Hummingbird - Nazca, Peru

The last two weeks have contained some of the best riding we've had on our entire trip. Each day was a delight.

We left Lima riding south along the barren Pacific coast toward the town of Ica. Close to Ica is an oasis with a small lake surrounded by palm trees and towering white sand dunes. There were a few hotels and restaurants here so we stopped to have a bite to eat and enjoy the scenery. Continuing on to Nazca, as we turned inland from the coast, the terrain became hilly and the late afternoon sun painted the desert in beautifully contrasting shades of beige and tan.

We had heard so much of the mysterious Nazca Lines, it was exciting to finally get to see them. We got a preview at an observation tower about 12 miles outside of Nazca. The Nazca Lines are large drawings of animals and geometric shapes that are best seen from the air. They have been there for hundreds of years but no one knows who made them or why.

We took an airplane ride over the lines the next day. It was Deb's first time in such a small aircraft. It was a Cessna that held the pilot and three passengers. We flew at about 1,000 feet over 12 different drawings. Each time the pilot would tip the plane down to right side so we could take pictures, then in one stomach-wrenching move, tip the wings to the left so the guy on the left side could take pictures. Dave was in the front seat enjoying every minute, while Deb was in the backseat trying to keep her breakfast down.

We were on the road early the next morning because we had a nine-hour ride into the mountains. The moment we left Nazca, the road started to climb steeply with many very many tight blind curves. There were several buses and large trucks that must have been completing their all-night runs. They probably weren't expecting anyone on the road this early in the morning because they usually took up both lanes in the turns. Luckily we were alert and avoided any mishaps. After the first hour, we saw more animals on the road than vehicles. As we climbed higher, the terrain changed from gray desert to beautiful mountains with deep green valleys. After three hours, we stopped for a cup of 'mate de coca', a tea made from the leaves of the cocoa plant that is used to ward off altitude sickness. We were already up to 13,000 feet. The road through Puquio was badly rutted dirt, but once out of town, the highway became the perfect motorcycling road - smooth pavement, no traffic, swift curves and beautiful scenery.

On the road to Abancay

We climbed higher until we reached the altiplano at around 15,000 feet. The wind was blowing and it was chilly. At that altitude, the sky is a deeper blue and the lakes reflected the brilliant blue of the sky. There were herds of llama and alpaca that would run across the road in front of us. We stopped for another cup of tea at a small village, just a few mud-brick houses along the side of the road. We could feel the effects of the altitude because it seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion.

After awhile, the road started to descend and followed the course of a river until we reached our destination, the town of Abancay at about 12,000 feet.

The next day was another one of fantastic roads and scenery as we made our way to Cuzco, the capital of the Inca empire. We eventually found our way to the Plaza de Armas, the central area of the city, and located a hotel with courtyard parking. We talked ourselves in to signing up for a bus tour of the Sacred Valley the next day.

Cuzco, Peru

As we rode the bus from town to town, we were kicking ourselves because it was so lovely and would have been much more enjoyable on motorcycle.

Scene from the Sacred Valley

We were a bit angry at the tour operators because they didn't tell us that we would have to spend an additional $12 each for entrance fees to some of the archeological sites. We decided not to do this and instead of going with the group to visit ruins, we wandered around each town, fascinated by the way people are still living today. We saw a man cooking empanadas in a deep stone oven using a paddle on the end of a long pole. We saw a lady washing her laundry in the open-air aqueduct that runs along the street providing water to the residents. We saw women dressed in bright woolen multi-layered skirts and wool fedora hats cooking over a wood fire. A old man showed us his hernia, hoping to get money from us. We probably had more fun than the rest of the tour group.

Man and ox on the street in Ollantaytambo

The other tour we took from Cuzco was the one to Machu Picchu. We took a two-hour bus ride from Cuzco to the town of Ollantaytambo. From there we caught a two-hour train ride to Aguas Calientes. From there, it was another 25 minute bus ride up to the ruins. In hindsight, we could have gotten there on our own for about half of what we spent to go with an organized tour but it was still very enjoyable. The setting is the most spectacular thing about Machu Picchu. It is set atop a high green round-top mountain with similar looking mountains all around. This gives it a mystical feel. The archeological site is very well maintained and we had a tour guide for the first two hours. We had one hour on our own to explore. In spite of the fact that there were hundreds of people there, we were able to find places where there was no one else. Three hours at the site were about the right amount of time for us, then it was a long trip back to Cuzco.

Machu Picchu

After five days in Cuzco, we rode to the town of Puno on Lake Titicaca. It was another nice ride along the altiplano with beautiful blue skies.

On the road to Puno

The town of Puno is on a bay so you don't get a sense of the immenseness of Lake Titicaca from here. We took a boat tour to the Uros islands, a group of floating islands built using reeds and roots. When we move back to Canada, we're thinking that we'll build a reed island to live on out on Lake Huron just like these.

Floating island, Lake Titicaca, Peru

We also visited the island of Taquile which we found most interesting. It is very tranquil as there are no vehicles, no loud televisions or radios. The people live to an average age of 90 because they have little stress, eat mostly fish from the lake and get lots of exercise. In comparison, the average life expectancy in Lima is 71 years of age. They also live by the Inca rules - don't steal, don't lie and don't be lazy. The men wear hats to indicate their marital status, red means he is married, red and white means he is single. The women wear black shawls with pom-poms attached at the corners. Single women have large pom-poms and married women have smaller ones.

From Puno we had another sunny day for the ride to Copacabana in Bolivia along the shore with great views of Lake Titicaca.

The town of Copacabana is small and tranquil, during the day anyway, due to very few cars. We took another boat tour out to the Isla del Sol. It was a very long ride on a crowded, very slow boat. The island was mostly desert and we visited a few ruins, then it was another very long ride back. There wasn't a single life vest aboard the boat either - that's Bolivia.

The morning we were leaving Copacabana, we needed gas. We stopped at the only gas station in town and it was closed. There was a police checkpoint nearby and the policeman told us that sometimes they have gas but they are a small town and don't need much. We had to ride to the next town, about 35 miles away but it didn't have a real gas station. There was a little booth where a girl was selling gasoline out of a large barrel. As we already had gone 280 miles since our last fill, we knew we could not make it to La Paz, another 100 miles away so we bought 4 liters for each bike. The girl used a one-liter pail to dip the gas out of the open barrel and a plastic pop bottle as a funnel. Dave made her put a coffee filter in the bottom before pouring the gas.

At this point, we had to take a ferry across the straight in order to continue our journey. We pulled onto the boat with gaping holes between the planks. On the other side, we had to back the bikes down the wooden ramp.

Bolivian ferry crossing

The road continued along the shore of Lake Titicaca for awhile. It looked beautiful in the sunshine with the snow covered mountain peaks as a backdrop. We were dreading the drive through La Paz because everyone we met told us to avoid it if we could. We thought we would have to stay in La Paz at least one night. As we approached the city, we saw a sign for the autopista and took it. Blind luck took us away from the city in the direction we wanted to go - toward Chile. The only problem was that there wasn't much between here and there, only tiny villages.

At the point where we had to turn off the autopista, we met two Germans traveling north from Chile, Anna and Holgar. We stopped to talk to them and decided to look for a hotel together. Just as we were starting out, we saw two more motorcycle travelers. They were also German, two guys whose name we forgot. Funny thing, we were the ones with the German motorcycles. Holgar rode a Honda Africa Twin, Anna rode a Honda Trans Alp, the two guys rode Yamaha XT600s. Now that there were six of us looking for a hotel, we had real bargaining power. We rode back north about 20 miles to the last place we had seen a hotel. There were two of them across the road from each other. Dave and Anna went to look at the rooms. In one case, they were really awful, in the other not so bad. They were quoted a price of 30 bolivianos per room, a little less than 4 dollars. We all rode our motorcycles through their lobby into the courtyard. After we were unpacked and ready to pay, the price suddenly jumped to 80 bolivanos, $10 per room. We argued and argued with them about pulling this on us but our only other choice was to go across the road. Finally, the two guys decided to go across the road and pitch their tent. Anna, Holgar, Dave and I decided to stay and ended up paying 70 bs, about $9. We had a great time with the Germans. We had dinner across the road and when we came back at about 10:30pm, we were locked out of the hotel. The night sky was beautiful, the first time we had been away from the city and could see it. We didn't recognize any of the constellations in the southern hemisphere. After much banging on the gate, someone finally came and let us in.

The next morning we all had breakfast together then said goodbye as they headed north and we headed south. The scenery along the altiplano was incredible. As the day wore on, it got cloudier and was chilly but still fantastic.

Altiplano in Bolivia

LLama on the altiplano in Bolivia

Peruvian desert

The trip down the coast of Peru from Chiclayo along the Pan-American highway was a quick and easy ride to the city of Trujillo, the third largest in Peru. We cruised into town and headed toward the Plaza de Armas, the central plaza of this city founded by the Spaniards in 1535.

Cathedral in Trujillo, Peru

After a couple of nights in Trujillo, we headed further south along the coast wanting to see the city of Huaraz in the highlands. There are three roads that we could take to Huaraz and after talking with some locals decided that the longest route would be our best bet. The road from the north has rough sections of dirt, the road straight east from the Pan-American highway is paved, but we were told would probably have sections washed out from the recent rains. The third route would involve going further south, to the town of Barranca, then turning back to the north-east up the better paved road. Our choice was simple, since this is the rainy season in the highlands, we chose to stick to the better, paved road.

A few weeks ago in Otavalo, Ecuador, Dave talked with six guys from Italy that have left their bikes in South America for several years and fly over each year to ride for several weeks. Proving how small a world this really is, we checked into a hotel in Barranca and found four of the six Italians lounging around the pool. We spent only one night in the port town of Barranca before heading into the highlands to Huaraz.

Huaraz is located between the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca - the Black and the White Mountains - in the Roi Santa valley at over 10,000 feet. The Cordillera Blanca is called this because it has many glacier covered peaks. More than 50 of these peaks are above 18,000 feet. The ride treated us to many spectacular views. Starting at the Pacific Coast we headed inland through a flat arid area along the Fortaleza River then rose slowly past stands of cactus, before ascending many switch-backs through small villages, cresting at 13,400 feet before riding across the wide open altiplano with dramatic snow covered peaks to the east and the lower, darker rocky peaks to the west.

Rush hour traffic

Road to Huaraz, Peru

Riding in the Clouds

On the altiplano with St Francis

Since it is the rainy season in the highlands we expected at least some rain, but we were very lucky as the weather pleasant for the remained our trip up the mountain and back down the next day.

We had been warned that it is very common for tourist that are driving to be stopped by the police for "traffic infractions" and usually have to pay the fine on the spot. The police are paid so little here that it appears to be an accepted practice for supplementing their income. On the way back down from Huaraz we were stopped by a police officer and he went through all of our documents one at a time looking for something to give cause for a fine. The more we talked, the less Spanish I was able to speak. I felt if I played dumb the officer would not want to waste his time with me. Eventually he asked for our international insurance, and I gave him our importation documents i.e. "permiso" and told him that that is all we received when entered Peru. He left for a few minutes, got on his radio then came back with the words "I need to see your international insurance" written in English on his clip board. I then handed him our insurance cards from Indiana. He accepted this and sent us on our way.

One hour later a bus passed us and then another police officer flagged us down. He had that "Georgia State Trooper" swagger and quickly started to lecture me on the dangers of speeding, then pulled out "THE BOOK". This book lists the infraction and the amount of the fine. He pointed to the line that showed that the fine for traveling at 80kph in a 30kph zone was $36. I nodded in agreement that speeding was dangerous and told him that the speeding bus that just passed us was "muy peligroso" (very dangerous) He again pointed to the book showing what the fine was and I theatrically nodded and said in very poor Spanish that I know speeding is dangerous and those buses scare me because they go so fast, then asked if he saw that bus just pass us going "muy rapido"

At this point I think the officer was wondering what kind of moron he was dealing with. Even Deb, who was having a pleasant conversation with the younger officer, interrupted me to ask what I was doing. She did not realize that we were being asked to pay a fine for doing more than twice the speed limit in the exact location where a bus had just passed us. After more elaborated pointing at his book and me saying yes speeding is dangerous, his partner asked where else we had gone near Huaraz. I took this opportunity to get out our guide book to show all the places we had been and planned to go. This was enough of a distraction that the older officer gave me back my driver's license (a sign that he had given up on collecting money for us) and started looking at the guide book and asking questions about the bikes.

At another point in our journey toward Lima, we were stopped and told that the road was only to be used by trucks and buses. We said we hadn't seen any signs but thanked them for letting us know. Once again, they pull out "THE BOOK" to show us that the fine for the infraction "misuse of the road" was $50 each. We kept acting like we didn't understand and finally the officer acted like he was doing us a huge favor by letting us go and perhaps he deserved something for putting his neck on the line for us. We just thanked him and set out on our way - back to the PanAm where motorcycles are allowed!

We were stopped a couple more times and accused of speeding but we simply denied it and they let us go each time.

Finally, we made it to Lima and the traffic became too heavy for the police to stop us anymore. We stayed on the Pan-Am highway all the way through the city and although clogged at times, it was easier getting through than we had expected. We decided to stay in a suburb called Miraflores on the south side of Lima. It was so different from the other cities in Peru, it was cool, clean, quiet and relatively safe. We took a nighttime bus tour of central Lima, the buildings and plazas looked so pretty in lights. The next day, we took a taxi back to the central area and toured an old Franciscan monastery with its catacombs, the cathedral and the national art museum.

Lima at night

Library with books hundreds of years old

Catacombs in San Francisco monastery

Statue in San Francisco monastery

We spent almost 2 weeks in Miraflores, walking all over the city, eating in cafes that lined the plaza or strolling along the waterfront parks that sit on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean.

Miraflores, Peru

We also made friends in Miraflores. We met Bill and Norma on the tour bus the first night we arrived and they invited us over to their home to watch the Super Bowl with their friend Roy who is originally from London, Dave's home town. They had an apartment overlooking the Pacific and we arrived just as the sun was setting. It was a stunning scene (and the game was good).

We also met Eduardo and his friends through a guy named Josh we met in Costa Rica. One Sunday, six of us went on a motorcycle ride to another small town about 30 minutes from Lima. We had a great time seeing the sites, stopping at a lookout point where we could see the coast of Lima stretched out before us. It was great to have tour guides that also rode. Eduardo has a website for Honda XT 500's http://pulpo.bounceme.net/xt500/ and would like to meet other motorcycle travelers, and Vladimir is a motorcycle mechanic at the KTM dealer.

Motorcycling friends - Dave, Deb, Carolina, Vladimir, Eduardo, Patsy