Piura

Until last night I had been under the impression that the route from Chiclayo to Piura traversing the Desierto de Sechura is entirely deserted between Morrope and Piura, and, in particular, that there is no water. Therefore, I had started thinking about how to pack a dozen additional water bottles into my bags. But, last night, as I was browsing various websites at the hotel bar, I found some information indicating that there are in fact several restaurants on the way. This turned out to be accurate; the first restaurant appeared about 60 km north of Chiclayo, then the next about 12 km later and so on. So staying hydrated was no problem. But, better yet, the tailwind allowed riding comfortably at speeds around 25 to 30 km/h; I have much respect for folks going in the other direction. Additionally, the terrain was almost entirely flat. (I studied the google terrain map last night, but couldn't find any contour lines.) There were some stretches that were also straight, which makes you feel like you're going downhill, then you look around and think you must have been going uphill,

Then, after more than 200 km, I arrived in Piura and had to slow down...well, a little bit,

I will be here until Sunday and relax a bit after 1000 km from Lima...Merry Christmas!