Lambayeque to Pacasmayo

Breakfast was a bit of a non-event this morning with the hotel only providing a couple of bread rolls and a glass of orange juice and I am sorry if I seem to be harping on the amount & nature of the food being consumed during the course of the day. It’s only because of the extensive amount of exercise that we’re doing every day which means that we're burning a substantial number of calories. 

The bread rolls with jam are probably fine if all you are going to do is jump on a tourist bus or simply wander around the town all day, but it's not great when you are spending four or five hours in the saddle. 

With an election apparently being imminent, we’ve started to notice a number of billboards such as the one above. Apparently though the majority of political advertising is seemingly done by adorning one’s house with the various parties, icon, for which the home owner is paid accordingly! With a number of the elderly generation being illiterate, candidates’ names are listed on the ballot paper, alongside the party’s icon or logo.

As for the police presence in the photo above, they weren’t part of our “normal” contingent. Who knows what they were checking for…. Not crazy bus or truck drivers, that’s for sure. 

Seriously why we haven’t witnessed a couple of head on collisions by now, I don’t know…

With the lunch truck having stopped some sixty kilometres out of Lambayeque, a quick bite to eat was consumed before heading off towards tonight’s hotel in Pacasmayo, a town situated on the Pacific Ocean. First time I’ll have seen it from the “wrong” side… 

The photo above was taken on the beach and just in front of our hotel.

Having arrived in town around mid-afternoon, I took the opportunity to catch up with one of the guys, I’d ridden through some of Italy with last year – Tim. He’s always keen to sip a few ales and to have a bit of a natter. Great bloke!

As the beers went down, slightly faster than the dying sun, I decided to go for a bit of a wander along the pier. It was built in the 1870’s and was purportedly the longest in Peru at the time.

At any rate, with camera in hand, I managed to rattle off a few shots that may hopefully one day be worthy of putting into an Australian Photographic Society competition or what have you. They may not appear here however and may need a little bit of post production work..... before they "see" light of day! 😊 😊

As the sun finally set over the horizon, and as I could hear a band beginning to fire up, I packed up my stuff and decided this was a good time to have dinner and enjoy the music.

I should mention at this point, that having left my good camera battery charger at home and having been unable to source one from any electronics / photography shops I’d come across in the larger towns, I’d organised for my charger to be brought over to me, via a friend from Sydney, who’s starting the ride in a couple of days of time. I can’t wait! Will be good to catch up with her again, having only met with her once in Sydney in the lead up to this trip. Yipee!