider that I met while in Quito. The details are great for getting through cities, and just now the GPS route finding function is telling me to get of the big highway and skit the city centre on the coastal side. I decide to follow the suggestion and it seems to work very well for most of the way. I get a brief look at the sprawling suburbs... They really know how to sprawl here, but its not like the cities in USA/Canada where the houses in the outskirts all have large yards and low "human density"... Here it stays high "density" and the little brick houses are crammed together and stacked up on each other... I wonder what its like to live in such "saturated humanity"??
But, What the GPS doesnt know is that its 3pm on a warm sunny afternoon in summer here... And that Limans (Or should that be Limanians? or Limons?... or Limen?... or Li-people?... I dunno!) LOVE their city beaches... They, like their houses, are "sprawled and stacked" over every square foot of beach. Its very impressive, Ive never seen any beach quite as densly packed (though Im sure they are not uncommon)... Its just that Ive been rather spoiled by living in Australia :)
There are not just lots of them at the beach, there are LOTS of them... In fact, I think there may well have been ALL of them there!... And the traffic along this coastal road is a real pain for about 10Km in the city area before it gets better.
Now Im heading out of the city on the main highway again, but after just a couple of Km, The police have closed down the South bound side of the six lane highway and I get diverted to a more minor (and extremely congested) road. I can see the highway just over there, and it seems that all six lanes are being used for North bound traffic...
I weave my way forward through the congestion as best I can, but it goes on for 50Km South of the city!... They effectively had seven North bound lanes and just one South bound lane!!! ... I have no idea why?
I finally make it back onto good road with light traffic and I can make good time again, but the day is done! Its 6pm and time for me to find a place to sleep...
Busy day :))
