Chala... Between A Desert And A River

I left Huacachina and headed toward Arequipa.

Along the way, I met a fellow adventure motorcyclist from Paraquay who was riding a BMW1200.

Outside of the town of Nasca I passed by the Nasca Lines.

I believe that these lines represented a tree.

I stopped overnight at a town called Chala that had this nice view of the ocean.

I continued on the next day through some pretty rustic looking areas.

And I passed by some beautiful beaches with a raging surf.

Until I came across this river.

Buses and large trucks were crossing the river, but the cars that tried to cross got flooded and stalled. I thought about riding or pushing my motorcycle across, but then came up with an alternative.

I rode back up the line of waiting trucks and found an empty one. I asked the driver if he would carry me across. He agreed. I recruited four bystanders to help me load my bike into the back of the truck. Then we road across the river.

On the other side of the river, the truck driver pulled up to a sand embankment and I rode my bike off the back of the truck. I kept my bike and my boots dry.

Then it was a little more riding through the desert to the town of Arequipa.

The next day I took a little day trip to the mountains.

I passed through some desert area.

I came across this sign...

Which was a warning to look out for vicuña. Vicuña are an endangered species that are related to llamas and alpacas.

I saw a number of vicuña run across the road, so I pulled over and snapped this photo.

I continued riding and came upon these snow covered mountains.

Desert riding and mountain scenary... what else could I ask for.

Certainly made for some fun riding.

Here is a short 3 minute video about crossing the river. There were a number of people along the banks watching as trucks passed through the water. At about the 1:50 minute into the video you may notice a few cars that attempted to cross the river and were stalled. I shot this video on my iPhone.