Caňon del Pato

Daryll writes:

We left the coast and headed towards the mountains – the Cordillera Blanca.  Several riders had told us that the ride through the Caňon del Pato (Duck Canyon) is not to be missed.  The road through the canyon passes under walls of bare rock and through almost 40 tunnels.  The downside was that it was going to be about a 320km day with 80km of that on a gravel road.

Even though we were up early, it was a slow start as we had to pack up our campsite and we haven’t camped for some time, so we were kind of slow in getting going.  We need to camp more often.  The coastal road started of with some spectacular scenery and then turned into absolute nothingness, just barren land with a whole lot of sand.  Since entering Peru, we headed straight for the coast and now were going back into the mountains and it was a welcome change. 

As we left the highway and turned towards the mountains, the windy paved road was in good condition with a few potholes and lots of livestock being herded down the road.  The landscape was breathtaking as the road ran alongside the Rio Serena River as the myriad of colors of rock shone in the sunlight.  Once we hit the gravel section, I thought that it wasn’t that bad, just slow going as it was loose gravel with large rocks.  As I bounced around, the vibration ran through my bones and I thought that my bike was going to vibrate apart.  I flirted with 2nd gear, but was in 1st gear for most of the time.  I could feel the heat come up from my engine and warm my legs so stopped every hour for a break and tried to find a shady spot to hide from the beating sun.  The road twisted and turned and hugged the cliff side and as we went through our first tunnel, I thought to myself – this is so cool. 

80km of pavement goes by quickly.  80km of gravel is slow and after about half dozen canyon twisties, tunnels and over-hanging wall rock, I wanted it to end.  At the start, we were stopping a lot for photos, but towards the end, we just wanted to get to Caraz, our planned destination to spend the night.  The road just went on and on and wouldn’t end.  The road will improve for a few kilometers, and then as quick as it improved, it would deteriorate again.  I wouldn’t consider the road technically difficult and would have loved to have done it again with an unloaded bike.  My body though was getting a good workout in handling the bike through the sharp blind corners and not forgetting the blind tunnels.  Yup, I came through a blind corner to enter a tunnel, only to find someone in a pick-up exiting the tunnel and didn’t even slow down or make room for me to pass.

Once we got through the canyon, and reached the Cordillera Blanca’s, the snow covered peaks made it all worth while.  I don’t think I can do justice to the scenery, landscape and type of riding we did, so I will leave you with this video.  I warn you though, this video is longer than the previous ones.  Enjoy!

Caňon del Pato from One World 2 Explore on Vimeo.


New photos added to the Peru photo album.

Penthouse Camping

Daryll writes:

We wanted to be on the Peruvian coast for New Years however couldn’t find accommodation at the well known beach town of Mãncora, so decided in the end that we would spend New Years Eve wherever we found ourselves (Chiclayo) and then try and get to the coast thereafter.  We visited Peru 5 years ago, but spent most of our time in the southern parts and hadn’t ventured up north, so wanted to see some of the sights we missed the first time round.  Crossing into Peru was uneventful and we soon found ourselves in Piura, Peru.  The town was bland, but was the closest biggest town we could find to spend the night after the border.  I had forgotten how insane drivers in Peru are as compared to Central America – they honk for everything, try to squeeze their way in between other vehicles and will cut across traffic without any notice. 

We were warned that the ride from Piura to Chiclayo was through a desert with nothing but sand and true to form, it was barren with the odd house/restaurant catering to truckers.  So far, I haven’t seen any billboards, just brick walls with the advertising painted onto the wall.  Peru had it’s elections a few months ago, so every wall facing the highway advertised a political candidate.

Our aim was now to get to Huanchaco (another beach town) for Jan 1st for the weekend for some R&R.  We didn’t have any accommodation pre-booked, so were just going to wing it.  We got into Huanchaco around midday on Sat. Jan 1st and the streets were chaotic with people coming in to the beach.  We pulled into a resort hotel that our guide book said had camping as we knew we were going to find any hotels on the holiday weekend and managed to convince the owner to let us camp.  It was expensive camping, but well worth it.  We camped on the roof terrace overlooking the resort, pool, beach and the rest of the town and even got our own private washroom with hot water.  We did get a few stares as we rode our bikes into the resort parking lot and set up our tent as we were the only campers. 

Penthouse Camping

We took the bikes into the town in the afternoon to find a grocery store for dinner and had to ask a few people along the way only to be directed to the general market where Ang found a few items to sustain life.  The traffic was insane and there was people everywhere.  Most people were trying to get back home and both taxis and bus’s were overcrowded with people trying to get home after spending a day at the beach.

Caballitos deTotora (Little Horses)

These reed boats are used by fisherman and are left out in the sun to be dried out; however I hadn't seen anyone take them out.  Guess they were there just for the tourists.  Visiting a Peruvian beach town isn't complete without one of the traditional dishes of Ceviche (made from fresh raw fish and other seafood marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with hot peppers) and Inca Kola which tastes like cream soda.

Happy with Inca Kola

Ceviche Mixto

New photos added to the Peru photo album.

Ecuador Video Clips

Daryll writes:

The weirdest things you see whilst at a traffic light.


Jugglers at a Traffic Light from Daryll Naidu on Vimeo.

Ecuador Mountains from One World 2 Explore on Vimeo.

Ecuador Fogged In

Daryll writes:

Since the last update, we’ve been riding for 6 consecutive days and the last time we did that was back in Mexico while on the Baja and trying to escape the 40°C before catching the ferry to the mainland.  We needed to make up some time and decided that we wanted to get to Peru for the New Year. Hence the lack of blog posts over the last week, as we’ve been riding every day.

After catching up on emails and blog updates on Dec. 26th, we met Shane and Paul for coffee to say goodbye as we were leaving the next day and they needed to get some bike maintenance done in Quito.  We were honored when Paul handed us a Bavarian Coat of Arms Flag which we needed to carry with us for the rest of the trip and bring back to his home town of Furth, Germany when we get to Europe.  That’s the kind of people you meet.

Bavarian flag changing hands

We decided to take the Avenue of Volcanoes route to Baños vs. a route that ran along the jungle.  On this particular route, one is meant to see several Volcanoes as you pass by, Cotopaxi being the most famous.  For a change, it didn’t rain on us that morning, but we rode through a blanket of fog all day and could barely see the road ahead of us, let alone a series of Volcanoes that we were riding amongst.  We were at an altitude of 3,600 m/11,811 ft and it was cold.  There were two items that I’ve been carrying that I hadn’t used since reaching Ecuador i.e. the tripod and my heated jacket.  Well, the tripod was used at the Equator monument and my heated jacket got plugged in on this ride.  Riding in thick fog is worse than riding in rain as you can barely see the edge of the cliff or oncoming traffic as drivers here fail to turn on their headlights.

We finally reached Baños and found good cheap accommodation at $16 per night.  Baños is located at the foot of Volcan Tungurahua and has erupted as recently as August 2010, so there wasn’t too many tourists and the hotels hurting.  Even though it could be dangerous, I was hoping for some volcanic action, but alas, was only able to get a glimpse of the Volcano on our way out of town the next morning.  We did spend the afternoon in the town’s thermal springs together with every other local resident.

Volcan Tungurahua

From Baños, we headed for Cuenca, another UNESCO World heritage city.  We twisted through the mountains and the dense fog which was slow going and managed to get to Cuenca late afternoon.  Once settled into an expensive (to our standards) Hostel, we walked around a bit together with trying to find a grocery store to find some miel (honey) and a lemon as I was starting to develop a sore throat.  Breakfast was included together with the view, which made up for it.

View from Hostel

 New photos added to the Ecuador photo album.

Feliz Aňo Nuevo!

We are safe and sound and are in Peru now.  We have been going non-stop for the last few days and hence no blog update since Quito.  Planning on stopping for a few days this weekend, so will bring everyone up to speed of what we have been up to.

Wishing everyone everything of the best for the New Year and wish we could be with you celebrating.