Take Me Back to Ecuador

First Day in Peru

I crossed into Peru at the Macara / La Tina border. It was 10am but already the desert sun was baking the land and everyone on it. Fortunately this was the quietest and easiest border yet. Everyone on both sides of this border was really friendly. At the military check point on the Peru side the main guard gave me a cold bottle of water. Thanks, Israel!

Before I left a family came up and asked if they could take a photo of their baby son on my motorcycle. Why not. The weird thing was they didn’t say another word to me. Just to take a photo. They didn’t ask about the motorcycle or anything. I wasn’t offended, just thought it was an interesting social interaction.

Thirty miles into Peru I was riding by a small village when my rear tire went flat. Luckily I was right by a tire mechanic. I pulled the wheel off and let Moises use his tire irons to pull the tire off. After finding a small leak on the inside of the tube we checked the rim but couldn’t find anything that would have caused a puncture.

Moises patched the hole but I wanted to use the new tube I had with me. I’ll keep the patched tube as a spare now. We put in the new tube and popped the tire back on the wheel. I got the wheel back on and was good to go. I couldn’t get Peruvian money at the border so I only had US $ (which Ecuador uses) Moises said he just wanted the small tire pressure gauge I had with me. I was amazed he didn’t have one of these. He’s the town tire repair guy but all he does is hit the tire with a steel bar and judges if a tire is good. I have a feeling I won’t be able to find a pressure gauge easy but I was glad to have Moises’ help. Before I left his wife gave me the largest mango I have ever seen.

The rest of the day I rode through endless miles of desert. The heat and boring landscape exhausted me. I had to pull over and take a break. I went through the last of my water and sat down on a sand dune to eat the giant mango. With no napkin or water to wash my hands from the sticky mango juice I had to lick them clean.

I drove into a Chiclayo and spent 2 hours driving around trying to find a hotel I could afford that had parking for my motorcycle. I finally gave up and started riding south and found a spot to stay for the night about 20 minutes outside the city. Only a day into Peru I was wishing I was back in Ecuador where it was cooler, more beautiful, and cheaper. I knew the coast isn’t worth staying in so I’ll head into the mountains tomorrow. Hoping this was just a bad start and that things will turn around tomorrow.