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I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!
Photo by Igor Djokovic,
camping above San Juan river,
Arizona USA
Peru: Unfinished Business - Two 200cc Chinese Motos
Intro: “Peru: Unfinished Business”
Words by Naomi (naotweed) | Photography by Alberto (MotoLara)
Holy cow, it is 2015!? When did that happen?? Where has my youth gone!?? Oh well, I guess this story begins back in the good ol’ days of 2011, when Alberto and I had the privilege of riding our F800GS bikes from Canada to Argentina, however unfortunately for us things went a bit pear shaped once we arrived in Peru. We got some gas, rode into the mountains, yada yada, had to get the engines replaced on both F8GSs. Please lets not re-hash that whole ordeal here, there is plenty of discussion in our RR thread. What I do want to touch on is that while we had an amazing trip overall back in the days of 2010/2011 we always felt a bit cheated by our Peru riding experience. This is what led us to discussing, planning, and ultimately doing this ride: Peru: Unfinished Business.
The basic plan was to ride our newly purchased Keeway 200s, can you feel the power?, as hard as we dare into the Peruvian Sierra covering all the places we were unable to ride the first time around but had planned visit. However we only had 6 weeks of vacation from work so riding ALL the places seemed unrealistic, so we settled for the following mission statement “ride as many awesome roads as we can”.
Team Introductions:
Chasqui, Inca's word for the messenger who ran through the mountains of the Inca Empire
Meet Chasqui, Alberto's 200ccs of terror. Can be seen lacking power on uphills at elevations of 2000+ metres above sea level and getting knee down in corners. Best known for being able to climb any hill in first gear.
The indomitable Keeway TX200 packed for adventure
Apu, the Incas word for the spirit of the mountains
Introducing Apu, Naomi's 200cc companion for Chasqui. Can be seen bouncing along behind Chasqui and best know for bolts going missing.
I hope you enjoy our videos for the trip, there will be an Episode for each day. This is the teaser video of the whole trip. We’d love it if you subscribed to our YouTube channel and left your feedback in the comments section. We really want to hear what you think. Thank you!
So we had a plan, well sort of, maybe we should look at a map or something... What we did have was return tickets from Edmonton to Lima and two Keeway motorcycles stored in Huanchaco, Peru. You’ve got to start somewhere. The first step we took along this journey was to look at a map together. This was done back in Canada not at the side of the road in Peru by the way. We both had some ideas of places we wanted to go, so we loosely planned out some routes in google earth and google maps. The next step was packing. Oh boy, I naively underestimated this step in the process. We barely got all our stuff into two checked bags each, accompanied by some seriously bloated carry-on items, but we made it work. We usually travel light and agile, but that was definitely not the case for this trip.
Leaving work for warmer, MUCH warmer, lands
March 19th began like any other day. We woke up early, not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed. We had spent the previous evening re-jigging our packing to make sure we came in on weight. Air Canada aren’t the type of airline to be generous with these sorts of things. Shower, breakfast, shuttle to the airport.
Meanwhile at our hotel...
Check in at the Air Canada counter was fairly painless. The bag check gentleman was a bit old and grumpy, but we were playing by the rules so there was nothing he could do to stop us. Security was a cinch and we were officially on our way. Our route was a flight from Edmonton to Toronto then onwards to Lima straight from Toronto. We had about 3 hours in the airport in Toronto, which we used to refuel, and relax.
The joy of waiting at airports in between flight connections!
'Chicken' for in-flight supper, YAY!
Almost there! work > Edmonton > Toronto > Lima > Huanchaco
I was able to sleep somewhat on the plane, Alberto was not. The Air Canada staff was friendly, keeping us hydrated throughout the 8hrs or so flight. Going through customs and retrieving our luggage was really easy in Lima. Soon enough we were navigating the shark infested waters of taxis and tours at the arrivals gate. Having just woken up it was a bit of a shock to the system at ~1:00am. Thankfully Alberto's friend Rodrigo came to pick us up at the airport. And a good thing too since all our stuff pretty much filled his Jeep Cherokee. We spent the night, or what was left of it anyway, at Grandma's house. It's pretty humid here in Lima, welcome back to Peru.
With La Abuelita in Lima. She's a big fan of María y Jesús
We only had the one day in the capital and we had a bit of a list of things that needed to get done. I enjoy riding in taxis in Lima though. It is fascinating. Somehow there are few accidents (at least I have yet to be in one in a taxi) and the horn language is entertaining in short doses. I also like the freedom to look around while sitting in the back of the taxi, unlike the constant focus that is required while riding a motorcycle in those streets. We were able to quickly get the things on our list checked off.
The bus to take us to Trujillo left Lima at 10:30pm. The person doing security at the bus station was pretty cool. He quickly checked my items by squeezing one of my carry-on bags. "Helmet?" he asked, "Yes" I replied. He then squeezed my very full backpack. "Equipment?" "Yes" I replied. He smiled and asked if I was doing motocross, since I had never heard that word before and didn't understand I smiled and nodded. Alberto later told me he was talking about Motocross. He looked very excited about my motocrossing in Trujillo, which started to get me excited as well.
Bus ride to Trujillo
We arrived in Huanchaco Beach refreshed and ready for hard day of work. The bus arrived at 8am. The goal was to hit the road as soon as possible. We were able to spend some time visiting with Alberto's family, but more or less we were down to business right away. It was a bit of a relief to have finally reached our destination. It was rather stressful managing our 4 massive bags and 4 carry-on items. Once settled we got busy with our long list of todos: washing the bikes, installing our farkles, unpacking and organizing our stuff etc... Boy are these Giant Loop’s a nice piece of kit. They packed up nice and small in the luggage and installed onto the bikes without a fuss. They were key to our plan to pack all our stuff onto these Keeways.
Bikes were covered in WD40 to prevent rust during storage
It wasn't just Naomi doing the cleaning...
Lunch with la familia
Installing some farkles
This one is done! #GiantLoop
The bikes had some troubles starting but they eventually came to life, though after all was said and done one still had a dodgy battery. Alberto definitely got a workout starting them, as he was running up and down the road trying to bump start them. We worked long into the night, and by the time we went to bed we were both exhausted. Day two was essentially a repeat of day 1. We both were still working hard on trip prep. Or at least that was what we thought. When Alberto went into Trujillo to run some errands he noticed his bike was running like a piece of crap. Not exactly the news I wanted to hear.
Sativa is the family's dog and a great guardian!
Other than that though things were coming together slowly but surely. We took both bikes into Trujillo, to a bike shop, to see about sorting Alberto's bike and getting the oil changed. I followed Alberto through the city and I could hear his bike backfiring like crazy.
This was my first time riding my bike and the first impressions are good. The front wheel feels a little flimsy but overall the power and handling seem fine. Finding neutral requires a PhD in mechanics, but what is a bike without character. Oh and Aberto took my battery, so my bike needs to be kickstarted because the battery can't power the electric start. This leaves me extremely nervous during idling situations at intersections. What is an international adventure without a little excitement?
Back at the mechanics they greeted us and quickly brought Chasqui in to get worked on. I'm not exactly sure what happened but he fixed the crappy bike syndrome. It took him a while and he was working hard to get things just right. From what I understood of the conversation the mechanic seemed very knowledgeable. He also had two helpers, one of which was friendly and chatty. After sorting Alberto’s bike they quickly changed our oil, adjusted our chains and even fixed up my front rack. These guys were slick. I joked to Alberto that if these guys had rebuilt our BMWs 3 years ago we wouldn't have had any problems. When all was said and done we had working bikes and we were very grateful. It was dark by the time we left the mechanic shop. Filtering and trying to follow Alberto at night through the city was a bit tricky but I made it okay. Another day in the books.
Ceviche: delicious local dish!
Sunset in Huanchaco, from the top floor.
20 minutes later...
With the bulk of the packing done the previous day we spent today finishing up our packing and bike mods. We finished everything up by mid afternoon so we took some time to relax and visit. Everything was on the bikes ready to go bright and early for the next day. Braaaaaaap! Next stop, somewhere awesome.
Ring, ring... ugh is that the alarm already? Let’s snooze a little more haha. Adventure can wait a bit longer can’t it? We eventually got up at 6:30ish. We grabbed a delicious breakfast of mango and avocado, que rico!, to fuel us for the day. Since everything was packed we just needed to suit up and hit the road. Some goodbyes to the family and some strange looks from people walking down the street and we were officially off! We were charting a direct course for the mountains. Woohoo!
Hasta la vista!
We grabbed some gas before leaving Trujillo, never pass up an opportunity for gas, and I learned that you can't stay sitting on the bike while they pump gas. They thought I was a flight risk. Driving along the Panamerican highway it made me wish I had a more powerful bike to pass all the stinky trucks, but once we ditched the highway the open road was all ours. We left the hustle and bustle of Trujillo and were free to cruise along at 60kph with little interference or worry. We were pretty much maxing out our combined 26 horsepower at that pace. haha! We passed through the sugar cane fields and the unfortunate smell of burning garbage. This was a familiar road, as we had ridden it before on the F8GSs, but this time instead of going to Santiago de Chuco, we turned at Otuzco.
Leaving the flat coast into the mountains!
Finally rolling
As we climbed into the mountains the landscape changed from dry sand and sugar cane fields to lush green hillsides covered in eucalyptus. I love the way the air smells when riding through eucalyptus. One of my favourite things in Peru. I am always fascinated by the local people I can see from the road: a worker in a field raising his shovel as we passed, an old lady carrying wood on her back or the lady spinning wool. I’ll stick those in the memory bank.
Near the Coast: Green valleys & brown mountains
Smooth pavement... for now...
From Naomi's saddle
Further up: Green valleys & Green mountains
Hi there!
Where does it go?
Surprise surprise, we encountered a few navigational challenges trying to get on track in Otuzco. There was no roads on our GPS showing the route we wanted to take but we weren’t going to let that stop us. We stopped for gas and tried to get pointed in the right direction. The hand gestures waved to the mountains so off we went following the combis and buses. We figured they were going somewhere if not the right way. It didn't matter either way because we were having fun. The road was a bit rough; the Keeways were getting a full workout. They handled the road no problem though and I commented to Alberto several times that I was happily riding like a genuine Peruvian. The roads were fun, despite being bumpy in most places. Life from a Keeway seemed pretty good. Up and down the road went, as roads tend to do in Peru. We managed to escape a nearby thunder shower that was in the mountains to our Southeast, only to be consumed by fog once we submitted our mountains and had started our descent down the other side. The fog reduced us down to first gear as it was very slow going with the limited visibility. Also having all the moisture collect on my goggles made clear vision difficult. We seemed to be the only ones on the road though, so that made things easier. We left the fog as we descended only to find rain. Luckily for us the rain was pretty light so it didn't really bother us too much. The deeper we got into the mystery route the less traffic we saw. We were getting some very strange stares when Alberto had his hi-viz rain suit on. The people came from far and wide to see the sight.
In Peru there is a dirt road on -almost- every mountain
Local campesinos (farmers)
La Libertad highlands are just awesome!
Our Keeways starting to get dirty
Yep! looking good all muddy
Andean casa
Typical house setting
As the magic number of 3pm rolled around we started our search for a place to camp. We were still only 2/3 down the valley so on either side of the road the terrain was too steep to camp. We figured that our best option was down by the river so we continued to follow the road down. At some point Alberto noticed that my exhaust was broken, like hanging off broken. Looks like we lost a bolt. We ziptied it back in place but my bike had a much deeper exhaust note now because there was some gaps in the line. Perfect, makes it sound even more like an authentic Peruvian moto I thought. The unfortunate thing was that the exhaust appeared to have knocked my rear brake nut off so my brakes were leaking and I had no rear brake. Since my rear brake is my best brake (the front is crap) I was a bit sad to discover this. The engine braking will have to do the heavy lifting from now on I guess.
A steady diet of Aloe Vera keeps these cows skinny
Cactus leaf
Looking west towards the coast
Very pretty country side up here
We were able to find a flattish spot to camp once the road leveled off at the valley bottom. Just as we parked it started to rain, so we quickly got the tent up and hid inside. The rain continued off and on and the mosquitoes deterred us from being outside. All in all a pretty good first day. Welcome back to Peru.
So the rain that was off and on earlier in the evening turned into full downpour overnight. The tent held up well, good location choosing for once, and all that remained was some early morning fog when we got up. When I tried to make breakfast I discovered that the bottle we had so proudly purchased in Lima didn't quite work with our MSR stove. D’OH! We couldn't keep a seal, so there was no fresh breakfast this morning and we will have to try to figure that one out soon. We scavenged a breakfast from some our snacks stash.
Our campsite - Looking East
The day was already pretty warm by the time we set off, and both Alberto and myself worked up a sweat kick starting my bike to life. This is going to be a fun morning ritual. The road continued to follow the river down the valley, but at a distance well above the water. The terrain was still green and we were enjoying the ride with Chasqui and Apu. No traffic, nice views and an okay riding temperature. We encountered some muddy sections, most likely from the torrential rain the previous evening, but they were no match for our little engines that could. We were hardly fast and furious though, still riding in first gear the whole time.
Making sure we don't lose any more bolts, or at least trying!
Apu feels at home!
A wonderful day to explore the Andes
Beautiful landscapes all around
Pachamama or Mother Earth is simply amazing
It wasn't long before we reached a truck parked in the road and noticed a dynamite prepping station at the side of the road. The explosives were completely unsupervised by the way. So we parked the bikes and Alberto went to find out what the deal was. There was a medium sized excavator repairing the road just up ahead and luckily they would let us pass without a wait. It's always good to be a moto. We got lucky there, because it was a LONG way back to find a detour. Phew.
There was a bit more rough sections of road, nothing too crazy, I would classify it as intermediate level riding. Just enough to keep you focused. It was a nice day with amazing views of the valley. The bikes were handling everything really well, and so far my exhaust was keeping it together. We did notice another bolt missing at the intake, so it was leaking a bit and I could smell the exhaust. Not exactly ideal.
Leaving the dodgy weather behind...
Dynamite on the side of the road
Road work
Typical Andes road
Hey Naomi! wait for me!
We were happily cruising along, enjoy the remote road and peacefulness, when we noticed a loader working up ahead. When we got closer we could clearly see that the road was blocked by a landslide. Oh crap. We were in too deep, no turning back now, this could be a long wait. We drove further down the road where we were greeted by a rocky river. I could see that the loader was quickly clearing us a path so things were looking good on that front. The only issue I could see at this point was that the road was single lane and the Loader filled the road. Alberto, of course, dove into the deep end without hesitation. He crossed the river and scooted to the side of the road trying to let the loader pass him. The road was literally just the width of the loader. I watched the operator park his tire within centimeters of the edge of the road and somehow Alberto squeezed through on the inside. Oh god, not it's my turn. I waited for the loader to do his thing. He parked in the river, which in truth was the widest section of the road, but it was a bit tricky for me to navigate downstream of his machine. I gave it my best shot but I stalled it a few times on the slippery rocks, which was a hassle because I had to kickstart Apu back to life. On the plus side I was developing quite the knack for kickstarting. Alberto came to my rescue, which was good because I wasn't going to make it on my own. The line through the river left for me by the loader was too tricky for me to drive through. His bucket was in the way; I had to angle my handle bars severely to get through. So Alberto propped the bike up as I got past the bucket and then he just pushed me out of the water. Exciting times. After that whole ordeal we decided to take a break, just a few 100 metres up the road.
No margin for error...
Waiting for the landslide to get -somewhat- cleaned
Is it us or the road is getting narrower?
We had a few snacks, and it looked liked the equipment operators had swapped out. The guy who was driving the loader was now walking along the road in our direction. When he reached us he stopped for a chat. He asked us where we were going and asked to see our map. He showed us some spots on the map and said that the road narrowed a bit before the next town but that after that it was smooth sailing. Good to know. He also asked if we had been able to try the fruit from the area. We told him that we were planning to buy some in the next town. He's said that we wouldn't be able to and then opened his bag and gave us two avocados (two different types no less). Awesome! We gave him a Canada sticker and thanked him. He wished us a good trip and continued walking back to wherever he was going.
The road ahead was fine. It did start to narrow, and there was more greenery growing on the road but everything seemed fine to us. And then, to our surprise the road turned into single track. Just like that! When the man said narrow, he meant narrow! Anyone planning to take this route on a big adventure bike had better put their game face on for this section because it just got real! Thankfully we were on small bikes so it wasn't too bad. There was only one steep section that caused us real trouble. We had to push Chasqui up, which completely exhausted us. It was hot and we were sweating like crazy. Before taking Apu up we modified the hole that was giving us trouble a bit to make it smoother. That way Alberto could keep the momentum to make it up the steep hill. It worked and he was able to drive Apu up no problems. With both bikes safely at the top we needed another break. This was getting to be hard work. We thought we could see the town, so we hoped the end of this tricky single track section must be almost over. Just one last push through the tricky bits. With a lot of focus, and some skillful avoidance of a man on a donkey we popped out the other side, smiles on our sweaty faces. That was interesting.
Yep, the road is now a sing track
The town wasn't much of a town, so we didn’t stop. The people outside gave us some VERY strange looks when we emerged from the bushes. At the first sign of road side water we decided to stop. It was hot, and we were tired. It was a muddy little river but we didn't care. It was refreshing to us. We chomped down those avocados, and between the boost in nutrition and cold water we gained a new lease on life.
The road zig zagged through houses, turkeys and pigs running across the road. Again lots of strange looks from locals riding motos and people standing outside their houses. When we reached the end of the rural area of Tambo? the road got nice again and the view of the valley opened up. The terrain was getting drier, with more cacti on the hills than lush trees and bushes. It was a nice road that snaked along the edge of the mountain, and for the most part followed the river Huancay at a nice steady elevation.
Naomi going through town
Alberto has some tricks to deal with the rising temperatures
Those are some seriously steep switchbacks
Green Andes mountains
Following the Huancay river
Peru is full of surprising roads
Weeeeeee
Cacti forest
The riding was very fun and we were finally able to get the bikes into 3rd gear. It had been quite a while since the bikes had seen even second gear and now we were cruising in 3rd. Weeeeeee! As the elevation dropped the heat increased. At its high we reached 36 degrees Celsius, a little bit too much for our taste. Dust and sweat always feel so great at the end of the day.
When the road eventually connected to the bottom of the valley it was dry, dusty and there was garbage everywhere. The road conditions deteriorated and it became hard work riding. It reminded me of the Cañón del Pato. We were both exhausted and Alberto was ready to stop for the day. While I didn’t disagree, it was really hot and dusty so I was wanted to push on further in hopes of finding a better environment to camp overnight. We compromised and stopped for a snack at a corner store. That seemed to give him the extra push needed to make it to the paved main road that would take us to Cascas.
Mini-Cañón del Pato
Once on pavement it felt like we were flying, even though we were still doing under 70kph. It was nice to get off the bumpy road though. For the last little while we were riding on washboard and dust and it was becoming a killer. We quickly made it to Cascas where we stopped for gas and to ask where we could find a mechanic for motos. We got directions and I embarrassingly couldn't start my bike after the tank had been filled. I could smell the gas, as if the engine was flooded by my kickstarting techniques, and here I thought I was getting so good at it. The lady who pumped our gas was even quick to give starting the bike a try. Thankfully the town of Cascas is on a hill so Alberto just free wheeled out of the gas station and bumped it on the road. Easy peasy.
It wasn't even a block to the mechanic. Luckily he had time and was going to sort my bike today. He fixed the back brake, exhaust, installed a new battery and adjusted the chains of both bikes. It was over 1.5hrs of work and it only cost us $10. Way better than dealing with it ourselves at some remote camping location, so money well spent. The only downside was that it was getting dark by the time he finished so we decided to grab a hotel in Cascas for the night. The mechanic, Victor, recommended a place to stay and it ticked all the boxes. Sorted.
The town of Cascas, now lets get some local wine [/B]
Moto shop [/B]
Time to get some corrective maintenance done! [/B]
Apu happy to be looked at [/B]
Alberto went all over town trying to find a new battery for me bike. After searching nearby didn’t turn up anything one of the guys who worked at the shop took Alberto on his bike! Alberto rode around town pillion with this guy, hilarious!
When we were searching for the hotel I was left alone in the Plaza de Armas. I was approached by one brave kid, of the many standing and staring, and though I could only understand bits and pieces of what he was saying (everyone seemed to speak very fast and I was wearing earplugs) he showed me this cool game he was playing: trompo. Once he had broken the ice some more kids came over and asked questions about the bike etc. They thought I was in the Dakar, what a compliment.
Once we had a safe place to sleep sorted, we grabbed some chicken at a popular restaurant for dinner. This town is filled with friendly people, quite remarkably so. A sure sign we are heading into the Sierra I suppose. It could also be because this town is famous for its wine, so maybe that helps keep everyone happy. Another thing we noticed while we were out searching for dinner was that this is definitely a moto town. We saw tons of bikes ripping around the town two or three up.
It was a day filled with everything from the rewarding riding to the unbearable desert heat. With experiment number one in the books (we didn’t know if the road would connect through) it should be smooth sailing for a few days following Garmin and actual roads on my map.
Awesome RR guys - I'm just in Ayacucho heading north - I hear you about drivers using oncoming lane on blind corners, the driving here is horrendous - and what's with people using full beams all the time? Anyway, I could rant about it all day but instead just take dirt roads when possible and for all the atrocious drivers Peru is still my fav country so far. How long do you guys have left? Maybe if we're passing we could meet up for a chat and a
Hi ridetheworld, glad to see you are having a great time in Peru. It is our favourite international country for riding that is for sure.
The secret is out , we are actually back at home (in Canada) already so we won't be seeing you out on the road but have a great time exploring those dirt roads!
We said our goodbyes and hit the road as early as we could. The sun was out again so we were anticipating an enjoyable day of riding. Exiting Cajamarca was fairly straight forward. Having the GPS has been a huge improvement for negotiating large cities, as this has never been our forte. We stopped for gas in Banos del Inca and confirmed directions. Once again it was revenge of the speed bumps, something I just can't get accustomed to. I liked Cajamarca, as far as cities go, but the surrounding countryside after we went south from Banos del Inca was even better. Much more peaceful and still the same great view.
Mandatory good bye photo with Alberto's Parents
Fertile lands of Cajamarca
The road leading to San Marcos was pretty quiet. Lots of farmland and campestre restaurants. The temperature was very pleasant for riding and the road was pretty fun as well. Nothing to blow your socks off though, just a regular Peruvian Sierra road. We quietly buzzed along at our top cruising speed of about 80 kilometers per hour and pretty much had the whole thing to ourselves. There was a few small towns along the way, with intersections to make critical decisions at. Oh the pressure! Again the GPS gave us the helping hand we needed, though we still relied on our old habit of asking directions from anyone we passed. More than once we have been able to correct a mistake made by blindly following the GPS with a few conversations with locals.
Stopped to take a photo of the views and these two cuties came up to say hola
Hope the pair didn't stay on the highway too long...
The scenery doesn't disappoint in this country!
What followed from such a pleasant morning was a horror show. Continuing south on Highway 3N from San Marcos we were treated to a dust bath courtesy of excessive road construction. Some areas we had waits, others we got lucky, some sections had deep gravel but either way it was a 'Shitabamba' time :lol2. It was bumpy, it was dry and dusty, we just wanted it to be over. Even in the sections of the road not plagued by construction we could tell the road was older and not in the best condition. Even though this was a main route between Cajamarca and Huamachuco the road seemed forgotten.
Views along the way
A close up of the mountain in the photo above
Eventually by Cajabamba the road construction appeared to be complete. Which was good because we were pretty fed up. We were navigating our way out of town when Alberto got a flat rear tire. There was barely enough room to pull over. We were already unimpressed by the area and wanting to get away as fast as possible and now we were rendered immobile by a nail. Alberto asked around to some passing moto guys if there was a tire repair place. It was just a few blocks away, but after assessing the lack of air in the rear tire we decided to do the job there at the side of the road.
Insight of the day: If you don't have a center stand alway bring a friend. I held the bike off the rear wheel while Alberto patched the hole. Since we pulled the nail from the tire we knew where to look. Fixing the puncture was the easy part, getting the wheel back on was very tricky. I was trying to balance the bike and Alberto was trying to hold up the wheel. It wasn't working too well. Two boys had been watching us and at this point we enlisted their help. Me balancing the bike, toque boy lining up the brakes, Alberto positioning the wheel and the other boy stuffing in the axle bolt. It was a tricky job but we got it done. We gave the boys some stickers, a geography lesson, and thanked them for their help. Back at my bike a nice fresh puddle of oil had been pooling, courtesy of the rear shock. Oh well, you win some you lose some. I'm certainly not buying a new shock for Apu so we will just have to see how that one plays out.
Ay caray!
A good old rusty nail being a pain in the... tyre
Half way there!
We were able to inflate the tire to 20 psi then decided to ride to the tire place to finish the job. It was a good thing we did because the tire was flat again by the time we got there. With the proper tools the second patch job went much faster. The nail had probably made two holes and we missed the second hole during the first fix. While the bike was being put back together I noticed a Tenere just outside on the road. I walked out to take a peek. A nicely kitted out couple, each with Teneres. The husband pulled over to say hi, but his wife was having some sort of issue so he couldn't stay to chat. We finally saw some other Adventure riders, we kept wondering if we would at some point. 2.5hrs after arriving we were finally leaving that place.
At the tyre shop...
Must get muddy when it rains around here
Past the old tyres and rubbish, the views were great (at the tyre shop)
While there was no road construction to deal with as we headed south there was still maniac drivers and maniac livestock. We each had a close call with some crazy drivers. We were longing to return to the piece and quiet of the less populated Sierra. When we passed the sign welcoming us to Shitabamba we truly felt that summed up our shitty day
Apu and Naomi looking pretty
Two hundred and seventy nine (but who's counting) speed bumps later Laguna Sausacocha came into view. So many speed bumps will make any mild mannered person cranky, and we were cranky. To top it off the road we needed to take to Bambamarca was closed from 7am to 6pm (with a 1 hr lunch break) so we were pretty much screwed. It gets dark shortly after 6pm so that wasn't going to work for us. We decided to cut our loses and find a place to camp as close as possible so that we could hit the road while it is open in the morning.
We camped by the lake, by the pier. We were told that other gringos have camped there in the past, and while it is not our usual style it will do for tonight. Today has been the least enjoyable day of the trip thus far.
We hit the open road at dawn. We had set our alarm to make sure we were up and ready to go so we could get through the road construction while the road was open. As it turns out this may not have been necessary since, at that same early hour in the pitch dark, a garbage truck was making his rounds. We did not realise it was a garbage truck at first because all we could hear, far on the other side of town, was extremely loud music of the icecream truck variety. We knew this was a tourist town of sorts, but ice cream trucks at 5am seemed a bit of a stretch. When the truck eventually passed our section of town the music must have been blasting at 175 decibels.
Local woman at El Pallar
Leaving 'El Pallar' down in the valley
The road construction area was manageable. There was some traffic and some narrow sections but overall it was fine. After reaching the end of the construction zone we needed to stop to do a map and GPS check. There was a road on either side of the river, that according to our map and GPS seemed doable however we decided to play it safe and go with the thick red line on the map instead of the skinny red line. So we crossed the bridge and took a left.
Family of 5. Love the boombox the lady carries
One of several small river crossings on this route
The road followed the river, and it was getting hot. We had dropped 1500m since the chilly morning start and I was wearing too many layers. The road was narrow and did not really look in as good condition as the map lead us to believe. We have been on dotted red lines in better nick than this solid red line road. The scenery following the river was nice and we soon descended into desert territory again. I saw more different types of cactus today than any other day so far. We drove for 2 hours without seeing any vehicle traffic, just pedestrians and animals.
No bridge? no problem
Following the Chusgón River
At points, some narrow passages
The road was very challenging, the most challenging road so far, and by far. There was several river crossings, both small and big, very steep rocky roads, actually pretty much rocky all over and we both had a hard crash each. Each of our crashes resulted in a trapped leg under the bike, but thankfully so far everyone seems okay. It was an extremely hard day involving 100% focus at all times. Exhausting to say the least. To make things more difficult it was over 35 degrees. We were both boiling away in our riding suits. There was a couple of opportunities where we were able to refresh ourselves in cleanish water but for the most part it was a dry and dusty day. At one particular place we stopped for a break there was a tree of parrots high above serenading us the whole time, pretty exotic by my standards.
Enjoying the great views
A dream ride
Some beautiful Cactus
The route was very pretty as the road followed along the Chusgón river. The terrain was dry with lots of cacti populating the nearby slopes. When the road eventually turned inland things got steeper and rockier. It was all I could do to stay focused on the road and keep the bike upright. The heat was unbearable, and since we were riding in first gear there was little wind to try to cool us down.
Awesome!
Some very unique mountain features. Really beautiful
This section of the road was unbelievable
We passed only a few vehicles all day and they were pickup trucks. Once again I think people are very surprised to see us. The dogs, cows and donkeys get spooked easily so they are probably not used to seeing bikes. One poor puppy saw us on the road and started running for his life down the road, unfortunately he chose to run in our direction of travel so he probably thought we were chasing him. He ran for his life for a few kilometers before finally getting off the road before a pickup that was coming the other way. I hope his owner found him again. The views were nice but there wasn't much opportunity to appreciate them as the road required full attention pretty much at all times. There was a few smoother sections where you could relax a bit but they were few and far between. The map is very misleading on the quality of this road.
Who knew this route was going to be THIS good
Much needed cooling off
Found an oasis to recharge our batteries
Some of the trees looked like mini-Boababs
Earlier in the day, what I thought was challenging riding, did not even compare to that last 2 hours of riding. By some miracle neither of us, especially me, went down. At around 1pm we came across a tiny stream. Since it was the only water we'd seen for 45min or so we stopped to recharge. And what started as a break soon turned into us quitting for the day as we were both exhausted. We made some food and relaxed in the shade. I was pretty much a zombie for the next few hours, the ride had taken everything out of me. In the evening while we were hiding in the tent from the bugs and trying to keep sort of cool we could hear an owl, and here we thought there was nothing living in this hot dry place. We eventually saw the two owls high on the ridge perched on some cacti watching us. Such amazing animals.
Getting hotter by the minute!
The multi-coloured terrain was very unique
Spot Naomi & Apu
Trees growing out of rocks? what is this place
Camping on the side of the road. At least we had a drying creek as water supply.
Amazing route and photos! I couldn't even find this on the map.
Extreme heat is so hard to deal with on bikes, especially when off the pavement.
In lowlands Bolivia I was spending more on water than gasoline!
Thanks Ross, that was one of the hardest days I've spent on the bike.
The funny thing about that route was that our map indicated that it was the primary road and the secondary road that we ended up having to take was in WAAAY better condition. the mystery of maps.
Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's thelist of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now, and add your information if we didn't find you.
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
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Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
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We hope you stay along for the ride.
, we are actually back at home (in Canada) already so we won't be seeing you out on the road but have a great time exploring those dirt roads!
the sign itself talks up a big game haha
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