Report from Machu Picchu

First, here is a better photo of the steam vents from last post!


Me, Ricardo, and his Ninga


Friends who shared my chips


Machu Picchu


Stair stonework, Machu Picchu



Stonework detail, Machu Picchu


Machu Picchu flowers


Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is incredible! Overwhelming experience of sensations...there is a feel there that is hard to put into words. Maybe it is the history, maybe the mountains nested around it, or the lushness of the vegetation or the flowers...maybe all of it. Many people say one must go because it is MP. I say you should not miss it! Sure there are tourists but the site is large enough that numbers are not a distraction...at least to me. Go early and stay late. Besides, you are with people who make the effort to be there...a great energy. There were four generations of inhabitants who worked on this place. Some people spent their entire life working on one stone!

With the e'network I had the name of a hostel in Ollantaytambo to park the bike, hop on a train to Aguas Callentes, overnight there and grab a 5:30 am bus to MP, spend the day with a hike to Wayna Picchu peak (only 400/day), return to AC , then Oll. and a night there. Met Tim at MP...a fellow KLR rider headed south. We stayed at the same hostel in Oll, shared info and then I headed out to Nasca, Peru.

The ride from Cusco to Nasca is a ride no biker should miss. Sure it is slow...but that is because of the five passes to climb up and down. One is about 15000, three are at 12000 and there is one at 11000. There are about 400 miles to cover but it takes 1 1/2 days minimum. Took me longer because of the sleet, rain, snow and fog that hangs around those high places. A good section of the road is under repair and in poor condition too. But very much worth the effort.

For a few nights I will be in Lima, Peru while a bike shop does some work on the bike. A great guy, Ricardo Rivera-Schreiber Huller, was a fantastic help in recommending a shop and hostel for me to use. Cannot thank him enough as finding shops is difficult enough to do in a small town much less a city of six million.

While here I will look up Chris, whom I met in a Cusco biker bar (Norton's). He and his wife, Deb, lived in Alaska for several years.

Hope all are well

Paul

Many Miles Later

Road hazards on Ruta 40

Ten days have slipped past since last posting! Time flies by in these long sun filled days. Leaving Bariloche to continue on Ruta 40 with a mix of asphalt and gravel with small villages and an unending spectacle of color within a landscape....never ceases to awe me....the visuals and that people live here....where the closest store is 100 miles of gravel away.

A short night in Malargue, Arg. and a push north again through a fruit and vegetable growing area south of Mendoza, changing to wine grapes just south of and west of Mendoza. Through the spectacular desert Mendoza River Valley, crossing into Chile and then onto Valparaiso, a large seaside city in Chile known for its ascenders.

Just a short stop there before heading north on Chile 5. A mix of seaside and inland riding, all great roads. Another short night in Chanara (because Caldera was in the middle of a fest and there were no rooms) before heading for and staying in San Pedro de Atacama.




Dust on 40

The little town of San Pedro is known for its access points to the Atacama Desert. I did the 4 AM tour to steam vents at 12000 feet. Incredible place with -4 cel. temp. We were served a hot breakfast after sunup, a thermal pool swim and then a tour through an old cacti area. Great tour! Arrived in town early enough to jump on the bike to see the flamingos in Laguna Chaxa-in the middle of the salta.




Atacama Desert



Geysers Del Tatio
Flamingos at Laguna Chaxa

Had a chance to speak with a Santiago man, whose daughter is working for a relief agency in San Padro, about the devastating effect that tourisim is having on the town's population. Being forced out of rented buildings as they are sold to rich incomers. Drugs, and changing youth behavior is stressing the town. Sad to see the popularity of a natural wonder affect the locals so much. There is a LARGE military presence there-drugs coming over the border from Bolivia. They are on the frontier.

The road to and from San Pedro is peppered with abandoned and operational mines. Lithium is being mined off the lake bed and out of the hills. This makes the air dusty, and a lot of trucks are moving over the roads. Near Chuquicamata is the largest copper mine in the world...open pit. West of Chuquicamata the desert opens up with one view with 15 miles of road bed in front of the tire!

Then desert riding continued for days. Because it is new I am interested in viewing, but the results of sleeping drivers are evident with road side shrines.

South of Arica I just had to stop for a photo op with ´The Hand´.



The Hand

Jumped into Peru the next morning to a split in the road...lets see, NW along the coast or NE to the mountains? Not being a beach guy I headed inland to some incredible twisties, climbing to a pass at 16,000 feet. There was 1/2 inch of hail on the road and it was COLD: Ya...the KLR was a bit off on performance at elevation, but did keep on to a drop of 2000 feet and an incredible valley of adobe buildings and thatched roofs. Lamas in the fields being tended by native dressed women and children. The rain continued.

At Desaguadero I fueled from a plastic barrel by the road side..seems to be the only way to get gas there. Then along the shore line of Lago Titicaca. Spectacular area worthy of an extended vist..but not in the rain.

There are many police in Peru. All of them nice so far. At one police stop/check the police dog found the KLR very offensive and thought a chomp on the leg of the rider was in order. He was alone in that opinion and was promply disciplined by the officer, with an apology to me. From Juli (where I was the only gringo in town and the bike was of immense interest) I headed for Cusco, Peru, along a narrow road on each side of which were colorfully dressed women tending flocks of sheep, lamas, horses, donkeys, and cattle. What a sight, but nerve racking in the rain, fogging visor and glasses and all the mini buses flying along.

Cusco is a nice old town. A good place to put new tires on but not to find a fan switch. This is a Honda town not Kawasaki. I have a temp. ground wired so the fan will cool the engine..an alligator clip to a screw on the dash.

The plan is to visit Machu Piccu in two days time, then push on towards Leonor's. A stop in Lima (a place I wanted to avoid) will be required to find a fan switch and change it out.

Hope all are well.

Paul

Lots of gravel!

Buenos Aires couple biking the Ruta 40, hat's off to them!

In Cave of the Hands near Bajo Caracoles, Arg.


Ruta 7, Chile

The last two nights I have been in San Carlos de Bariloche, Arg. Beautiful multi-level city on the shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi. Very beautiful place known for its chocolate and year-round out door activities.

My goal here, besides the chocolate, was to do some work on the bike. Ruta 40 road conditions are not kind to anything mechanical. So the oil and filter were changed, a new back tire purchased, all nuts tightened and an effort to improvise a saddle bag clamp was made. One fell off on R40 and they are not an off the shelf thing being off-centered milled aluminum. The mill wright in town was gone so I will continue to improvise.

I left Calafate on Ruta 40, had a look at Chaltan and continued north. The pavement ended at Tres Lagos (last gas) with an 8 inch drop onto 6 inch loose rock and a very rutted road surface from rain and traffic. As I slowed to look for fuel and maneuvered the bike through this tough surface a huge gust of wind blew me over! No damage done and priority one became the next ten feet in front of the tires not where I end up for the night. Road conditions were very bad for 10 miles...first gear...then the surface improved slightly all the way to Bajo Caracoles (first gas). 420 miles in 11 hours, but the hostel in BC was great and I met some nice folks. Two Arg. bikers (on Honda shadows) showed up 3 hours after me...we met on the outskirts of Calafate.

Then more gravel to Perito Moreno and a country change with a night in Chile Chico,Chile. Great little town.....a one bank sort of place. Caught the ferry across Largo Buenos Aries to ride Chile 7 ( the Astral) north. More dirt but in better condition and winding through the rain forest of coastal Chile. Hanging glaciers, vegetation next to the road, many lakes, small towns. Most of this area was settled by Germans in the early 30´s.

Spent the night in Fulateufu....wonderful town known for its white water opportunities. Had the best meal of the trip there...fettuchini de letche camaron and home made helado. All for 13 us.

So now it will be north again on Ruta 40 to get above Santiago before leaving Arg. for the coast.

Hope all are well,

Paul