Venezuelan until proven innocent

Percy cooks us lunch

19 February 2024 Day 465

Cycling alone again now. I miss company, but solo bike touring is the ultimate freedom.

Sometimes there are nice dogs to keep me company:

For your viewing pleasure:

21 February 2024 Day 467

All uphill today. And just like that I'm back in the mountains! Peruvian Andes.

22 February 2024 Day 468

Couldn't find wild camping, so I got permission from the police to camp in the town square. The local kids were adorable and super annoying. They constantly asked me questions like:

"are there things in America?"
"Ummm, yes. There are cars and roads and people and food"
"what else?"
"are you a bad person in America?" "How much do Takis chips cost in Mexico?"
"How much money do you have in total"

They were touching and knocking over all my stuff while I tried to cook dinner.

Town square before being swarmed by adorable and insufferable kids.

24 February 2024 Day 470

I hiked to a huge cave with deafening birds and bats today.

Local kids pestered me in an endearing way while I tried to use the public wifi.

Mud bricks out to dry.

Typical moto-taxi decorations.

In the evening I couldn't find wild camping, and I got invited in for dinner:

Then a different local person offered me a spare room. Thank you.

The next day I searched for a special viewpoint and got invited in by another local family.

I arrived cold and wet and it must have been obvious because they ushered me inside and draped a poncho over my head.

Their mud house with a mud floor and a wood fire had wifi. Thank you for the food and hospitality.

Kid on my bicycle the next morning.

 

26 February 2024 Day 472

The family I stayed with last night gave me a ton of potatoes. So I made french fries and did some sewing in the tent.

I made a "gas tank" bag for my bicycle with dental floss and some scrap fabric:

27 February 2024 Day 473

Most big trucks in Peru feature intracite religious artwork like this.

The first time I saw this policital logo, I thought it was a poorly drawn cowboy hat.

But it's actually a different style of hat, which is super common here:

For your viewing pleasure:

04 March 2024 Day 479

In rural communities here, there is something called the Ronda. The ronda is a community-organized security force that patrols at night, for crime prevention.

"Ronda" translates to "round". So they do "rounds" at night.

When I'm camp in or near a community, they usually come by in the evening to see who I am and what I'm up to. Often they request my identification documents.

Fantastic church

09 March 2024 Day 484

Cajamarca

I left Cajamarca along a route from bikepacking.com.

The town of "Jesus" had this awesome mural:

After a few days I deviated from the bikepacking route because I was tired of hearing "hey gringo!" constantly, and there was a waterfall I wanted to visit.

I was climbing a steep gravel road in the late afternoon, when I stopped for a break. The curious but quiet kids said that it would be "tranquillo" to camp here, so I started cooking dinner, figuring I'd just camp on the roadside. The kids said there was "ronda", so I thought the area was safe from crime.

A man exiting the bushes, onto the road, told me it's prohibited. I was confused, and he was very aggressive. What is prohibited? I asked.

He said I had to go back down to the highway. He said I had to leave. He said the ronda will come. He mentioned a punishment.

He was very aggressive and said the ronda was coming and I needed to leave now. 

While cooking my rice, I calmly explained who I was (American tourist) and what I was doing (traveling by bicycle, looking for waterfalls, left Cajamarca two days ago).

They asked me why I was there and I explained again.

He lied that there were no waterfalls. He lied that this road was a dead end.

He talked about whipping as a punishment for me - the people that live here are very fierce, and they do not like foreigners.

Perhaps they dislike Americans specifically, I wondered. The USA does have a history of fucking with foreign nations. But most latin Americans I've met seem to have a positive impression of the USA.

He talked on the phone with someone as I quickly finished cooking my rice and packed away my stove.

I asked where I could camp. Is it permissible to camp further down the road towards the highway?

He said the ronda was coming and I said that I would like to speak with them, I would like to speak with an authority.

He said I needed to leave and go back to the highway.

I was packing up my things and about to leave.

Then the ronda arrived. They were somewhat aggressive at first and I calmly explained my situation again. After 5-10 minutes of answering questions, explaining what my passport meant and why I don't have an additional identification card, and that I don't understand everything they're saying in spanish, and that I'm from the united states, and that I came looking for the waterfalls, the ronda said

"oh, so you're not from peru?"
"No. I am not from here."

I said I would go now, I'm clearly not welcome and don't want to cause any problems.

They gave me permission to stay.

As they led me toward a better campsite, the ronda explained that they had received a report of a Venezuelan cooking on the roadside. I think the call was from the aggressive man who was threatening me about a whipping.

Anti-Venezuelan sentiment is prevalent here.

If that man thought I was a Venezuelan, he must have not heard, not understand, or not believed any of my story.

I felt disgusted, thankful, and sad.

It reminded me of this video from The Onion:

Judge rules white girl will be tried as black adult

For your viewing pleasure: