South America 2006

South America Ride 2006/2007
January 11 Today was a great day. I got a little lost getting out of town, but the border crossing into Peru was within an hour and it went good. It was very crowded in town, but there weren't any lines at the customs or immigration office on Ecuador's or Peru's side. The customs officer on the Peru side gave me a hard time about my license plate not matching my paperwork, but after a few minutes he gave in and let me go. All is good. Joy has emailed me the correction so I printed that out at the next internet stop after Peru's border crossing. I'll be more prepared next time. We soon ran into some beach front property and enjoyed the ride along the coast with a cool breeze. We also stopped at an inviting open-air restaurant and enjoyed some fish. After leaving the restaurant we followed the beach for some time before hitting the desert and facing some moderate winds. I got some nice straight roads today so all is good. We didn't cover much ground, but that's not unusual when you have a border crossing during the day. We ended up in Piura, Peru for the night and found a very quaint hotel right on the town plaza. Everything is really nice including a little internet connection. All is good. I keep thinking I'll run out of stuff to take pictures of, but not yet.

Bananas wrapped in plastic		When we started on this road I thought I was in for a re-run from yesterday, but not too bad

Ecuador Military stop		Border Town

You wouldn't think they would run all the traffic right through here, but they do		At the Aduana (Customs) office for Peru

I had pineapple juice this morning. I wonder how it was shipped?		Here's a truck going right through this crowded street.

Rice fields, they eat lots of rice		We stopped at this very small town to use the internet and Dick was swamped with curious folks

A group photo outside the internet shop in La Paz, Peru		The first sign of the big water

We stopped at a neat place for lunch		The restaurant

At the beach of the restaurant		a little bit of fillet of fish

Bo and Dick at the restaurant		The last shot of ocean before hitting the desert

The desert.........I'm thirsty		This is the long straight road I was looking for

The tunnel before town		Dick chatting with these taxi drivers

This young man shined my boots		Our hotel for the night

parque (parking)		Swimming pool at the hotel

The center of the hotel		The town center and people are starting to gather

The church on the square		Inside the church