31. January 2012
“Don’t go to Lima!”
That’s what most people say when we are talking about going there. Or they advise us that if there is no way around it to at least pass it as quickly as possible. Since we changed our route because of the rainy season in the mountains there is no way for us to avoid Lima but instead of cycling through it we figure it will be wiser to take the bus so that we will not have to go through areas about which we’ve been told: “don’t stop no matter what!” So we decide to take the overnight bus from Tujillo and to be even more safe, let alone comfortable we opt for the super luxury VIP (they actually call it that!) version.
A good choice! After mounting the bus and sitting down we realize that this is going to become the most comfortable bus ride of our lives. Everything has an air of going first class on a plane, the seats are huge, there is even enough leg space for Markus, and a good looking stewardess provides us with food, drink, a blanket and a pillow. Wow! So all in all we make it fairly well rested to Lima.
The drop off station is San Isidro one of the finest districts of Lima. Our bikes make it in one piece, the luggage is complete and so we are quickly on our bikes to find a place to stay in Miraflores, another recommended district. This is the place to go to for good food and a vibrant night life. On the third try we find a place, not exactly cheap but very comfortable with the best showers on our trip, a balcony, a minibar and the best breakfast buffet so far. The buildings in this district are mostly finished and the clean streets are lined by a mixture of old colonial style and hyper modern upscale houses. The plan for the following days is to eat well and a lot and do some of the things that tourists do.
So we visit the Plaza de Armas, are lucky to witness the changing of the guards, and we go for long walks in Miraflores and Barranco which has a “Puente de los Suspiros” (bridge of sighs) popular for first dates. There are narrow cobblestone streets lined with a variety of small cafes and good to excellent restaurants. We sit down, sip on Pisco Sour and do people watching enjoying the European flair. For dinner we sample the good restaurants and Markus has cuy (guinnea pig, tastes like duck he says) and I enjoy my causa (peruvian style potatoe salad, delicious) and a tuna dish which is mouth watering! At night the city really awakes and all the trendy bars and dance clubs open up. For us it is time to return to our crispy clean sheets maybe we will stop by at the bar for a night cap.
Thanks Lima, for this unexpected experience!
17. January 2012
Peru is a Dangerous Country?!
For days we have been cycling in the desert, struggling with strong headwinds, welcoming every little shop that sold cold drinks (of which there are not so many on the road) passing slum like areas, sometimes people literally living in the dirt on landfills looking for useful trash. Mostly we received warm welcomes, kids playing in the dirt and old people sweeping in front of their modest homes alike were waving at us shouting a friendly “hola” or “buenas dias”. In front of one little shop a women got some chairs from inside so that we wouldn’t have to sit on the curb drinking our coke.
After a long an strenuous ride on one of those days, around lunch time, a big, new, and good looking restaurant appears in the middle of nowhere. We are hungry and tired and want to get out of the wind so we are pulling in. In the middle of our lunch a bunch of police officers enter, obviously having lunch themselves. One of them is walking up to us, telling us that this is a dangerous place, asking us where we are heading and advising us to wait until they are done eating so that they can escort us through town. Well, we think, another nice story to tell at home. Since this is Peru lunch is an important meal and they are taking their time while we are long finished. After a while we don’t want to wait any longer and we tell them that we are getting back on the road. “no problem”, he says “there will be another car waiting for you”. And indeed, we have barely pulled out of the restaurant as we are being followed by a police car, obviously willing to give us protection. As we are turning right to Puerto Malabrigo they are pulling over telling us to be careful and that they are going to be be there the next morning, here at the crossroads, to escort us the rest of the way out of town.
The last 16 km are fun because for once we can turn out of the wind and with an average speed of 22 km/h we are swishing to our destination. It turns out to be a nice hotel with a balcony and sea view and it is peaceful and quiet here. We are cooking our dinner on the balcony, have a good nights sleep and by morning we have forgotten about our new police friends.
The wind has subsided mostly so even the 16 km ride back to the crossroads is easy. On the way back we are blessed by a nicely dressed middle aged woman with flowers she wants to take to her Lord. She is shaking our hands, admiring what we are doing and wishes us a warm “¡vaya con Dios!”
About 200 m after we have turned right, back into town, they are there again, a police car, going slowly behind us! We wave and they wave and professionally they are guiding us out of town. As we have reached the carretera Panamericana again they pull over, tell us to be careful especially of the trucks and wish us “Buen viaje”. Never felt so safe riding my bike before!
Cycling along, every now and then we are passed by more police cars and we are wondering if we are being handed on along the way to Huanchaco, our destinaton for today.
22. November 2011
Cycling in Quito
11-6-201
Today we took our bicycles around town for the first time. Of course riding here is different from riding in big cities in the US and certainly different from riding in Germany.
At first sight traffic seems chaotic and one might think that going by bicycle is the least thing anyone would want to do. Nevertheless I felt safer than riding in El Paso, Texas or other US cities. For one there ARE a few cyclists going on the road so car drivers do see them once in a while. And then, since the way of driving is so spontaneous and rules like red lights are relative, drivers cut corners and so forth, everyone seems to be more attentive of what is going on around them. So I have the feeling that we are actully being seen on our bikes here. Also, what scared me a lot in the US was the fact that drivers often didn’t want to leave the lane they were driving in. Here everyone goes where there is space, so where we are going there is no space and so people just go where’re there is some.
By the way: the busses are Mercedes they stop when you ask them to, the door is always open, or, is there a door? Cars in general are smaller, today we took the bikes with us up into the restaurant, everything is as I said more chaotic but also far more flexible. A taxi into historic downtown costs 2$ and they are fast. Me likeee mucho.
11-8-2011
Today we took one of those public buses into town. There are always two people working on a public bus: one is driving, the other one is collecting the money, yelling at every stop where the bus is going and watching out that the driver doesn’t run over prospective passengers. The fare is 25 US cents no matter how far you go on the bus. That seems to be a reasonable price for a lot of people because the buses are always quite full. The roads in Quito are often very narrow and steep, imagine the streets of San Francisco but more crowded, and car drivers honking and making up their own rules. In this sympathetic chaos a big object like a bus is trying to find it’s way. The bus also not only stops bus stops but also when you want it to, you just have to let the money collector know.
Going up and down those narrow streets was as if being on the bus in one of the Harry Potter movies in which Harry goes on that crazy bus and the bus itself is able to narrow when it gets tight. Who needs roller coasters anyway? But, we got quickly to our destination, for almost nothing and have one more story to tell.
3. August 2011
Hates and Likes
We have been on the road for almost 3 weeks now. There are hates and likes. Among the most hated is, in the following order Heavy traffic, Logging trucks, pick up trucks (especially Dodge Rams and Chevrolets), small shoulders (below 3 feet), rain, headwinds, very steep elevations. Heavy traffic combined with small shoulders is the worst. Yesterday we were driving on Highway 18 (heavy traffic, small shoulders) for the whole day. 90 km (approx. 60 miles). What exhausted us were not the hills, it was the noise. Whenever one of that fricking logging trucks passed us I held on the the handlebars as strong as I could. It made me all tense.
The best thing that can happen to you as a travelling cyclist is meeting people. Whenever we would stop at a corner looking at the map or just stop within a city there would be most definitely someone who sees it and walk up to us with a friendly:”Can I help you”? That way we have already avoided a lot of detours, found nice spots to stop for lunch, were invited into the house for a shower (after a great lunch break on the beach) or people were just wishing us to stay safe. In a bakery were were offered to use the computer after asking for internet access… I am just trying to imagine that to happen in a German bakery. We are literally carried along on a wave on friendliness and help.
The last two days we spent at Nadine’s and Jon’s (who only knew us from the internet before!) For two nights we slept in a beautiful room ate the best food ever (all freshly picked!! and organic) and drank beautiful Oregon wine. We met people (a wine maker, a young woman from Idaho, a gay couple from San Francisco who were just hilarious). We could harvest beans, cucumbers, and pattypan squash together with Nadine and Jon, would sit on the couch on the porch in the morning drinking coffee. It was the perfect place to relax and that’s what we did.
Actually we’ve had so many invitations that we cannot follow them are. So thank you for everyone for inviting us into their homes, taking us in, being friendly and interested. That has already made our trip very exceptional.
5. February 2011
Bicycle Meets Car