Day 43 – Tuesday, March 10, 2026

There was a slight misunderstanding at breakfast- I told the waitress that I wanted a large portion of fries eggs made from three eggs, she reappeared by not one, not two, but three serving of fried eggs. Ouch. I said good-bye to the nice hotel with the pool and was soon amazed to see that some trucks have 15 axles. The cute puppies did not help in counting these. There was not much to complain about - no headwind, broad shoulder, not too hot - the miles accumulated nicely. The scenery was interesting - green areas barely above sea level, with frit vendors, villages, towns - then it would get barren all of a sudden and a long climb up to 200 meters of altitude would begin,then drop back to where it was green again. Hmmmm. While biking was actually npermitted,on the PanAmerican highway, donkey caarts with four donkeys pose no issues, apparently. The closer I got to Lima, the more vendors there would be. There were a large member of ice cream vendors and then ones selling filled bread (with olives, cheese, etc) baked there in an oven. Another noteworthy things was that there were huge billboards on the side of the road - like twenty-something meter high. Interestingly, most faced thw opposite direction, che. the traffic coming from Lima. One such billboard was claiming that bodies of women should not be commented. I rode some 153 km with an ascent of 950 meters. The place I reached is called Punta Hermosa, famous for surfing. Interestingly, this settlement and even other ones are gates communities, with security checking traffic. I was told that within each community, there are further checkpoints for posher neighborhoods. Hmmm. There is also quite strong police present. Someone claimed this to be the safest area of the entire country. For almost the same price as my resort hotel with pool where I had stayed last night, I am now in a bit run-down surf hostel, with international staff and guests, whose age is less than half of mine. One guest is a biker from Australia - who rode from Patagonia. Ah, and no breakfast is included. Some 40 km remain till Lima - so I should make it by tomorrow.