Downtime in Nazca

Jan 30-Feb 2 La Punta to Nazca

25C on the coast with no fan or A/C made for a rather sticky night and for the first time ever we slept with our door open to allow some air circulation. I used a high tech security system to ensure that any intruder would be announced when the door was opened fully, well okay not so high tech, the idea was that if the door opened any more my boot would get knocked over and alert me to an intruder.

Our hosts were very curious during breakfast and the children were asking about our travels, their daughter has been learning English in school so she was anxious to practice. Their son was a bit younger and would say names and then we would point to them on our map. Then of course it was photos and good-byes before riding off into the heat, 10am and already over 30C.

The PanAmerica highway is once again the only real option that is dry, it follows the coast and occasionally cuts inland to cross a river or deep gorge. All the mountain routes are submerged in the rainy season so it is not a pleasant option to ride in the cold and wet mountains. We had forgotten about the drifting sand and rugged coastline in this region.

One of the few green spots along the coast.

Olive and honey vendor along the way.

Today would be the first day we re-visit a town from last winter’s trip. Nazca is a popular tourist town because of the Nazca Lines as well a popular layover for people travelling from Lima to Cusco. There are 2 major highways that converge in Nazca so you can imagine the traffic gets fairly busy at times. This is all well and good though, we are not interested in driving around town anyway. Our main objective is to find a place that we will call home for a few days. This is where we spent New Years Eve last year with our Swedish buddy Anders, it was funny when he didn't know it was new years eve but at least he got to celebrate it twice. Once the night before and again the day we were with him. We have stayed in touch with him and he is currently riding around in Argentina somewhere.

Our little home away from home was just half a block off the main plaza so for the next few days the bulk of our time was spent updating the blog, people watching, and taking short walks around town. We were surprised to find a massive market on Sunday, usually Saturday is market day in South America. We were also surprised at the size of the market, it encompassed a couple of city blocks where the streets are blocked off to traffic, as well as a large covered field that housed the produce section.  Where does it all go and who is eating all this stuff, every town has the same type of market and I suppose that the pigs eat well before we eat them.

There are a couple of maintenance items that need attending to, both bikes need another oil change and I might be able to find an aluminum welder here to fix Brenda’s skid-plate. Somewhere along the way one of the rear attachment points has cracked. No problem, I remember a large bike shop that should be able to help out with both. They are helpful and optimistic at the bike shop, they insist that they can do the oil changes including new filters. I laugh to myself and ask to see the filters before they dump the oil out, or should I say before I show them how to dump the oil out. This filter request seems to have put a speed bump in their plan, I give them the filter number but that means nothing, they need to see it. Their shop is full so I find some floor space and tip the bike over on its’ side, this allows me to remove the filter cover and filter without losing any oil. The guys laugh when I do this but soon realize the method to my madness and after a few finger points and nodding heads I get the look of approval.

The shop apprentice is sent out with the filter to find a replacement. I do not have much faith that they will have one in town as it is a unique size, I usually carry spares but I used them on the last oil change and did not expect to do another one on this trip. We are racking up more miles than expected this time. Sure enough the young fella returns without the filters, I promptly reinstall the old one and upright the bike as it has been laying on the floor the entire time. They did mention that there is an aluminum welder in town, over the bridge towards Cusco someplace. Maybe tomorrow we will tackle that.

Dogs of the Day. It takes a few this small to make one big dog.

Who says it never rains here? We wake to a cloudy sky and shortly after noon the rain starts to fall. Some of the hotel staff run outside cheering the rain which indicates to me that it is an unusual thing and a blessing for them. For us it is just a good excuse to be lazy, doing some writing and relaxing. Of course we have to visit the local restaurant for their “menu of the day” which consists of a large bowl of chicken soup followed by an entré of choice. Chicken, red meat, or pork options accompanied by rice and/or fries, tomato and cucumber as well as a glass of fruit juice. All for about $3/person (7 Peruvian Soles), and for desert Brenda gets a bag of fresh made popcorn from the vendor in the park($0.40) and I get a soft serve ice-cream ($0.75). We like the package so much we eat there for the next four nights, why mess with a good thing, and the menu changes to keep it interesting.

Well today is the day to find this welder guy, the directions were vague but after a few direction stops I found the old guy. His shop is very basic but has what is required. He is really more of a blacksmith than a welder. The shop is equipped with an anvil, a bench grinder, a small MIG welder, acetylene torch and a fairly big pile of scrap material to pick from. There are of course a couple of stools for the customers and some friendly conversation as I wait my turn. When I arrived there was a mechanic getting a water pump rebuilt so I would have a bit of a wait but would allow me time to remove the skid-plate. Son-of-a-B, the two small bolts at the back of the skid-plate are seized in and the alan wrench turned in the socket so now  they need to be drilled or something. The mechanic was watching me and was soon helping me, he seen what was happening and said to follow him back to his shop where he would remove the bolts. Sounds good, and upon arriving to his shop/house he used the “or something” plan and just hit the head of the bolt with a chisel to break them loose, then pliers to remove them. Easy peasy, back to the welder I  go, after being given two new bolts.

The master at work.

My welder buddy was full of questions about what type of work I do in Canada, I was a bit reluctant to tell him I am a welding inspector but he asked and I answered. He gave me a timid look almost as an apology for what was about to happen. I was not worried, I seen the final product on the water pump and even though his shop was rustic, the man had some skills. First he needed some raw material to melt down into filler metal, then he used his acetylene to basically solder the plate together. First one side then the other. During this process it appeared that he needed an extra set of hands so I did my level best and dug out my vice-grips to clamp the parts and prevent them from moving. Gramps seemed impressed by this and once the welding was complete he carefully removed the pliers and placed them gently on the bench. After a cooling off period I re-installed the skid-plate and thanked him once again, he asked about the pliers and where they were made, even what they were called. I have no idea what they are called in Spanish so I just said “vice-grips”. He nodded and said that they only have Chinese tools here, no good quality. The bill came to $10 Per Soles (<$5), so I thanked him again for his good work and gave him the vice-grips. He lit up like he had won the lottery and I guess in his world he had, he thanked me over and over then gave me blessing for safe travels and another hand-shake. As I drove away I felt pretty damn good, how often can a simple act of generosity make such a difference to a person yet so often we overlook the opportunity to do so.

Dog of the Day.