The Mountain Route to Ecuador
You know those moments that while they're happening you are absolutely sure that you'll remember for the rest of your life? Well, the entirety of today was one of those moments...
After a cold night in Huanuco (and an hour in the morning of us being lost in town while trying to find our way out), we made our attack on a stretch of road that we knew would be a bit trying. We had been warned that the route from Huanuco to Huallanca was beautiful but equally dangerous and would require time above all else.
Today was one of those days that we just totally downplay to our folks at home...
It took all of 30 minutes to understand why we had been warned about the road.
Never in my life could I have imagined that any route could be so curve-ridden. More importantly, however, was the fact that the entire road was barely wide enough for one car. The required driving style was made clear to me very early on when we came around a sharp bend to find a bus flying towards us from the other direction. I swerved off the road (away from the cliff) and into a steep ditch on the right side, dragging the bottom of the sidecar along and creating a considerable crack in the floor. The bus driver saddled up beside us as, smiled, and yelled, "Cuidado Gringo!" ("Careful buddy - ok, not buddy but you get it). From that moment on, I only left 2nd gear a handful of times and honked at nearly every curve to warn oncoming traffic.
It was a white-knuckled few days of riding, but so worth it.
Along with the constant oncoming traffic of trucks and buses obviously too large for the road, animals and people made the ride even more interesting. Honestly, when I dreamed about riding through South America, THIS is what I imagined...
I mean, it was perfect. Tiny communities were tucked away throughout the curves and it felt like we were seeing the "real" Peru. Also, I really wanted to stop at this "RestauRAT" but Kris wouldn't let me.
Seeing as our GPS just started laughing at us when we headed into the mountains, navigating became a new game.
At some point, I looked over to see Kristen slapping a piglet out of the way and I knew that life was good. So good.
I mean, we even had loads of applause as we passed. What is this magic place!?!
We’ve spoken before of the large street dog population here in South America. We’ve also hinted at the daily occurrence of dogs coming after Kristen in the sidecar. Along this road, Kristen finally was able to snap a picture of this buddy who I'm sure just wanted a pet...
All in all, these days in the mountains of Peru proved to be some of the most memorable motorcycling we've ever experienced.
After La Union, the road opened up into two lanes again...
After a night of rest in Huaraz...
...we headed back to the coast and to the town of Trujillo. As we were riding around the plaza, we were followed by two suspicious looking guys (joking of course, kind of) on BMW bikes. Enter our new friends:
They kindly offered to lead us to a beach town outside of Trujillo called Huanchaco which we eagerly accepted. We ended up going out to dinner with Leandro and Fernanda, two Argentinians who were riding their bike from Miami back to their home in Mendoza. It was great to swap stories and advice (mainly coming from the exuberant Leandro) plus we ate amazingly well at an outdoor BBQ.
After another day at the beach, we jetted North towards Ecuador.
Below: a common pothole. BigBoi and Kristen dislike these very much...
Also, kudos to this guy for the packing job of a lifetime...
After a few more days of riding, we came to the border. It turned out to be our longest experience yet - I’m assuming that they were looking for a bribe, but the Aduana (Customs) couldn’t find our bike in the computer system. We had all the right paperwork, but they did not want to let us go. After an hour and a half full of phone calls and questions, we were finally released to Ecuador!
Goodbye Peru...
...hello Ecuador!
