We had enjoyed our short break on the beach at Mancora but had were glad to head out of Peru and into Ecuador. We had spent plenty of time in Peru and despite its wonders, we had had enough of the trash on the back roads and some of the more disorganised hotels. It is such a country of contrasts.
We decided to rise before dawn and leave very early. The hotel people provided coffee and bread and butter but no toaster or jam or fruit, but we all knew we needed to eat something, so did and were glad of it.
It was 140 kilometres to the border, and sensibly the Peruvian and Ecuadorian governments share buildings for both entry and exit. Exit was easy, but the border officials said that we could not enter Ecuador without a certified certificate saying that we had not criminal records for five years! Obviously it would be easy to create one, but getting the "stamp" would be a challenge. The purpose of this extended rule was to keep villains from Peru and other countries out of Ecaudorian Cartel Gangs. We were very deflated, but eventually the manager came over and asked if we were riding motos (motorcycles) and we said yes, and so he made an exception. JC was very pleased as you can imagine.
So after a couple of hours we crossed, but a German couple were so incensed with the rules that they turned back! I'm not sure what world you are in when you piss off Government Officials!
We rode another 80 km and were joined by JC's cousin, Edwin who was riding a brand new Honda TransAlp motorcycle and he escorted us into the town of Cuenca, which is truly beautiful, after a stop for a soup lunch which we all enjoyed. The roads here have large humps in them and some areas of gravel disturbance created by geological movements, which are worth watching out for as you round a corner.
We went straight to the BMW Dealer here, and the others to the hotel La Cascona. I have now ridden more than 20,000 km on my bike and it needs another service most urgently. I will also get the rear brake pads replaced (as I am carrying spares from Australi), but decided to continue with the excellent Michelin Adventure tyres for the moment. The visit to the Dealer was interesting as they had our bikes on the hoists in seconds and were draining oil and replacing filters very quickly. My bike is filthy.
Ned Meisner who is the new person joining us for the last 12 days, lives here in Cuenca, but is an American citizen. He invited us to his home for dinner to meet us, and we were a little unsure of this, but he provided first class Japanese Sushi and a hamburger for Paul which was a delightful surprise. Edwin and his girlfriend turned up too, and all in all it was a good evening. We travelled by taxi back to the hotel, and paid with US dollars as they are the currency for Equador.
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