21 Feb

HAYWAY Episode 35 – Huaraz, Peru

We have left the desert behind and have climbed back into the mountains following the River Santa to Huaraz in Peru’s famous Cordillera Blanca. It’s the world’s biggest mountain range outside of the Himalayas. Seems we can’t get enough of the Andes.

You get a bit of a cycle touring warts and all How Are You? Where Are You? podcast this week. Our stomachs have been rumbling (in a bad way) and Shelley experienced some strange esophageal feelings while on her bike.

Baden’s lunch will annoy pet lovers out there and Shelley rocks out her translation skills as we interview Luis D’Angelo, a legendary Trujillo host of cycle tourers from around the world.

Come along for the ride!

Casa de Ciclistas in Trujillo

Clockwise from top left: logo for Trujillo cycling house; Luis the owner; Baden at the offending market restaurant; Baden with Jean-Baptiste and the miraculous new tyre; Aji de gallina-coloured church.

Clockwise from top left: logo for Trujillo cycling house; Luis the owner; Baden at the offending market restaurant; Baden with Jean-Baptiste and the miraculous new tyre; Aji de gallina-coloured church.

Visiting Chan Chan

Cycle touring in Peru

From top: Chan Chan sits in the middle of the coastal desert; Baden and fellow cycle tourist from Brazil Daniel explore the site; restored squirrel art.

Riding Back Into the Andes

From top left and left to right: Baden feeling ill; remote mountain restaurant; reaching a paved road; the tunnels in Cañon del Pato; heading from the coast to the mountains; lunch in the shade of the canyon wall; crossing the Rio Santa; mototaxi licence plate; heading for Cañon del Pato; Cañon del Pato tunnel in the foreground and hydro dam behind.

Yunguay Earthquake Memorial

From top and left to right: View of the memorial park with mountain behind; crushed bus; replica facade of the church, one of the huge boulders from the mountain that wreaked such destruction; remains of the original church.

From top and left to right: View of the memorial park with mountain behind; crushed bus; replica facade of the church, one of the huge boulders from the mountain that wreaked such destruction; remains of the original church.

Street Scenes

Clockwise from top left: fruit seller with traditional hat; Inca Kola advert; street knife sharpener; guinea pig , or cuy, for lunch; guinea pig mascot outside restaurant.

Clockwise from top left: fruit seller with traditional hat; Inca Kola advert; street knife sharpener; guinea pig , or cuy, for lunch; guinea pig mascot outside restaurant.

Our Ride Back Into the Andes

18 Feb

Mobile library

childrenofthedaysChildren of the Days
Eduardo Galeano
This book blew me away. Galeano also wrote The Open Veins of Latin America, so I expected it to be good. He uses each day of the calendar year to tell a story about whistleblowers, rebels and free thinkers from around the world, but particularly Latin America.

Read More

12 Feb

HAYWAY Episode 34 – Chiclin, Peru

We have been hammering it through Northern Peru. How did we get so fit? It seems like a lifetime since we were plodding through France trying to get used to this whole cycle touring thing if you consider a life to be 10 months.

Check out the map below to see our effort over the first 11 days of February. We talk about why we’ve been putting the pedal to the rubber-soled shoe if that’s an acceptable use of the phrase.

There’s been a lot of nothing riding through the deserts of Northern Peru but it has provided us with stunning scenery and plenty of time to contemplate some of the environmental issues in this part of the world, which we talk about in this week’s How Are You? Where Are You? podcast.

We were also invited to a sugar-fuelled rave masquerading as a 2-year-old’s birthday party and the quality of the cooking in Peru has been a big step up for this trip. The big question is why Shelley has been preferring to eat all this magnificent food with less-than-hygenic implements?

Desert Riding

Cycle touring in Peru

Clockwise from top: the road frequently stretched as far as we could see; we’ve been setting off early to escape the midday sun; whole lot of nothing; the only place selling drinks in the desert. Shame they weren’t cold.

Life in Peru

Cycle touring in Peru

Clockwise from top left: El Niño starts in this part of the ocean; Zika Virus warnings at the border; the famous King Kong biscuit; Peruvian moto-taxi

Sugar Party

Cycle touring in Peru

Clockwise from top left: party treats; with Lester, our party host in Sullana; Baden edges in on the cake; Duck rice; Manta Ray Omelette; Crazy hour at Stephanie’s party

Our Big Push Through Northern Peru