At first the Panamerican Highway was a four-lane freeway with a wonderful sholder for cyclists. Cause of the few traffic it was the most comfortable freeway-ride we ever did on bicycles. The coast is by far not that flat like we desired as cyclists. But fortunately the traffic signs overdrew sometimes. (ma)

Directly south of Lima are located many spas where the people of Lima go for recreation. We havn't been there in the main season and so we often could stay in good hotels very cheap and had not to build up the tent in this "a little dangerous" area. This fabulous hotel unfortunately wasn't in use. (mi)

Meetings at the road side: This farmer loaded his three wheel bicycle so much, that he only could push or pull it, but not ride. (mi)

Mostly we liked the famous coast high fog, because he gave us shade from the strong sun. But once we nearly had to cycle the whole day in fog. That was not only weird but also dangerous. The Peruan truck drivers pass others in fog just as they do at sunshine. (mi)

After a barren day stage a big surprise waited for us. It astonished us a lot to see in El Carmen so many African people. They were descendants of slaves from Africa, who were brought there from the Spaniards for the hard work on the cotton fields. It was a long fight until the slavery ended. Today the region around Chincha Alta is famous for their african music and dance culture. The instrument on the left is the jaw of a cow. If the musician beats on it the loose teeth start to rattle.
Hacienda San José (mi)

Afterwards we had to head again into the desert. But we had not to worry about our water becaus every 15-20 miles we passed a little village with shops. All in all we cycled from Lima to Guadalupe (near Ica) about 270 miles along the coast. (ma, mi)

As lonesome as the Panamerican highway sometimes was as busy were the towns. When we enterd a little town the streets were so much crowded with three wheel taxis, that we nearly can't get through. In Pisco, the birth town of the famous Perúan liquor, we celebrated our 8,000th kilometer (4,970 miles) of this trip. (ma)

From Pisco we visited the ruins of the Inka city, which is in the best condition of all at the entire coast of Perú: Tambo Colorado. In contrast to the settlements in the mountains the Inkas hardly used rocks here. Everything but the foundation was made from adobe. Originally everything was painted in red, yellow, and white, which gave the site it's name! Tambo Colorado was an importand trade center. The palace is big and built like a labyrinth so that it's easy to get lost. (mi)

Near Ica we were really surprised by a true sand storm. Our lunch break we spent yet in the shade of a little hut because the sun burned so much. But afterwards at packing our things we had to hurry not to get all the sand into our bags. The next 13 miles took us more than 2 hours, but we knew, that in Guadalupe near Ica at Leo's house an accomodation was waiting for us. (mi)

At Leo's home we could finally wash away all the sand. At the next day we visited the Lake of Huacachina. In the middle of high sand hills is this little oasis located like in a fairy tail from 1001 nights. With Leo we made a winetasting in one of the numerous bodegas in that area. Delicious, delicious!
More pictures and text about Leo and the other nice people we met at the coast you can find a "Who we met". (mi)