Days 60,61 & 62 12th-14th (Chiclayo-Chimbote-Caraz) Peru

Highway Robbery & into the Andes

The border went smooth and I found myself on my way into the Peruvian desert lands. Finally ended up in Chiclayo for the first
night, it was a large town with a lot of traffic.

Started out early so I could hit a town called Chimbote before I head into the Andes. I didn't get far before I was pulled up
at a police checkpoint. There were two other riders on KTM's pulled over as well. They took off and soon after and it was my turn
for document checks. In the end they fleeced me $80 dollars for not having auto insurance. Not sure if it was required or not, but
to get my passport back money had to be handed over. I say it went straight into their pockets.

The two KTM riders (Mark & Jackie) pulled over five km's ahead to see how I got on. The corrupt cops fined them $20 as they talked
their way out of a larger amount, better Spanish I guess. We rode together a bit further before going our separate ways to Chimbote. I met up with Mark that night for a few beers and it was
decided we would travel together into the mountains.

Chimbote would have to be the noises town I have experienced so far. There are cabs everywhere and they all beep their horns
to let customers know they are available. Mark recorded the 'sounds of Chimbote', I will try and put it on the blog.

Started out early and headed in land and up into the mountains. Most of the day's road was on very rough dirt roads in very deep
canyons. We must have ridden through 50 tunnels, through landslides and over some very rough bridges. Mark had taken some great
photos of me riding through the canyons, not something I can get travelling solo. Ended up in small town called Carez, ended up putting
the bikes in the lobby to keep safe.

Cheers
Greg