On the south edge of town, there was a police checkpoint. Not really a checkpoint as it turned out. The cop, a woman, was warning us and even the locals in their motor vehicles not to stop in Paiján under any circumstances. I didn’t follow everything that was said, but clearly Paiján is being treated as a zona roja (“red zone”). So it’s not just bad for cyclists anymore. The latest specific incident was a carload of tourists passing through at night and getting their tires shot out and then their stuff stolen. (Jeff Kruys)

But since the ‘ladrones’ of this dusty costal desert town have learned about the long line of BikeTravellers that do the Panam route, they have been focused on cyclists specifically. The chances or robbery are high and the danger is real, see below some comments and stories from the Panam-riders:

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On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 8:11 PM, Pedaling South wrote:

Hi all,

Two questions:

1. Is the Sechero Desert a nice place to ride, like the desert in Baja California, Mexico? If not, is the 1B that goes around (east of) the Sechero a viable cycling route? Any tips welcome. We’re headed toward Trujillo (duh) from the North. Right now in Riobamba, Ecuador.

2. Anyone ridden through Paijan, Peru lately? Is this really the black hole of bike touring, i.e. robbers waiting for cyclists to pass through? Sure we don’t wanna get robbed but people have been saying “you’d be crazy to ride through XXX” since we started out from Anchorage. So, can you ride THROUGH Paijan?

Hope yr all good!
Cheers,
Tor
—
http://Pedalingsouth.com

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On 29 July 2010 21:07, nancy sathre-vogel wrote:

the Sechura is beautiful – extraordinarily sparse and barren, but gorgeous.  You can see our photos starting here: http://familyonbikes.org/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=64&pos=38 Just keep clicking next to see all of them.  You’ll notice that you start out from Piura and there is quite a bit of vegetation, but it just keeps getting less and less until there is not even a blade of grass.  It is gorgeous, but different from anything I had ever seen.  There are small restaurants every 40 or 50 km so you won’t have a problem with food or water.  Expect very strong headwinds.

We went th rough Paijan (with two kids!) and had no trouble at all.  On our way in, we were looking for the police to ask for an escort, but couldn’t find any, so just went in on our own – no trouble.  We got a hotel and stayed the night (not a nice place!).  The next morning I headed down tot he police station and said, “We are cyclists passing through and I wondered…”

“Which way are you headed?” he asked.  “We’ll be ready to escort you in about 10 minutes.”

The police are so used to escorting cyclists it isn’t a problem at all.  I don’t think you really need an escort, but we had been warned by so many people that we went ahead and asked.

Enjoy!

Nancy http://familyonbikes.org

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On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 7:00 AM, anna wittert wrote:

Lucho told us the robbers are still very much active, and still disadvised all cyclists to cycle through Paijan alone as off 4 months ago.

We cycled from near Riobamba south through Loja, Vilcabamba and into Peru, via Cajamarca, Cajabamba. Then down to Trujillo. Probably the most beautiful stretch in the past 2 years riding, but also hard. Mostly dirt and very hilly….The people in northern peru in the mountains are about as friendly as you’ll ever get.

Enjoy!

anna http://thefuegoproject.com

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From: Seth Berling
Sent: zondag 1 augustus 2010 18:27
Subject: Re: [panam-riders] Advice needed: Sechero Desert and Paijan, PERU

I wish I could write to everyone and tell them that our trip through Paijan was uneventful….unfortunately it was not. Upon exiting the town I was keeping a keen watch in my rear view mirror and just like so many other people have described a mototaxi materialized about 200 yard behind us. I called attention to it and we crossed the road so that we had the two lanes separating us and the approaching vehicle. As the mototaxi got closer I saw that there was a young man driving and 3 masked men packed into the back seat. The driver smiled to me and blew me a kiss. He turned around to the other three…unsure about what to do.

The mototaxi sped ahead and then pulled a u turn so that they were headed straight for us. They started flashing their lights and motioning for us to stop our bikes. Obviously there was no fing way we were going to stop. Just before we collided with the taxi they swung out into the roadway and then peeled back so they were headed straight the sides of us. I narrowly avoided having my back wheel clipped out and Parker veered way out onto the shoulder.

At this point the mototaxi sped up along Parker and put two wheels over the side of the road to try and push parker into the ditch below. I was riding along the other side of the taxi to jump to parkers aid, preparing for the inevitable crash. Just when I thought Parker was gone for sure he slammed on his brakes and the mototaxi flew ahead. I was still next to the taxi and both of us were headed into the oncoming traffic. I started to swerve in and out of both lanes in order to slow the traffic going both directions. No one would stop for us and semis narrowly missed us as they came barreling down blasting their air horns. I positioned my bike at a diagonal over both lanes and started enough of a commotion that the mototaxi called it quits and turned off the highway and disappeared into the corn fields.

I am providing this detailed info in hopes of helping anyone who is approached with a similar situation and to urge everyone not to ride through this town.   We narrowly, narrowly avoided being robbed of everything and it left both of us with a sour taste.

Cheers,

Seth and Parker

www.pebblepedalers.com

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—–Original Message—–
From: Byron
Sent: zondag 1 augustus 2010 18:43
Subject: [panam-riders] Re: Advice needed: Sechero Desert and Paijan, PERU

Hola,

I circled Paijan on a small gravel/sand road that went inland from the panamerican about 30km after Pacasmayo and eventually took me to Casa Grande and back to the panamerican about 11km past Paijan at Chocope.

It´s a really soft road but doable..  It´s visible on one zoom level of MultiMaps only, and you can see it in the google satelite views. Make a good map as there are confusing intersections on route and no- one around to ask directions.  It seemed safe enough, and I only saw a handful of mototaxis all day.  If anyone wants to find it, the intersection is where the large straight section ends and the panamerican veers away from the high tension lines.  More info and some photos can be found on my blog.

Cheers,

Byron, http://www.byrongoessouth.com

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(Harry) We took a busride: from Chiclayo you can get good buses. La Linea has a terminal a few blocks from the nice Plaza de Armas (I think it was on Bolognesi street). They are used to transport bikes, fridges and other big things, have clear price lists (though gave a generous discount as well) and are a safe company. They do not even stop in Paijan…

We visited Machu Picchu a few years ago and loved it, though it was raining all day

Below are some questions and answers from the Panam -riders about the subject:

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On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 8:45 PM, Roland and Belinda Hinmueller wrote:

Ok all you cycling buddies,

Who’s got the low-down for Machu Pichu and getting there? We want to know the different options and how other people have done it. We are keen to do it as cheaply as possible without totally destroying our enjoyment of visiting this epic tourist destination.

We probably won’t hike the Inca Trail but are interested in the bus/train/walking options etc.

Cheers in advance, Belinda, Roland, Seth and Parker.
Roland and Belinda Hinmueller
www.cyclingwithsally.com

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On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 11:39 AM, greg mccausland wrote:

hi guys – i went to manchu pichu a few years ago – we did a hiking loop (not the inca royal road) that crossed the inca trail and dropped to a small town beside the tracks out side of aguas calientes – we then jumped the train (literally – word of warning) when it slowed for us and it cost $20 (i think) but then we had to pay for the return fare which was i think $90 for the two of us.Manchu Pichu is gonna cost you no matter what but we did it for about the cheapest i know of.  You can get info on hiking routes thru the mtns at the south american explorers club in cusco (or lima) or pick up the brandt guide (the best). you will need a guide and or maps anyhow to hike on your own thru the mtns though route finding is not impossible there are plenty of wrong turns to take.  some people have mentioned simply hiking the train tracks but i know of no one who has done it . . .  good luck and enjoy it is pricey but incredible. cheers greg

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2010/8/18 nancy sathre-vogel wrote:

My honest opinion is that you skip Macchu Pichu and spend a whole week exploring the Sacred VAlley instead.  MP is spectacular, but equally so as the valley, and the valley is much, much cheaper and more accessible.  Take that for what it’s worth!

http://familyonbikes.org

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From: Ramiro Aramburu
Sent: zondag 22 augustus 2010 10:31
Subject: Re: [panam-riders] Machu Pichu

Hello guys!

How are you doing? We just came back from Machu Pichu! My opinion: don’t miss that incredible Inca City!

There is a way to do it for less than the half of the price that every ‘Gringo’ tourist pay. of course takes more time and is less confortabñle than the train but is cheaper.

So: from cusco start very early in the morning, take a local bus to Santa Maria (6 to 8 hours and 15 to 20 Soles). From Santa Maria take another local bus to Santa Teresa (1 hour and 5 soles). From there take a local taxi or van to Hidroelectrica (30 minutes, very bad road, and 5 soles aprox.) From Hidroelectrica walk at the side od trhe rialway 2 and half hours to Aguas Calientes. Very long day and sleep there (we paid 10 soles each). Wake up 3:30 am and start to walk up to Machu Pichu 1 and half hour, try to be at the entrance of MAchu Pichu before 6 am. The first 400  persons on the line will be admited to trekk the Wayna Pichu. (Mountain at the side of Machu Pichu where you will have and increidible view of all Mchu Pichu) We did it and it really worth it! Amaizing view!

Back to Cusco the same thing on the oposite way! The most expensive thing is the Machu Pichu entrance (126 soles, better to buy in advance in Cusco). Salinas Maras is another place close to Cusco we really liked a lot!

We planned to start tomorrow from Cusco to the Bolivian border but we the laundry hotel lost almost all our clothes! Nice ah!

ENjoy guys!

Ramiro

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From: Roland and Belinda Hinmueller
Sent: dinsdag 14 september 2010 14:40
Subject: [panam-riders] Machu Picchu!

This is our trip to Machu Picchu for anyone interested.  We had a host to stay with in Urubamba so that is where we left our bikes.  We were travelling with Seth and Parker Berling too.

• From Urubamba to Ollantaytambo we caught a Collectivo that took 30 minutes and cost 1.20 sol each.  Our return was at 2am so meant we only had a taxi option and we paid 15 soles for all four of us.
• Book your train tickets with Peru Rail online in advance to get the best choice of ‘backpacker’ times.  We booked it the day before and meant we had to catch the 10.30pm train back to Ollantaytambo which was a very drawn out wait.  The tickets were roughly $30 US one way per person for the ‘backpacker’ class.
• Number One Hostal which is on the same lane as Number Two Hostal (on the otherside of the bridge to the train station, near the Mercado Central) gave us a room with four beds and a bathroom for 12.50 soles each.
• The boys Left Agua Callientes at 4am to walk up the mountain and get their tickets stamped to allow entry into Wayna Picchu which was perfect.  The boys chose the second group to go in which gave them time to look around other parts of Machu Picchu before it got busy and they didn’t have to step aside for people on the descent.
• Be prepared to pay for the toilet at Machu Picchu even though you paid 126 soles to enter the ruins.
• Take your water purification device so you don’t have to pay for water.  I.e. A 500ml bottle of water in Machu Picchu is 8 soles and in Agua Callientes the Phura Peruvian 2L bottle of water is between 3 to 3.50 soles (you can pay 5 to 6 soles for other brands).
• Take food with you.  The cheapest ‘menu’ you’ll find is in the upper floor of the Mercado Central for 7 soles but they do sell a great fruit salad for 6 soles that is well worth it right in the centre of the upper floor.

Why didn’t we go the DYI Santa Teresa way?

• Time (at least 10 hours of travel from Urubamba to Agua Calientes, not including wait times and possibility needing to stay in Santa Teresa if we missed connections)
• Alot of transfers (collectivos, walking/train, taxi etc)
• Potentially only works out to be able $10 cheaper after all is said and done.
• We know this way is very scenic  and has hot baths in Santa Teresa but we were not feeling it!

We also met Sandra (a cyclists going north bound) that cycled the entire Sacred Valley to Santa Teresa and she said it was beautiful.  But they didn’t allow her bike on the train track, even if she walked it.  She was forced to put her bike on the train and then she was allowed to walk along the tracks to Agua Callientes.  Strange but true!

Why didn’t we take our bikes or walk the railway from Ollantaytambo?

• No guarantee we would be allowed on the tracks.
• After going in the train, it didn’t look like there was much space to the side of the tracks, going through the tunnels would be hairy and pretty bumpy terrain too.
• Didn’t fancy a five to seven hour walk.

cheers guys,
from cusco in hostal estrellita

—

Roland and Belinda Hinmueller
www.cyclingwithsally.com

Peru-mountain-route-profile-Trujillo-Cusco-2

Additions or comments welcome!

Cheers and keep cycling, Harry

Physically there simply is no road (there seem to be some tracks), and a lot of jungle. Politically it is a dangerous mess with guerillas and drugs kartels on both sides, so not really recommended anyway.

Though some people have crossed over land, read the crazy story of Karl Bushby (Odyssey XXI)’s crossing and his reflection before you attempt it. The Riding the Spine BikeTravellers did it in canoo’s, which sounds more fun than it apparently was (hats off though!).

There are basically two ways to cross safely:

1. By plane: several flights from Panama City to Cartagena or other places in Colombia (or for the ones that choose to believe the undeserved bad reputation of Colombia: to Ecuador). Though there seem to be $100 flights, most airlines do charge a lot extra and the hassle can be huge (see Tim & Cindy’s post on DownTheRoad.org here). Besides, for most Panam BikeTravellers, he point is not to fly at all for the length of the trip.
2. By boat, either from close to Colon to Cartegena or a shorter version from/to closer to the Panama/Colombian border.

Years ago you could be lucky and hitch on a freighter or find a friendly cruiser that needed a crew with the real chance that you might be sitting on a ton of cocaine, especially when travelling West. Nowadays it is business as usual with at least a dozen boats crossing regularly. Prices go up slowly and are now (2010) about $350-$400 per person and a negotiable amount per bike (for motorbikers: you should count on paying double for carring it aboard).

The boats are fairly small, and usually take 4-6 days to cross. they used to leave from Colon, but as that city is deemed by many too dangerous to even visit (really, don’t go there), most leave from the start of the San Blas area, farther east. The trip usually includes a visit to the Kuna Indians of the San Blas Island, a collection of tropical small islands. Then at some point, the real crossing will be made, usually in a straight line to Cartagena (if your boat does not break down like ours), meaning 15-25 hours of usually very, very rough seas, generally enough to make even the toughest cyclist go green before feeding the fish…

We (Ivana & Harry, http://WorldOnaBike.com ) used the boat called SoftAir. Even though the owner wasvery friendly in the email contacts, and gave us a good discount (with the bikes going for free), we got what we paid for, or actually, much less. The food was bad, there was not enough space for everybody (and we were not even ‘full’!), the motor broke down because seawater got mixed  in and the owner got nearly psychotic after I Tweeted about ‘Wild Seas’, which he apparently took personal.

Even after long emails with a full report and helpful tips about how to improve his service, refused to apologise and said it was all our fault, first because we were ‘luxury travelers’ (haha!) and not used to roughing it (hahahaaaa). After explaining that we were actually quite used to roughing it, he changed course and said that we were not used to travel in ‘comfort’ (!) on his boat (wrong again :). Anyway, interested people can get the full communication if they want, but I would not bother: just do not go with them.

To help other BikeTravellers and backpackers I would like to hear some reactions/experiences from other travellers that have crossed by boat or otherwise, so we can avoid crappy experiences as the above.

——————————————

First of all you might want to read Family On Bikes‘ Nancy’s excellent overview and reports here, manyuseful tips and it includes her own crossing. They used the motorboat MetaComet and were generally positive about it.

——————————————

The HoboBikers have some good info on their site here, they sailed the trutsowrthy Stahlratte, but some commenters reacted to the Zao as well.

——————————————

Anna (http://www.thefuegoproject.com/)sent the following about the Stahlratte:

“Here´s our boatinfo:

name of the boat: Stahlratte

food: supergood, prepared by Roli and with help of passengers. We ate lobster one night, there was always plenty of everything, also for vegetarians

crew: captain Ludwig from Germany and his Austrian deckmate Roli. They are superfriendly, professional, helpful, no bad words.

price: 385 dollars. For the bikes an additional 50 USD. For transport to Carti and the boat 35 USD (from Panama) . This includes boatfare, food, passport exit and entry stamps (they organise it for you) and water. Softdrinks and beer for sale for 1 usd per drink on board. You can bring your own if wanted. You sleep in two person ´cabins´. There is a warm water shower and a cold shower.

The big pre of this boat is that it is huge, and fits bicycles below decks (no spray water) and usually also carries motorbikes (there were 9 on deck during our trip.)

www.stahlratte.com

cheers, Anna”

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Amaya Williams (http://WorldBiking.info) Added her experienced by plane:

I’ll add my two cents to this discussion.  We flew to Colombia and it ended up being cheap and relatively hassle free..but then again I think a lot of that was due to luck.   Here’s the details…

flying across the darién gap
A quick flight between Panama City and Cartagena will be your guaranteed cheapest option.  Aires Airlines, a discount Colombian airline, is the best way to go.   We paid $145 for the one hour direct flight to Cartagena.  Baggage limit is 30 kilos per person, and excess kilos are charged $4 per kilo.  With a few smiles and some friendly small talk, you may be able to get out of paying any extra fees.

You must book your flight on-line to get the cheapest rate.  The Aires website doesn’t always work well, so if your reservation doesn’t go through the first time, keep trying. There’s a toll road linking downtown Panama City with the airport.  Although there are plenty of signs forbidding cyclists to ride there, nobody stopped us.

We wrapped our bikes in bubble wrap, but were told they should be boxed.  Again, with a few smiles and profuse apologies, they took the bikes. Cartagena’s tiny airport is almost smack dab in the middle of the city.  Arriving late at night and cycling to a hotel should not be a problem.

I also posted information on other options for traveling between Panama and Colombia, including sailing with multiple small boats…check it out on my web site here:

http://worldbiking.info/country_information/Biking_Panama_country_information.html ”

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Roland and Belinda wrote:

We took our tandem bike and bob from Panama city to Medellin on a plane. The airline Aries charged us an additional 100 dollars but we were aware of this cost already. The whole process we was very smooth and without any hassle. Sure boxing the bike was a pain, but in the end they did not even measure it. Anyways just thought we should add our experience to the mix.

www.cyclingwithsally.com

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PedalPanam (Phil) wrote the following:

” Hi all, Phil and Manu had asked me about our experience on the Darien Gapster, so here is an excerpt of that email to them.  i’m posting this here as opposed to the more recent ‘Darien Alternatives’, as it is similar to what Byron did, so easier to compare the difference of doing it with all local boats like byron, or with part tourist lancha like we did.  The Darien Gapster went from Portobelo to Sapzurro, after that it is a small lancha to Capurgana, and a larger lancha to Turbo.

***

The darien gapster worked out pretty well.  we packed our 4 bikes up with cardboard around the delicate parts, derailleurs, handle bars, etc.  took pedals off, and straightened handle bars.  we were able to fit all 4 bikes in the front row of the boat. just assert yourself when it comes to packing the bikes, remind them you’ve done this before!  they would have fit better had there not been a 50 gallon barrel of petrol on the floor.  The bikes survived that portion of the ride mostly unscathed.  my brake lever covers got a little worn down by the bumps, but this could have been avoided if i protected them more.

Our trip was the inagural ride with paying tourists, so we got a pretty good deal.  $175 for the ride, $30 for the bike each.  this included 4 out of about 8 meals, unfortunately the places we stopped the prices were much higher than we had encountered on the highways in panama.  but to be fair stuff does cost more as it is out in the middle of nowhere.  so bring groceries and have your stove handy.  and beware of the other hidden costs. IE nights at hostals before and after, etc.  They have a cooler with pop, juice and beer for $1 each. $5 rental for snorkel gear.  i know they will be changing prices in the future, so please get the info straight from them.

Paul and i took one route from panama city to portobelo, greg and dylan took another.  from the stories, greg and dylan’s route was much more picturesque and definitely worth checking out.

We left portobelo early tuesday morning, stopped for breakfast at an island when we got to san blas.  then to another island to wait while our passports got processed.  that night we camped on the beach of a kuna family’s plot on an island.  wednesday we went to an uninhabited island for several hours.  never really been snorkeling until then, but other folks who had said it was some of the best they’ve ever done. little current and incredible reefs.  we swam to a nearby island that had at most 5 coconut trees on it.  wednesday night we spent at another kuna island, but this one had one end that was set up more for tourist use (flushing toilets as opposed to outhouses on the pier that go right into the ocean).  great time walking around the village, saying hello to folks but generally not being able to communicate more than smiling and laughing.  thursday we had another while on the water, spent some time at an island for swimming and lunch, and then got to sapzurro by dusk.

I felt safe in the hands of marcos the captain, but communication lacked at times.  if in doubt about anything, ask adam first, marco’s strength is driving the boat and his relationship with the kunas after years of travel in the region.  it was their first outing, and i know they were eager to hear our feedback to improve for next time.

Unfortunately i don’t what they’ll do with bikes in the future, after all, the bikes have to use up a row of seats, and that could mean lost opportunity for passenger fares.  but on the other hand, that still leaves 14 seats free, which i thought was a good number for the trip.

I do wish them the best in their endeavor, but it just might be hard to fill the boat up every time.  that could be good for cyclists though, there would always be a place for bikes, and they’d happily take the surcharge for the bikes.

The first night at the hostel in sapzurro was free camping included in the price, but you’ll necessarily have to spend another night in either sapzurro or capurgana.  the immigration office in capurgana, the next harbor east of sapzurro, opens after the ferry leaves from capurgana to turbo at 7:30 AM.  though sapzurro was nice and relaxed, and we spent 2 nights there (be sure to find the senora Tila who sells coconut popsicles near the dock), to decrease the amount of bike-boat related stress, i’d head over to capurgana with all your stuff, buy your tickets beforehand (especially since a dozen other darien gapster backpackers will also be heading in to town as well, the lancha might get full) and find a cheap hotel for your 2nd night.  that way you can be at the dock at 7:15, instead of having to take a lancha from sapzurro to capurgana at 6:30am.

Paul was lucky and got on the boat the morning we were supposed to leave, but there was no way greg, dylan and i were going to get on the boat with our bikes and bags.  we spent another day there.  the first time we had bought tickets for 50,000 pesos (~US$25) for the passenger part, and that they’d asses the bikes in the morning.  we found out that the small print on the ticket says passengers are allowed 10kg each, plus another 500 pesos per extra kilo.  the whole process is really ridiculous, there is no order on the dock.  so the second time we gladly accepted the boat owner’s offer for a flat fee of 50,000 pesos for the bike, with nothing extra for weight (i think that is what byron paid as well?), even though i can guarantee our bikes and gear weighs less than 100kg! makes me wonder if we should have just avoided mentioning the bikes, bought two passenger tickets each…

less crowded boat, more space for the bikes!

Remember, your last chance for an ATM is off the main highway in sabanitas, panama before turning off to head east to portobelo.  you next chance for an ATM will not be until Turbo.  Make sure you have enough for a few extra days, you never know where you’ll get stuck!

turbo to medellin was great, we did it in 6 riding days (some really short days, to spend time in Santa Fe), although you could do it in easily 5, possibly 4 but you’d get to Medellin burnt out.  the road was quiet, real beautiful.  i took notes about the way and i’ll try to post those at some point.  one other option is to take a bus or bike to cartagena, but we were anxious to get back into the cooler mountains and skipped it.  can’t see it all!  costwise, i think you could get to cartagena via turbo for less than directly on sailboat, but the hassle of three boat rides and three bus rides certainly takes its toll (maybe Paul can chime in, that is what he did).”

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Byron wrote:

I just arrived in Medellin via speedboats along the coast, so I’ll fill in the details for anyone who’s interested:

1.  Ride to Carti from Panama city.  About a day and a half ride, with by far the steepest grades I’ve seen all trip.  I was barely able to push my bike up some of the hills.  Catch a boat at the end of the airstrip to get to the island ($5)

2.  Speedboat from Carti to Puerto Obaldia.  The guy who ran my hospedaje knew the captains and arranged me a spot for the next morning.  The trip is about 8-9 hours, but as I was the only one carrying on the Puerto Olbaldia, we spent the night on the captain’s island, about an hour away.  The speedboat was kind of like a water taxi for the San Blas islands, and we stopped at about ten on the way. ($100)

3.  Get your exit stamp in Puerto Obaldia

4.  Boat from Puerto Obaldia to Carpurgana across the border ($15)

5.  Get you entry stamp in Carpurgana.  Stay the night.  Many hotel/ food options.

6.  Speedboat from Carpurgana to Turbo.  This boat leaves every morning at 7:15 and takes a couple of hours. ($50)

7.  Ride from Turbo to Medellin.  Really scenic road with a couple of serious passes but no crazy grades.  The locales varied on whether it was safe or not, but I didn’t have any issues.  There is also a small landslide danger as the road is often cut into a cliff.

Feel free to ask if there are any questions. Cheers, Byron

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Add your stories in the comments or email them to info @ BikeTravellers dotcom and I will add them above, thanks!