RogoRides

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It was a nice day in Chiclayo—even though the temperature is hot here, there are nice breezes. Dave followed the recommendations from the bell captain and took Tiburon to be washed. The first stop was at the Petro-Peru service station. They asked if Dave was willing to pay the 10 Soles (3.33 US) for washing a motorcycle, when he said he was the job began. The 2-hour job left Tiburon clean and sparkling.

Dave then went in search of 10w-40 synthetic oil, but that was not to be found. He was told, “Only in Lima”. Dave then drove to the local Yamaha dealership and decided on a 10w-50 semi-synthetic. The service team there was very efficient; they changed the oil and straightened out the bash plate that had been badly battered during our drive on the roads in Ecuador. The mechanics were very careful. When it came time to pay the bill there was no charge for labor, just for the 3 quarts of oil. Dave insisted on paying something since they straightened the bash plate and installed the filter he provided (our last filter). They agreed to charge him $10.00 for labor.

There are apparently no American-style Laundromats in Chiclayo, so the laundry will have to wait once more.

When Dave returned with Tiburon, we went exploring Chiclayo and had lunch at the Hebron Restaurant, which had open air seating on the second floor with great views of the activity on the city streets below. The restaurant offers many local specialty dishes and drinks. We noticed pitchers of liquid in various colors on the tables of other diners and asked our waiter what they were. One was lemonade, another was chicha morada de maiz morado – blue drink of blue corn. Blue corn? That’s what he told us. The couple at the next table overheard us asking about it and beckoned the waiter, telling him to bring us a sample. It was delicious, sort of like Welch’s grape juice but with a delicate spicy flavor; we ordered a half pitcher to go with lunch. Our waiter’s name was Francisco, and he had been studying English; he described how the drink was made, using blue corn, pineapple, water and spices all heated together then strained. At any rate, it was very good and extremely refreshing.

We then took advantage of our “day off” and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Tomorrow we will head south toward Lima.

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We were on the road early today as we still are not even halfway through Peru, and it is at least 8 hours to Lima, which is the halfway point. Our route today will take us to Trujillo, then Chimbote, and our target for the night is Barranca. We said goodbye to the staff at the Hotel Central at 8am and followed the good directions out of Chiclayo back to the Pan-American Highway headed south.

Almost immediately after leaving the city proper, the landscape once again turned to desert, with dunes and distant mountains showing no sign of green whatsoever. We have heard on the local news that the rains in the mountains have been terrible and have caused lots of problems; we have not even seen the mountains since we left Colombia, and today was no exception. The mountains that we see are just the foothills of the Andes, nothing more.

We made exceptional time on the extremely good roads; traffic was not heavy except in the major towns, and there was usually a bypass route that kept us out of the main streets. We are finding the gas stations are fewer and further between in this desert area, and today for the first time we filled our reserve bottles (total 2 liters of gasoline, about 20 extra miles.) The scenery was at once boring and fascinating—the same as we saw yesterday, bare rocks and sand that was suddenly overtaken by cultivated areas in brightest verdant green wherever a river came down out of the Andes. All along the roadway are cables of red, orange and blue conduit and signs of ditching; it appears that more cultivated area is planned. It does look very odd to see tractors plowing the desert sand.

The Dune Zones appeared again (this time Pam got a picture of the sign), along with dunes larger that any we had seen previously—one that was right alongside the road must have been at least 300 feet high. In the area the wind was very strong and we could see the sand blowing across the road into drifts. At least in Chicago the drifts will melt away after awhile….

While the mountains were mostly bare of vegetation, they had their own raiment of colors; the different rock formations and striation of geology made a dazzling contrast even in the dull desert colors. And of course there were the mountains that were bare on the lee side and had sand creeping up on the windward side, slowly being engulfed by the desert. Weird. Then suddenly we would happen on a small town with a glorietta (traffic circle) skirting us around the town and keeping us on the Pan-American Highway. The gloriettas are now beginning to have interesting sculptures in the center; we snapped 2 of the strangest, which were a fish and what appears to be an Inca totem.

It was getting later in the afternoon, so we started to keep an eye out for hotels. There was a sign leading off the desolate highway to Culebras, so we followed it down a barely paved road till we reached a small fishing village. No hotel, but plenty of local color in the harbor; some of the fisherman had just returned and were bringing their catch ashore—looked like some good-sized flounder among other things. WE snapped a few photos, then returned to the main highway.

The next spot of any size on our map was Huarmey. It was a small town located just off the highway; we stopped at a gas station and asked the attendant if he knew of any hotels on the beach. He didn’t, but directed us to the town center. On the way there, we asked the same question of a local security man. He also directed us to town. At a stop light just off the main square, we were flanked by two taxi drivers who asked where we going. When Dave told them we were looking for a hotel on the beach, they both said “Tuquillo!”. It was about 10 kilometers back north, then a winding road down to the beach. We followed their instructions, and about 2 kilometers off the main highway (through dirt road and drifting sand), we came to the tiny beach area of Tuquillo. We drove to the end of the road where we found a small hotel called Costa Virgen. The road was so deep in sand that Pam had to climb off and walk up the last part of the road. Our luck held, they had one room left; only a room, shared bath, no TV, Phone, or electricity other than 730-1030pm. Not a problem for us; the hotel sits on a point surrounded by salt water, seaweed covered rocks, shell beaches and crashing waves. It was heaven.

We parked Tiburon on the rock “landing” between the hotel patio and the driveway; then changed and went for a walk on the beach. This beach is actually almost all seashells and not much sand (surprisingly, given the amount of sand we have encountered on the road.) We watched two different kinds of crabs crawling about the rocks, and looked for sea lions on the outer shoals, but didn’t see any. After wandering and taking lots of photos, we came back to the hotel to enjoy the sunset.

The hotel serves dinner upon request for an extra fee (12 soles—about $4USD pp). Our host Pedro is also the chef; we were offered a choice of chicken or fish cooked however we like—of course we took the fish. It was excellent, grilled whole, with rice, French fries, and fresh blanched vegetables. Dave asked for beers to go with dinner, and Pedro was very apologetic, but they had none. The party at the next table had heard us ask though; they had brought their own supply and offered us two. We chatted for a bit; he worked in the mining industry and was on a project nearby; his wife had driven with the kids down from the mountains where it had been raining profusely and they were all staying at the hotel for a few days. We also chatted with another couple from Cornwall, England; they were surfers on 5 months’ holiday, and had started in Chile and were just working their way north looking for good waves. We told them about Los Organos; they had heard of it, and were glad to get confirmation. They were leaving at 6am the next morning to go out surfing. After dinner, we sat out on the patio for a while listening to the waves. Several other guests had returned to the hotel after being out for the day (more surfers), and one had parked right behind Tiburon, which would block our exit in the morning. Dave asked for Pedro’s help in identifying the owner and working out parking to everyone’s satisfaction. We retired to our room where Pam worked on the log for the website for a little while until the lights suddenly went out, right at 1030pm. Good cue to get a good night’s rest.

Tomorrow we continue south. Wonder if we will find more sand?

Below is where we were this night – I looked at the closeup satellite photo and it looks like the close shots were taken through an ocean fog blowing in off of the water.

Latitude: -10.0194
Longitude: -78.1948
Nearest Town from unit Location: Tuquillo, Peru
Distance to the nearest town: 0 km(s)
Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/08/2008 22:07:26

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-10.0194,-78.1948&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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We set our alarm for 6:30 am but were awake before it went off. The lack of electricity and peaceful setting out on this desolate point made for a good nights sleep. When we looked out our window we were fogged in and the motorcycle was dripping wet. You could make out the glare of the sun above through the fog. Pedro prepared us breakfast of freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee and toast with butter and jam.

We loaded the bike, had our breakfast and said goodbye to our hosts. We made the tricky descent down to the beach and then the even trickier transit of the beach. The sand was several inches deep but the heavy bike slithered its way through with just enough traction to keep from bogging down. Once off the beach the road up the hill back to the Pan American highway was pretty solid. Glimpses of bright sunshine shown through the fog, it was going to be a beautiful day.

We continued south along the Pan Am driving through this stark desolate land, usually in sight of the blue pacific. The highway climbed up hundreds and sometimes thousands of feet and then descended back to the beach several times.

An hour or two after we left Toquillo we noticed that the traffic was starting to build as we were within 100 miles of Lima. It continued building until we reached the official “Welcome to Lima” sign 12 kilometers from the city center, then became just bizarre. Unlike the rest of Peru the drivers became very rude and aggressive. Traffic was terrible; we saw lots of broken glass on the roadway, and were caught up in a backup from a roll-over accident. Unlike the rest of Peru the drivers became very rude and aggressive. The ambulance fought its way through traffic sirens blaring and pleading over loudspeakers to move out of the way this was a mission of mercy; the lanes were all blocked and no one moved over until the police started directing traffic. It was pretty much stop and go all the way through Lima, all completely on the Pan-American highway except for a brief detour where 4 lanes went down to 1 for a brief offroad excursion. It took us almost 2 hours, and this was Saturday. About halfway through, the signs officially changed from Pan-Americana Norte (north) to Pan-Americana Sur (south). Lima must be considered the equator of Peru, everything north of Lima is norte and south of Lima is sur.

Once through Lima, the traffic became more reasonable. As traffic thinned, the billboards increased and became more and more entertaining; we saw one for the chicha morada blue corn drink, and several for Inca Kola, the national soft drink (sort of like Mountain Dew only fizzier.) As we continued on, the landscape reverted to the desert and dunes, and the roads remained straight and in good repair. We stopped to fill up and decided to have lunch, as the restaurant at the petrol stop looked decent. It was quick and filling. The waitress took an interest in our roadmap and wanted to buy it, or an extra if we had one. I guess she had never seen that large a map of South America before (and it was only the North half).  Driving south we began to see hundreds of new telephone poles along the road but the wires were broken between the poles and just hanging down, it was very strange.

We had set our target for today on Pisco in the wine country (as in the mixed drink Pisco Sour) and Paracas, just south of Pisco, and home to a national wildlife reserve area and the Hotel Paracas, a grand old hotel from the 1940’s, very famous. We arrived in Pisco about 4pm and were dumbfounded; the town was dirty, roads were a shambles, potholes and rubble verywhere—not at all what we expected. We made our way to the plaza de armas (town center) where there was a large beautiful blue and white church next to a great empty lot. Pam made the comment that it looked like the aftermath of an earthquake. There were whole blocks missing and rubble everywhere.

Click Here For Earthquake Story

We decided to continue on to Paracas, as Pisco did not look promising. We drove the 12 kilometers down a winding road past a fish meal factory and several places that looked like condos till we came to a pretty harbor town with lots of fishing boats at anchor. We drove through it looking for the higly reccomended Hotel Paracas. There was some construction going on and while we were stopped waiting for dump trucks to go by, we asked the security guard on duty if he could tell us where it was. “Right here”, he said. “The earthquake rendered the hotel uninhabitable”. The dump trucks we were waiting for were actually carting away the remains of our hotel.

After some searching we found a room at the Hotel Mansion Del Emperador (I think) for ($40USD) which was right across the street from the remains of the Hotel Paracas and the beach. It was still under construction, it had suffered some damage in the earthquake but had rebuilt several new rooms. Tiburon had parking inside the front gate near the pool, and we had a brand new room with a private balcony and beach and sunset view. After checking in, we learned that Pisco and environs suffered a magnitude 7.9 earthquake on August 15, 2007 that left 700 dead and 80,000 homeless. Our houseboy at the hotel told us that on the side of town he lived in all the houses were destroyed. He was fortunate not to have been injured. The famous Hotel Paracas that we had read so much about, a centerpiece since the 1940s was destroyed.

We unpacked and changed and walked across the street to the beach to watch the sunset. The tide had washed in great clumps of deep emerald-green seaweed which gave a very ‘salty” tang to the fresh air. After sunset we walked the 4 blocks into the town of Paracas to check for a local Internet and to have dinner. The Internet place was a zoo—mostly young kids playing video games, or playing tag an skateboarding (inside) while waiting for their turn or their friends. There was one young man who couldn’t have been more than three, his legs didn’t reach even half way to the floor as he played his game with great concentration. Teenagers came in and out and smoked cigarrettes subjecting us and the small kids to the smoke. The Internet bandwidth was very poor and we finally lost it altogether and were told to come back in an hour when it would be restored. We opted to go to dinner at one of the local places that turned out to very nice but fairly expensive. A Pisco Sour, a water, Fried fish and French fries, salad, fried rice with mixed seafood and ice cream for dessert was about $20USD, more than we have spent in a while. It was all very fresh and very delicious though, and the ice cream provided a new treat; the flavor algarrobino, which Pam thinks is molasses. Very tasty. We also found a very nice Peruvian wine at a local store; Tambino. Since we are in the heart of Peruvian wine country we thought we would give it a try.

Back to a different Internet after dinner, but same problems; no bandwith and too many kids. We gave up after awhile and headed back to the hotel. We plan an early start tomorrow as we will be going through Nazca before heading south on the coast again.

Here is where we were this night. Very good satellite photo closeup of the pier and the old Hotel Paracas – our hotel was across the street from where the green arrow points in the Satellite photo.

Latitude: -13.8347
Longitude: -76.2524
Nearest Town from unit Location: La Puntilla, Peru (Paracas National Reserve)
Distance to the nearest town: 0 km(s)
Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/09/2008 23:38:40

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-13.8347,-76.2524&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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Today we are aiming for Camaná, well south of Lima and almost within stone’s throw of the Chilean boarder. Our route will take us inland for a bit through the plains where the Nazca lines lay; we will Spot our GPS coordinates there and hope to climb the tower to see some of the images.

We left our hotel early as we have a long way to go today. The road turns inland from Paracas, and we began to see the familiar dunes and oases—still very strange to see all that green in the middle of the desert. We stopped briefly in Ica to look for a place for breakfast, but did not find anything promising except a military parade band playing in the town square; we decided to keep going. Ica appeared to have been hit hard by the earthquake too. About an hour further down the road we stopped at a small lunch stand and had chicken salad sandwiches, Peruvian style (very good—minced chicken meat on large fresh rolls). While we were eating a large family was seated next to us and the Dad asked the usual “where are you from, where are you going?” questions. When Dave told him we were working our way south with no set plan, he advised us to go to Lomas; that’s where the family was headed now, as they had a vacation house there. He said it was a beautiful spot, most people don’t even know it is there. We were told to watch for the small cutoff road and follow it to the coast and that we would find an amazing newly discovered paradise. We thanked him and waved goodbye as they all drove off in two cars.

After lunch we continued on toward Nazca. The roads climbed upwards and soon we were crossing the Pampa de Palpa and nearing the Nazca lines. We stopped near the sign indicating the beginning of the arqueological reserve and activated our GPS locator. If you look at our location entry at the bottom for today there are two entries; be sure to zoom in on the satellite image of the second one and you can actually see some of the lines. Maybe you can make out some of the famous figures. While we were waiting for the satellite message to be sent, we heard a car horn honking; it was the family from the restaurant “waving” to us as they drove by. When the GPS was done, we continued up the road where we came to the 40 foot tower that tourists can climb to view some of the figures. Unfortunately 2 tour busses of Chinese had just stopped, and only 10 people are allowed up the tower at a time. It looked it would be at least 40 minutes before we would have a chance, so we opted to skip the view and keep on going. As we left the area, the road rises with the plain, and if you look back you can see several of the lines crossing, although we couldn’t make out any figures. Still don’t know who put them here or why—very eerie. This place is harsh and desolate; it is hard to believe civilizations thrived in this environment long ago. The Inca must have been tough people.

Leaving the Nazca Plain the road led back to the coast, where we continued to climb and descend the winding roads through the rock and sand. At one point there was a sandstorm and Dave had to fight hard to keep the bike upright and out of the drifts. Every so often we would round a corner at altitude and be blown away by the sight of a fertile valley in the gorge below us; crops growing, animals pastured; it looked like wherever a river came down from the mountain, the area around the riverbed was irrigation enough for a prosperous farming community. It sure looked strange though, that little bit of green surrounded by sand and stone.

On one stretch of partially green road, we passed another VStrom stopped on the opposite shoulder. We turned around and came back, and talked for a bit with the rider who was from Cali, Colombia. He was having trouble with his bike and suspected bad gas; he advised us not to use anything lower than 95 octane while in Peru. We have been buying the expensive 95 or 97 octane but Dave estimates it is no better than 87 octane. The Colombian had just come down from Cucso and Arequipa and was working his way back north; his riding partner had already ridden for some assistance, so we said goodbye and continued on.

Continuing on the coast road, we saw a sign pointing off to “Lomas”. It was late enough in the afternoon to look for a hotel, so we turned off. For about 2 kilometers it was the familiar unpaved sandy/rocky road; then we turned a corner and wow! A long sandy beach and beautiful small fishing village perched on a rocky hill above! A long Point stretched out into the Pacific leaving a large protected beach and bay on the inside of the point. The beach was crowded with holiday-goers, so we by-passed it and went straight into the town. We saw our friends from the restaurant once more as they had just arrived; they told us about the two hotels; we found one and it was full, and we never could find the other one, though many people gave us directions. We finally gave up and decided to head on toward Camaná, but not before snapping lots of photos. It was a beautiful spot, and if you didn’t know it was there, you would never find it.

Back at the main highway was a small store; we stopped and bought juice and snacks, and chatted briefly with a truck driver who was there. He told us it was too far to make Camaná tonight, but we should make Chala with no problem, and they had hotels. We set sights on Chala and were relieved when we arrived before nightfall. We wound our way past the boardwalk fences with sea lion motifs through the busy town till we found the Hotel De Turistas, what appeared to be a fading grand dame of an old tourist hotel. They had parking for Tiburon and a large room for us on the second floor ocean view balcony for about $33USD including continental breakfast. Dave got a big kick out of the “guard puppies” that lived on the roof overlooking the front door—two large and not-so-friendly dogs that watched every move coming and going.

We settled in with 2 beers on the terrace outside our room enjoying the breeze and the live music coming from the town pier that seemed to have a large party going in full swing. Pam finally gave in a did the laundry by hand again, while Dave checked out the local Internet, which had a very poor connection that was down anyway. After hanging the laundry to dry on the makeshift clothesline made from our bungee cords, we went across the street to have dinner at a local café that appeared very busy. (When we got inside, we noticed all the patrons were watching the Sunday Night movie on the television). Strangely enough every Restaurant in Peru seems to have a television set turned on and playing continuously. Nevertheless, the food was excellent –fried fish that was very like mackerel, with rice and French fries and salad. Two dinners, and two drinks came to $3.50 US, one of the best bargains to date. Back in our room, we sat on the terrace and looked at the stars trying to find familiar constellations below the equator.

Tomorrow we head south again and see if we can make it to Tacna, near the Peruvian/Chilean border.

Here is where we are tonight. The satellite photo below shows a good shot of our hotel just off the beach.

Latitude: -15.8626
Longitude: -74.2478

Nearest Town from unit Location: Chala, Peru
Distance to the nearest town: 0 km(s)

Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/10/2008 22:47:31

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-15.8626,-74.2478&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

The satelite coordinates below were sent as we were parked on the corner of the Plains of Nazca – if you zoom all of the way in on Google Satellite you can see some of the Nazca lines.

Latitude: -14.6884
Longitude: -75.1193

Nearest Town from unit Location: Nazca
Distance to the nearest town: Unknown
Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/10/2008 17:38:56

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-14.6884,-75.1193&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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Up early today to have breakfast before we depart Chala—it may be a long time before we find another place to stop. We finally got some decent photos of the turkey buzzards that we see everywhere, as a pair of them were sitting on a light pole just outside our balcony. If it isn´t the buzzard should be the national bird of Peru, they are everywhere. After filling up ourselves on great rolls, butter & jam, coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice, we filled up Tiburon at the next grifo (service station). We find the gas in Peru is not the best and have been feeding Tiburon (claimed) 95 or 97 octane—quite a bit more expensive, but makes a huge difference in performance.

Leaving town, we got some good photos of the unusual wooden buildings constructed along the old main street; most houses here that we have seen are made of brick and/or stucco. Back on the road, this time the road went up and down like a roller coaster although it did follow the beaches for probably close to 200 kilometers. At one point we took the GPS reading and noted we were 700 feet above sea level, and during this time we averaged about 600 f.a.s.l. with all the ups and downs. It was a great road, smooth and well marked with lots of curves, but a little unnerving for the passenger as the cliff went almost straight up on one side and (700 feet) straight down on the other.

The terrain continued to be harsh sand and rock, and at one point the sand was blowing so hard that drifts had formed and a front-end loader was scraping it out of the roadway. This appears to be a surfers paradise with hundreds of miles of virgin beach and waves that go on rolling and breaking forever. The road eventually turned inland; we went through several tunnels, all again without lights, and some that were only big enough for one large truck at a time. The rock formations continued to change hue and composition; we got some great photos of peaks side-by-side and totally different colors. This place is amazing, totally barren except for the pockets of green around rivers as we described yesterday, with sand sculpted into moonscapes by the ever-present wind. Pam remarked it is like driving down into and out of the worlds largest gravel pit over and over again. The sand has changed color today; whereas before it was primarily “sand” color, today we see gray, white, and red sand as well. We passed near the world’s deepest ravine, almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon formed in a river valley. We could not see the bottom.

The roads continue to be excellent with only a few places where patching exists. We crossed the Pampa de la Raya, about 130 kilometers wide, on a brand new road that stretches clear to the horizon without a curve (we like curves). In many places the asphalt was so new they were still finishing up; in the desert not only do they asphalt the road, but they also tar the shoulders and then “dust” them with gravel to keep them in place and fight the sand drifts. The road is so long they built an asphalt plant in the middle of the pampa to support the roadwork. We continued on the road till we reached the cut-off for Arequipe, and turned south toward the border.

The road we were driving on today looks like it had been just constructed. There were many signs about the road construction by the “Centurion Corporation”. The name sounds vaguely North American but can’t say that we have heard of them. One thing for sure they sure build a nice road. When the road jumps up to 5,000 feet or back down to sea level there is always a ton of switchbacks, corkscrews and twisties of every imaginable combination.

It became questionable that we would not reach Tacna by dark; so we started watching for signs of civilization with potential hotels. It wasn’t until we reached Moquegua that we had such luck, and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be! Moquegua is more inland, and lies on a river; it is the provincial capital and the heart of many fascinating natural tourist attractions. Driving into town a cow herder was leading his dairy cows down the main highway to the barn for milking complete with headset and walkman. We passed many very green pastures full of black and white dairy cattle. There must have been 50 roadside stands selling cheese and yogurt. It appears to be a town of abundance, everyone looks very well off. We read in the tourist brochure that when the Spanish conquistadors arrived it was the same abundance of agricultural splendor.

We found the tourist information center across from the Plaza des Armes and received excellent information from the staff there. While Pam was getting the info from the tourist office, Dave was guarding Tiburon; a policeman walked up out of the blue and tried to give him a very large plastic bag of beautiful tomatoes! As Dave was explaining we had nowhere to put them, another man walked up and began speaking with Dave and the policeman. The second man eventually walked away with the tomatoes and everyone was happy. People are really nice here!

Three blocks away from the Plaza des Armes we found a charming old building that housed the recommended Hotel Limoneras—the rooms opening up into flowered courtyards and Tiburon securely parked outside the office. The room was very basic but had hot water and TV, and was easy walking to everything. For $16USD, breakfast is not included, but we have passed so many pastry shops already that breakfast won’t be a problem.

This city is immaculate, like nearly everywhere we have been in Peru, no litter and everything is spotless. There are a couple of people working in the main square, when a leaf falls from a tree they hurry over and sweep it up. This city has fabulous architecture—we saw several buildings with ornate wooden balconies and wrought iron railings, and every building has an intricately carved wooded door. The beautiful fountain in the Plaza des Armes was designed by Gustav Eiffel (yes, the same as built the Eiffel Tower). In the hot afternoon when the breeze picks up there is just enough splash to provide a light cooling mist around the fountain, sort of a natural air conditioner. Just beyond is the Church of St. Augustin, a massive building that gives the impression of light and houses the body of the Virgin Martyr of Christianity. They claim that this is one of the few places in the world that the actual saint’s body is preserved to this day on display in the church. The city sits on a hill which means most of the narrow streets have a slope in one direction or another; most streets are one way, which makes it easier drive even on the cobblestones. Each intersection has painted arrows that indicate the traffic flow and which way you may turn. Taxis appear in a hurry, and pedestrians should beware their toes if they stand too close to the street corner when the light turns.

After unpacking, we went for a quick walk up to the main square, the plaza de armas, to send our GPS signal and scout out Internet and a place for dinner. We found both; the Internet finally has speed fast enough for Dave to troubleshoot the problems we have been having getting the posts and photos to load properly. For dinner we went to Morli’s, recommended by the hotel for good local Peruvian cooking. Dave ordered lomo saltado, chunks of beef fried with onions, tomato chunks and potatoes that we remember from our favorite Peruvian restaurant in Los Angeles. Pam ordered poor man’s steak which was a steak with fried onions, tomatoes, potatoes and a fried egg on top.

Even though we are right near the Chilean border we may spend a day here in this pleasant place to rest and catch up before attacking northern Chile.

Latitude: -17.1938
Longitude: -70.9347
Nearest Town from unit Location: Moquegua, Peru

Distance to the nearest town: 0 KM

Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/11/2008 23:56:31

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-17.1938,-70.9347&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Click the link above and zoom satellite to view the “Plaza de Armas” for beautiful Moquegua.

Click Here To View Today’s Photos

Today we changed plans and made this a take-it-easy day. We went for a leisurely walk around town in search of a late breakfast. After breakfast we found our way back to the Plaza de Armas and to St. Augustin, the massive church just off the square. The church is a beautiful big building, very light, with a high dome over the altar –it doesn’t show in the pictures. We have not yet found out how old it is, but it appears to be a different style than most churches we have seen. St. Augustin’s is one of the few churches in the world that can claim to have the body of a saint—Saint Fortunata’s last remains are on display here. We tried to discreetly take a photo of the magnificent carving surrounding the tomb; it was very dark and the picture doesn’t do justice to the workmanship.

Outside, the front steps of the church lead back to the Plaza des Armas, and a whole slew of activity; students and business people meeting in the square, families out for fresh air, sidewalk vendors selling their wares, and the beautiful Eiffel Fountain is almost as impressive in the daylight as it is at night. The water jets are so positioned that a fine spray comes from the jets and provides a cooling mist for those who wish to walk or sit close enough.

As we have being walking about, one thing we noticed is the craftsmanship in the buildings, especially the doors. The front doors of homes and businesses alike are carved works of art—no two appear to be alike, some look very old and others look more modern. They all have beautiful design work and hardware—we could do a whole book just on the doors of Moquegua.

We almost forgot about out hotel—Hotel Limoneros is an old hacienda that has been converted to hotel rooms and apartments, but without giving up any charm. It is built in a large rectangle housing the rooms and covered walkways outside them, with an open courtyard that is filled with beautiful flowering plants. A large building in the center of the courtyard has large open windows and its current use seems to be as a schoolroom. In the back are a pool (currently not in use), a gardening shed, and the largest palm tree either of us have ever seen. They seem genuinely delighted to have us, and we are always greeted most cordially in the morning by the elderly, more permanent residents.

We returned to Moraly’s for dinner, then strolled up to the Plaza once more to send the GPS and do some people watching.

Tomorrow we leave this lovely city and head at last to the Chilean border, which is only 2 hours away. Baring any problems with customs, we should be in Arica, Chile (country #11) on Wednesday.

We are here again tonight enjoying this beautiful town. The coordinates below were shot from the main square again but from a different bench.

Latitude: -17.1936
Longitude: -70.9346
Nearest Town from unit Location: Moquegua, Peru
Distance to the nearest town: 0 km(s)
Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/13/2008 03:03:19
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-17.1936,-70.9346&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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Up early this morning to pack and prepare for Border crossing into Chile. There appeared to be a family gathering in the hotel courtyard when we stepped outside; everyone greeted us with a sunny “Good Morning” in Spanish, including the 90-year-old grandmother, who had a broad smile for everyone and a “Muy Buenos Dias!” for us.

We grabbed a quick continental breakfast at Moraly’s, then loaded Tiburon and headed out of this pretty city back into the desert.

It was an uneventful 2-hour drive along the Ruta de Pisco (Pisco Route) to Tacna, the last big city in Peru. Lots of excellent, very straight roads surrounded by barren hillside with an occasional green valley. There was a short stint with road construction; the flagmen and women were located both on the road and on the hillside so they could signal each other with red or green flags much like ancient beacons. We did notice the hills weren’t as high or as stark as they have been, and at long last we could see the snow-capped Andes peeking out over the lower ranges.

As usual, the road signs in Tacna, just like in the other cities, were non-existent and it took us ½ an hour to find our way back to the Panamericana Sur. It was another 35 minutes to the border at Concordia. Checking out of Peru was no problem; Dave was through in 10 minutes. Checking into Chile, however, took us almost 2 hours. When we drove up to the Chilean Border stop, there were several lines of automobiles just sitting and waiting for their owners to complete paperwork that would allow them to be inspected. We pulled in to the side of the customs house in the shade, and Pam sat with the bike while Dave stood in line for 50 minutes. When he finally got to the front, he had to go to three different windows to complete all the stamps and forms, and finally Pam had to take the duffle bags with our clothes to be run through the x-ray machine. We were very glad to leave and be on our way. Customs had taken so long that we decided to overnight in Arica, Chile, just 20 minutes away. One of the first things we saw was a McDonald’s sign. We realized we hadn’t seen one since leaving Panama, and pulled in for lunch. Sticker shock—lunch for 2 of us was about $12USD! Chile appears to be more expensive than we have been used to; we will have to watch our pennies here.

Arica is a small city with a large fortress and even larger beach. Driving in we passed the dockyards where there were several rusty hulks that appeared to have once been tugboats pulled up onto shore; a little bit further we passed a large building that belonged to the Chilean Navy, and the museums that were once the old Customs House and the Arica-to-Bolivia Railroad. There is a beautiful church designed by Gustav Eiffel (yes, the Eiffel Tower guy again). There is a nice pedestrian walkway through the middle of town and it was very busy we drove through at 3pm.

We found a good hotel for $45USD including breakfast just 2 blocks off the main square; they gave us directions to find both a motorcycle shop to buy chain lube, and a laundry within walking distance to get some clothes done. After lots of circling around the one-way streets, we found the chain lube, (there was none at all in Peru) but the laundry couldn’t be finished until tomorrow evening, so we brought it back. It was a nice walk down the hill though, and on the way back Dave found someone to wash Tiburon before locking him up for the night. He was also give some advice on a different route to take south that was popular with bikers and would save us some significant miles.

Back at the Hotel we took advantage of our good wireless internet and made a couple of calls back to the states on Skype.

Our hotel is right in the center of the downtown and beach area. The beautiful pedestrian walkway beckoned us for dinner, so we walked down the hill through the large park before cruising the various restaurants and deciding on pizza and beer. The temperature was very comfortable, about 80^o F, and the trees in the park and the fortress on top of the cliff were backlit, making a very pretty evening. Tomorrow we will head south.

Here is where we were tonight:

Latitude: -18.4796
Longitude: -70.3188
Nearest Town from unit Location: Arica, Chile
Distance to the nearest town: 0 km

Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/13/2008 23:07:24

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-18.4796,-70.3188&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Just another day on the road for us. We were up early (we thought) to pack and have breakfast before heading south. We have programmed Iquique into the GPS, about four hours away, and Antofagasta after that—another 5 hours. We will see how the roads are and decide where to stop, as there is not much in between the larger cities and we have seen how desolate it can be on the road.

As we were packing the front desk called and asked if we were coming to breakfast, to which we replied “yes”. We thought that was odd, as breakfast is served from 07:30 to 10:00 am, and it was only 8:20am. We finished packing, went to continental breakfast, then loaded up the bike and left. Good instructions on getting back to the highway and the last filling station between Arica and Iquique. We took one last turn around the square to get daylight pictures of the Eiffel church before leaving.

Once on the road, it became all too familiar, with the sandy dunes and rocky outcroppings. This road would climb to 3, 4 or 5 thousand feet asl and then descend again to 1,000 ft or sea level. In between ascents and descents we traveled across a large flat plain. Much of the terrain was a reddish color like driving across Mars. The plain was deceiving, however, as there were deep valleys cut by the riverbeds that were not visible until we got quite close. The driving was like being a yo-yo; we started at sea level, drove up to over 4000 f.a.s.l., then drove down into the valley, then back up again, then down again, etc… The drives up and down were straight and long, unlike the switchbacks we faced in Peru. For the first time, Tiburon hit the 4^th (out of 5) marker on the temperature gauge. We saw several automobiles and buses pulled to the side of the road overheated. By slowing down and watching the gauge carefully, we kept Tiburon happy until we reached the next downgrade.

We noticed also that the higher we climbed the –warmer- it got—not sure how this was possible as we had easily a 4500 foot difference. The wind also gusted fiercely up the river gorges with swirls from the canyon walls. We could see many large dust devils that we managed to avoid, but we got hit with swirling wind sheer pretty hard a couple of times and had to slow down.

We finally arrived at the turnoff to Iquique 45 kilometers to the west on the coast or to Antofogasta around 300 miles to the south. It was now 1:30 pm; another 5 hours of driving would put us in Antifogasta just at dark, and that was if we had no difficulties with accidents, construction, etc. We opted to stay tonight in Iquique, even though it means backtracking 45 kilometers in the morning.

On the way in to the town we passed a museum for the nitrate mining that was responsible for the boomtown years of Iquique. Nitrates literally put this town on the map and brought riches to this remote port, as before it had been only a small fishing village. We reached the edge of the plateau and could see the city below us, situated between a beautiful beach and a very large sand dune at the base of the plateau. It was a very long continual drive down until we reached sea level, where we turned onto what looked like the main street and ventured on. Iquique has some very unusual older buildings, brightly colored and much of it built of wood. This is interesting since there are no trees anywhere near. There is a long pedestrian promenade lined with shops and eateries, and ending on the town square which is anchored not by a church as is usual, but by the Opera House, which is a grand old building still in use to this day. We were able to go inside and get a good look at this grand municipal theater.

It took a little bit to find a hotel, as the first 2 we checked were both full. It is the glorious height of summer in this part of the world and everyone is vacationing. While Pam was inquiring at the first hotel, some men from the next building came over to inquire about Tiburon. They were engineers with the city electric company, and when Dave explained we were looking for a hotel, they went inside and used a huge HP plotter to print out a map of Iquique on which they highlighted all of its high points for us. It was very useful. At the next hotel, the Grand Hotel Arturo Pratt, all that were left were rooms out of our budget, but a taxi driver on the corner took out his cell phone and helped us find the Hotel Costa Norte, a quaint family run hotel just one block from the pedestrian promenade.

After checking in Dave went exploring. Later in the evening we went out for dinner back on the pedestrian walkway. As we were walking up the side street we noticed a huge digital clock on the hillside overlooking the town; Iquique seems to have the world’s largest time sign much like the bank signs at home only LARGE. We were both astounded to see “9:20pm” flashing at us; we thought it was only 7:20pm. We must have lost 2 hours when we crossed from Peru. That would explain why we were called about breakfast this morning. It was also a good call to stop in Iquique, or it would have been –really- late had we continued on to Antofagasta. Anyway, we set out watched correctly and had a great pizza and “schop”—draft beer—at one of the local restaurants on the walkway, while live guitar music played on the street. Jaime, our waiter, spoke some English having lived in Germany as a child; he was very personable but very slow; the streets and restaurants were packed with what appeared to be happy vacationers, it was after midnight when we got back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we head south toward Antofogasta.

Zoom in on the satelite for the coordinates below and you can see the Plaza Pratt, the spot was sent from directly in front of the Grand Opera House that was built during the heyday of the nitrate boom.

Latitude: -20.2144
Longitude: -70.1524
Nearest Town from unit Location: Iquique, Chile
Distance to the nearest town: 2 km(s)
Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/14/2008 21:24:02
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-20.2144,-70.1524&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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Today was another day for surprises. We set our alarm for 7:00 am as usual, but when the alarm went off it was still dark—a by-product of having moved two time zones ahead. We reset the alarm for 7:45 am and were relieved to see gray in the sky. Packed and ready to go, we took advantage of the included continental breakfast, which seems to be a standard here in Chile and very good. Large fresh bread rolls, much like personal-sized French bread, with butter, marmalade and wonderful cheese; and coffee or tea, made with your preference of hot water or hot milk; great way to start the day.

We had heard from several people that the coast road to Antofagasta was a good road, more scenic and faster than taking the more inland Panamericana Sur. We asked our hostess at the hotel what her opinion was that she would definitely take the coast road. The only thing was that a tunnel had collapsed and was being worked on. It was only opened at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. She told us that they always had enough room on the side to let motos through, we had seen this at other road construction detours. With her recommendation among others we decided to take the coast road.

It was a beautiful day as we turned south on a nice road that ran parallel to gorgeous beaches and rocky coves. It was nice to stay relatively level after yesterday’s yo-yo riding. There were huge breakers rolling in to the shore, and we saw several campsites of varying sizes along the way. Tent camping and backpacking seems to be very popular here in Chile with hundreds of miles of unspoiled beach to camp on. Summer is indeed in full swing here, and people are out enjoying it. We passed the Iquique regional airport about 40 km south of town where a local LAN flight was on the ground being serviced.

After about 3 hours of riding, we came to the Custom’s checkpoint near Cabo Paquica, which is just north of Tocopilla and the tunnel. Because Northern Chile is a Zona Franca (Duty Free Zone), everyone needs to check in with Aduana (Customs) before being admitted into Chile proper. The uniformed woman at the checkpoint nicely explained that the road was closed until 6:00 pm, at which time we could proceed south to the tunnel that would open at 7:00 p.m. We asked about the special exception for motorcycle, and were told that her orders were that no traffic proceeds until 6:00 p.m. A few minutes of debate got us nowhere.

Our options were to wait 6 hours until the tunnel opened at 7:00 pm and then proceed a couple of hours in the dark to Antofagasta or to go back two thirds of the way to Iquique and then take a poor secondary road over to Route 5 and then down to Antofagasta. We had used nearly half of our gas getting from Iquique the customs checkpoint, 92 miles. There was no gas on Route 5 until Antofagasta. We were told that we could find some expensive gas from a private party in Caleta Chanavallita before trying to find our way between the coast road and Route 5. We decided to play it safe and conservative and head back to Iquique for the night and leave first thing tomorrow morning via Route 5 inland. Very disappointing as we were two-thirds of the way to our destination.

The trip back was no less stunning than the first time. Today was a beautiful ride along the undeveloped virgin coast of northern Chile. It was rewarding to have made the ride in spite of not getting anywhere.

We returned to the little hotel we had left 6 hours before; they were very surprised to see us but welcomed us back into a different room. After unpacking (again) we went back to the promenade and had late lunch of wonderful pizza and cheese-and-crabmeat empanadas, and a schop for Dave and a chirimoya milkshake for Pam. We enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon sitting under the umbrella in the outdoor café.

Garmin tells us that sunrise tomorrow is 07:31am, so we will plan to leave early to take the longer road to Antofagasta. Fuel management will be a prime consideration tomorrow. There is gas here and then about 90 km from here and then none until Antofagasta which is 5 hours beyond the last gas station.

Latitude: -20.217
Longitude: -70.1521

Nearest Town from unit Location: Iquique, Chile

Distance to the nearest town: 0 km

Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/15/2008 19:52:10

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-20.217,-70.1521&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
The link above is from our sidewalk cafe table on the pedestrian promenade a couple of blocks South of the Plaza Pratt.

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We were the first ones up this morning, and had the same wonderful breakfast that we did yesterday, except instead of cheese we had ham with our sourdough French bread, butter and jam. We packed quickly and left early in order to get as much time on the road as possible before the winds picked up in the afternoon. It was an easy route out of the city, and before riding up the long steep 4,000 ft climb up from the beach of Iquique we stopped to fill up on gas. Soon the coast was out of sight and we were once again surrounded by desert. The Chileans call this the Pampa, but to us it looks like desert.

Our route backtracked nearly an hour to Humberstone, where we had turned off Route 5 (the Panamericana Sur) 2 days earlier to head west to the coast and Iquique. The highways in this part of Chile mimic California; Highway 1 goes right down the beach and Highway 5 runs north/south about 50 miles inland. Like California, Highway 1 is much more scenic than desolate Chilean route 5. We turned south on Route 5 and after about 5 miles we came to the first of two gas stations on the 450 kilometer stretch between Humberstone and Antofagasta. We stopped and asked the attendant who confirmed that there was another station 60 km further south at Victoria. We then noted the mileage and continued South. We stopped at Victoria and topped off here (and I mean topped off—right to the brim) before continuing on.

The road was in relatively good shape; markings came and went occasionally, and every so often we encountered some roadwork that forced us onto a gravel detour. It was pretty much straight south, with very few turns, although the elevation ranged from sea level to over 5,000 f.a.s.l.

In spite of looking like much of the same desert we have experienced over the last two weeks, this trip was made much more interesting by some very different aspects. The giant sand dune behind Iquique was the last one we saw; the land was now more rolling and less steep, although still quite barren for about 100 kilometers from Iquique. We are about to enter the Atacama Desert, considered the driest place on earth; so dry that in some parts no rainfall has ever been recorded. About 60 miles southeast of Iquique we passed through the Reserva Nacional Pampa del Taramugal (Pampa Taramugal National Reserve). This area actually had trees growing from the apparently lifeless sand. The trees are tamarugos, specially adapted to survive in the harsh dry climate by developing extensive root systems that search out water sources deep underground. These are the only plant life that survives in the Atacama, and they were almost wiped out during the nitrate boom when the miners used them for firewood. They look like a cross between a stunted olive tree and a sagebrush bush. We passed miles of them—it was good to see some vegetation at last.

Also in the Reserva, are the Cerros Pintados (Painted Hills), which are home to the largest group of geoglyphs in the world. There are more that 400 figures in a 4-kilometer stretch along the highway, and some of them are pretty amazing.

After we left the tamarugos and the geoglyphs, the land changed as we entered the Salar Llamara, large salt flats that are unlike the table top flat salt flats that we are familiar with. These flats were formed when salty water flowing from the Andes evaporated in the heat of the desert. The surface is a jumble of jagged rock-like crystals and crumbly salt deposits. Not somewhere you can set a new speed record.

After 187 miles, we arrived at the promised gas station, with gas to spare, we had been conserving as much as possible! We filled up again; the attendant must be used to such requests as he filled the tank until it could not hold another drop. We probably still had 60 miles left in the tank and our two liter-each gas bottles in reserve.

All day we continued to pass through old mining centers, where nitrate and salt and copper contributed to the rapid and successful growth of both Iquique and Antofagasta. Nitrate mining has dwindled and copper mining has taken up the slack. We passed several abandoned nitrate mines rusting in the distance, and what appeared to be a huge functioning open pit copper mine just north of Antofagasta. It appears that the majority of people living here are well supported by the mining industry.

We slowly lost elevation as we began to near Antofagasta. We could feel the change in the air as we drew nearer to the coastline. The road to Antofagasta curved to the west, and we followed it for about 10 kilometers until we suddenly crested a hill and saw the city, in vivid colors, spread out before us like a colorful blanket. The Port of Antofagasta sits in the center of the shoreline, with the beach and shipyards spreading away in a concave curve. As we drove the last 2,000 feet down the hill into the city, we noticed that here, as in the other cities we have seen in Chile, most streets are one-way. Drivers are very polite and are very good about observing stoplights and street signs. We made our way to the shore, and cruised south for several kilometers to scope out the beach and hotels. The beach area looked like a pretty high-rent district, so we stopped at one hotel and asked for a recommendation for hotels more in our price range. The desk clerk was very helpful and provided a city map and good directions on how to reach the Centro area where there is a main pedestrian promenade and several affordable hotels. We drove a bit looking for a likely place, and finally landed a decent room after three tries (first one was full, second one had no parking). Tonight we are staying at the Hotel Ancla Inn, only 1 block from the promenade and right in the middle of a shopping district. It is another shabby chic hotel, but is clean and roomy and has Internet, and is physically attached to a 24-hour parking structure, which has an agreement with the hotel. Much to Dave’s delight, there is also an ice-cream specialty shop attached to the hotel. Guess where we had dinner…

The Centro is very much like Iquique’s center in that there are many beautiful old wooden buildings that still grace the streets, many painted in bright colors. Antofagasta is the richest city in Chile’s north. We saw no police or armed guards anywhere in the downtown area tonight, nor does it seem that they are needed.

It stays lighter here much later now that we have jumped two time zones; we looked at our watches and were shocked to see it was almost 8:00 pm and daylight! A quick stroll to the grocery store to pick up some water and just take in the sights on the promenade, then back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. Stores here are well stocked with reasonably priced modern goods, the promenade is alive with musicians and street theater. Tomorrow’s ride looks like another long one- we estimate we are still 3 days’ ride from Santiago.

Here is where we are tonight:

Latitude: -23.6495
Longitude: -70.3981

Nearest Town from unit Location: Antofagasta, Chile
Distance to the nearest town: 0 km(s)

Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/16/2008 21:38:51

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-23.6495,-70.3981&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1