Things are particularly hard at the moment and we have had little time to unwind. If we are not cycling we are bartering with people who think money is something that grows in our pockets and falls off us as we walk. Which means my ‘no mercy’ bartering apprenticeship in Asia has been well worth while. On one occasion we arrived in the small but big enough town of Ayacuchu went out for dinner then kept the restaurant bar open four hours after closing time playing old music (in English) and buying the staff drinks just to de-stress, it was great. However we are now out of the testing mountains and on the long lost coast, fully recovered, rearing to go and rip into the last leg of the trip.

Pisco is the name of this town and putting the hammer down non stop to Quito is the plan! We do have one detour in Mancora where we plan to do some surfing and maybe kite surfing. Well actually we could be side tracked at any stage, at ony one of the hundreds of resorts we ride past on the way, but we will be going towards Quito!