The Salt Lake and the Missed Ferry

After the long, stationary days in Cabo Blanco and yesterday’s transition to Los Balcones, I felt a familiar itch to be moving again. Day 229 began with a sense of quiet contentment, the kind that comes when the bike is packed tight and the route ahead looks clear on the map. I didn’t yet know that the day would end in a race against the sunset, fueled by frustration and Greek yogurt.

Intro

The ride from Los Balcones to Colán was a study in coastal contrasts, taking me deeper into the sun-bleached landscapes of northern Peru. I started the morning with a steady heart, feeling the momentum of the journey return after nearly a week of pausing. By the time I reached the beach at Colán, that peace had frayed into the exhaustion of a long detour, but the hospitality of strangers eventually stitched it back together.

Ride Overview

The 78.3-kilometer route was mostly paved, though the initial miles out of Los Balcones were a dusty, unpaved struggle. The sun was relentless at 30 degrees, but a stiff side wind kept the heat from becoming suffocating. The geography was surreal; for a long stretch toward Miramar, the road acted as a levee between two worlds, with parched, cracked earth on one side and a vast, shimmering salt water lake on the other.

Highlights

I shared a brief moment in Miramar with Lucas, a fellow traveler who reached the town by 10 a.m. He has a disciplined habit of taking long, multi-hour breaks to avoid the midday furnace—a wisdom I sometimes lack in my haste to reach the next destination. Later, two young boys stopped me for an impromptu interview, their curiosity about my “motivation” reminding me why I’m out here when the routine of pedaling starts to feel heavy.

In the village of Pueblo Nuevo de Colan, I found a moment of stillness in the main park. I sat on a bench from 6 to 7 p.m., recovering my strength with Greek yogurt, mandarinas, and trail mix. Two missionary boys, one from the US and one from Peru, approached me with the same gentle curiosity as the younger boys earlier, their questions providing a quiet soundtrack to my evening meal.

The day ended with an unexpected warmth at Hotel Conzulado 96. After arriving late and rinsing the salt off in an outdoor shower, I was invited to join the owner and a few guests for grilled sausages in bread rolls. The simple act of sharing a meal and a story under the stars transformed a frustrating afternoon into a memory of genuine connection.

Lowlights

My lunch in Miramar was a tactical error; I ordered what I thought was cooked fish with garlic, but it turned out to be ceviche. While delicious, raw fish doesn’t provide the sustained caloric burn needed for a long afternoon, and I felt my energy cratering a few hours later.

The true blow, however, was at the river crossing south of Miramar. I waited forty-five minutes for a boat that would have left me with a simple 20-kilometer sprint to the hotel. When the boat finally arrived, the operator informed me it was the final journey of the day and he wouldn’t be taking more passengers. That refusal forced a 10-kilometer detour toward a distant bridge, turning my easy afternoon into a race against the fading light.

Overnight

I spent the night at Hotel Conzulado 96 at Colán Beach, pitching my tent in their backyard. The transition from the dusty, frantic push of the detour to the calm of their pool was a necessary reset. Being allowed to camp there and use their facilities felt like a luxury after the uncertainty of the river bank.

Reflection

The road has a way of testing your perspective with small, mundane mysteries. For a long stretch on the main road, I became fixated on the kilometer markers, convinced they were only printing even numbers as some sort of strange regional quirk. It took me miles to realize the odd numbers were simply on the other side of the asphalt, hidden from my immediate view. It confirmed a quiet truth: when the path feels incomplete or the logic seems broken, I usually just need to change my angle of vision.

Route summary

• Date: 2026-03-15
• Distance: 78.30 km
• Elevation gain: 304 m
• Elevation loss: 308 m
• Duration: 13 h 54 min
• Time in Motion: 6 h 26 min
• Average Speed: 12.2 km/h