We head out in the early morning sunshine towards Peru. Unintentionally we were heading for the least used crossing, and as a result the beautiful road was almost deserted.
It wound up out of the valley in which Vilcabamba lay, up and up until we were cruising along through some of the most epic scenery we've seen so far.
At this point in documenting our journey I have to admit to seriously running out of adjectives to describe some of the things we see whilst on the bike. I fear 'breathtaking', 'stunning', 'amazing' etc are rather losing their meaning as I use them so often, but honestly we are seeing parts of the world which truly are all of these things. I also never knew that 'mountains' could cover so much in terms of describing a landscape. I've talked about mountains in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador but they are all so different. I describe one set as our most amazing view so far, and yet a few days later it is topped by another. Photos also don't do these landscapes justice, so bear with me and use your imagination, and do believe me when I say these vistas are breathtaking!
There is something about riding along such a wonderful road in total solitude that makes it even more special. Waterfalls crash down the hillsides, animals munch lazily on the verge, and bright purple trees add a spattering of colour to the vast green.
The road intermittently chucked a few metres of gravel at us to keep us on our toes, until eventually the Tarmac never returned. We had a lot of fun crossing a shallow river, and bumped our way along the increasingly narrow track towards Peru. The 'border' at La Balsa was no more than a few ramshackle buildings either side of the river - one side Ecuador, the other Peru.
Being the only travellers there, the process was quick, simple and stress-free, a totally new experience for us when it comes to border crossings.
On the other side we were back to Tarmac (yippee!) and after some quite intense riding decided to call it a day an hour or so from the border at the town of San Ignacio. We stayed for one night in the strange little town and were certainly the only tourists there. There was seemingly just one hotel, which was rather fancy compared to what we're used to, and yet cost us less than twenty dollars.
Northern Peru is scarcely visited by tourists and as such gives a real insight into Peruvian life. While it's lovely to have all the mod cons that were used to, it has also been very nice to feel a bit more like a 'proper traveller' - stopping when we need to and seeking out a place to lay our heads before pushing on to our next destination. Peru is indescribably massive, and thus so far has been much more about the journey than the the destinations up to this point. And the journey has not disappointed. On the way to San Ignacio we saw women laying beans out to dry in the sun, and men in a ditch of mud forming bricks using a wooden mould. There is real beauty in the simplicity of such things, particularly when your used to the chaos and technology of the Western World.
From San Ignacio we descended into a valley and into a whole new landscape to what we've been used to so far. The valley was boiling hot and vast, and the roads very straight. As the temperature rose our surroundings turned to desert, with dry rock faces littered with cacti. While pretty amazing to look at, it was rather unpleasant to ride in on account of the straight roads and boiling temperatures, and thus we were extremely grateful when after three hours we started to ascend.
The dry hills transformed, getting higher and greener, as we followed a river through a ravine, under rock over hangs and around landslides, until we found ourselves climbing to the top of the shelf on which Chachapoyas lies. With little going on from a visitor's perspective, and with a lot of distance to cover, it was just a quick rest here before getting up and heading off once again, this time to Northern Peru's biggest city - Cajamarca.