Lord of Sipan Museum or a beer at the pool and a Chinese?

Our departure from Quito is a bit fragmented. Alvares Barba BMW have two of our bikes and are working furiously on them. Repairing one with some minor crash damage and also sorting a recurring flat battery problem on another. So the rest of the group set off south while these riders hang back for a day to get the bikes finished. However within a couple of hours another rider manages to lose their passport, credit cards and temporary import document for their bike. This could be a trip stopper!

After reporting the loss to the police, getting the report drawn up by a lawyer, getting it stamped and taking it to the Commisarrio they are then on the way back to Quito. As the countries capital it has the Embassy required as well as the head offices for immigration and customs. By the time all the local paperwork is done it is too late to get to the Embassy that day. First thing in the morning it is then. The whole Ecuadorian process is now recorded on computer and this means that the stamps and documents can be re-created in Quito and there is no need to go back to the border of entry, which is the way it used to be. However to do this you first of all need a passport. The Embassy is very helpful and recognises the urgency of the replacement as with each day the group are travelling further away, and manages to produce a temporary passport on the same day, and with enough time to spare to get everything else sorted as well.
As a result all the riders who had hung back are running just two days behind the group and catch up over just 48 hours in Chiclayo. The moral is, if you absolutely have to lose your documents do it within a day’s ride of the capital city. Do it elsewhere and your trip could be in jeopardy!

In the meantime the rest of the group have been relaxing in the spa baths of Banos Del Cuenca on their penultimate night in Ecuador. Most have been surprised at the affluence of a lot of Ecuador and the quality of the infrastructure and roads, which the current government are investing in heavily. In truth they have a shock coming as we cross into Northern Peru. Expectations are high with Machu Picchu, Nazca and Cusco only days away. But over a third of people in Peru live below the poverty line and this is never more obvious than in the north of the country. We cross the border and the scenery changes as we leave the lush green mountains behind and are quickly in the desert. The housing changes as well. Simple one room brick, or even wicker, built homes line the road in the desert. There seems little or no control on litter and the mixture of rubbish and scrubby desert makes the first experience of Peru feel desolate and desperate. Yet kids are on their way to school from these simple homes, turned out in pristine white blouses and shirts, and Peruvian flags fly from the roofs of shanty houses. National and personal pride certainly hasn’t taken a knock despite the hard lives these people have.

Our first stop in Peru is in Chiclayo to visit the Tombas Realtos or Lord of Sipan Museum. The tomb was discovered as recently as 1987 and had been unmolested or robbed and so was completely intact. It dates from between 1 and 700AD and is considered one of the most significant archaeological finds of the last 30 years. Of course you could also just relax in the afternoon sun by the pool of the hotel and go for a Chinese in the evening! Either is a pretty good way to spend the day.

We head off down the coast to Huanchaco to visit another important site and stay at the sea side. Local fishermen are out on their reed boats that are more akin to surf boards and the beach is busy with Peruvian sea side visitors. The unexpected thing in the scene is the pier. It looks just like a typical Victorian English sea side pier. I suppose that is because it was designed and built by a Victorian Englishman over 100 years ago.

After a few days focussing on the culture of Peru the next few are about riding and Peruvian roads. First we head away from the coast through Canyon Del Pato. It was originally built for a railroad, but this was abandoned after an earthquake in 1970. What is left is 70 miles of rocky road through a canyon up to 6,000 metres high where the Cordillera Blanco and Negros meet. The railroad ran through 32 tunnels and these are still the only way through. Single track but two way with no lighting, sand and rock floors and twists and turns. Emerge from a tunnel and you are on a single track road hewn into the canyon face with sheer unguarded drops of thousands of metres. This is not a road for the faint hearted. The canyon sides tower above us and at the same time fall away from us in equally vast measures. It is a day’s riding most people will remember and cherish for many years to come.

After a night in the small town of Caraz (only town to survive the 1970 Earthquake) we are riding still higher and higher. From our overnight stop at 2,500 metres we ride on through the morning to over 4,000 metres and our first taste of real altitude. But we are there only briefly as tonight we sleep on the coast. The road down is one of the finest tarmac rides to be found. Over 70 miles we descend from 4,000 metres back to the shore of the Pacific, through twists, turns, goats, villages and hairpins. Yes goats! The easiest way to get your livestock from one place to the other is obviously straight up the nicely surfaced tarmac road, so why go another way? It is no bad thing as it does keep every-one alert and on their toes so to speak.

South through the desert we skirt Lima the capital and head to Nasca to see the Nasca and Palpa lines. Pictures of birds, geometric shapes, a monkey and a spaceman carved into the desert floor, they can only be seen if airborne. Most of the group are off for the flight to see them and marvel at how they could have been created over 1,500 years ago? Theories range from a) Peruvians invented hot air ballooning long before any-one else b) Extra Terrestrials did it and the lines are landing strips c) The Peruvian tourist board did it all in the early 70’s. B and C seem very unlikely, but nobody really understands how they were done and that’s what makes then so fascinating.

From here we are back up onto the Altiplano and then onto Cusco and Machu Picchu. We still have 10 days in Peru and a lot to fit in.