Peru IV: Yuracmarca to Chavimochic

We keep going downhill among massive mountains

We left Yuracmarca after a good night sleep, and happy to be again on the road, as the first 5 kilometers were a strong downhill.

After that, the road was always pointing slightly down, with occasional wind, sometimes against us, sometimes in favor.

The sun today took a while to come out. This was good, as we noticed that our altitude loss meant increased temperatures.

There are hardly any villages on the way, since this is all mountain desert and the valley anyway is so narrow there would be no place for one.

Only the occasional gathering of a few houses whenever a river would come from one of the sides, causing a little green oasis among all the dryness. The positive side of so few people is that there were no annoying dogs to chase us.

We made it in good time to Chuquicara for lunch. This is a crossroads spot, not really a village, made of a police station, some vehicle workshops, and many restaurants. From here you can continue north following the 3N road, quite popular for cycletourists coming from Ecuador on the mountain route.

Susanne picked a restaurant that looked clean and we had a really long break there, to avoid the midday heat. I had duck, but unfortunately it was not the crusty one you get in Chinese restaurants but some softer version. I later realized most other restaurants also had duck on offer, and our restaurant had some running around at the back in very dirty conditions.

We wanted to cycle a bit more, since it was still early and also the only accommodation in Chuquicara does not have the best reputation. The wind was quite strong, which we were told is normal after mid-day, luckily the road was still slightly downhill to compensate. On the way we met two Colombian cyclists, Jose and Jaiber, cycling the other way. We gave tips to each other, they shared some fruits they had picked on the road, and we continued our ways.

A few km later we stopped at the entrance of the Chavimochic canal, which is known to accept campers near the entrance to the complex. This canal diverts water from the Santa river to a massive farming area near the coast between Chimbote and Trujillo. The security guards were quite nice and made us company for a while until we went to bed. The kids took really long to sleep as they were very excited that we were sleeping in the tent. It was hot outside, and since I had short trousers, I got bitten by many sand flies.

Tomorrow we will hopefully reach Chimbote.