Huancacho, Trujillo - Huarmey

9 december:

I liked Huancacho: the beach is looong, and along it, flows the worlds longest "left-sided" wave. It`s also where they have those famous strawboats for fishing and alternative surf-paddling, called . The men are too aggressive. Not just to tourists, but a local woman I was talking to while investigating a health club, told me that men were like that much more than in parts like Colombia. It is uncomfortable to be approached by men in their 40-50s, though I don`t let it bother me too much. The car honking is worse, as I get a bit jumpy. I wonder if they would`ve continued if they had known that I`m nineteen; Just a little niña.
As for the health club, if you`ve fallen in love with the town and the healthy lifestyle of eating fish and surfing, then its good to know that they have that little club of theirs with events, deals, treatments, etc. They were really nice and warm people as well. I met the husband of the manager, and the first thing he said to me was; - "So You`re the Jenny! I`m so glad I got to meet you! I heard so much talk about you today. The biker girl." I got to hear that a few times.
I had arrived the day before and already I was famous with the locals.
Later on, I investigated some more about hostels in the area. My hostel, My Friend, is cheap and okay. They have a good setlunch. Nicer hostels for 5 soles more are Naylamp and Lily`s. Also Hotel Suissa, but that`s more indoor-enjoyment. Hostel Muachaco is just as cheap as My Friend, but has a kitchen and a single room which is pretty dense.
I`ve been enjoying my stay, walking around and up to the little church, sunbathing, having ceviche, lots of strawberries: 2 soles for 1 kg of good strawberries. That`s not even a dollar! The waves have been bad again, and the water is pretty cold.



I met a couple I`ve been running into in every country so far, and I met another couple that`s also travelling by motorcycle(on one). I rode with the guy down to Trujillo to meet up with Ocean for dinner. We rode around the city, exploring. It was great. Truly interesting! It`s all new brands, food, people, places, colonial architecture, weird stuff and dead ends that are made into volleyball courts with the net hanging from one building to the other. I love how SA can never be boring.
He let me drive the bike for a bit. It was fun but pretty horrible, and getting on my own bike the next day was a true delight. We rode in the orange sunset around the dusty market-areas, that looked like something taken out of Cape Town, before he dropped me off at Ocean`s nice hotel: hostal Colonial. We spent the night, digging Trujillo. The city is strange in some ways. There are so many ice cream bars, casinoes, but it`s so hard to find shops and restaurants! We located the tiny food area two blocks to the right of the Plaza de Arma, if you`re facing the big church. Go to the packed chinese place next to San Julio. We stuffed ourselves there, and then some more, on one of the good ice cream bars. It was a good night and a good impression of a city that most people don`t like.





I hit the Pa-panamericana in the afternoon today. It was an enjoyable and thereapeutic ride. The deserts still changed. Some places there would be green fields with sand Mountains, framing the view. Other places, the desert would go straight into the big, diamond Pacific. I stopped for some fish in the largest fish harbour, called Chimbote. I could smell that I was approaching. The waitor was extatic to get to speak english. It`s not a pretty city, and a receptionist in the nice town of Casma, where I asked for advice about the next town, told me that it can be dangerous. Casma was pretty, but I had some more kilometres in me, and I continued to a place I had never heard about: Huarmey.

I arrived around 5, and got a recommendation for a hotel called Venus, and I was really pleased by the nice welcome I got from the people there. They`re a great bunch. It felt more like a home than a hotel. After a chat, I went for a walk and ended up playing volleyball with some locals who invited me for a new game tomorrow night. I decided that I really do like this town! I hadn`t seen any gringos yet, but I was spotted by two guys from czech, while I was relaxing in the park. They invited me to their hostel, Crazy Jaimes hostel, where I am now. I feel a bit bad as they`ve already given me coffee, tea and a local dish for free, even though I don`t stay here. I want to recommend that place, as its the only sociable hostel in Huarmey. It has a tv, free pushbikes, a kitchen, nice staff, parking, a guitar, free breakfast, a computer, and all for 15 soles. I really like the other place too. You get a lot more for your money in less travelled areas(not always). There`s also this other guy who`s travelling by push bike, and an italian who`s cooking for us tomorrow night! Where was he when I was in poorly fed in Colombia and Ecuador? Typical to meet him now that there`s actually good and cheap food. We`re all going to the beach, Tuqillo, tomorrow. I`m glad I went the extra miles.



(Plaza de Armas, Huarmey)



Victor had been less fortunate... His bike had broken down three times in the desert, and he has to go on a 15 hr bus back up north to where the bike is. And he was in a worse hurry than me... Two times sick and then that.

10 december:

Blogging in the middle of a tiny party, here. In the evening yesterday, I was introduced to a colombian and his ecuadorian girlfriend, who are travelling on a KLR 650, down past Lima. We decided to travel together. I spent that morning looking for the hostel, which I never found because I forgot the name, and I ended up returning to previous hotel with a tail between my legs. http://www.jaimecrazyperu.com/proyecto4/index7.html is the webpage.

On the way to the beach, my chain fell off again, so it was great that the colombian guy could help me out with tightening it. I really need to get it changed in Lima. The beach is 15 min from downtown and its b.eautifully turqouise. The water is however freezing!
My friends from the other hostel showed up too. I felt bad, as they had waited all morning for me to come around. After some good conversations about South American politics and society(in spanish), we teamed up on the bikes: 2 and 3. I was surprised that the police didn`t stop them as they were three people, but I guess they really just care for trailers and buses.
I went for my volleyball appointment, chilled out, all exhausted from sun and bad sleeping for a long time, before my friends picked me up to go here to the hostel for some cuy(hamster) and pisco sour. I never had cuy before. It`s good! Like a fatty chicken, I guess. The accessories were delicious. Can`t wait to try alpakka, which is supposed to be Really good. I was up for testing something new today. My diet is just fruit, ceviche, other fish and sublime, chocolate and almond ice cream. Still love the peruvian cuisine!
Now they`re all convincing themselves to stay another night to go to a disco here downtown. I`m still keen on hitting the road tomorrow, to go to San Bartolo and surrender my bike, before perhaps going to Lima. But it Is after all very cheap and nice here.. to be continued

Desert riding to Huanchaco

I left behind 622km of desert road today. I didn`t calculate on how windy it would be. It was a tough ride, and it wasn`t possible to ride faster than 110km/h, even though the roads were long, vast and flat. Every time I would overtake or pass by a truck, the wind would shift to either pull or hit me. The landscape was new and interesting. Especially right south of Mancora, where you suddenly enter a beautiful oasis. You pass by different levels of desert: from vegetational desert, to yellow, to white, to desert with a mountanious horizon that like a norwegian mountain would have pockets of snow, have sand instead, because of the wind. It was the first time I`ve seen Real poverty and some landscape covered in colourful plastic bags that got stuck in bushes. The panoramic views were impressive, and the roads themselves are good. I was once again thinking about how good life is to me. Just because I was in the middle of nowhere on the 7th of december, and a bit because along the roads, people were spending their whole lives in what I think of as a nowhere, celebrating with a tree they will never see, I started playing different christmas songs in my head. Surprisingly enough, I actually got some christmas spirit! Have I ever done anything less related to christmas then motorcycling through peruvian desert, though?

I didn`t stop for much else than gas-filling. Gas is expensive in Peru. One stop was due to a bridge being shut off because of some riot or something. I saw a bunch of people being chased into a field by the police that were shooting rubber bullets. I will never know why.
Traffic in Trujillo is crazy, but I made it to Huanchaco. Thank God that I went all the way! It`s great here. I found a hostel called my friend, for 10 soles, met some nice people, had a big plate of ceviche for 7; a special deal from the owner that invited me for some beers. I walked along the big beach at sunset, met some people from Mancora, at when I bought my first Cola. Never craved it in my lief. I`m just tired after today... Feel Really bad for the one`s I`ve met who are travelling by push bike on that stretch!! I`ll break up my ride down to Lima into two days to be able to enjoy it enough. I`m halfway. Actually passed by Victor. Ocean is staying in Trujillo to get some writing done. We`re all meeting up for Frode`s birthday party in Lima on saturday. It`s nice to make some closer friends here and there. You get too tired if you only have lots of random aquaintences.