...yep, more cycling on the Pan Am... Grrr!
But now the hard shoulder is much more dust and rubble than tarmac. Oh how we long for the mountains! But are equally daunted as we look at the climbs to our left!
Everywhere is preparing for their independence day celebrations on 28th July... This makes us excited and apprehensive in equal measure... Excited to share in the fun, apprehensive.. Will there be any hotels free? I think this might be the equivalent of going cycling around the South coast of Britain on August bank holiday and expecting to get a free hotel in Brighton last minute!! Well we'll deal with that later, for now our task to get to Pisco for lunch, then on to the more touristy (and hence more scary for Ant) Paracas. The cycle got much better once we turned off the Pan Am and onto the coastal road past Pisco, nit least because for the first time this trip we actually saw the Sun and no longer had the infamous Lima mist around us. And Pisco itself such an interesting town. Clearly once an up and coming tourist location, then struck by the 2007 Earthquake so an interesting juxtaposition of rubble, new builds and houses that survived the wreckage. Not really much in the town itself except the usual hustle and bustle of city life and a Mega Plaza on the road into town (aka massive scary supermarket!), but we found a lovely beach front restaurant on the coast road for Ant to get his fill of Lomo Saltardo and a generous helping of seafood (curried!!?!) pasta for me.
Then on along the coast road and into a head wind for some of the most surprisingly difficult cycling yet (given it was flat!). We passed a military base, an oil refinery and petrol tanker birth place, and finally held our breath for as long as possible as we sawed passed a fish works at a whopping 11km an hour! (well I said there was a headwind and our panniers act like sails in the wrong direction!)
Finally into Paracas as Ant started to cease up at the thought of touristy life and my ears pricked up at the Latino music and street performers. Our fears were almost realised as the first few hostals we tried were fully booked, but then we found a lovely place on the front for two nights to give us a bit of rest and chance to take a boat to see penguins (of course!!)...
But today two nights turned into four as we decided the most sensible (and least adventurous :-( ) option was to find a cheap room here for another two nights and get on the road once the festival has passed... Don't want to risk the mountain trek without certainty of places to stay... Yes I know... We should probably have taken the chance, but the advice of locals was to wait it out... And I think Ant and I could do with something that resembles a 'normal' holiday before leaping into the wilderness after the crazy few months we've had.
So here we are on Wednesday 27th July, on a terrace drinking cosquena and practicing duolingo watching the world go bye... Recuperating and psyching ourselves up for the beginning of our true adventure on Saturday. We took a boat trip today to Isla Bastilles and ACTUALLY SAW PENGUINS!!! And sea lions and many birds... And now have to work out what normal people do on holiday. What's the betting we end up cycling around on unloaded bikes tomorrow to see the sand dunes!
Adios!!
Xxxx
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| From Peru |
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| From Peru |
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| From Peru |
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| From Peru |
I can't be the only person commenting? Reading this is like a free holiday! Of a most adventurous sort! xxx
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