The entry into Peru at Huaquillas at the border between Ecuador and Peru has been the worst of all the crossings that I have experienced so far during my cycle ride along the Pan-American. The money exchange dealers gave us money which the police on the Peruvian side did not accept and we were ordered to go back into Ecuador because of fake money. It was all part of a trick to exchange money a second time in which hoards of people gathered around us (also part of the trick) to distract us. Anyway, I knew there was something foul about it and after all the tension we were missing 30 dollars....the changing back of larger bank notes was a trick in a tense situation in which the money dealer exchanged 100 soles instead of 200! Anyway, annoyed, we left the border and cycled on into Peru, once back on the quiet Pan-American we were much more relaxed. WARNING to all Pan-American cyclists! - this border crossing is well known for cheating and false money is given which looks real, so watch out and do NOT exchange any money at this border what so ever! Just ride through.
23.03.'06: The border tension was soon forgotten and we relaxed during a lunch stop along the Pacific coast to enjoy our first Peruvian beer and our first 'Inca Kola'.
right: Felix and Gabriel cycling at ease along the flat Pan-American highway along the northern Peruvian coastline.
As one cycles away from the Ecuadorian border the landscape becomes drier and drier and one is soon in a semi-desert with fantastic sunsets!
right: 25.03.'06: Felix, with all the PET bottles which we had consumed during the day of riding through the semi-desert. After a relaxing 'beach-bum' day and cleaning our bikes in Mancora, we continued along the Pan-American highway which does not have much traffic in this region at all and is ideal for cycling.
South of Mancora, the road through the semi-desert seems endlessly long with hardly any bends. The heat and wind gets to you by midday!
right: The desert has more than just sand and thorn bushes...where the rivers come down from the Andes and cross the desert one will find fertile soil. Here one will find hundreds of rice fields (around Sullana along the Chira river). One could think one is riding through south east Asia. Pitching the tent just outside one of the rice fields was a very bad mistake! Hundreds of mosquitos came out of nowhere and the humidity was so high that I could hardly sleep during the night...and then Gabriels talking in his sleep...."Ok gabriel we will head into the cooler Andes mountains as soon as possible". This humidity and heat is nothing for a Swede used to hiking hundreds of kilometres in freezing temperatures in the polar night!
left: 26.03.'06: Entering the 'Desierto de Sechura'
...and another sunset in the desert!
...ok boys, no time for practising a 'Greenpeace' or Anti Globalisation' protest in the Sechuran desert!
....now thats better! Wherever possible, tourists should support local products. Gabriel and I do not find that difficult after a hard day of cycling, drinking a ice cold local beer while Felix drinks his 'Inca Kola'. Inca Kola has a marketing strategy similar to other cola products, one finds the adverts almost anywhere in Peru!
left: Felix, riding at ease, along the Pan-American highway through the desert with only little traffic!
right: Resting in the sand-dune zone in the 'Desierto de Sechura'. On the 28.03.'06 we wanted to get out of the desert while it was still cool and with little wind, so we got up way before sunrise to cycle the last stretch through the desert in the early hours of the day. This proved to be easy going without the heat and wind!
By the time we rolled into Chiclayo, I was 'absolutely finished'. I had been suffering from stomach aches and diarrhoea for over 3 days. The lack of minerals and water in my body weakend me during the desert ride. So I just had to say, it is time for a rest to recover. I stayed in Ciclayo while Felix and Gabriel continued on to Trujillo. I met up with them in Trujillo a day later (I took the bus along my entire route for the first time). We stayed in Trujillo for 2 nights and spent a great long evening with a bunch of friendly Peruvians, visiting a pub and getting to bed late (early). Felix and I visited the great pre-Inca ruins of Chan-Chan the next day (half a sleep due to lack of sleep the night before). Chan Chan is a city which was built in the pre-Inca era and was built in the desert which had a population of 30 000. It is amazing to see how the Chan-Chan culture built their city walls 'earthquake proof' and with numerous wells bored deep into the desert sand.
left: 01.04.'06 We continued riding south of Trujillo in a town called Santa. My stomach pains were going away and we decided to cycle the 200km stretch from the ocean desert up to the high Andes along one of the most spectacular valleys that I have ever seen. The route follows the Santa river with deep cut canyons along a terrible 120km dirt road stretch.
The first section up to the Andes was along the green fertile Santa valley which runs straight through the desert. Everything is grown here from bananas and papayas to apples and sugarcane. The road was great with about 1 car per hour. The road would however soon turn bad...
...and the road did turn bad! A 120km stretch, a constant uphill from 0 m.a.s.l. to 3090 m.a.s.l. The Santa River flows through 2 sets of canyons. It took us nearly all day to cycle through the first canyon with numerous tunnels. The valley becomes deeper and deeper while the mountains get higher and higher the closer one gets to the Andes! An amazing route which very very few tourists get to see (usually only cyclists). There are no bus services except for a local 'chicken' bus service which I would not recommend after seeing how deep the canyon is and how dangerous the road is without a single barrier at all!!
02.04.'06 Felix and Gabriel cycling through the Santa Canyon along a rough and hard road
02.04.'06 After cycling through the first canyon we reached greener vegetation, where the desert comes to an end and after a hard day of cycling we reached Huallanca just as it got dark. A day of riding 68km in such terrain is hard and consumes a lot of energy!
right: 03.04.'06 Felix coming out of one of the 'Cañón del Pato' tunnels. The road was built in the canyon face and the views down to the river are sometimes close to frightening! A set of about 20 tunnels have made it possible to ride up through the canyon face with the most amazing views! Just watch out for rock falls!!!
left: Myself having a rest along the road leading through the canyon up to the Andes.
03.04.'06 After a hard ride we reached the first Andean town - Caraz. It was time for another rest. The following day we would start hiking deep into the Cordillera Blanca for 4 days. We were able to rent backpacks, then we headed off to the market to buy the food for our trek. The trek was amazing, see next stage: Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca (stage 24)
23.03.'06: The border tension was soon forgotten and we relaxed during a lunch stop along the Pacific coast to enjoy our first Peruvian beer and our first 'Inca Kola'. 
right: Felix and Gabriel cycling at ease along the flat Pan-American highway along the northern Peruvian coastline.
As one cycles away from the Ecuadorian border the landscape becomes drier and drier and one is soon in a semi-desert with fantastic sunsets! 
right: 25.03.'06: Felix, with all the PET bottles which we had consumed during the day of riding through the semi-desert. After a relaxing 'beach-bum' day and cleaning our bikes in Mancora, we continued along the Pan-American highway which does not have much traffic in this region at all and is ideal for cycling.
South of Mancora, the road through the semi-desert seems endlessly long with hardly any bends. The heat and wind gets to you by midday!
right: The desert has more than just sand and thorn bushes...where the rivers come down from the Andes and cross the desert one will find fertile soil. Here one will find hundreds of rice fields (around Sullana along the Chira river). One could think one is riding through south east Asia. Pitching the tent just outside one of the rice fields was a very bad mistake! Hundreds of mosquitos came out of nowhere and the humidity was so high that I could hardly sleep during the night...and then Gabriels talking in his sleep...."Ok gabriel we will head into the cooler Andes mountains as soon as possible". This humidity and heat is nothing for a Swede used to hiking hundreds of kilometres in freezing temperatures in the polar night!
left: 26.03.'06: Entering the 'Desierto de Sechura'
...and another sunset in the desert!
...ok boys, no time for practising a 'Greenpeace' or Anti Globalisation' protest in the Sechuran desert!
....now thats better! Wherever possible, tourists should support local products. Gabriel and I do not find that difficult after a hard day of cycling, drinking a ice cold local beer while Felix drinks his 'Inca Kola'. Inca Kola has a marketing strategy similar to other cola products, one finds the adverts almost anywhere in Peru!
left: Felix, riding at ease, along the Pan-American highway through the desert with only little traffic!
right: Resting in the sand-dune zone in the 'Desierto de Sechura'. On the 28.03.'06 we wanted to get out of the desert while it was still cool and with little wind, so we got up way before sunrise to cycle the last stretch through the desert in the early hours of the day. This proved to be easy going without the heat and wind!
left: 01.04.'06 We continued riding south of Trujillo in a town called Santa. My stomach pains were going away and we decided to cycle the 200km stretch from the ocean desert up to the high Andes along one of the most spectacular valleys that I have ever seen. The route follows the Santa river with deep cut canyons along a terrible 120km dirt road stretch. 
The first section up to the Andes was along the green fertile Santa valley which runs straight through the desert. Everything is grown here from bananas and papayas to apples and sugarcane. The road was great with about 1 car per hour. The road would however soon turn bad...
...and the road did turn bad! A 120km stretch, a constant uphill from 0 m.a.s.l. to 3090 m.a.s.l. The Santa River flows through 2 sets of canyons. It took us nearly all day to cycle through the first canyon with numerous tunnels. The valley becomes deeper and deeper while the mountains get higher and higher the closer one gets to the Andes! An amazing route which very very few tourists get to see (usually only cyclists). There are no bus services except for a local 'chicken' bus service which I would not recommend after seeing how deep the canyon is and how dangerous the road is without a single barrier at all!!
02.04.'06 Felix and Gabriel cycling through the Santa Canyon along a rough and hard road
02.04.'06 After cycling through the first canyon we reached greener vegetation, where the desert comes to an end and after a hard day of cycling we reached Huallanca just as it got dark. A day of riding 68km in such terrain is hard and consumes a lot of energy!
right: 03.04.'06 Felix coming out of one of the 'Cañón del Pato' tunnels. The road was built in the canyon face and the views down to the river are sometimes close to frightening! A set of about 20 tunnels have made it possible to ride up through the canyon face with the most amazing views! Just watch out for rock falls!!!
left: Myself having a rest along the road leading through the canyon up to the Andes.
03.04.'06 After a hard ride we reached the first Andean town - Caraz. It was time for another rest. The following day we would start hiking deep into the Cordillera Blanca for 4 days. We were able to rent backpacks, then we headed off to the market to buy the food for our trek. The trek was amazing, see next stage: