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Published: April 6th 2010
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This wheel ain't round
Nothing that a big hammer can't fix on Marcus's moto We left Cusco and the Sacred Valley after 3 great days, even though we missed going to Machu Picchu and headed south again to Chivay, the Colca Canyon and onto Arequipa.
An amazing reunion took place as we were leaving Chivay, at the police check point, there was a BMW R80 with all the luggage parked there, as we went through this fellow was jumping up and down and waving at us, not wanting to get involved at the check point, I sort of carried on, then I recognised the rider and for those of you that were riding with us last year, will remember Franz ,from Austria, who joined us through the difficult section of Bolivia.
He rode his moto out onto the Salar and that was the last we saw of him until now!!
He left his moto in Lima last year and was now touring around Peru with his lady friend. He also hit a big rock on the paved road and punched a big hole in the motor of his BMW, this has now been repaired locally. It was really great to catch up with him again, just shows it’s a small world really.
By
Chivey
Stunning sand stone formations the way, I forgot to blog the experience of Marcus, when he hit a bloody big rock in the middle of the road also (aca David Lees last year) but he was lucky , well sort of, as the photo will show, he just damaged both front and rear wheels.
Fill Up took to it with a big hammer and Marcus has been riding ever since. It was amazing that the tyre took such a punishment, another plus for the Continental TKC 80’s. The lesson here is to LOOK at the GAP either side, not the bloody ROCK !!
We are currently in Iquique (I key Key) in northern Chile.
Team Kawasaki are still together, but team BMW is cracking under the pressure, with Vince having visited a hospital here, and after another xray, confirming that the fracture is not lined up correctly, so he will have to fly directly home from here, leaving Jane to enjoy the rest of the adventure on the 800GS.
We had another Terremoto (earth quake) to welcome us back into Chile this afternoon, the hotel wobbled about for a minute or so and we are right on the waters edge here.
Scott
Chivey
More Sand stone has filled in the details of the past few days below….
Cheers, Rosco
From Scott.....
We are on our way back down this huge land mass.
The days ride from Cusco to Chivay was going to be a long one with about half being seal and the rest would be Ripio (unsealed). Everybody left Cusco in a orderly fashion in the “rain”, through the streets covered in mud. All the cities over here don’t seem to have any drains so when it does rain there are lots of rivers in the streets.
With a total of 400ks for the day we regrouped at Susquini and refuelled for the pass over the High Andes where Rosco and Gerardo thought they would throw in just a bit more adventure.
As we were at the petrol station sweating Rosco said it would get a bit colder when we got higher up and he wasn’t joking. As we got to the top of the pass it starting to hail and ice starting bouncing around in my helmet. Just when you thought we had seen everything.
We all got to Chivay in good time and had warmed up by the time we
To Talla Fill Up
Fill Up is from the land of the giants !! arrived. Rosco, Marcus grabbed a taxi and went to the local hot pools and had a soak before returning to the hotel for a good team dinner and shut eye.
The next day was going to be easy, ye right, Chivay to Arequipa. Only a short 164ks so it was all agreed to have a lazy morning and leave a bit later.
There was also an idea that we would take a short round route through the Coca Canyon which consisted of 60km of metal roads through small villages. It was a short overview of the canyon and we had some excellent views of more stone terracing that would of taken thousands of years to build. A quick stop back in Chivay to gather all together again and we were off up a beautiful sealed mountain pass with perfect moto corners.
The views were just as spectacular with clear views as far as the eye could see.
We arrived in Arequipa later in the afternoon. No matter the length of the ride we always seem to fill the day. We would spend the next day here also as a rest day.
We all had a look around the
Scott
Down in the Colca Canyon shops the next day and had a 2 hour bus tour around the city that ended up being 4 hours and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 6pm, in the dark, with just enough time for dinner and to sort out your gear for the next day, which was going to be an early start because we had 430ks as well as a boarder crossing and loosing 1 hour in the whole process when entering Chile.
Today Arequipa to Arica.
This day would be one of the longest because of the vast nothingness. You had to concentrate on staying awake and not getting blown of the road. We saw sand after sand after sand.
This is were the ipod comes into it’s own and I just boggied on my bike all the way to the boarder.
This was the biggest boarder crossing we had been through and after filling out more paper work than I had done at school we shot through as soon as we were told. Waiting on the Chilean side for the rest to get through. We got through without any problems and found out later that day, like 1/2hour later, a women was
arrested with 5kilos of cocaine on her.
We arrived at the hotel at about 5pm and Rosco said it would be a good idea to get a cab up to a look out over the city where they had the biggest Chilean flag flying. We all thought this was a good idea and most of the team went. I did not, as I went to have a quick lay down on the bed and didn’t wake up again until 6.30pm, maybe a little tied from trying to hold my head on in the strong winds. ( these young fellows struggle to keep up? -Rosco)
Today was Arica to Iquique 320kms.
This was a day of all seal and more of the sand after sand view. I had taken the peak off my helmet the night before so I wouldn’t have the wind trying to take my head off and it made a huge difference. We passed through several deep gorges and through the Atacama dessert area.
We took a short detour after lunch to see 86m tall geoglyphs on the side of a hill which dates back several thousand years, but I reckon some kids made it on the
Condor
The only one we saw in the canyon. weekend.
Carrying on through the sand we came over a mountain pass to the view of Iquique and ocean down below, incredible sight. I am now sitting in my hotel room looking out the window to the sea and listening to the waves crash in front of our hotel. Location, Location.
Until the next instalment
Chow for now
Scott
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ART NELSON-TRAPPER
non-member comment
THANKS AGAIN !! I will be leaving 20 April- return mid June.(Kans., Colo., New Mex., Tex., Ariz., Calif., Idaho., Montana) Will have a lap top but Trapper will have to wait for his review of your ventures until I return. RIDE SAFE ART