Day 5
Huanaco to the rain forest
Distance: 192 Km 120 miles
Climbing: 2,200 meters 7,250 feet
Ending elevation: 2,000 feet
Road Surface: Paved, except for last 60 Km
Today was another great ride. Long, to be sure, and brutal in parts. But the scenery kept our attention throughout. Started with easy rollers leaving Huanaco, until we crossed the river and started the first climb of the day, about 3,000 feet up. Here's a shot of Lon climbing up the hill, a look back on the road up, and a slightly outdated political sign - these were very common, and always painted on the side of houses - usually the only paint on the house. Of course they don't get "taken down" after the election. Also note the more tropical vegetation in the last shot; it was changing as we got higher.
At the summit of the climb we hit a long tunnel, and on the other side was the start of the rain forest:
From here we had yet another incredible, long downhill run. The rain forest got thicker as we dropped. It finally leveled out to a slight drop, and we cruised for a while. Below are Lisa, Wim, and Nancy riding along, and yours truly in motion.
This area is known as drug smuggler country, so we tried to keep in pairs. A few years back it was much more dangerous, but these days it's okay, at least if you stick to the main roads. After lunch we passed through the town of Tingo Maria which was bustling. Eventually we hit rough gravel/dirt roads, that would be with us the remainder of the day. We then started the second major climb of the day, a long, stiff 4,000 foot climb deeper into the jungle. When the sun came out from behind the clouds it got quite hot while climbing. In fact, I nearly drained my 100 oz. of water just from the last rest stop - that's a lot of water for a 30 mile stretch!. It was also dusty every time a truck came through. A shot of the vegetation and a passing truck:
As we approached the summit, we got nailed with a tropical downpour. We sloshed through as the hot dusty road became multiple rivers of water crossing the road. My odometer died shortly thereafter. We had a rest stop at the summit:
Now here's the sad part - I left my camera with the crew at the top, since I was drenched. We started downhill, it was slow on the wet gravel road - actually, it was more like riding in a river bed. It was quite cool, but certainly not cold. After a while, the rain dried up, though the roads remained quite messy. And, the scenery became incredible! And me without a camera... I sure hope someone else got some pictures of all the waterfalls, lush plant life, and just plain beautiful scenery. A river was following our downhill path. Sorry, but it's impossible to describe this area - off the charts.
The riding continued quite a while, all very bumpy well-washed roads. Our destination was a bridge over the river in a stunning tight canyon, with waterfalls, high rock walls, etc. We went down to the river to wash off all the sand and dirt covering us head to toe. Then up to the bridge to get settled in the tents. Some riders didn't come in until after dark, some crashing on the tricky road while riding in the dark. Lon had to hitch-hike out on a truck late at night with a rider who fell and broke his arm. Long all-night trip to get him on a plane in Pucallpa the next day - trucks go slowly on these roads.
The river was thundering quite loudly beneath us all night. Woke up a few times, listening to thunder and seeing lightning flashes; started thinking about sleeping on a metal bridge, hoping it wouldn't get wet, and whether the canyon walls would catch any lightning strikes. At first light, it started raining (of course, but then again, what would you expect in a rain forest??). The sign where we camped, translates to "the veil of the girlfriend", which I assume meant more like "the veil of the bride", which then basically means bridle-veil falls - apparently the name of a big waterfall not too far from our camps, but unfortunately not seen by us.
Day 6 - Long gravelly day to Pucallpa