Intro

Today was not a day for turning pedals, but an essential pause in the journey through Tumbes, Peru. My broken phone, a persistent digital shadow, finally demanded full attention. Despite the technical headache, I woke with a sense of purpose, knowing that resolving this issue was crucial for the road ahead.

Ride Overview

No cycling distance to report today. The day was spent entirely on foot, navigating the bustling streets of Tumbes, covering perhaps a few kilometers in total. The weather was partly cloudy, a welcome relief from the intense sun, making the urban exploration quite pleasant. The surface was predominantly paved, typical for a city, as I walked between shops and the vibrant local market.

Highlights

The day’s unexpected adventure began with the quest for a new phone. The secondhand smartphone I’d hoped to buy yesterday was nowhere to be found, leaving me back at square one. Over a simple breakfast of tallarin at a tiny local eatery, I struck up a conversation with the only other patron, who kindly led me to a two-story backyard building filled with small electronics shops. Though his recommended shop was closed, a neighboring store offered a quick, if fruitless, diagnosis of my old device. Later, the initially closed shop opened, revealing a treasure trove of secondhand phones. I settled on a Redmi Note 13 Pro, a significant upgrade.

The real challenge began when I realized the new phone lacked eSIM support, vital for my German banking apps. After a few dead ends, a spark of an idea led me to buy a USB-C to HDMI adapter. Back in my hotel room, I connected my broken phone to the television, making its fractured screen visible. This allowed me to enable USB debugging, a prerequisite for `scrcpy`, a tool to control a phone from a laptop. The final hurdle was blindly authorizing my laptop, as I couldn’t connect both the TV and the laptop simultaneously. After much trial and error, I found an online method to send keystrokes via `scrcpy`’s OTG mode, finally seeing my banking SMS TANs appear on my laptop screen. The sheer satisfaction of this intricate workaround was immense. More importantly with `scrcpy` working I could return the USB-C to HDMI adapter reducing my luggage weight.

Amidst the tech drama, I managed a delightful visit to the local market. The air buzzed with activity, and the stalls were overflowing with color. I discovered plump, briny olives sold by the kilo, buying a generous portion for a mere fifty cents. The oranges were incredibly cheap, and the bananas so perfectly ripe and yellow. Later, these simple market treasures, especially the olives with whole-grain crackers, felt like a small, well-deserved luxury after the day’s mental gymnastics.

Lowlights

The initial search for a new phone was certainly a low point. The frustration of being promised a device, only for it to vanish, then finding the first recommended shop closed, felt like a series of unnecessary obstacles. The subsequent realization about the eSIM compatibility and the subsequent struggle to get my banking apps working, knowing I needed those crucial SMS TANs, brought moments of genuine anxiety. The idea of blindly navigating my broken phone to authorize my laptop felt like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube in the dark.

Overnight

I stayed at the Hotel Roma Tumbes, a modest but comfortable hotel right in the heart of the city. This place became more than just a bed for the night; it was my command center for the day’s technical battle. Crucially, the presence of a television in the room provided the vital external display I needed to fix my phone, turning a simple amenity into an indispensable tool.

Reflection

Today confirmed the profound importance of resourcefulness and the surprising utility of everyday objects when faced with a challenge. It wasn’t about the miles covered, but the mental journey through a complex problem. The kindness of a stranger at breakfast, the persistence in finding the right shop, and the sheer satisfaction of piecing together a convoluted technological solution all underscored a quiet truth: sometimes the most significant progress on a long journey isn’t measured in distance, but in the ingenuity applied to overcome unexpected hurdles.

Route summary

• Date: 01.03.2026