Up early, I was able to start riding before the persistent rain started. For over an hour the rain came down but I was prepared. Rain jacket and pants combined with a fist full of pastries allowed me to enjoy the experience.

Once in the country, the rain gave way to dry, but cloudy skies. Villages of farms had farmhouses as old as the land. So many differing periods of construction allowed for an endless combination of building compositions.

My-post camp ride, earliest so far, let me get to Chateau Saumur before it closed.  Built in 962, the enormous castle has had a rich history. Built for fortification, it even has narrow slits in the walls for archers to shoot arrows at intruders from a protected position.

Gathering items for dinner, I purchased some sausage and vegetables and even breached my cheese comfort zone at a specialty store. I still can’t wrap my head around a lot of what I see.

Excited for another adventure, I decided on touring France for two weeks, solo camping along the way. Arriving at 6:30 am 7 time zones ahead of Quito made assembling my bike a challenge. Although I had been expecting many curveballs during the trip, I was hoping to make it away from the airport before dealing with my first one. The airline baggage team did their best to ruin my borrowed bike; a critical pannier rack bolt shook loose and found its way out of the many newly formed holes in the bike box. Thanks to Josh’s (the bike owner) legendary organizational skills there was an extra bolt in the spare parts bag and I overcame my first trip challenge. The bike was fine and I was on my way.

Challenge two was met not far from the airport. The train connecting the airport to the train station shut down one station early because a suspicious piece of luggage was found on the train. This resulted with me having to pedal on the main road adjacent to one of the runways to get to the train station. I might as well have been riding my bike around Newark Airport on the Garden State Parkway. Several merging ramps, elevated roadways, and a tunnel later I made it to the train terminal. With my ticket to Nantes purchased I merely had to pass four hours having a snack or two, paying astronomical money exchange rates because my bank card wasn’t working, and basking in the funkiness that happens to a body when it travels internationally.

Arriving at my train, I was informed my bike was not welcome, even though I told the ticket agent I had one. A very helpful SNCF employee assisted me in transferring my ticket to a bike friendly train three hours later. My bike would need a ticket too. Although the train station was nice, seven hours there was enough. I was ready to get out of the city.

An ice cold tallboy and broken air conditioning helped me sleep most of the three hour ride to Nantes. Nantes is what you would expect a rural, but larger, French town to be like; old and and contemporary buildings mixed together; cafe and pub lined angular alleys; and the bike-friendliest atmosphere ever. Having an hour to the 9 pm sunset provided me with enough time to ask for directions to the camping area, find it, and buy some provisions along the way. Josh was right, a bottle of wine does fit in the water bottle cage. After finding perhaps the nicest campground I’d ever seen I spent the early evening setting up my tent and enjoying some local Vionier and a Camanbert and ham sandwich on baguette. The shower facilities were like nothing I’d ever seen and private shower rooms and sinks specially designed to wash clothes in were just what I needed.

More bumps are expected along the way but I’m here and I cant wait to dig in and put in some miles.

The day after the Super Bowl, Betsy and I parted ways. Her break was ending so she needed to head back to Quito. Knowing I would have the unique opportunity of being in far South America, I had done some planning and set up a fly fishing excursion in southern Chile.

I flew from El Califate to San Carlos de Bariloche where I stayed for the night before taking a 4 hour bus ride to Esquel. My guide, Sr. Adrian Adriazola, picked me up at the bus station. We then drove in his vehicle to the border of Chile. Once over the border, a special feeling grew knowing I was in a remote place about to embark on a unique experience. Adrian has been guiding for many of his 60 plus years and it was obvious he would have everything dialed at every turn of the trip. Each day we had a proper river-side lunch; Pickled vegetables, sausage, cheese, salad, a pit grill for steaks, and Chilean wine was our midday meal for the next three days. I felt very special.

Approaching the town of Futalefu, I could see why the hard to get to and rugged region had earned the reputation of being a legendary recreation area. The huge mountains, reminiscent of an unpopulated Alaskan landscape, feed the Futa River with snowmelt which produces sections of nearly unnavigable water. Additionally, the lack of mining in the area combined with low population numbers create a fantastic fishing environment.

Adrian had secured two rooms in a newly finished lodge, built by some family friends, close to the shores of Lago Yelcho, the mouth of the Futa River. The hosts were very nice and the matriarch of the household put together great meals.

Our first day on Lago Yelcho was eye opening; the scenery could not be more beautiful. However, the fishing was difficult. My skill level, combined with very clear water and the lack of any wind to affect the surface of it, made for some very hard fishing. Many times I watched a large trout casually inspect my fly only to slink by it uninterested. I realized quickly realized that my goal was to learn and not just try rip fish out of the water.

Day 2 was on the Futa River. Practicing new skills, my technique progressed. I had a great time relaxing and enjoying the seemingly unspoiled surroundings.

On day 3, we moved to the Palena River. Needing to take a barge across the river to the put-in I figured the area would be less traveled. It would turn out that once we put on the river we wouldn’t see one other person until we took out.

The motor boat we were on was built for the Palena. Its low profile and propeller-less propulsion let us easily move over the shallow river. We often stopped to fish shallow rocky sections on foot. As the rain fell I really started to get into a rhythm and was catching fish. Many times I took a moment to realize where I was at and it was very exciting. At the end of the day, my arms and shoulders were sore, my hands were blistered, and I felt I learned and improved upon some skills. I was excited to fish again.

The next day Adrian drove me back to Esquel, Argentina where I began the long route home. I would very much like to go back.

Leaving Huaraz, we followed our so far trusty Google Maps. Our goal for the day was to reach Huamachuco, about 370km away with an estimate of 6 hours of drive time. Along the way north we took the opportunity see some Agave Americana, a rather large cactus that lives about 100 years and at the end of its life spends about 10 years sending up a huge stalk to distribute its seeds.

The route eventually narrowed to one lane and the intermittently dirt road skirted the contours of Canyon de Condor. The lack of guardrails and signs alerting us to honk our horn in the unlit dirt tunnels to warn other drivers added to the excitement. After the canyon, we spent quite a bit of time on a bumpy dirt road as the surrounding environment turned increasingly arid.

We became concerned when the road we were on came to an end, switched back, and started to climb up. Although we quickly put distance between us and the valley floor, the surrounding mountains, which we would have to somehow get past, seemed to stay far above. A one lane road with countless switchbacks, zero guardrails, and blind turns requiring constant horn honking for warning were our reality for the next hour or so. Though she was pretty freaked out, Betsy was a trooper. I was the most scared I’ve ever been driving a vehicle. Once the road flattened out a bit and made the turn away from the canyon, we breathed a sigh of relief. We eventually reached an incredibly small town in the mountains and took a breather. To my surprise, there was an enormous transport bus parked there; it had traveled the same road we had.

After asking around, we realized we were still about 7 hours from our expected destination (thanks Google). Not even considering traveling at night, we decided to get to the next town to get a bit closer to Huamachuco. On the way, we had to descend and climb yet another canyon. Fortunately, this road was fully paved and slightly wider than before, so I took the opportunity to take a few photos. We ended up stopping in Mollebamba and just sat in the square to try to unwind while answering countless questions from curious kids.

Up bright and early the next day, we pushed on to Humachuco. Though not nearly as bad as the day before, the road seemed to climb and descend repeatedly and, for the most part, was not paved. I kept daydreaming about the upgraded suspension I opted not to install before our trip.

Upon arriving in Huamachuco, we parked the vehicle and breathed a big sigh of relief knowing we wouldn’t have to drive for a few days. After cleaning up, we took a walk around the beautiful town as it got ready for its Independence Day which was just one sleep away.

We eased into Independence Day with a hike to a waterfall. Although we never found it, what we did find instead was a sleepy community of one acre farms where the work was done by hand. There was also yet another pre-Incan archaeological site where we took a brief tour.

Once we returned to town, things were really picking up. Next to our hotel there was a town-wide lunch where cooks were up all night in the open cooking over eight massive pots roiling over wood flames. We took the opportunity to sit in the main square and take in the scene. There were many Peruvians from Trujillo and other major towns, but many of people walking around were local, wearing their Sunday’s best of very colorful clothing and large hats.

The tradition on Independence day in Huamachuco is to erect a massive flag pole, made from one enormous tree, from a flat position with the help of town residents. This may sound straight forward but the post seemed at least 200′ long. Varying sized helper posts were lashed together in pairs like chopsticks to support the main post as it gradually was hoisted over what seemed to be about an hour and a half. As the post was raised, it was guided into a long trench which was back filled with dirt as it inched vertical. Through the screaming crowd, obvious disorganization, and countless drunk helpers, the flag pole was raised.

Though the party went well into the night, we were content with walking around eating and having a few drinks before turning in relatively early. Though we would stop for one night in Celendin first, our next destination was Chachapoyas, home to some natural wonders as well as a museum filled with mummies.

The pictures largely tell the story of this section of our trip; the leg we most enjoyed. Our days were spent driving up to various trail heads and hiking to high alpine lakes. We realized how fortunate we were to simply hop in a car and go where we pleased. Lucy was an all-star and had a better experience than most people have. A highlight was hiking to Laguna Llaca, a lake that’s not terribly easy to drive to that is fed by a receding glacier. A surveyor collecting data for his thesis at the University of Ohio was kind enough to talk to me about his project. He said that just this summer, a massive chunk of the glacier peeled off; the most significant change there in years. The effects can be seen in the photo following the picture of the piece of glacial ice on Betsy’s pink shirt. The glacial face you see was uniform across the top just this summer. For perspective, you can see a person wearing green sitting down in the middle of the photo. The entire time we were sitting there enjoying the quiet you could hear the glacier crack and pop. Additionally, the “white sand beach” in the photos was what we thought to be ground granite.

We happened to be in Huaraz during the national independence day of Peru. This would become a reoccurring theme on our trip; two other towns would have their individual independence celebrations while we were there.

With our time in Huaraz coming to an end, we were looking forward to what we thought would be an easy drive north to Huamachuco. It would not be so easy and our expected six hour day in the car would turn into a two day ordeal.

Leaving Tucume, we headed south to Chiclayo. Our guidebook said it was a popular destination for its proximity to the ocean, which was nice. It failed to mention, however, that Chiclayo may be the the dirtiest city a visitor will ever see. Workers were plowing and scooping up garbage with front end loaders, much like snow in the winter time. What was missed by the machines was being burned in piles. If there was any mistaking we were not in Kansas anymore, this sealed the deal.

Wanting to get an internet chip for our phone, we ventured into the city and visited the large, open market our book recommended. Textiles, livestock, fruits, vegetables, and other durable goods were everywhere. There were also blue drums of olives, the area apparently being popular for growing and aging them. Because of the heat, we took Lucy with us. Everyone, of course, loved her and we received more than a few double-takes. We also headed to a nearby beach which was nice. Locals still use traditional reed rafts the pre-Incan cultures used.

The Bruning Archaeological Museum is in nearby Lambayeque, which features artifacts from the Chimu, another pre-Incan civilization. The artifacts illustrate the expertise of the Chimu in the areas of metal work and pottery. There was clear evidence of their utilization of ceramic forms to create their pots which we hadn’t seen so far. One of the most notable discoveries in the excavation was the focus of the burial being not of a man, but of a woman. Her mummified body was on display. This forced archaeologists to rethink the structure of power in past civilizations.

We also visited the more popular Sipan Museum. The Lord of Sipan was a priest of the Moche, a civilization pre-dating the Chimu by about 700 years. The archaeologist who found the intact tomb was able to build an entire career on this one find and was present at the museum. I would put this museum on the level of any Smithsonian I’ve visited. The layout, design, and presentation of everything was top notch. This includes the painstaking reconstruction of the many layers of beaded necklaces the king was wearing.

The King of Sipan, also referred to as the “King of Bling”, was buried under layer upon layer of gold ceremonial masks and earrings, beaded necklaces, and ceremonial shields. His tomb included the typical accompaniment of wives, guards, friends, and other items he would need in the afterlife. Unfortunately, we were unable to take any photos from within the museum, though the outside design of the building hints at the quality of the facility.

The following morning, we made the push straight south to Trujillo. Although we were close to the ocean much of the time, and often seeing it, it was one of the most barren places we’d ever been. There was absolutely nothing in between towns.

Trujillo is home to Chan Chan, the largest adobe and pre-Columbian city in the world. It was not only a functioning city but also a place where the heads of different areas would meet to pay taxes. Ceremonies were held there and the heads of different areas were buried in their own sections of the city. The Incas, who overthrew the Chimu, only held the city for 60 years before the Spaniards arrived; almost no artifacts remain. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the city had been renovated. Also famous in this area is the Peruvian Hairless Dog. It’s exactly what it sounds like and is just as gross looking as you would expect it to be.

Trujillo was mainly just a stop over before we made the push into the mountains of Huaraz.  We were both excited to see something other than brown dirt and ancient burial grounds.

The route to Huaraz never seemed to stop climbing. The landscape quickly went to sand, to rock, to rolling hills and grassy slopes. It was a bit like driving home as things greened up a bit. The Andes are huge and the views started to go one forever. We finally got to the top of the pass above Huaraz and took a break. Looking from the Cordillera Negra over the valley to the famous Cordillera Blanca gave us a fantastic perspective of the next five days of our trip.

Just a few days after returning from Colombia, we found out The Pope was set to visit Quito on his South American tour. It became obvious that his visit would be slightly disruptive to day-to-day life as the barricades started going up and the news was released that on the two days he would be in town, 50% of private vehicles would be restricted from driving on one day, while the other 50% would be restricted on the other. That’s a lot of cars.

It so happened his motorcade would be passing two blocks from our apartment, so we walked down there and waited along with lots of citizens and what appeared to be every cop in the country (wearing neon yellow). As The Pope passed, he waved, smiled, and people cheered. Following him was the limousine of President Rafael Correa. Correa received a slightly different welcome, which included lots of yelling and many obscene hand gestures. He’s a divisive person.

We had less than a week before we were set to leave on our road trip to Peru, which we were very excited for.

Another country stigmatized by its past is Colombia. Its history is thick with violent conflicts, the most recent and publicized was during Pablo Escobar’s time, which ended about 20 years ago. Since then, the country has made great strides to improve itself. This is not more evident than in Medellin.

One of the government’s main approaches to improve conditions was to re-integrate the barrios (slum neighborhoods) back into the city. This was accomplished by literally sending in the national guard, since the roadless neighborhoods were essentially their own violent cities. The government built new public buildings such as libraries and tied all of the outlying areas together with an efficient train and gondola system. Colombians hold a high level of respect for their public transportation since it represents opportunity, the positive future, and healing of the city. There is zero graffiti and everyone seems to be on their best behavior.

Our first day consisted of an organized walking tour that took us through the El Central area. In the photos, the initial sculpture represents the history of the Colombian people, from the early years as farmers, through the very important growth years of the railroad, and into the violent years. We also visited the area where many Botero sculptures sat. The artist was famous for constructing disproportionate sculptures that were fat in different ways. The pictures of the birds, both intact and damaged, represents the violence and resilience of the Colombian people. Not too long ago, a bomb was detonated from within the bird sculpture during a concert, killing many people. Rather than replacing it with a new one, the artist put an intact sculpture next to the damaged one to send a message that the Colombian people will face the dangers in front of them and persevere. Pretty heavy stuff.

The following day, we took a bus to La Piedra del Penol, a massive rock rising out of the surrounding reservoir, in Guatape. This tourist attraction highlights the rock and its surrounding area by means of 650 stairs to the top which offers a panoramic view.

Our last big excursion was to a coffee plantation. This full day tour was great since it gave us the opportunity to see some different landscapes as well as something we’ve never seen before in person, coffee plants. Though it was not harvesting season, workers still walked the fields looking for the ripe red berries. Our guide showed us the fields, the grading, cleaning, and drying process, as well as the roasting process.

We spent our last day in Colombia riding around the trains and Gondolas to see more of the city. The self tour took us to what was one of the most dangerous barrios during Pablo’s time. After getting off the final gondola, we took a bus to a series of escalators. They zig zagged almost all the way to the top of the neighborhood. In the photos, you can see what look to be orange slides. These are all individual escalator sections. The complete transportation system allowed citizens to travel to a job in the heart of Medellin in less than an hour; a trip that would have taken most of the day 20 years ago or was impossible due to distance, cost, and safety. Each landing of the escalator system was beautifully decorated with graffiti art. The area was clean and none of the graffiti was damaged in any way. Pride. This was definitely a highlight of our trip.

Overall, we very much enjoyed Colombia. We have hopes of returning since flights are not that expensive and it’s just next door to Ecuador.

Phase 2 of Josh’s globetrotting took him, Betsy, and me to Cuba. We weren’t sure what to expect besides old cars, which we saw a lot of. What we did see was a country truly stuck in time trying to climb into the present. Much of what we saw was either very colonial, very 1950’s architecture, or very Communist utilitarian. Customs was a plainly painted room with very few lights, enough to get the job done. Highways were nearly empty, some sections simply ended and forced drivers to cross to the other side of the road. The cars were there as expected, many kept together with bondo and brightly colored paint. Paint and plaster were falling off of lots of buildings. Some buildings were being held up by scaffolding, their arches supported with wood. Everything seemed charming, even with their post-apocalyptic presentation. The word patina was thrown around. The small apartment we rented was across the street from the University. We had a great vantage point of a popular intersection where vintage cars either swooshed by or violently shook as they passed, threatening to fall apart at any moment. We took a walk around the University. Still posted in the quad was the US tank that the Revolution captured and Fidel Castro parked there during the revolution. We ended up speaking to two students, somehow getting on the subject of a group visiting from the University of Alabama, education, and technology. It turned out that there was a computer lab with internet in the building we were standing in front of, however, only the US students were allowed to use it. It was surprising to see these Cuban students stuck in the past only 100 feet from the future. They just weren’t allowed to get there.

Our first night we went to the Buena Vista Social Club show. Had I known it was that big of a tourist trap I would have passed, however, it was amazing to see old members of the group belting out hits and dancing better than I ever could well into their 80’s. Plus it was worth it to see Josh get sucked into the conga line. I wish I brought my better camera.

The next day we walked the long way to Old Town, taking in the sights of cars and buildings. Once there, we toured the Revolution Museum housed in the old Presidential palace. Constantly wondering what was true history or fantasy, it was impressive to see items tied to the revolution. Clothing, documents, technology, weapons, propaganda, etc. There was a smattering of “Imperialist American” propaganda as well. One afternoon we visited a cigar factory that makes many of the popular brands; Cohiba, Partaga, Romeo y Julieta, etc.The building smelled great and it was neat to see the process. We weren’t allowed to take pictures.

The owner of the apartment we rented happened to be a licensed tour guide and gave us a walking tour of Old Town the following day. He shared with us his knowledge of the area, relevant historical buildings and landmarks, as well as some perspective on life in Cuba. He was also not shy about showing us some of the colonial buildings that had been taken over by squatters. Some interesting things we saw on the tour included: Revolution Square; historical buildings; churches, including the one being prepped for Pope Francis’ visit; a grade school; an old pharmacy turned museum; the famous bar frequented by author and angry drunk Ernest Hemingway; a functional art studio; a house once owned by the artist Guayasamin (from Quito, Ecuador); the pawn store, now museum, that the revolutionaries raided to fuel the revolution; and one of Leonardo Davinci’s camera obscuras.

Our last day we went out on a boat for some good old fashioned deep sea fishing in an area that is legendary for its fishing, a first for all. After proving to the guards at the checkpoint that we weren’t trying to make the 90 mile trip to Florida, we were off. It quickly became apparent that there was no “catch-and-release”. These guys kept what they catch which we had to accept. We did catch one fish. Once it was close to the boat the landing process happened quick and was ‘exhilarating’. The saving grace was that the catch fed quite a few people. We coasted into the final evening reflecting on an inspiring trip. What was most impressive was the feeling of being back in time and seeing how the past fifty years has affected the people simply trying to live their lives like anyone else in another country. Josh had an early flight the next day and Betsy and I were off to our next adventure, Colombia.

This post is out of order because the photos from our trips to Cuba and Colombia were left at home. We will post those entries upon our return to Quito.

On July 16th, we left Quito in our trusty Land Cruiser for Peru with freshly added new bumper, lights, winch, and external gas tank, hoping we wouldn’t need any of them. Our plan was to head south through Cuenca, cross the border at Macara, head down the coast through Tucume and Chiclayo, head east to Huaraz from Trujillo, and then head north, stopping at several places on our way back to Ecuador. We were excited to explore these places because of their archaeological significance as well as their natural wonders. Additionally, it seemed rare tthat anyone was able to explore these lesser traveled sites in their own vehicle outside of Overland Traveler culture.

Cuenca:

Though we spent one night in Cuenca, it whetted our appetite for a return trip. It is a smaller city than Quito, has an abundance of colonial architecture, and enough Gringos to bring some familiarity to a city that we’ve been missing after being away from the States for so long.

Macara:

After getting Lucy’s papers in order in Cuenca, we made the long drive to Macara, the more inland border crossing into Peru. Our research showed the coastal crossing was sketchy because of its size and popularity. Plus, we didn’t plan on exploring the Northern Peruvian beaches.

The drive was long and took us into the night, something we generally don’t like to do. Sure enough, two soldiers in fatigues stopped us at a checkpoint and asked us for our papers. Everything was in order except for our “permit” to carry the external 5 gallon gas tank. After some jockeying, he let us go when some other cars arrived. We arrived in Macara excited to get up early to really start our trip.

Peru:

An early wake up call got us on the road for the five mile drive to the border of Peru. We made sure to fill our gas tanks to the top one last time since gas is more than twice as expensive in Peru as it is in Ecuador.  After jumping through the proper hoops we crossed into Peru. Right away the roads, people, and landscape were different. Views opened up and we entered the desert. Peru loves its speed bumps. Most are at the entry and exit of small towns, some are in the middle of nowhere, and others are not painted at all just to keep you on your toes.

Tucume:

Our first scheduled stop was Tucume, an area known for the Chimu people, descendants of the Moche just south in Lamayeque. They, like others, were ultimately taken over by the Incas. The recently finished museum did an excellent job of outlining the historical timeline of the pre-hispanic cultures in Peru, documenting the archaeological site itself, and laying out the found cultural artifacts and their uses.

Exploring the Pyramids was special because no one was there. We roamed around as if we were exploring the area as archaeologists. Seeing the ceremonial epicenter where the head Shaman was buried was a highlight. Buried with the Shaman were others close to him, as well as items to sustain him in the afterlife such as grains, vegetables, and animals. Also present in the tomb was the sacred stone the Chimu harvested from the nearby mountain that much of their spiritual faith was based upon. Ceremonies are still performed there to this day.

Our lodging was awesome. For not a lot of money, we stayed in an Oasis with a view of the Pyramids.

Leaving Tucume, we headed south toward Lambayeque and Chiclayo.