TravellingStrom

Wednesday – Trujillo, Peru

I was up and at em early after a quick post and check of some HUBB details and just a few muesli bars for brekky, nothing on offer here. Negotiating the sandy track back to the main road was fun then running around trying to find fuel, it seems few and far between, so I will need to keep an eye on that. Eventually though I was heading south along the coast before cutting inland through some desert areas.

I saw a lot of oil wells along here which was a surprise, but what would I know eh! Also lots of warm desert and occasional lush green oasis areas.

Getting through some of the towns along the way was a nightmare, the traffic rules are getting worse and these stupid little motortaxis always block the road and cause the traffic to snarl up. Out of town though it was dry and dusty for the most part, I did my bit for the landscape on occasion 🙂 There were lots of these small shanty type shacks in the middle of nowhere, people lived in them, I have no idea how or what on, but they did have some type of power and a TV!

Remember I said I would need to watch out for fuel, well I nearly got caught out, but some workers up in the twisty section said fuel was 7km ahead. Well, that place was closed and so I continued on another 30km before I spotted a shack with a sign saying gasoline and fuelled up the country way, she made 11 trips back to my bike as I needed 5.5 gallons 🙂

Soon after I stopped again for a feed at a small roadside shop, basic rice and chicken, the usual but the side salad was soaked in HOT something so I gave that a miss, the rest filled the hole 🙂 I think I got a discount on the meal as I had helped her move that fridge/icebox out of the kitchen, the meal and drink cost $5S which is about $1.90! 🙂

Onwards through some more small towns and lots of cane fields, I was making good time on the road, but every village had topes and speed limits of 30kmh(yeah right) but quite a few cops too, so the brakes copped a hammering when I spot them 🙂

After negotiating Chicklayo, I was amongst the desert proper with sand dunes and lots of windblown sand across the road, a very strong wind by the way from the right which was a bit tiring, but I needed to get used to it as it was going to be like that all the way down south apparently!

More desert with occasional green irrigated sections for the next few hours, just twist the right hand and keep it straight 🙂 I spotted this bus that I thought might be Australian cause it was named Bruce, not totally sure though 😉

So, finally at 5.50pm I arrived in Trujillo, for some reason the place Albert had told me about was missed. There are very few sign posts or distance signs, so trying to find a point 12km north of Trujillo was real hard. In the end I stopped and asked a taxi driver about hotels, I did not feel like looking up hostels at this time of the day as most would probably not have secure parking. I think Lonely Planet needs to add some motorbike specific stuff in their book. But, the first hotel I came to around the corner was a bonus, it had internet, secure parking, food, beer, all the necessities of life, oh and a bed and hot water 🙂 And to boot, it only cost $40S, about $20 so real cheap. 🙂

GPS in D,M,DM – S 8 06.223 W 79 01.997

As it turns out there was another rider there who was riding a 650 Dakar. After some food and some beer I met him later on, he is Frank Butler and he has been on the road for 8, yes 8 years.

He was also heading south but was waiting for a Colombian couple on a Vstrom, so I would be ahead of them. We had a fun chat, he is from Oz, or PNG to be exact and I think he is becoming a bit road jaded, he has done the Asian and middle east, Europe and has been on this continent since April. When I get some time, like about a year, I may get a chance to read about some of his travels on his blogsite. Anyway, I had an earlyish night as I was a tad tired, I don’t know how Margaret(beemerbird) did these roads at 1000 miles a day, I had done less than 500 and it had taken most of the daylight.

Day – 429 miles and 690 km
Trip – 45,947 miles and 73,945 km

Salud
TravellingStrom

WORLD

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