Day 152 – Zumba, EC to Bagua Grande, PE
January 23, 2011 3 Comments
Day 152 – Zumba, EC to Bagua Grande, PE 01/20/11 Mileage: 171
After a quick breakfast across the street from the hotel, I headed south for the border. It was only 15 road miles to the border down a 1 lane dirt road with nice views of the surrounding mountains.
I passed through the last military checkpoint in Ecuador, and this time I had the helmet cam going. Like all the other checkpoints I passed through, both police and military, they were polite and very professional. They asked questions about the bike and what I was doing and one of the soldiers almost fell over when I said I had ridden here from the U.S.
Checkpoint formalities complete, the pointed me in the direction of the border outpost of La Balsa a few miles away.
There was nobody else crossing the border and the customs official was only busy with his morning paper, so he had bike processed out of Ecuador in just a few minutes.
Next I got stamped out by the policia and I was done…..and with that it was goodbye Ecuador, and across the bridge to Peru.
Like the Ecuador side of the border, I was the only one crossing, so it was nice and chill…just the way I like it and a far cry from many of the frenetic Central America borders.
First stop was the immigration office, followed by checking in with the national policia.
This is the Peru immigration building…
Next was customs for the bike which took around 45 minutes to complete all the import permit paperwork. I looked at his customs log and I was only the 4th vehicle to cross the border here this year!
….and the Peru customs building…
…and the Per customs officer, opening the gate for me!
With that done, the customs official opened the gate and I was off into Peru…country number 13! The road continued to be scenic as it wound its way through the mountains towards the town of San Ignacio where I stopped for a quick lunch.
Pulling into the town of San Ignacio
Back on the bike I continued south along the Rio Chinchipe towards the town of Jaen.
I still had some daylight left so I kept rolling until nightfall caught me in Bagua Grande…a hot and dusty roadside town. I did however find a nice room for the night with secure parking for around $10.
Tomorrow I plan to plunge right into the heart of mountains of northern Peru…one of the highlights I’ve been looking forward to on this trip…
From Deadhorse Down 
Great that you got through customs so easily. I am really shocked that in almost three weeks only 4 vehicles have gone from Peru to Ecuador. Don’t trucks deliver stuff from one country to another, etc.??????
So nice of Melinda to write and offer you to visit with them. Moms think alike, clean bed, food and safety. As a mother I appreciate that.
You really made a very good choice by taking the bike you did!!!!!!! The roads look “interesting” and the scenery is beautiful. Lots of dirt roads and I guess you are going into the areas where there will be only dirt roads.
Take care and be well and safe. Our computer was broke this morning and the guy came and fixed it……on a Sunday. It is very, very cold here.
Love ya, Mom
There have been only 4 vehicles through that border crossing because it´s so remote…150 miles up a dirt road in the mountains. At the other main crossing on the Pan American Highway, I´m sure hundreds of cars and trucks pass through everyday.
That was very nice of Melinda!
I´m very glad I brought the KLR…its been very good to me for sure! Stay warm up there!
Wow, the photo of the one mountain by the bridge certainly looked as if a lot of seismic activity had taken place…unless it’s erosion.