Some new stuff.

Feb 21 San Pedro to Tilcara

Our travel plans to meet with Armando at 10am go as scheduled and we could not have timed it better. The late morning departure has allowed the temperature to climb a bit from the overnight low of 2C to a balmy 10C. We still have to wear an extra layer though as we will be climbing to an elevation of 4800meters in the pass. This route is paved all the way so we do not have to worry about the condition of the road, we have heard of recent snowfall though and that is of concern. Paso Jama itself is somewhat uneventful as far as scenery and such.  The highlight of the ride is at a Flamingo nesting area and we get to see the big pink birds in their natural habitat.

There is no snow today so we are thankful for that and once at the border station it is a quick process to enter Argentina once again. There are a couple of Brazilian bikers at the border as well, Armando talks with them and finds out that one of the guys has lost his pack containing all his documents, money, camera, phone, everything. He is basically stuck in Chile until he can get new documents produced, which will involve a trip back to Arica and the Brazilian Embassy. We are unsure what they were trying to do but at one point both of them rode through the border station onto the Chile side, only to be turned around by the officer at the checkpoint 100meters down the road. Well the guy without documents got turned around, his buddy was fine, now he had to talk his way back into Chile without any documents. I assume the guards knew that he had just made an error by driving through but in any case he was allowed back into Chile. At this point we left, we did not want to get sucked into some vortex of illegal paperwork or some other involuntary action.

East of the border the route was not any more eventful than the West side initially, long straight sections with the occasional curve to keep us awake. We came across a smallish salt lake that the road went straight through. It was very similar to Uyuni in Bolivia but much, much smaller. There was even a salt harvesting operation in the middle of it. We could see piles of salt and backhoes working to pile the stuff up. There were also some tourists enjoying the reflection of the flooded areas as well as the illusion created by the dry white areas. We all agreed that driving on the salt was not a good ideas as it is very corrosive, much more concentrated than the ocean spray along the coast.

The next portion of the road was highlighted by some switchbacks down from the high plains to some very scenic canyons and rock formations. These roads are always fun as it give us a chance to use the sides of our tires instead of just the center strip. But alas all the twisties come to an end as does our time with Armando. 

He is heading south to Jujuy and we are going north to Bolivia. We will finally be able to get there without torrential rains and flooding as the last few days have been dry and we are now  farther south and at a lower elevation. Our destination for today though is Tilcara, a touristy town in the foothills that is popular with Artisans selling all the usual Incan arts and crafts plus the Argentine Gaucho crafts which usually include leather goods, silversmith items, saddles, knives, and of course mate cups.

The town is also celebrating Carnival, which seems to be a good excuse to drink, play loud music and spray each other with aerosol foam. The tradition is in celebration of agriculture as much as anything else and there are some very elaborate costumes depicting different folk lore characters. We are entertained by this until the wee hours of the night, finally dampened only by ear plugs allowing for us to have a restful night sleep.

San Pedro round Two.

Feb 17-18 Arica to Iquique

We manage to get a relatively early start on the day, which allowed us to stop for breakfast at a large market area on the edge of town. The back  of the restaurant opened up to a huge vegetable market so we figured that the food should be fresh at least. The verbal menu system gets the best of us once again as the waiter rattled off the breakfast options and “completo” sounded like what we wanted. What we got was a large hotdog bun, small wiener, and lots of condiments piled on. Mmmmm tasty, we do not eat hot-dogs in Canada never mind down here but are not sure how to walk away without insulting the guy. They fill the gap until we can find something else down the road.

Some interesting sculptures south of Arica.

This backtracking has its’ advantages as we do not have to search for a hotel, we just go to the same place we stayed before and hope they have a room. The Andina Hostal does not let us down and we get a nice room with a shared bathroom at half the cost of what a private bath would cost. The shared bath is not our first option but at this point it was our only option in lieu of going out and finding a different hotel. It was hot, so we decided it would be okay to try. The ride from Arica to Iquique was enjoyable even though some parts were clouded in ocean mist. This salt water cloud is killer on the bikes as anything and everything corrodes if the bike is not washed at the end of the day. I figure that one night would not be to critical as we plan on doing oil changes the next day and a good wash afterwards.

Armando, our Colombian friend shows up at the hostal and we enjoy the evening visiting and getting to know each other a bit. He is an electrical engineer who is on his way to Bahia Blanca in Argentina to see his family. His ex-wife and three boys moved there when she remarried to an Argentine gentleman. We made plans to meet the next day for lunch after we changed the oil in the bikes and Armando finished some gift shopping for his boys. We were successful in getting the oil changed and bikes washed, we were also a bit surprised at the cost of synthetic oil in Chile. $30CAD/liter seemed a bit crazy but the alternative is engine damage and that would cost alot more in the long run. I did the oil changes myself and used Sr. Jorges pressure washer to clean the bikes afterwards.

There is always a bit of oil spilled onto the skid plate and it was nice to wash it all off. He was busy putting together a bid for the supply and install of tires to the Chilean army so we did not get as many stories as the first visit. This was okay as we had to meet Armando for lunch anyway, but something got lost in translation and the lunch plan never materialized, we found out he was shopping most of the day and lost track of time.

"Thats right I'm cool, better than Dog of the Day."

Feb 19-20 Iquique to San Pedro

The miles seem to be clicking past rather quickly as we make plans to return to San Pedro de Atacama today. Armando will be riding with us as the plan is to meet him at the campground at 9am and proceed from there.  The joys of trying to accommodate another rider is that things do not always work out as planned. He is not ready to go when we arrive at 9:15 and requests that we go without him and he will catch up. We travel slow so this sounds like a viable plan, we don’t see him for the rest of the day and actually just bump into him on the street in San Pedro, somehow he managed to get ahead of us??

San Pedro is as busy as before, tourist season in full swing and the streets are bustling with people trying to get their tours booked. There are as expected a large number of travel bikes in town, mostly with Brazil plates this time. We manage to get a room for our first night in Hostal Mamma Tierra, which is probably the best value for dollar place in town. The rooms are cozy but very clean, the shared bathrooms and showers are also very clean and equipped with shampoo and shower gel, but by far the best little item is the buffet breakfast the next morning. We have read online that is very good but we will have to wait and see.

The balance of the day is spent looking around town and figuring out where we want to explore the following day. We also have to find alternate accommodations as Mamma Tierra is fully booked for our second night in town. As I said we bump into Armando on the street after supper, he is happy to see us and we get the impression that he is not used to travelling alone, sometimes there is too much solitude for comfort.

In any event the second day in town is spent riding out to Lunar Valley for some photos and in the process we find a cool little canyon road that winds its way along the Cordillera de Sal. It is a well travelled road so that ads a level of comfort and concern, there are many blind corner on the little one lane path and the vehicle traffic can pose problems. No worries we make it out without incident and Brenda gets to collect some sand from the Atacama desert for her rock collection. Aside from textiles rocks are about the only thing we can pack comfortably without worry of breakage.

We meet Armando for supper and after some walking around we pick a unique little bar/restaurant with a good menu. There is also a live band after 9pm which should be interesting. There are many tables reserved so we figure that either the food is good or the band is popular. Turns out that both statements are correct and after a tasty meal we are treated to some Andina Rock music. The crowd gets into it right of the bat, singing and clapping in rhythm to the music. One of the waiters is especially energetic and puts on a show of his dancing skills in between hustling food and drinks. We can’t help but compare the culture to back home, we experience similar things in Canada  but the ambiance is very different. The bar/rest has exposed adobe brick walls, thatched roof panels, broken up concrete floors connected by gravel sections. The best part of the decor is that no two tables look the same and the seating is a collection of benches, broken chairs and plastic stools.

A few yawns indicate that it is time to call it an evening, plus we have a long day tomorrow which includes a border crossing and a very high mountain pass.

Been there done that.

Feb14-15 Camana to Moquegua

Being Friday night at the beach it was time for the kids to party, thus our sleep was less than perfect as the loud thumping music did not stop until 4am.  We start out together, sort of. Armando is ready to go at 7am, mainly because he slept well despite the noise and heads out on his own. We need a few extra minutes and then go for a watermelon breakfast. One more stop for fuel and we are off, this is when we see Armando across the street finishing his breakfast. Now we get to ride together part of the way as he is going into Arequipa and we are going to Moquegua for a couple of days. We have some chores to take care of and there is no sense in going into the big city when the small one will do just fine.

Two semi trucks rolled over, onions everywhere.

More awesome scenery.

Moquegua is bustling with activity as it is Saturday and that means market day. We are only here for two night so there is no need to buy a bunch of fruit, just some snacks for the hotel room as we finalize our route and update the blog. We also have to buy a stove for one of our rentals, the work never stops.

Feb 16 Moguequa to Arica

From our hotel window we could see a lookout point with a suspension bridge to a Cristo. We attempted to find it but were unsuccessful as we could not locate the access road, this would have provided a great overview of the Moquegua valley with the lush green farmland in the bottom of the otherwise barren landscape. We are content to just circle around the town in the attempt and ultimately get back onto the highway as we have some miles to make today which includes a stop in Tacna and a border crossing.

As things go, just outside of town we see a fellow travel bike and the enthusiastic wave gives us cause to pull over and see if they need help or are just being friendly. The couple is from Colombia and they were just being friendly, this turned into a bit of a visit on the roadside and once they were finished their tea we headed off in separate directions. 

The route once again looks different in the opposite direction and as we approach Tacna we realize that we are on the hill that we could see from our hotel during our first visit to town. It was nice to get our bearings so quickly and soon enough we found the Scotiabank which was the only reason for coming into town. In Tacna we can withdrawl US dollars that will be needed in Argentina later on. The only problem is that we could only withdrawl $100 at a time so it became apparent that this would not work for us. The service charges would eat up any saving on the exchange rate.

No harm no foul, we made our way out of town and figured that we could stop at one of the little bike shops along the highway for a can of chain lube. Brenda’s little wipeout punctured the can we had. Memory being what it is, there are no bike shops along the highway out of town, instead we opt for a quick lunch at a little local joint that we find by accident. For $5soles we get a huge bowl of chicken noodle soup, rice with a piece chicken, drinks, and a bowl of orange jello for desert. Great value and tasty too.

The only sign for the restaurant was the Menu sign attached to the power pole.

The border crossing is a bit worrisome as  we have all kinds of food that is not allowed across the border into Chile. We do not want to lose the olive, olive oil, honey, or apples we are packing so we do our best to hide what we can in our luggage and hope they do not search us. Well they did not search us but they did make us take all the luggage off the bikes and run it through the xray machine, I tried to talk them out of it as it is a bit of work to remove everything. They did not seem to care how long it took me to do this, they just wanted it put through the scanner. Crap, we thought we were going to get busted for sure this time. We put our luggage on the belt and waited for the officer to lose his mind, instead he just said Gracias and indicated that we could put the luggage back on. How is that possible, the last time they caught us with one little plum they lost their minds but this time nothing.

We try our luck at the same hotel in Arica but they are full. This leads to a couple of hours of driving around to eight different places before we finally find an acceptable room, most places were full as there was a festival in town. We also realized that we lost two hours due to a time zone change at the border which made for a short evening. 8pm turned into 10pm rather quickly, despite this we were still able to fall asleep by 10:30. Funny, we have been in Arica twice and have still not seen any of the town.

It appears that our hotel was designed by Burger Baron.

Same but different.

Feb 12 Lima to Nazca

Backtracking is never a popular option with us but the option is to ride into the mountains then south. The rainy season is in full swing and numerous reports of washed out roads and flooding make the decision to stay on the dry coast a bit easier. The coast is what it is, dry and hot, but a little less interesting than the mountains. This also means that we will not likely end up in Bolivia at all this trip, a bit of a let down but it would not be enjoyable in the cold and rain anyway.

One of the elaborate billboards.

The route back to Nazca looks different in the opposite direction, the lighting showcases different aspects of the desert and rocks. There is little reason to stop aside from gas and the occasional picture, the towns have not changed in two weeks.

As we approach Ica a mini-bus passes me waving and pointing backwards, almost simultaneously I get a call on the intercom that Brenda has a flat tire. I quickly turn around and soon see that a car has stopped and two men are lifting Brenda’s bike onto its’ tires. The front tire blow-out put the bike into a speed wobble and Brenda’s skills managed to slow the bike enough to turn what could have been a serious crash into a minor wipeout. Her twisted ankle took another bump but the combination of big riding boots and soft luggage saved her from serious injury. Now it was once again time to pull out the tools and fix the tire, adding air didn’t seem to work and once the tube was removed it became obvious why. The valve stem was torn from the tube. No problem, dig around in the luggage and pull out the spare tube, pump it up and away we go. I find another spare tube in Ica then we are off again to Nazca.

Tire changing 101.

After that the rest of the ride was very calm and uneventful, we check into the same hotel and have supper at the same restaurant. Creatures of habit I suppose. There is a bike from Colombia at the hotel but we never catch up to the rider, the hotel owner said he was Japanese so we figure he must have rented the bike.

Typical family outing.

Feb 13 Nazca to Camana

During our route planning we decided that we should take a shot at the high country. The route to Abancay rises dramatically from Nazca and by the time we ride out of the valley and up the hill the dark clouds, cold weather and impending rain chase us back down the mountain. Riding in 5C rain and poor visibilitiy does not sound like something we want or need to do this trip. Instead we top up with fuel and stop at a watermelon stand for a snack, while stopped the Japanese/Colombian goes by. The bike is rather distinct being a Yamaha 660 Tenere.

Armando in the wind.

 

Sand drifts on the highway.

 A ways down the road we catch up to him and share the ride into Camana. As the day slips away we find ourselves riding in the dark for the last 30 minutes or so, which is not something we like to do but we just ran out of daylight. We check into the same little hostel as before, mainly because it is hard to find anything else in the dark and the parking is secure.

Once cleaned up we take a stroll down the beach with our new friend Armando, who is actually a Colombian on a Colombian bike, not a Japanese fella at all. Not sure what the hotel owner was talking about. In any event the rest of the evening was spent enjoying fresh seafood and conversation along the beach. 

Dog of the Day for sure.

Lima once again.

Feb 4-11 Paracas to Lima

We look forward to visiting friends in Lima and that helps us deal with the ridiculous drivers and volume of traffic as we get closer and closer to Lima. There are of course distractions along the way like trying to look back at the elaborate billboards. Roadside advertising is alive and well even though they are biased to traffic leaving the city and thus we have to look back to see some of the best ones. These are not digital billboards like we now have around Calgary, the most elaborate ones are 3D and multiple pieces to ad depth and dimension. But no time or place to be distracted by artwork. Traffic is moving quickly and a bit aggressively so we must keep our attention focused on that.

We know that we are staying at the same hostel in Miraflores as last time so it is easiest to just let the GPS do the navigating and just follow the directions given, even if it seems like a strange route. Regardless of where the GPS was taking us we did end up in the correct spot and very relieved to be off the bikes and out of chaotic traffic.

Miraflores, as expected, is an anthill of tourists and locals enjoying the dry heat of Lima. The beach is only a few blocks away so there is the occasional surf board being carried or strapped to the side of a bicycle. The sandwich shop on the ground floor of the hostel is as busy as ever and we figure it is the busiest sandwich shop in town as the line never subsides. The hostel looks across the street to JFK park which is also known as “cat park” because it has become a safe haven for stray cats. There is even a group that organizes adoption of the strays but unfortunately will not spay or neuter the cats so the population keeps growing.

Our hostel has a basic kitchen which is good as it provides a break from restaurant food and allows us to make coffee in the morning and keep the watermelon cool in the fridge.  Unfortunately there is 4 inch step up into the kitchen and Brenda being distracted by something tripped and twisted her ankle. The next few days are spent with and icepack and tensor bandage on her ankle trying to manage the swelling. This puts a slight damper on the sightseeing but allows us to catch up on other chores and even some route planning.

While Brenda is resting her foot my next order of business is to wash the bikes as the salt-spray along the coast is very corrosive and the chains already have some light rust showing. The hostel has a nice garden and we take advantage of the space and do our part to keep the grass green by washing the bikes on it. This became a very hot task as it is already in the high 20’s and no clouds. I soon regret not wearing a shirt or sunscreen as my pasty white skin is now bright red, but the bikes are clean.

Our friends from Edmonton, Perry and Ines, invite us out for lunch at a very popular restaurant in Miraflores. There are many restaurants in the area and Lima is known for its’ diverse and creative foods, many people plan their vacations by booking reservations at restaurants all over the city before they even arrive in Lima. At this lunch we also meet another Canadian family, Matteo, Suni and their daughter Sophia. We enjoy a nice afternoon of  fantastic food and company.

The next day we are invited to an afternoon pool party at Ines’s parents house. There is a nice gathering of family and friends and the afternoon is spent eating and playing in the pool. Koki, Ines’s brother, has a slack line (tightrope) set up so that adds entertainment value as the boys all take turns trying to make it from one end to the other. Good thing it is only 18 inches off the ground or we would have had some serious injuries, as you can imagine learning to walk on a tightrope takes a bit of time and few tumbles. Ines’s sister Himena and her husband Kos are here from Amsterdam, it is nice to see them again and to catch up on their travel stories. They also own some real estate and it is interesting to hear of the different rules they have to deal with as investors. Sophia, being only 18 months old, steals the show when she takes to the pool with Ines. She is quite the little fish and her big smile lights up the yard. Time slips away and before we realize it the sun has set and it is now dark. We usually do not ride after dark as things get even more hazardous in the dark, plus my signal lights don’t work. Thankfully there is not much traffic and we make it to the hotel without incident.

There is a young Australian man, Ryan, at the hostel who we have seen over the last couple of days but did not really talk to him. Once we had the opportunity we find out the he is waiting for his motorcycle to be repaired. It was running roughly and upon investigation it was found that the rings were shot and the carb was heavily fouled. I walked with him to the bike shop in hopes that they had an oil filter for our bikes. They can’t help me with the filters but Ryan’s bike is ready to roll, he is very happy that he can get moving again as the pit stop in Lima has been a few days longer than planned. He rides off and I walk back to the hotel. That evening we are surprised to see that Ryan’s bike is still at the hostal, he said he was leaving but the bike would not start. I offered to look at it with him to try and figure out the problem, after some probing with the multi-meter it was decided that the battery was weak. During this process we also got to visit with Frank, an American about our age, who is enjoying early retirement due to some wise real estate investments. This naturally leads to a long real estate conversation that elaves Ryan a bit confused. We laugh it is like listening to a different language.

Dog of the Day

Sunday night in Barranco is an opportunity for local talent share the stage via an “open mic” format at one of the area’s oldest live music clubs called La Noche. We are invited to attend and make an evening of it by starting with more great food at a vegetarian pizza joint, very tasty and somewhat healthy. Then it is on to the club to enjoy some lively Latin music. The band is made up of professional and amateur artists accompanied by a pretty lady who does the occasional dance. To our surprise part way through the evening Ines is asked by the lead singer to join them on stage to add some Flamenco dance to the music. Ines has been a dancer since she was a teenager and being very passionate about her dancing has kept her busy putting on shows in Canada as well. We later found out that the lady on stage is Ines’s dance instructor. This was a very unique experience for us as this was the first time we have had the pleasure of seeing Ines dance.

Abandoned building in Baranco.

My dream car according to a Facebook survey.

Some other notable mentions around town.

Carlo Vellutino's 2015 Dakar Bike at he local KTM dealer.

 Well with all this visiting and chatting we find out that dental work is very affordable in Lima and Ines’s dentist is very good. Brenda had chipped a tooth when an exercise band broke and hit her in the mouth. We extended our stay a couple more days and made an appointment for a checkup and tooth repair.  This extension of our visit also allowed us one more visit with our friends and some delicious Sushi with great friends and one ex-president of Peru. He and is entourage were also enjoying some Sushi. We missed the opportunity to get a photo with him but we were told that he was not very popular with the people due to some issues that were dealt with while he was in power. We all joke that it is unlikely we would ever see a former Prime Minister at a Sushi bar in Canada.

A little piece of the entertainment.

This seems so familiar.

Feb 3 Nazca to Paracas

Because we did not take in any sights while in Nazca we figured we should at least catch a couple on the way out of town. The only real way to see the lines is by airplane and we did that last year, this time we will take in a couple of things we missed. The first is an ancient aquaduct that is still in use today. It was built as a means to supply water in this very dry climate as well as a cool refuge from the relentless summer heat.

Getting directions from the locals.

Aquaduct structure.

The second is  called the Pyramids, not like the Egyptian pyramids though, more like stone walls on a hill. The outline of a city can be seen as there is a central square and some outlying dwellings.

The GPS shows a dirt road that would cut across the desert back to the PanAmerica highway and save us from backtracking into Nazca, unfortunately the heavy rains in the mountains has washed away that plan.

Can't go that way.

Once back on the mighty PanAm we try to maintain a sense of humor as we pass through  a few cities enroute to Paracas. These are really more of a test of patience than anything else. The trucks are slowed by the speed bumps as much as they are by everyone cutting them off. The locals don’t seem to realize how much stopping distanced a loaded semi needs as they cut in front of them and drive in the blindspot. The truckers are patient and must be used to it as they seldom honk or blow their airhorns.

Hitching a ride.

 The hostel in Paracas is the same, and the parking garage has had some slight improvements. We have however noticed a significant increase in food prices. What cost us $7soles yesterday now will cost us $28soles, same soup recipe and similar main dish. 

The bay at Paracas. All the tour boats waiting to go.