04/28 Leimebamba turned out to be a rather productive layover and a great place to spend a couple days. The people were extremely friendly and the kids almost always greet you when you walk by which I’ve rarely seen before.
I ended up staying an extra day thanks to steady rain yesterday morning. A shoe repair guy did a great job of gluing the toe back together on my hiking shoe. Another guy in the same shop made me 2 small leather straps that I can use to secure my front panniers to the rack. I feel a little better about this rather than having a section of chain dangling near my spokes. They also make nice souvenirs from Peru.
My Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 camera is turning out not to be so tough. The LCD screen wouldn’t come on until I dropped it on the floor (a highly technical trick I learned long ago). That got it working again but its days may be numbered. It’s only 16 months old too. No problems with it today. Keeping my fingers crossed.
A quick moto-taxi ride got me over to the Museo Leimebamba where I was able to view artifacts from the Chachapoyas civilization, including the mummies that they brought back from the Laguna de los Cóndores. The museum was very modern and everything was presented in glass cases with signs in 3 languages. It was very impressive and well worth the S10 to get in. Across the road is a place called Kentikafé that serves gourmet coffee and feeds a local population of hummingbirds– over 16 different species drink some 5kg of sugar per day.
A fairly massive 20 mile climb was on the agenda today and it didn’t disappoint. Climbed up near 12,000 feet on a road that was often covered in a thin layer of fender-clogging mud. Rain started falling an hour before the pass and it didn’t let up until I was on my way down. It got down into the high 40′s and with the wind, especially going downhill, I was hating life for a while. It’s 80 F down here in the valley at 3,000 feet.
The downhill from the pass, called Abra de Barro Negro (Black Mud Pass), was rather epic. At 36 miles, it was by far the longest descent on my trip. Traffic was very light and the dirt road wasn’t in bad shape but I couldn’t go too fast thanks to some serious drop offs almost the entire way. The scenery after the pass was absolutely incredible, especially for the last 10 miles. It’s a shame camping spots were non-existent. This area was one of my favorite spots over the last 2 years of riding. A park with some hiking trails and camp sites would have been perfect for this area.
I found out things start not working when bouncing along for 4 hours down a hill. The spoke-mounted magnet for my bike computer kept twisting around which resulted in no data being collected for short periods of time. My GPS also kept shutting off on the really bumpy sections. This happened before with it so I don’t think it’s dying or anything (which is good because I love it).
When I got down to the river I thought I was in the village of Balsas but it was down another dirt road about a 1/2 mile away. There’s one cheap, but decent enough, hospedaje for $3.50. Another even bigger climb awaits tomorrow. The pass before CelendÃn hits 10,000 feet which would make for a 7,000 foot climb if I try to make it in one day. We’ll see. I’m feeling pretty good after today so it’s doable. According to the Lonely Planet guide there are 2 pizza places which is a great incentive for getting there really hungry tomorrow night.
Entries (RSS)