Well safely in Lima. Long flight as normal though this is the first time I have come via Charles de Gaulle airport. It’s huge. We had to go on a bus from the plane then find a train then walk to find that there was no decent place to eat. After a four hr wait I reached the gate to be told I was being upgraded to premium economy. Not sure what I did to deserve that but I didn’t complain. I didn’t think it made that much difference until I wandered back into economy class! Maybe I might pay the extra in future.
Spent the day in Lima. Got refused lunch. Again that’s a first. Again not sure why. My Spanish isn’t great but he took the menu off me and said no. Managed to get something at another place. Then decided to get the bus back to the hotel. I had gone in by taxi but that cost four pounds. The bus only cost 25p. I think I saw a lot more of Lima than I expected. There are no pictures of Lima as my fancy connector has just deleted them.
The hire company asked if I could get the bike on the Saturday night rather than the Sunday morning. What difference could that make? Quite a lot. It’s dark here at six and there is a lot more traffic on the road than I would expect on a Sunday. Most of the big roads are three lanes or more. Buses always seem to be a lane out from the bus stop so just cut across. Roundabouts are five or as many lanes as will fit. The traffic is either going at forty miles an hour or stopped. Coupled with that I had no idea where I was going. It seemed very easy on the map. I did stop to ask a police woman who was standing waving a red baton. She wasn’t sure either. That’s another thing. If the lights are red you ignore them if police woman is waving her baton and blowing her whistle. It took me 1.5 hrs to get back to the hotel. I only hit one taxi wing mirror with my panniers and went a one way street with arrows pointing towards me. Not too bad really.

My route in Peru starts in Lima and follows the coast north to Trujillo. From there I head through the mountains to Cajamarca and on to Chachapoyas. I return to Cajamarca and travel through the mountains to Huanuco, Huancayo, Ayacucho and onto Cuzco. That is a very rough guide. Weather and road conditions will dictate exactly how I get on

In November 2014 I set myself the challenge of learning to ride a motorbike and then touring round Peru. I had been to Peru on three different occasions doing voluntary work in some orphanages. I found Peru to be a fascinating country with so much more to see and do. This is my blog about my travels starting in December 2015.