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Published: November 17th 2015
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The challenges of the mountains in Peru
Well, I was looking forward to the next few days as we rode into new territory for us in Peru. We had no problems leaving Lima as we headed down the coast to Pisco before turning east and heading into the high Andes. The ride to Ayacucho was just a bikers dream, except for the snow and 2deg C temperatures as we climbed to over 4,000 meters with stunning views,we finally arrived just on dark as the rain started.
The following day was a ride to Urabamba in the Sacred Valley out of Cusco, we knew it was going to be a big day as it was over 500km (turned out to be 604km), well we can do that easy on a good day, but what we didn't realise was the vast mountains that we had to cross to get here.
We clicked first gear at 7.00am in light rain which got heavier as we climbed higher until it became steady rain for a couple of hours,with the sealed road very narrow in places as we wound our way up to 4,800 meters plus, and the altitude was giving a few of the riders
a hard time.
We finally arrived at the mountain city of Abancay at 2460 meters, it was a mission finding our way through this city, lucky that Trev's GPS was on track and got us back onto 3S our life line to a Cusco.
Late in the afternoon we finally found a gas station that had food,so we all tucked into double egg and cheese hot sandwiches and a hot coffee that we had really earned. By the time we were ready to continue daylight was fading fast and we still had a couple of hundred kilometres to go.
The roads up in the mountains were just fabulous and we had very little traffic to contend with so we made good pace until it got really dark, then we rode close with Trev out front with his great lighting on his BMW Adventure showing us the way.
About an hour out,considering that we had been on the road now for over 13 hours, and still in altitude,String had to make a drastic move to avoid an oncoming bus and finished up in concrete culvert on the other side of the road,luckily avoiding any personal injury. His bike took the brunt
of the impact and ripped off the last remaining passengers foot peg and the beak in front of the bike.
This was a wake up call to all of us and we all took that bit extra care for the next hour until we were all safe at our hotel in the Sacred Valley. This was such a big day for all of us but will one we will never forget.
The following day Deane,GB, Trev and Kim had a 5.00am wake up call to catch the train to Machu Pichu for the day, while Gerardo and I got our riding pants and jackets washed along with our bikes. We then headed off to the Pisac markets to a bit of market therapy.
The ride to Puno was uneventful and was just a nice ride as we skirted Cusco and its smoggy traffic.
The following day we made a run for La Paz, but just as we got to the border,three bloody busses discharged there 180 odd passengers!!! Barstard,as now we had to join the que that lasted three hours......we did get to La Paz before dark,but only just, with no traffic hassle to get down town. They changed the
A real welcomed break in Peru.
4,500+meters and 8deg C with drizzly rain on a 13 hour day ride on the bikes. direction of 20 October street since we were there and I tried to force my way the 30 meters to the hotel, but the traffic wouldn't let me through,Gerardo came back and rescued me, as by now the security mesh on my saddle bag had hooked into a vans rear bumper and pulled it off, the guy jumped out and was very excited, I told him to just push it back in, he was still jumping up and down when I rode off.
After a good night sleep, we left La Paz around 8.00 am and had a hassle free ride out of town as we headed to Cochabamba for a BBQ with Cory at his house.
We had a great social evening with Cory and checked out his VW SC and his Kombi restoration.
String noticed that his front fork seals were leaking,so Cory put us onto a fellow in town that had a spare set, so String and I took a cab and got them,just in case the leaking ones don't last.
The ride from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz was just a bikers dream (another one) with a mountain pass exceeding 4,500 metres and then the longest down
hill run I have ever done, down to 345 metres to the city of Santa Cruz.
Now the temperature was in the high 30's and took its toll on the riders, me, I think I handle the altitude better than the heat. So it was an early night all round.
We left our hotel at 7.30 am with a 642 km ride to the Bolivian border town of Puerto Guijarro for the night before our crossing into Brazil tomorrow. This road was built and funded by Brazil to give them access to the Pacific,via Bolivia and Chile, and what a great road it is and all concrete!!!
So until the next blog, keep the coffee hot...cheers. Rosco.
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Noel Schrider
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Famine
Hey Rosco, she has been a big ride fella,you and Gerardo lookin a bit skinny.Travel safe and make it home for xmas. Noel