They said 4 hours given road works etc, it started out ok then the weather caved in big time, wets on we carried on in first gear for quite a few km because of pea soup fog and heavy rain as well as lots on mud on the concreted road making it extremely greasy.
Stopping for roadworks we only waited a short time and we quietly meandered on amidst mud and cement.
With the concrete ending and the weather clearing we had an interesting time as the wet road was now drying quickly to form that stodgy semi bog that won’t clear from the tyres, this clay stuck like shit to a blanket.
Then the roadworks ... ruts from the Terex 6 x 6 trucks were 200 - 300 mm deep in places so causing enough trouble sliding from side to side and not being able to climb out.
An easy patch for a change
Just when you thought it could not get worse it did (or better depending wot you are riding)
Getting to a point where a road worker flagged us over I sat and waited for a bus to try and climb the incline but no way, he tried and tried, in the end they hooked the digger on and towed the bus up.
Getting through that section we thought well shit we are top of it now .... nup, we were stopped again further down the road again, the bridge was broken and we had to turn around and go back to a town some km’s back and take a diversion ... well this turned out to be stunning scenery and took us miles out the back.
Also sloppy but much more fuild so at least the tyres cleared a bit
Gettin better
This of course completely shattered the “4” hours as we had been riding for 5 hours and we still had 60 km of this to go, considering it was only 134 km to start that was less than ideal.
From River to Ridges we got to a great height on the diversion and on a dry road
Our border crossing plans for that day shelved we stopped in Zumba for the night, filled up for the final time on $2 per gallon gas with Maya having her 38 liter belly filled to the brim, at this station it is run by militars, they write down all ya details and the bike.
While in Zumba Maya attracted the younger crowd on potential moto riders, we made fiends and they all sat on Maya .... yes they ALL sat on Maya.
Setting off from Zumba we had 26 km to do, no pavement so no expectations other than to cross in Peru and get to San Agnacio.
Trouble free (its true) to the border, our only stop a military check point, stinking hot was the greeting at the border and the border guards relaxed and friendly exiting Ecuador, we were done in less than five minutes.
Crossed the bridge into Peru with the border guard unlocking the gate and welcoming us with handshakes and smiles ... awesome welcome to Peru.
Again they were all friendly and helpful with the Police running it, finally the import permit for Maya .... that is when the fun started.
The very friendly and welcoming border guard set to with enthusiasm that was not matched by his computer, the connection failed ...came back ... went....came back ...failed ..... arrived and stayed WOH HOH ... it works.
All information was entered and accepted no worries ....time to print .... yeah ... time to print ...his printer had left for lunch and never came back, now we have an official hand written document ...it is beautiful.
So over a feed of crackers and cheese he filled out the hand written document, he was very apologetic but he was unaware his printer had packed a sad, I don’t think he gets many vehicles through there.
While waiting we also watched the local ants cart a dead butterfly some 5 meters on burning hot concrete you could not stand on with bare feet (I know), these little guys are strong....we made sure we kept an eye on Maya so they didn't flog her
All in all that was the nicest and cruisiest border crossing we have done yet, if not for the printer and connection probs we woulda been through there quicker than a robbers dog.
WOH HOH Peru, finally and down to San Agnacio, with our few setbacks we decided to get our insurance and so Soles and head on into the new lands the next day.
Entertainment in San Agnacio provided by an enthusiastic Honda CG 125 made by Landrover.
Happy to be here
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