(June 28 – written by Nancy) We continued our ride along the Utcubamba River today, through a beautiful gorge with steep rock walls on either side of us. Nice weather, beautiful scenery, easy gradients and not too long of a ride – couldn’t really ask for more than that. We started off with oatmeal and … Continue reading Up the Utcubamba River – Pedro Ruiz to Nuevo Tingo (66k/16,725k, +3000ft)
Gorgeous Green –Bagua Grande to Pedro Ruiz (77k/16,659k, +4800ft)
(June 27 – written by Dave) First a quick report on the new kettle. It worked perfect. We had tea last night and coffee this morning. It fit on Nancy’s bike nicely this morning, in a sporty North Face bag – an extra one we’d been carrying. It looked so good that Nancy attracted zero … Continue reading Gorgeous Green –Bagua Grande to Pedro Ruiz (77k/16,659k, +4800ft)
Let the mocking begin –Jaen to Bagua Grande (66k/16,581k, +1800ft)
(June 26 – written by Dave) I’ll start at the end, just to get it out of the way. We’ve been in at least 20, maybe 30 hardware stores since we’ve entered Peru. The purpose of this effort was to find an immersion heater that would run on 220v, the power of Peru and points … Continue reading Let the mocking begin –Jaen to Bagua Grande (66k/16,581k, +1800ft)
The three Rs in Peru – San Ignacio to Jaen (109k/16,515k, +3900ft)
(June 25 – written by Nancy) The themes of today – rain, rice and riding with other cycle tourists. The sound of rain coming down hard woke me up in the wee hours of this morning – not a great sound to hear when you have over 100k to ride soon. All I could do … Continue reading The three Rs in Peru – San Ignacio to Jaen (109k/16,515k, +3900ft)
Peru first impressions
(June 24 – written by Dave) First up, rumours of our demise are greatly exaggerated. We had a good sleep and feel much better today after just hanging most of the day. We re-met fellow cycle travellers – Philipp and Kathrin from Germany. We met them a week ago in El Tambo, Ecuador and have … Continue reading Peru first impressions
A sting in the tail –Zumba Ecuador to San Ignacio Peru (76k/16,406k, +7,200ft)
(June 23 – written by Dave) This will be a short post. We spent all day on the bikes, arriving at San Ignacio, Peru at 5:30. My bicycle computer registered over 8 hours of moving time. We only had 26k to ride in Ecuador this morning. 26k – simple.. It took us 5 hours. Yes, … Continue reading A sting in the tail –Zumba Ecuador to San Ignacio Peru (76k/16,406k, +7,200ft)
Sun in the Andes – Vilcabamba to Palanda (79k/16,280k, +7200ft)
(June 21 – written by Nancy) (Posted on 22/June - it failed to go out due to slow network yesterday - this blog is for yesterday) One last quiet night at the Le Rendez-Vous Guesthouse was all I got – I couldn’t convince Dave that maybe we should hang out a bit longer to get … Continue reading Sun in the Andes – Vilcabamba to Palanda (79k/16,280k, +7200ft)
Andes dirt –Palanda to Zumba (50k/16,330k, +4300ft)
(June 22 – written by Dave) Today’s theme was dirt. We knew that the road between Palanda and the border had some washouts and associated dirt sections. But the truth be told, the road was just dirt. Sure there were heaps of washouts but mostly the last 35k, the road was simply dirt. If not … Continue reading Andes dirt –Palanda to Zumba (50k/16,330k, +4300ft)
Vilcabamba – Believe it or not…
(June 20 – written by Dave) Riding into Vilcabamba yesterday we saw number of signs featuring photos of older folks, along with nice sayings about how Vilcabamba was the place to be if you wanted to live longer. The longevity story all started back in January 1973, when Dr. Alexander Leaf of Harvard Medical School … Continue reading Vilcabamba – Believe it or not…
Fun in the sun! –Loja to Vilcabamba (43k/16,201k, +2,300ft)
(June 19 – written by Dave) No rain today. Sun. What a fun day! What a difference a day makes. We had some high clouds in the morning but by 10AM we were in full sun. We were both a little overdressed but because we are so used to not having sun, we hadn’t put … Continue reading Fun in the sun! –Loja to Vilcabamba (43k/16,201k, +2,300ft)
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