Not much sleep as the guard kept waking up and walking around spitting. The sun came out early, we packed our wet gear, and hit to road towards what was advertised as being one of the ten best bicycle rides on the planet. It was hot and sticky, but the scenery was spectacular and the traffic minimal. As we progressed, the road started to deteriorate until at one stage it was merely a muddy dirt track with lake like puddles making going difficult. Pigs were bathing in the centre of the highway and cattle and birds coming on for a drink. Even the Russian lorries struggled to navigate a route.
Tadek stopped at a river after the worst bud bath to clean the debris from his brakes and gears. Here we met a Canadian holiday maker who was on his tenth vacation at a nearby hotel (the only one that we had seen in 40kms). He explained that the ‘road’ that we had been travelling on was a two lane highway when he first visited, but 4 or more hurricanes and rising see levels and washed it away. While chatting, we were almost bulldozed into the river with our bikes when a bull on the loose was being chased by 3 desperate locals in an attempt to re-catch it.
Arrived in the local area main town of Chivirico expecting it to be another dusty quiet backwater with no much happening. Surprised to find a very clean and friendly, gem of a town. Great beach (not much used in winter although it must have been over 25 degrees), fantastically kept park/square, every amenity – in fact it was much like a coastal town in Liguria, Italy. We decided to stay and found ourselves a beach café selling beer and grilled FISH. The first fish that we can across on the island (not that we had tried posh hotels). Tadek tucked into grilled swordfish with fried banana and cabbage salad. His first real meal on the island! We met a sports teacher/radio presenter for the local Coral Radio who chatted to us all afternoon and evening. Although he spoke no English, we managed to communicate quite easily. He suggested that we camp just off the beach, behind the manicured town park. It was a strange move, but nobody seemed to mind. Our new friend actually stayed up all night on a park bench overlooking our pitch to make sure nothing was stolen!
Tadek stopped at a river after the worst bud bath to clean the debris from his brakes and gears. Here we met a Canadian holiday maker who was on his tenth vacation at a nearby hotel (the only one that we had seen in 40kms). He explained that the ‘road’ that we had been travelling on was a two lane highway when he first visited, but 4 or more hurricanes and rising see levels and washed it away. While chatting, we were almost bulldozed into the river with our bikes when a bull on the loose was being chased by 3 desperate locals in an attempt to re-catch it.
Arrived in the local area main town of Chivirico expecting it to be another dusty quiet backwater with no much happening. Surprised to find a very clean and friendly, gem of a town. Great beach (not much used in winter although it must have been over 25 degrees), fantastically kept park/square, every amenity – in fact it was much like a coastal town in Liguria, Italy. We decided to stay and found ourselves a beach café selling beer and grilled FISH. The first fish that we can across on the island (not that we had tried posh hotels). Tadek tucked into grilled swordfish with fried banana and cabbage salad. His first real meal on the island! We met a sports teacher/radio presenter for the local Coral Radio who chatted to us all afternoon and evening. Although he spoke no English, we managed to communicate quite easily. He suggested that we camp just off the beach, behind the manicured town park. It was a strange move, but nobody seemed to mind. Our new friend actually stayed up all night on a park bench overlooking our pitch to make sure nothing was stolen!