Monday, June 24, 2013

Like Sands Through The Hourglass, So Are The Days Of My Life

Ahh, the beach, the sand, the warmth!! The coast was pretty although I didn't swim anywhere or recreate in the water in Peru. It wasn't always easy to get down to the beach from the road and a lot of times the access was real sandy and deep. 
When I detoured to Bolivia I was traveling due north and east (and I detoured only to get the left side of my body tanned to match my right side). :) Now that I was back on the coast I was traveling due north and west again with the sun always in front of me, there was always a cool breeze and I even had tailwinds! Weird how the prevailing winds on the coast shift from place to place. In Chile the winds were from the north but in Peru from the south (roughly). I know in California the winds seem to be from the northwest on the coast and I expect to be battling headwinds when I get there but I love the coast!


Plowing fields the traditional way.
These women were wearing bags over their bodies to keep clean and dry from the seedlings they were carrying to the fields to be planted.


Gotta have that steel corrugated door so at least you can lock up that bamboo hut when you leave!






This spot was a little risky for camping because truckers could actually see me if they looked but at 60mph      I thought they might see me at a glance but not really have it register. My tent is a pretty good color to blend in and there weren't that many daylight hours I was exposed.
By the way, Inca Kola was definitely Peru's Coca Cola as far as popularity goes. It is bright yellowish green and tastes like Bazooka Bubble Gum!




Looking back on one of the roads I came down.
Sea lions basking in the sun.
I saw this place from the road and decided to check it out for a place to camp. It looked deserted enough, not sure what it used to be either.
I found a cozy hiding spot with a great view out onto the ocean and the sunset.
Wild camping was more difficult in Peru in general as it was difficult to find a place to hide and feel safe and on the coast I was following the Pan American Highway which was pretty busy. I only camped 16% of the time but fortunately accommodations were pretty cheap.

This was definitely a favorite camping spot.


Tide pool life.
Those are some Alaska size squash!
The fruit from this cactus tastes really good. I stopped at a stand to inquire what it was the guy was selling and a trucker that had stopped there too heard me ask and bought me one to try.
This guy was carrying a box with a virgin Mary or some saint statuette inside of it. I think he was walking around asking for offerings.
Several varieties of olives were for sale in this valley and all were displayed like this in barrels and for sampling in several competing shops.
Area of the Nasca (we use "Nazca") lines. The highway passes right through it. This sign warns that entry is prohibited.
A tower overlooking two smaller Nasca (we know as Nazca) lines easily seen without having to be in a plane. See view from tower below.
A small tour plane flew overhead while I was riding. It makes me miss working at Alaska Air Taxi anytime I hear or see small planes. I do love flying in small planes but I did not take a flight/tour.
Pool at my hostal at the base of some dunes in Huacachina. A hotel owner in a town further south told me about this place or else I never would have known about this little oasis just 5 kilometers off of the main drag from the highway to a major city called Ica.
Not only did they have a pool here but they had some cool animals around the yard!




I couldn't resist a dune buggy and sand boarding excursion. This vehicle was pretty nifty.



What seems like the never ending dunes in the area near Huacachina and Ica.
Time to ride some dunes! I went first and took pictures of others coming down. There were some good wipe outs. It was difficult to get any speed standing up on the board so a lot of people laid down on the boards.







We were able to go down five or six dunes so I tried it both ways, laying down and standing up. Here I am standing up getting ready to hop it out of the sand and head down. It was tough to get going and we waxed the boards first just like surfboards.
There is little ol' me at the bottom. The guy who had my camera and took the pictures for me apologized that he only got me at the top and bottom of the hill and not in between. Must have been because I went so fast!! :)

Overlooking the little village of Huacachina. From a distance this reminded me of Pushkar, India on a smaller scale, a little oasis in the desert.around a lake.
Random castle seen from the road. I didn't investigate but it looked cool. Now if this had been IN Huacachina it really would have looked like Pushkar, India!
Small settlements on the highway.
These birds flew by me and the strand as wide a seen here went on for at least ten minutes long. I don't think I have ever seen such a flock of birds altogether before. I wish I could have been closer to identify them.
Road sign showing the Pan American route.

Since I was back on the Pan American Highway again (away from it since northern Chile) at least most of the time the shoulder was good and wide. It was nice to have my own lane, so to speak, because Peruvians honked at me a lot and it was often hard to tell why they were honking. I know that in Asia people abuse their horns like crazy and honk all the time but in Peru it was different. Truckers in all of the countries so far were very courteous about giving me space when possible. Go truckers! My grandfather was a trucker. In Peru truckers honked a lot and waived so I knew it was kind of a "hello cyclist" honk and they even gave the thumbs up a lot. Regular motorists often honked right when they were beside me (very annoying) and I was not sure if that was an "I'm here, don't move" honk, or " get out of the way" honk, or it may have even been an "I see you, don't worry" honk. At least if I was in my own "lane" on the shoulder I wasn't as concerned with what the honks meant and I always tried to give a wave of acknowledgement no matter what I thought was the purpose of the honk. Keep in mind if you are ever in this situation passing a cyclist while in a vehicle, try not to honk for any reason when you are right next to the person! Especially not if you have one of those obnoxious air horns like some of the trucks and buses in South America.
Peruvians seemed to be friendly drivers in general except the drivers of large tour buses who seemed to think they had entitlement to the roads. They gave me the least amount of berth of any vehicle even when they had lots of room to go around me and in Argentina and Chile where some shoulders were non existent and the wind was horrendous they were downright dangerous about it. I can't figure out what it is about fancy tour bus drivers (not local buses) that makes them think differently. I don't believe anything about them having a schedule or because they are carrying passengers and don't want to swerve. Most passengers would have more of a heart attack when they see me pass by below their window inches away than if a driver made a smooth swerve. It is extremely common for vehicles to even pass another vehicle coming towards me so that they are actually driving right at me in the lane that I am in (or close to on the shoulder). They don't give it a second thought. I even had a vehicle pass another vehicle that was slow moving and kind of on the shoulder in the oncoming lane while I was being passed on my lane by another vehicle. They were three vehicles wide in two lanes with me on the side of it all! I remember saying out loud "Are you f*king kidding me? You couldn't wait five seconds?!" I can say that I am pretty immune to it all now though and I barely flinch! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right!
 
This guy made a killer and cheap hamburger streetside!
I can't help but shoot these awesome "Safety First" photos. This guy was setting up these curtains and to move the ladder over for the next set he would just "walk" the ladder like stilts.

Lima with Nadia. Nadia is the wife of Rico who I know from my winter at the South Pole Research Station. Rico had said that I could stay at his house when I went through Lima on my bike trip. He unfortunately was not there when I made it to Lima because he went back to the South Pole for another winter making it his third! Crazyman!!! Rico still offered to let me stay at his house with his family even though he was not there so I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with his super sweet and hospitable wife Nadia. As it turns out I was planning on taking a break from my bike trip for three weeks to fly home and help a friend drive up the Alaska Highway (sounded like fun and I hadn't done it in years).  A concern of mine would have been where I could leave my bike and gear in whatever city I departed from in South America. Having a place to keep my stuff in Lima with Nadia and her mom was about as perfect a situation as possible! They really treated me like family and helped me out  a lot!
Downtown Lima.

Nadia and Rico's condominium complex in Lima.
Clockwise- Nadia standing, her mom, her dad, her little brother.
As usual this is the map of my route so far and ending in Lima at the last photo for this blog posting. The orange lines indicate where I rode and the black lines indicate where I used other means of transport.

This blog brings you up to date on my travels until November 7th, 2012. I am in Nicaragua now as of this posting on June 25, 2013.

Photos and blog posts to come:
I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends-a special dedication posting and my break to the United States
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Being Robbed In Peru
Ecuador
Colombia
Panama
Costa Rica-a.k.a. Gringolandia.
Nicaragua