December - 17 to 20, 2002: Wrong way to Arequipa...

Odometer: 19,067

From Huallanca I continued on towards the PanAm highway at Barranca and onto Lima. I had wanted to avoid Lima if at all possible, but given the timeline I'm on and the condition (or suspected condition) of the roads around it I decided to meet the city head on and stay for an evening.

Most of the cities in Peru are very busy. Lima takes this business to an exponential level. And to make matters worse, the city is not layed out like most of the other towns we've been to. Time to go into Combat Touring mode, find a place to stay for the evening and plan my escape!

The next morning I took directions from my receptionist at the Hostal I stayed in to get over to highway 20, heading into the hills. From the map drawn, it looked like an easy trek. The owner of the hostal insisted that I take a less direct route out instead of finding Mexico Avenue which runs right into 20. His explanation was that it was too dangerous a route. Well, an hour later and tired of being lost, I decided to say f-it and find Mexico Avenue, which I did, finally getting on route 20. I imagine a white-boy like me standing around on Mexico Ave. would surely find trouble, but other than the filth and traffic, I was fine.

Not so for route 20 out of Lima. For another hour I sat in horrible traffic trying to use my motorcycle status the best I could to squeeze to the front of the mayem. Twice I bumped off of local buses and once got a dump-truck tire rolled up on my left Givi-bag. Combat Touring baby!

My plan was to be in Huancayo (in the mountains) as early as 3pm and then plan a route from there forward onto Cusco. Since the LIma traffic sapped my time and the un-anticipated cold and steady climb into the mountains sapped my endurance, I didn't arrive until around 6pm. On arrival a gentleman, curious about me and my bike, noted my planned route and immediately began to warn me about guerillas and coke growers back in them thar woods. That kind of bummed me out, but I thought, as long as I keep heading on with no stopping there should be no problem.

After checking into another hostal I spoke to the couple of receptionists there about the route. Their take on it wasn't so much a warning about being hassled by other people, but that the roads are frontier and deserted. Further, they are much like the one I took into Hauncayo subject to mudslides in rain (which they get a lot of).

Well, that evening it rained heavily. My decision was set. Instead of spending more than 150 miles of dirt (more likely mud) and possibly being stopped by the road being out, I very hesitantly decided to head BACK to Lima and get on the PanAm south heading to Arequipa. I got up really early and took off. The way back was so much nicer (all down hill) as the clouds that followed me up were gone and I got some very spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Furthermore, I was very pleasantly surprised to find I didn't actually have to enter Lima to get on the PanAm after over 115miles of downhill twisty roads. Excellent!

After another 150 miles I was feeling very tired and decided to stay over in Paracas, get some needed rest and get another early start for Arequipa the next day. I had judged from this day of travel that I would not make Arequipa but I hadn't taken into consideration that the PanAM across the desert is pretty much strait. I did make Arequipa around 6pm with plenty of time to find a decent hotel.

Along the way I must say, the PanAm in Peru is wonderful. The western coast is desert, lots of it. From Atico to Otona is a sportbike riders heaven, but one wrong move would definitely be hell! The lower Pampas (protected desert) is magnificant. All of this occured just before reaching Arequipa and was a great way to end a 380 mile day.

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