Then it got Chile

Well, things have calmed down a bit since the last blog. We spent a few days at Moquegua being well looked after by Claudio and his mum who owned the hotel. Taking us around the town to get the drugs prescribed by the hospital and showing us the town. Sandra's leg improved enough for us to continue and then it was a short ride to the Chilean border.


Peru had certainly delivered its ups and downs. It seemed hard work at times but most certainly it is a true motorcycle adventurer country.

During our final day in Peru we had met two Argentina riders who where returning home after a few weeks on the road Sebastian and Diego were a great help showing us the best routes and places to visit in Chile. They also asked us to call them when we reach Benou Aries so we could meet up again.

The border crossing was quick and easy, relatively speaking, and we made our way into Chile. We met up with a couple of Californians at the border and one of the chaps spoke fluent Spanish which made life a little easer.

Anyway we had decided to stop first some 300km south of the border at a place called Iquequi. This turned out to be a tough ride with a surprising amount of desert and of course heat.


Concerns about fuel hit me too. Not many fuel stations in the desert but the big tank (slightly less capacity then it once had due to a number of dents in it) made sure we had enough fuel. What was immediately apparent about Chile is that the cars have got a lot posher than Peru. These were new cars, big cars and all of them seemed much more upmarket then what we have been used two since leaving Panama.

The roads were very good too. As we reached Iquequi we came across a huge line of traffic. Slipping to the front of it we found that two Chilean policemen had held the traffic up while a load that had been shed from a lorry was replaced. Now given our experience with the cops in Peru we were at first a little uncomfortable, but should not have been. They laughed and joked with us, well as best you can without understanding each other. They remarked at how dirty the shed had become and all in all we had a good time while the blockage was, well, unblocked and we went on our way. We stopped at a rather posh hotel on the sea front and got settled in then went into town. Again, it was very different to the towns we had become used too. Big bright shopping centres, lots of banks and expensive restaurants, all very different indeed. We also noted that with this finery comes expense. Everything in Chile is expensive, not only compared to Peru but to Britain as well.


The next day saw a short run again through desert to Antofagasta and another overpriced hotel. A big port for Chilean import and export this is a busy town. I woke up the next morning bright and early and marvelled at how busy the Chileans are at 06:30 in the morning. Looking down on the street it looked like rush hour. At breakfast I noticed the local news on TV and was horrified to notice that the TV clock showed it two hours later than we thought it was. When we came over the border we should have adjusted our clock by two hours, we did not, and what is odd it took us two days to realise our mistake.

On this road you pass the Hand of the Desert. A huge sculpted hand sticking out of the sand. Every biker who passes it has his or her photo taken with it and we were no exception.


So we were two hours late setting off. Mind you it was a short run to a town called Taltal on the coast. A tiny town with a beautiful square and only a few restaurants and pubs. After what turned out to be a lengthy search we found a hostel on the sea front with a room, a sea view and a good restaurant. We had a walk around the town for a while, ate then bed.


The next day was a run to another sea side town called Bahia Inglesa. On the way we passed the 20,000 miles mark (22,000 if you count the Cancun run) of our journey. This town is a fantastic place, yellow sand and turqouise sea. We found a little hostel with a suite of rooms for about ?30 a night.

Now my best friend Richard had planned to visit us in Santiago and he would arrive on the 25th of the month. We were a little ahead of schedule to meet up with him so we decided to stay an extra day in this lovely place. One great advantage to the hostel is we had our own cooking facilities, so we made a bee line for the store and bought loads of stuff to cook, stuff we had missed, boiled potatoes and vegetables, a good pork chop where amongst the treasurer trove of goodies we pigged out on.

Now this place had a few over landers on bikes visiting and we met lots of new friends there.

From there it was onto to La Serena a 250miles ride in more desert. We stayed at the most odd hostel you could imagine. In this old town we found this ultra modern hostel which resembled a hospital rather than a hotel. We were the only ones staying at it which gave it a odd feel. Still it was clean and cheapish and had parking for the shed.

A walk around the town was pleasant enough except for on thing. Dogs. Now the dogs here patrol the streets in packs maybe 10-15 dogs all on the march. Very odd indeed, and those with pet dogs, picked up there pets in order to protect them from the pack. If this pack got a mind to do some damage they would have no problem at all. It was a bit unnerving.

We only had a few days to prep for the visit from Richard. Now Richard had been one of our biggest supporters looking after our affairs at home and keeping things moving. He has also been given a list of goodies we need in order to keep us and the shed running. He has had to scarifies most of his baggage allowance for there items. Thanks mate.

Anyway the run down to Vina del mar was nice enough and the desert at last had turned to more greener countryside, a pleasant change. The weather here is cool in the mornings but much hotter in the afternoons. We have two nights here getting things sorted for a well deserved 5 day break in the nations capital with Richard and I have no doubt lots of beer.

Friday the 13th

Now I'm not a superstitious man. I can walk under ladders, ignore black cats as they run across my path and have never paid much attention to Friday landing on the 13^th of any month, but now maybe.........

All started well enough on Friday ( the 13^th )We got our bike out from the garage down the road from the hotel. It had rained the night before and everything was a little damp, quite cold and overcast in Puno, but we had seen worst. We loaded the Shed and headed off. Now I had the idea the the shortest distance between two points was a straight line and our destination was Moquegua, south west of Puno about 160 miles. Route 3 on the road map looked OK. I even checked it out on Google maps AND asked the receptionist about the road, It looked OK to me.

Indeed it was OK for the first 90 miles, a little rough but ridable. Then we hit our first road works and the road was diverted left then right onto sandy (remember I hate sand) areas then back onto rough tarmac. All the time we where climbing to well over 4000 metres and it remained cold. The road works went on for about 7 miles and it was really hard going in some muddy conditions.

Then as if by magic the road works stopped and only a sandy stretch of road lay ahead of us. We continued on believing that normal road surface would re appear, it did not.

The road soon disappeared altogether and we were just left with sand. We discussed turning back and I knew we had enough fuel to return to Puno (we never passed one fuel station getting to this point) but then we agreed that the sand must end soon and pressed on.

Then we had our first off. The Shed is an enormously heavy bike and the tyres fitted are hopeless on sand. Our speed was always low so a spill should be OK. Thankfully Sandra rolled away from the bike but I had my left leg caught under the right pannier. I wiggled free, only after Sandra had obtained super human power and lifted the bike enough for this to happen. No serious damage done. We got our breath and lifted the heavy shed up. Now even at sea level this is hard work but at 4200 meters its soul destroying and lung burning, but we got her upright.

Sandra offered to walk the next part of the road as the surface was just like a beach, very soft sand. I don't know how long it was before we reached firm sand but Sandra got back on only for us to have another tumble, both of us OK, but I could see the worried look on Sandra's face and hoped I did not look as worried as I felt.

We decided that Sandra should walk as I rode the bike as near to walking speed as I could. This was impossibly slow and slowly the Shed and I would get ahead. I would never let Sandra out of sight of the bike but at times she looked a long, long way away and it started to frighten me and I know Sandra felt the same. It was looking in the mirrors at Sandra that I had the third off of the day.

I knew we where slowly getting into trouble, the altitude was causing both of us problems, the temperature was dropping, the fuel would drain into the sand every time the shed went over and we were both very very tired. I knew that we could only have the energy to pick the bike up this time. If it went over again we could not pick it up. As we lifted the shed from the third spill Sandra pointed out that from the west the clouds looked very dark and threatening. We had to get moving.

You have to keep in mind all this time we had only seen one vehicle and some two and a half hours had passed. We felt completely alone, then the rain started. It was freezing cold and we quickly became wet through. Clearly we could not go on, so I decided that we needed to pitch the tent and get as warm as we could and ride out the coming storm.

As we took the tent from the bike and started to erect it our body temperature dropped and we were shivering badly. At this point we were both very cold, tired and scared. Just then we saw a couple of motorbikes approach us. I think these guys where local sheep or Lama farmers. Neither could speak English but it was made very clear to us that if we camped the storm would take our tent and then who knows what would happen to us.

I asked them for an escort out of the sand and they indicated that it was only 3Km to tarmac road. With additional help to right the bike should we take another spill we packed the tent and set off in convoy. It was more like 8Km before we saw the tarmac road some 100 meters away, Then the fourth and nastiest spill of the day. This was very bad as Sandra caught her leg under the left pannier and she screamed out in pain. I and our companions lifted the bike and saw to Sandra. She was in a lot of pain and in need of some medical attention, she could walk but only just. I have never felt so bad in all my life. I just wanted to hug her but I knew that time was short. The rain ,which was now hail, and the winds were biting cold. Sandra climbed on the back of one of our escorts bikes for the short 100meter run to the road, screaming again as she did so, her leg giving her much pain.

As we reached the road, there was no time for pleasantries with our rescuers who may have saved our lives. Sandra was hurt, it was beginning to snow and we had over 90Km left to run over even higher mountains. Things looked bad. So it was with a quick wave and a very genuine and big thank you that we left our rescuers and set off for the long ride to Moquegua.

It was my hope that we would outrun the storm, but this was not to be. Thankful for tarmac at last we pressed on. Unfortunately we had to climb even higher and as we did it got even colder. The rain was now just hale and quickly my visor just froze up. There was no way I could remove the ice from it, I just had to lift it. This worked for a short time till the same thing happened to my glasses. All I could do was look above them and below the raised visor which had now icicles hanging from it.

It should be noted that I could not speak to Sandra at any point through all of this as our intercom wires had not been connected in our haste to get of the mountains. I did however get the occasional squeeze from her telling me everything was all right. I can not tell you how much those squeezes meant to me, we were in serious trouble and she was telling me she was OK, she's incredible.

I was starting to shiver uncontrollably as the cold got a hold. Each side of the road had a layers of snow and we still had to climb higher.

Then the snow started to lay on the road as a kind of slush. This meant that speeds had to be reduced and corners taken even more carefully than before. I was really, really worried. I know that I had cocked up big time and wondered if we were going to ever out run the storm.

Then in the distance was some bright sky. As the mountains fell away in the far distance I could see that it was bright and this meant safety. It took nearly an hour and a half to reach the other side of the Andes and as we started to descend at last the temperatures got higher. However, we never did manage to out run the storm, just got closer to its leading edge. But we had made it to the safety and the warmth (relatively speaking ) of Moquegra. We headed for the centre and found a hotel. Sandra very carefully got of the bike and as I put the bike on the side stand it fell over once again, the fifth time in one day. I just wiggled out and left the bloody thing there. Two friendly locals lifted it for us.

The hotel was full or the receptionist refused to let us in, so I returned to Sandra and informed her of the bad news. Her leg really hurt and we were both still unable to stop shaking from the cold. We hailed a taxi, Sandra got in and I followed on the Shed until we reached a really good hotel, where a warm bath and food awaited us.

I know I made some big mistakes today and it could have turned out much worst than it did if it was not for a couple of great chaps who helped us out. People will tell you its all part of the adventure and it may well be, but it could have and should have been avoided, for which I take full responsibility and it will not happen again.

The next morning I took Sandra to the local hospital to get checked out. Her leg still hurt very badly. The local hospital was fantastic, more staff then patients, straight in, no waiting, within 30 minutes she was given an anti inflammatory injection, had four X-rays of her leg taken and had her leg bandaged up. Out of the hospital within 90 minuets. The whole thing costing less then £20.

So here we are some two days later reflecting on it all. Sandra and I have had some long chats and oddly enough we both agreed that although it had been a very, very frightening experience, at no point did either of us want to quit. Neither panicked at any point. Wrong decisions were made, yes, but we both have come through it and actually are still looking forward to the rest of our adventure together.

If another Friday turns up on the 13^th on our trip........ We are going to the pub

Peru.... I cant figure it out

It's been a while I know, I am sorry for the delay, but travelling through Peru has got me all confused and a bit bothered. I can't work it out at all. I don't know whether I love the place or cant stand it.

After we left the SOS children's village in Chiclayo (one of the things I really love about Peru) it was south again (as ever) and stopped at Chimbote, a really odd place with as much imagination as a small house brick. Dull and dirty, but oddly enough a great little harbour with an advent garde hotel right out of the twenties which made up for things a little. Now, the only real things of interest in the harbour were hundreds and hundreds of fishing smacks and a half sunken ship, not half a ship that had sunk, but a full ship that had half sunk. It really intrigued me but I wasn't able to find any more about it.

Already Peru was throwing curve balls at us. Stepping back a few hours on our way to Chimbote we had met up with some other over landers (the 'in name' for idiots who decide to give up everything and travel on motorbikes in foreign parts). These guys, man and wife, where travelling on a couple of Yamaha 600's and we had a coffee together in one of the old run down road side cafés. They told us they had been stopped by the Peruvian police for going the wrong way around a roundabout, we had done exactly the same thing at the same roundabout due to confusing markings some 20 minutes after them but had not been stopped. They told us how the police had threatened to impound their bikes unless they paid a big bribe. This bribe was reduced to exactly the amount in the Netherland's couple's wallets after some negotiation and an unsuccessful trip to the cash point.

Now all this would be academic to you blog reader but for the fact that the very next day we got caught in the evil Peruvian police corruption net. Having gone through a town and overtaken a lorry (after being waved on by the driver) Mr corrupt bastard policemen in his beat up Toyota lit the blues and twos, and flagged us down, so we pulled over. Bent cop 1 (we will call him bad greasy git cop number one for the sake of shortness) jumped out of the beat up car and proceeded to yell at me for speeding and overtaking. Bent cop number 2 (lets call him good greasy git cop number two) sat in the car smiling at us. I took my lid off and try to understand bad greasy git cop number one, but he wouldn't slow down and was in my view very aggressive.

Looking puzzled and trying to apologise for any unintentional behaviour, good greasy git cop number two beckoned me over to the passenger seat window. He, in greasy git cop English, asked me all sorts of nice questions about my job and England, his hand always resting on his revolver. In the mean time bad greasy git cop number one had distracted Sandra by showing gruesome pictures of high speed traffic accidents. Good greasy git cop number two then told me if I did not pay him some money the bike would be taken away. Now I wish I could tell you I was in control and took the moral high ground but I was genuinely scared and wanted this all over as quickly as possible. I opened my wallet (big mistake) and offered some solice. He basically took everything from the wallet. Fortunately it was the muggers wallet with limited cash in it but it was still more than the fine itself. Sandra tried to take a picture of them but they were ahead of the game and we could not get one.

Now this experience shook me and it had a real negative impact upon my views of this country. I was shaken and disturbed by it all and very upset with my inability to cope with this better. I was upset with Peru and did not like this one bit.

Anyway we went onto Nasca the home of the famous Nasca doodles in the sand. Wholly ticked off with Peru, these lines had to be good to impress me. Unfortunately they did nothing of the sort.

Can you see them...... no, nor could we.

Shot taken twenty seconds prior to us chucking up in the aircraft

The trip in the aircraft was nice enough but frankly the experience left me cold. I was begging to become a grumpy old man in Peru. Things did get better the next day as we went on a super low key tour of the ancient Nasca irrigation system and things started to look up. Rather than doodling odd shapes in the sand some accent Nascans actually spent their time doing useful stuff like providing the town with fresh clean water. Theses engineers build a series of canals with an ingenious way of adding oxygen to the water using spherical wells. Fantastic stuff which cheered me up no end.

From Nasca it was a two day ride across the Andes to Cusco, Now I will try and tell you about this mountain range but I don't have the words. Fantastic roads through some of the greatest scenery you could ever see. Climbing to over 15,000 feet you can actually feel how thin the air is, The Shed struggles too, never higher than third gear.

We stooped a lot to add or remove clothes.

This part of Peru is wonderful. However , the Andes had not finished with us yet and would strike an almost critical blow to us, but that's another story.

We reached Cusco, a much larger town then we expected, to find and make our way to the historical centre. We immediately became celebrities, well the bike did. People wanting their picture with it and the local cop (a nice one) commandeering a passer by and ordering him to take his picture with the shed. We where approached by a chap who had promises of cheap hotels and, oddly enough, he was spot on and found us a good hotel at a good rate. He later sorted out a tour to Mahcu Pichu at a not so good rate as it turns out. We had to be up at 5 the next morning to be picked up at the hotel to get a taxi and then a bus and then a train to get another bus to get us to Mahcu Pichu. What a place this is. The surroundings are breathtaking and it's history and it's survival are an incredible story, even though the recent Peruvian government's have messed this place up since the seventies, it remains, as it should, one of the new seven new wonders of the world.

I like this place very much.

However the whole trip to Machu Pichu started to unravel as we tried to return back to Cusco. We were told our train was at three and our tickets would be at a local restaurant, they weren't. After several not so polite phone calls we received faxed copies of two train tickets for 6 pm which only took us half way to Cusco some 100 Km short. This as you can imagine did nothing for my view of the Peruvian way of conducting business. To cut a long story short, we found ourselves 100Km away from the hotel at 8:30 at night in a town we hadn't even of heard of . The only thing we could do was get a taxi. The average Peruvian taxies are only cars in the academic term of the word. They must have been new once but many many years ago. This one banged and clattered. The driver was trying to keep himself awake and he also asked us for petrol money on the way. I was not happy about any of this. We did make it back and in one piece. The next morning I was at the tour agent demanding money back and at the end managed to get the taxi fare back and a free night paid for in our hotel. This cheered me up a bit.

Can you see now why Peru has its ups and downs. One moment I love it, the next something is ticking me off about the place or maybe it's just me.

From Cusco we set off to Puno. I liked this place and we had arranged a boat trip to the reed islands and Tequile island. This all day trip took us to see the remarkable people who live their lives on a floating bed of reeds. They showed how they fished and build the islands (constantly renewed). Sandra got dressed up in a traditional outfit and all in all it was a real pleasure to visit with them.

I think its the dress that does it for me.

It was then onto Tequile island over two hours away by boat. The island has steep sides and at this altitude was frankly difficult to climb up. We stayed a few hours, not to much to do or see, and returned to Puno by 5 o'clock. This altitude has caused both Sandra and I problems. For instance our hotel room was on the third floor with no elevator Just climbing the stairs had us gasping for breath and we needed to stop more than once.

Anyway we decided we would leave early the next morning and head back south toward the Chilean border. We would take route 3 the most direct route. This was to be a critical and almost catastrophic error.

A shared experience

Dear blog reader, this is a very different type of blog. It is a joint blog and though the text is identical we have tried to post different pictures to enable you to get a good look at the charity we are supporting and to remind you to take a look at the SOS children's village link on the home page to jog your memory of this wonderful cause.

Part of the journey was not only for ourselves but to raise awareness and hopefully a little financial assistance for SOS children's villages, a global organisation that assists children throughout the world who are orphaned or families who are experiencing difficulties in providing for their children. We came across this organisation at a motorcycle exhibition a couple of years ago when we were looking at adventure trips. A company there organised charity motorcycle tours to Africa raising funds for SOS children's villages through the fees for the trip. We went away and took a look at this charity and were both impressed by the way these children were supported in a family environment and encouraged to develop life and vocational skills to prepare them for he future.

On Sunday 1st November we visited a village in Chiclayo, Peru. We hired a taxi to lead us there and were introduced to Senor Heredia, the director of Aldeas Infantiles SOS Peru, and Denise who was our translator.



They told us about the history of the charity and the work done at this particular village. Here they took babies in of only a few weeks old and supported them in a family environment until they were young adults of 22 years. There were 13 houses each with a Mother who was a single lady and devoted her life to up to 10 children. One of these ladies had been there for 20 years. The village also ran a kindergarten to enable the parents of these children to seek education or training to enable them to get better jobs and provide for their families.

We were told of the fine achievements of some of the children who had lived at the village and Senor Heredia was clearly very proud of them all. He told us of a young man who had become a family lawyer, of people who ran their own businesses and of a young girl who had won a competition recently.

After this introduction we were then taken to visit some of the families. Each house was basic, clean, tidy and well organised but above all appeared to be filled with happy and polite kids. They were eager to show us their rooms, practice their English and offer us cookies, snacks and drinks. The families ate together round a big table, shared things and space and seemed to be supportive of each other all of which could be something that all of us in a more fortunate position could learn from.


We were then invited to join one of the families for a traditional Peruvian meal of raw fish marinated in lemon juice, duck with rice and glasses of corn juice. The whole experience was very, very memorable and left us with a feeling of being very special and welcomed guests.


We finished the day by taking photographs of children and Mothers sitting on the shed and the taking them for a short ride round the village. Some of the children were full of bravado until the shed roared away at which point they clung on and shut their eyes. Others remained defiant and many came back for more.

This charity is well worth supporting. We have seen and experienced the value of what it provides not only to the children but to the families of the children and we encourage you, dear blog reader, to visit the web site and read for yourselves and make a donation using the just giving link to the left of my blog page.

You may be waiting for us to complete the trip and if that's the case ? great... but it would encourage us and increase the funds if you could make a donation sooner rather than later. Just looking at the pictures and the enjoyment of the day, hopefully you will understand that this is a really worthwhile cause.

To the people who have already made a donation .. a big thank you and we hope you enjoy looking at the photographs of the children and Mothers at this particular village

Back to normal (gettit?) and an education in Ecuadorian roads

Well, the back finally got better. It took 12 days at Canoa taking it easy and not even looking at the bike never mind sitting on it, making sure we gave enough time for the back to settle down. Now Canoa, I bet you can tell, is one of our favourite places. We had a great send off when we finally decided to leave with Jonny, Becky, Elizabeth her husband and the Great Irish landlord Mark, not forgetting Tony who had said his goodbyes the day before. Thanks to you all for a making our stay so memorable.

It was with some anticipation that I climbed on the shed and rode her out of the sand that had caused the bad back but it was no problem. An almost deserted Canoa due to the early departure time disappeared in the mirrors and both Sandra and I hardly said a word as we rode off.

We had to take the ferry at a place called San Vicente. This was across the channel to Bahia. A long and even sandier path on to the ferry put paid to any lasting anxiety I had about sand and we climbed aboard for the short 20 minuet crossing.

From Bahia we had planned to go to Cuenca some 300 miles south. However the roads were just terrible. More construction and lots of off road sections, maybe 20% off road, meant the progress was pitifully slow. However, the scenery was just spectacular. Now road works and construction in Ecuador is not like in any other country we have been through. There is no warning, no countdown to road works. You can be drifting nicely through a left hand bend when suddenly no tarmac, no nothing just lose stones and mud. This means when you're on tarmac you are always ready for the unexpected, which keeps the speed down and the tension up.

The temperature rose as the sun got higher and we started to overheat a little. Being near the equator the sun comes up at 6 am and goes down at 6 pm. This, as you get higher in the mountains, creates some cold nights so we try and get all our riding in early. As we were hot and tired from the constant off road effort we knew our goal of Cuenca would be difficult so we settled for Guayaquil some 100 miles short of our target. This is a huge city (the largest in Ecuador) and as we approached we knew that the hotels would be plentiful, and they were, but also all full!

Now keep in mind we had spent the last 12 days as beach bums in a bamboo hostel, washing in cold sea water and living the basic but good life. Now faced with a big hot city, tired and hot, we did what any self respecting beach bum would do, we checked into the Marriott and spoilt ourselves rotten. Hot water with a shower that actually had water pressure, a massive bed that we did not get eaten by bugs in and overall, right posh. To be honest for all its finery I don't think Sandra or I enjoyed it anywhere near as much as the last 12 nights and we left early the next morning, glad to be back on the road if not considerably lighter of wallet.

We found our way out of the city very easily and headed for Cuenca. Another day of hard riding and rough roads. We climbed to over 3500 meters where we were above the cloud base which made for spectacular views.



However, passing through the cloud base meant visibility was down to zero and I could see only 2 to 3 feet in front of the bike so we crawled along which concerned me. Not for what was in front but about the crazy Ecuadoran drivers hitting us from behind. Thankfully nothing untoward happened. We nearly did have a nasty spill at one point. Central and South America have speed humps at the entrance and exit to most towns or villages. Often these are painted yellow, some are not but I usually spot them anyway and slow down enough. I must have been distracted and this particular bump was not painted but we must have hit it at about 50 MPH. I shot of my seat as I felt Sandra do the same. Sandra went much higher and only be the grace of God landed back in her seat. She got really shaken up and hurt her leg against the panniers and I jolted my back. I slowed down and checked with Sandra to see if all was OK. Thank goodness she was fine with it, but she did say some very rude words.

We had planned on stopping in Cuenca but as time was good, as was the weather, we pressed on south to Loja. A total of 400miles in one day. Mind you my patience nearly ran out as we approached our destination and the road works got messier and more frequent. I desperately needed a beer. Sandra spotted a hotel and that was going to have to do. It did very nicely, still a bit posh but no where near the Marriott level
.
Refreshed, fed and watered saw a damp start to the day. We planed to get to the Peru border some 200Km south. The roads much better, we made great time and came to the border ahead of schedule.
Boarder crossings no longer fill us with dread, we just take our time. We know the procedures and this one was a breeze - through in 1 hour with not one cent changing hands. The roads miraculously become much, much better the instant we entered Peru. Unbroken tarmac meant that we could start to get a real wiggle on and the miles or kilometres just disappear behind the bike.

The scenery changed and there were no mountains now just flat, sandy stretches that would eventually turn to desert. We headed for Piura and made it in good time, found a hotel with a lock up for the bike and went out for a chicken dinner and the now usual beers.

Now this might be a good time to tell you about some of the pitfalls of being an adventure motorcyclist. Things are not always sweetness and light. I would like to dwell for a moment on the hygiene of the adventure motorcyclist. Firstly, you are sat for great periods of time, usually on a hard seat, overdressed in protective gear. One principle complaint the biker has is something called "monkey butt" but I will not linger on this. Neither Sandra or I have had this complaint but we have heard it about many others (Editors note:- Brian has now a scorching case of monkey butt). Other symptoms are over heating and beginning to smell like an old dead dog. This simply can't be helped and is the reason hotels with good showers are essential. However no matter how much you keep yourself clean the riding gear can not be washed as often and inevitably the stuff starts to stink to high heaven...... I thought you would want to know this.