[21.02.2024 – 28.02.2024[

Intro

What to expect from this weeks read? Moto maintenance, the ladies needed new shoes and unimportant accessories like brakepads – you know people braking less, are faster longer. And in addition both of us needed a bit of a break. With nothing to do – well maybe except writing the blog. So we opted for a stop at Mancora, which from our previous stop in Pisco is about 1500km of road. But first …

Pisco – Lima

Let´s start this slow. From Pisco to Lima it was about 300km and we could only get into the appartment Stefan chose between 15:00 hrs – 18:00 hrs. So no rush. And rushing we did not. Got back on the Via PANAM, which is split by Lima in the 1S (south) and the 1N (north). Stopped in Cerro Azul for a quick refreshment and then later on in Punta Hermosa for lunch. Meanwhile the 1S alternated between desert and green oasis, where basically all the crops and fruits come from. Oh yes and the ever available chicken. The chicken farms are beeing run in the desert. Once we reached Lima our first stop was the Moto shop with whom I had been in contact for the new tires. Instead of our Pirelli we had to get Michelin ones, as the Pirellis can not be gotten in Peru as the shop told us. And the tires are much more expensive then at home, we already new that for the two sets we would owe about 850.-€. But at least the Michelins where deliverable within the time frame we wanted to spent in Lima. Oh and the shop demanded prepayment. Hence the first stop on Wednesday.

It seemed that the shop, even though official Yamaha partner does not see Tenere´s that ofthen, as all of the mechanics and sales people where surrounding the bikes and taking a good look at it.

Once that was done, we took posession of the appartment. Fifth floor of a 21 story building, with a rooftop terrace. 3 bedroom, and two bathrooms, and most important a laundry machine. Dinner and drinks. Stefan did find the rooftop bar i chose rather distasteful, in a way that he described as, it does not fit the place we are in. In addition his G&T was really bad. The Negroni and Pisco Sour i had were really good and i do not share his opinion about the place being distasteful. But what i can agree on, is, that we have had better rooftop bars.

Lima

Thursday 09:00 bike delivery. The shop said that the bikes will be ready the next morning at the same time, so we left them there and went on with our business.

I have to admit, everytime I leave the bike in someone elses care and leave the key, I feel kind of naked, ever wondering if and in what condition i ll get it back. It is our means of getting where we want to go and loosing it, would put a serious dent in our future plans on this trip.

Laundry Day 🙂 – yeah those laundry days are bad. It is just one thing that shows you, you are not home, and you do not know the hardware by heart or know what the hardware has indured so far. Anyway the clothes got reasonably clean, the blog got written and there was time to spare to go shopping.

I actually would need a new pant, but me being me, i cannot just go and by some pants, i usually know exactly what i want, getting it is a different matter though and there is not enough time to go to a tailor. So we went to Miraflores, which is a rather touristy part of town, in the hope to find some international brands there. Wanted to look at a 501 Levis but as the shop employee did not even know about those, and they were not in the racks we left unsuccessful and called it a day. Went down to the beachfront Mall which was yet another disappointment in terms of shopping, but did offer a very nice view of the Lima beaches.

Dinner was served and the waiter was a bit astounded when we asked for salsa picante. Good salsa 🙂

Lima

We are so German, been at the shop at 08:55 hrs and of course the bikes were not ready, well later then. So on we went to go a bit sightseeing. Lima has the largest cloth shopping area in the world, spreading at multiple blocks.

Next stop was the center square, and then the way back to our appartment.

During the past two days we did about 20km of walking, and i finally decided to get rid of my first pair of sneakers, they had almost reached there end of life before the trip but after those two days they were done.

The bikes were ready including new rear brakepads, they made us aware are in need of replacement. which added another 200.-€ to our bill, and leaving me with the bitter taste of being ripped of, but that could not be helped on short notice. The next maintenance stop will be in Colombia, let´s see how that´ll play out.

And on this day we did find a proper rooftop bar, named the Patronal. Wonderful staff, and very good drinks. 🙂 All is well now.

Lima – Tortugas

With all we wanted to do in Lima done, we set off to leave the city. City traffic is just not nice, it was not in Europe and it is even less here, but we managed. The first really cool stretch of road after Lima was the 1NA, which directly runs along the coast line, and is officially only usuable by trucks, but they made an exception for us.

The rest of the day was the Via PANAM – 1N which is mostly a 4 lane motorway, being broken up by villages every once in a while. The landscape alternates between the desertlike landscape you can see above and the green patches where there is some water. The green patches are as well, where there are villages or small cities.

The stop for the night was Tortugas, which is a little village located at a bay and we were just in time for the sunset.

Tortugas – Pacasmayo

We did want to go further then Pacasmayo but a beach lunch and some sightseeing, kept us from reaching our intended destination.

Pacasmayo was then the first time i got into the pacific ocean, after 15000km and quite a lot of opportunities beforehand. The hotel we chose as sleeping place hosted a party (on a sunday night), which was quite good and lasted until 4 am (without us though).

Pacasmayo – Mancora

With about 500km left to reach Mancora, neither Stefan nor i was sure whether or not we would reach it in one day. Had to endure a little sandstorm while riding and saw a new road sign. Zona de dunes. Other then that and the still crazy landscape the ride was uneventful and we did reach Mancora after all, and before sunset.

Found a nice enough beachfront place. Which has rather mixed reviews on google, even though neither Stefan nor i can understand most of there critics. The only two points we can make is the amount of mosquitos and the missing water pressure. There is more hot then cold water and here you definitely do not need hot water.

Mancora

We stay here till Friday, to just do nothing, nothing at all. So the first day nothing was done, except some ocean water enjoyment, reading drinking and walking the beach.

Well and I did get inspired by all the surfers, to go and have a try of that myself the next day. But that is a story for next week.

And that concludes week 13
Till next time,
Happy Hacking everyone