Bike travel, commuting and more

Panamericana

Peru IV: Yuracmarca to Chavimochic

Bad road

Bad road towards Chuquicara

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.

Hotel Kety Yuracmarca
The house from Ms Kety where we slept
Downhill after Yuracmarca
Strong downhill leaving Yuracmarca
Downhill after Yuracmarca
A small mistake and you will end up down in the river

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

Road along the Santa river
Bad asphalt, great views
Road along the Santa
Vertical walls along the way

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

Road along the Santa
Occasional uphill
Road along the Santa
Sometimes the road is carved into the mountain

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.

Green oasis
Some greenery among the desert
Oasis on the road
A break from brown and grey

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.

Road along the Santa
It gets narrow at times
Road along the Santa
Not sure how the buses fit
Coal mines in Santa valley
Old coal mines in the background

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.

Road along the Santa
I was there too
Road along the Santa
We crossed sides a few times

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.

Lunch break
Hiding in the restaurant from the heat
Thomas drinking Inka Cola
Thomas enjoying an Inka Cola
Black water of the Santa river
Simon not sure of taking a pee on the black water of the toilet

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.

Colombian cycletourists
Jose & Jaiber, the second group of cyclists we meet

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.

Camping at Chavimochic
Getting the tent ready

Tomorrow we will hopefully reach Chimbote.

5 Comments

  1. Maria

    Sand flies? igitt! me encantan leer vuestras aventuras, sois los 4 unos campeones 🙂
    Seguid disfrutando de la aventura de vuestras vidas! Un besote!!!

  2. Katherine

    Inka cola!!!!!! Esa es mi favorita!!!! Hmmmm
    Vaya travesia por Las montañas. Excellent ingenieria de caminos. The heat ….eso si no extraño 🙂

    • Comment by post author

      Sabe muy dulce y el nombre de “cola” no corresponde al sabor, que es más como caramelo, pero si está bien fría, entra muy bien cuando hace calor!! Pero prefiero la chicha morada!

  3. Jose

    Campeones si, pero también muy titiriteros. Cuidaros por esos caminos de Dios por donde andáis.😲

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