Yesterday started out a little foggy but soon cleared up as the sun made its way to the valley bottoms. We knew from talking with the locals that Abancay was about five hours of hard ridding on dirt and gravel. The story was that after that, it was pavement (wow, we were hard pressed to even imagine pavement again, it sounded like naked women waiting for us!!) from there all the way to Cuzco which should take about three hours. We have been hearing that it would take three hours to get to Cuzco for several days so we hoped it would be the case this time.
We hadn’t gone too far up the road when I met a family moving along the road. One of the daughters was spinning on a drop spindle and stopped to take her photo. I usually don’t take photos of people as I think it is sort of a private thing but she seemed happy to show her work off.
Spinner X
The road climbed as usual since we were down maybe 10,000 feet or so up to the normal it seems in this country, 14,000 feet. The road was pretty tough in spots and better in others but it had rained the night before and left some spots a little wet.
More mud X
When riding in this country you really have to watch the road and be prepared for the trucks that are on the road occasionally. It is always interesting to meet one on those sharp switchback turns. I am always searching for the best route with the least amount of potholes or channels eroded by water crossing the road. Every once in a while I take a look over the edge when I am on the outside and peek over the edge. Wow, sometimes it is like looking over the edge of a skyscraper or over the edge of Grand Canyon. I had seen a lot of photos of the Grand Canyon but I never got the ‘real’ experience until I went there and looked over. I think my photos of the Andes Mountains and canyons must be the same. You have to be here and look your self to see the depth and breadth of them. I take photos every so often and of the ones I post I hope you can get some sense of the grandeur. If these mountains were in North America you would have to pay big bucks to go see them. Here is one from yesterday looking down maybe 3-4 thousand feet
Road down X
When you see this view you know that you have maybe an hour and a half before you make it down to the town. From there it is another hour and a half to the top again. all the roads we have been on have been to go over the mountain and maybe skim along the ridges for a few miles and then drop back down for the ride back up. Everywhere we stop for a piss or smoke break (Jim smokes some) the view is stunning. The air up here is clear and you can see for a long ways. I don’t think it is as clear as it is in the desert at high elevation but not bad for sure. Here is one little stop place where we could see in the valley but the mountain peaks were hidden by clouds when I snapped it.
Canyon X
I
took this photo of one of the little hill towns across a small valley. I
really like the way that they seem to fit in with the surroundings. The
roofs on most of these rural old town are all tile while a few maybe of the
new corrugated tin type which I don’t like but I am sure makes sense to
them in speed and cost of roof repair. There are also some buildings covered
in a cheap paint with old political slogans and signs that sure do detract
from the views.Hill town X
I
think this is the same town up close.Hill town 2 X
We finally did make it too the pavement. It was an instant joy to speed along for sure after ridding along in first and second gear for two days. It was wonderful to cut those big corners at high speed and finally get the yellow dog in fifth gear. As I rode along though, I started feeling weird about it. We were heading up another big pass much like we had done the last few days but this time we just blasted by the houses and the people didn’t even hardly look at us. We have been so used to people just staring at us as unbelievable or smiling and waving. It seemed almost decadent, like being an American.
It was nice to be on pavement however when it started to rain. We had stopped at a gas station to fill up with 84 octane, which seemed to be the only thing available, when it really started to pour. Jim needed to suit up in rain gear and I was thanking my friend Bill Shockley for talking me into getting Aerostitch ridding gear from the Riders Warehouse where all I do is zip it up and ride what ever the weather. In the hot weather I open the sleeves up wide and scoop up air and vent it out the back and neck. It does get hot when I stop though….
We finally made it to Cuzco around six o’clock. It was getting dark and we finally found the main square where both Bill and Dr. Greg Frazier had recommended I go. We circled the square and I spotted the Norton Rats Bar and pulled up on the huge cobble stone sidewalk as the cabs were streaking by. It just so happened that one of the tour guides was there and seeing that the Policia were charging down on us for doing something so outrageous in their town, she told Jim to follow her and she would lead us to a good hotel. It turned out to be a really old and really cool old hotel with a central courtyard where we parked the bikes. The room is ok and I really like the atmosphere here. there are world travelers here from all over using this for a meeting place and a place to strike out to all the fun tourist things to do here.
After we got setteled in the hotel we beat feet over to the Norton Rats bar. The owner Jeff was not there yet so we went off and had some pizza for supper. Jim had been dreaming of pizza and a ham sandwich for miles. We then headed back over to the bar and met up with Jeff. He is a really nice guy and I guess in his forties. He came down and bought the bar seven years ago and really has it decorated in motorcycle stuff. It is a touring biker hangout but there was no one there at this time. He said there were a couple of them in the day before but they must be gone as they hadn’t come in yet.
We found out all the cool stuff about his major rides that he has done down here on his old restored Norton. The Norton is parked downstairs and it really looks good even with the large oil puddle stain under it. I gave him greetings from Dr G as well as Bill Schockley. He said that he didn’t remember Bill as he must not have given his last name as he has family named Schockley as he is from the same area as Bill.
We got the scoop on how to get tires ordered out of Lima and sent here. as it was we went to the place today but it was not open. We went down the street and talked with another guy and he gave us an address and said get a cab and go there. we did get the cab and ended up at a nice little Honda shop and through him were able to get two sets of tires sent in. I get mine put on this Saturday morning and Bill gets his tomorrow afternoon. We were only able to order Pirellis tires as that seems to be the only game in town, or in Lima at least. I will be carrying my old tires for spares as they still have quite a few miles left on them. We hear that it is really difficult to get tires south of here.
We caught a cab back to the hotel and I we both went to the room and crashed. I am not feeling well at all and the diarrhea is back with a vengeance. I have been taking one Lomitil every morning for quite a while and I guess I finally got something that it couldn’t handle. Jim offered me his supply of Ciprofloxacin 500mg and it says take one tablet twice a day for traveler’s diarrhea. I hope it works as I am really tired of not daring to let out a fart all day and really messy toilets even with the Lomitil.
I have spent all the rest of the day in bed. I have been cold even with blankets over me that I can hardly turn over under.
Jim went out to get some water for me to drink as I have been squirting but no water intake. He asked the hotel girl that we got the room from last night and she insisted on bringing me a cup of coca tea. She told me to chew the leaves when I was done with the tea. I know it is supposed to help with altitude sickness but that isn’t what I have or at lest that is what I believe. I just drank the tea and chewed the leaves and I don’t feel any different but maybe it takes time. I really like the tea it makes and would like to send a big sack home for tea at home but doubt if that would fly with the customs folks.
I took a quick look at email last night but really didn’t have time to reply to my mail. I really don’t feel like doing it tonight either but may go out and see if I can post this dog log. Yah, I am calling it a dog log now, not so many letters to type.
I also noticed last night when I looked at the last log to see what it looked like that when the curser went over one of the little photos on the log, it wanted to hyperlink, so I clicked the photo. Wow!!! I hadn’t realized that those little photos were just thumbnails and they make a big photo if clicked. That makes me feel a lot better as I thought that those little photos didn’t give you much but it was all I was able to do. I got a few emails saying that they enlarged the photo but I thought they put the photo in photo shop or something to do it. I have not posted a lot of photos thinking that they wouldn’t show up so I didn’t post them. Humm, new tricks, for the old dog………
I forgot to write about something that happened yesterday. I was following Jim up the paved highway when it was raining. I guess the rain was a signal for the people to bring their animals home as the highway had a lot of animals being herded along the road. Jim drove through a pretty big herd of cows, donkeys, sheep goats and pigs. He opened up a nice lane for me and as I got up there a donkey loaded down with sticks decided to cross to the other side. I swerved around him and out from the right a pig, about a 100 pound one, came charging across the road. I have always wondered what it would be like to hit a pig and now I know. I think the front tire hit him in the head or neck and when that happened the bars of the bike gave a jerk to the left. I think then the cylinder hit the shoulder of the pig or guard on the right side and that helped snap the bike back into a straight line. The freaking pig I could hear squealing his head off. I just kept going.
1-13-06
I spent all day yesterday in bed after we went out for breakfast. My stomach was not feeling good and I was cold as could be. The hotel gal brought me an extra blanket and I had two more extra blankets that were on the third bed. It took almost all day but finally I warmed up. One thing I noticed it that I am having a hard time getting enough air by breathing through my nose. I have to breath through my mouth partially. I guess this must be because of the high elevation. Jim found that the hotel is 3450 meters so that is over 10,000 feet which is not nearly as high as we have been but then we didn’t stay at that elevation for long. I thought I would be accustomed to the elevation by now but maybe not at my advanced age…..
I took on of the Cipro last night and again this morning but still don’t feel that great. I guess I will need to let the pills work some before I get to feeling better.