Cuzco to Colca Canyon Survey (Back North to Cuzco)

Yes, we are back safe in Cuzco... and I have learned ALOT! Mostly where (and where NOT) to go on ATB 2010!

We left off in Yauri (it´s also called Espinar, but I like the Quechua better.... Yauri is quite cold this time of year... and with no heat in any of the buildings, yu just can´t get warm except with a hpt shower, or standing in the sun at noon! We ended up staying at the Hotel Plaza Espinar, a 3-star hotel by someone´s warped imagination. We asked for a "matrimonial" (it being our silver aniv.), so they put us on the 5th floor! It is already 12,300 ft above sea level... we didn´t need the extra 50 feet! But the shower WAS hot...

Yauri is not a pretty town/city, but does have some redeeming aspects. The indoor market is smell-free and AMAZINGLY clean! We had breakfast there before our return trip... Sara - Lamb soup... I - fried trout.... both excellent! I surprised Sara´s deriere by purchasing a full sheep´s skin to add to the moto seat. It also made us look a little more like the "rugid traveler"!

On this return trip we planned to go directly from El Descanso to Yanaoca. We had (what we thot to be) a good map made by Toyota, circa 2007. NEVER trust a map. What SHOULD have been 45 min turned out to be over 4 hours! This road follows along the top of a ridge and the views were haunting. We saw 2 other vehicles ALL afternoon. We began to become worried...

At sunset, we wound down into a town which we thot was Yanaoca, but really was Quehue. Thank God they had gasoline as we were "running on empty". The people told us that Yanaoca was only 20 min further, 45 at the most. 2 hours later, and very beat up we rolled into Yanaoca. NOT a nice place, but we finally found a little room and decided just to sleep dirty and head out the next day early. We will NOT be going this way on ATB 2010!

We did get off by 8 the next morning, and, HALELLUJAH (sp?), it was all pavement from there! Alex, the moto rental guy did not believe that Sara had made it the whole way! He had sworn that she would be returning by bus, not in the saddle! Oh! how nice to get back to showers and a clean bed at Norton Rats!

It being Sara's B-Day, I treated her to a makeover, then dinner. We tried an Irish Pub called "O'Gradeys"... the food was OK, but not the atmosphere we were hoping for.. In the morning (before our noon flight) we had arranged for side by side, full body massages, to complete our Silver Aniv. A MUST for those who finish up in Cuzco! I think I will try to find something similar for the groups in each ending city (Huanuco, Tarapoto, Cuzco).

So... MUCH learned. I have chosen the best and most beautiful of the routes we discovered for the first 2 days of our ride, written down distances, hostels to spend the night, places to stop and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.... IN all,... VERY worthwhile. I am VERY happy with the quality and attention of the moto rental company, and I think I made a friend too. The motos are quite new and well maintained. At the moment he does not have any XR400's, but hopes to buy 4 new ones as soon as they arrive in January...

I purchased some new maps... (YES, AFTER the trip!) and will scan them when I get a chance, so you that are "following" will get a second reminder. It makes it much easier when you can SEE the towns and routes being talked about!

Cuzco to Colca Canyon Survey (Heading South)

Don´t mean to disappoint you...but things have not all worked as expected.... I´ll start at the beginning...

Please don´t shoot me as there are no pix as of yet, but you will get another reminder when I load the pictures... you see, I left the camera USB cable back in Cuzco....

We arrived in Cuzco VERY early on Aug 5th. First things first: DON´T take the 5:00 AM flight.. it throws your whole body out of whack for the altitude... We went right to Norton Rat´s new hotelsito and crashed.... It is VERY nice... perhaps a little TOO at $40 a night for a double... I´ll see what I can do for next summer.. group rate and such....

´Bout noon I went out to meet Alejandro at MotoToursPeru. I was amazed at the number and quality of the motos he has... about 20 in total.. so we should have no problem, each choosing which fits her/him best. Alex was good to work with, and I asked him for a Honda XR650L for the little survey trip Sara and I were to begin the next day...

Things took longer than expected to pack, suit up and load up, so we were not gone from Cuzco ´til 10:20 am. We headed down the pavement towards Cuzco for about 20 min to San Jeronimo, then turned south on a little rocky road towards Paruro (no, it´s not on the map).. WOW! In only 15 km we were some 2,000 ft higher than Cuzco, with such incredible views! Craig, if we thot Huancayo to Ayacucho was incredible... this triples it!

Although we had pared our luggage back to only one change of clothes, tools and tubes, we were quite loaded, even for the 650.. Think "Support Vehicle" for ATB 2010 ! Sara was half on the seat and half on the rear tool pack (filled with soft clothing) and we needed to stop every 40 min or

so to rest and walk. Needless to say we did not make the Kms we had hoped the first day, but we did find some cool roads, in great condition, over looking multiple valleys thousands of feet below, and almost all void of traffic!

We found ourselves (without intending to..) riding the route that the "Caminos del Inca" 10-day Rally race covers.. roads are good, but one lane and NO GUARD RAILS ! The first night found us in Acomayo. This little Andean town is very basic, yet spotless, and the people are so honest. We found a little Hostal MonteCarlo that was perfect for $10 for the night. The Hot water was out, but they sent buckets of heated water to our room. The plan of the first day´s ride of ATB 2010 is to get to Yauri, but if things don´t work out, this is a great little fall-back overnight place!

Early the next day I made a few adjustments of seat and pegs for Sara´s comfort, and raised the shift level for me. We found pavement leaving

Acomayo for a sweet little ride past la Laguna Azul and out to the highway again and down to Sicuani. A little lunch there, then we headed south and east towards Langui and the lake there. After 10 km of pavement, it was dirt again, but it was less than an hour to the lake. We spent 2 hours laying on the turf bank beside the lake. We renewed our vows (this is our 25th aniv.) by singing them to each other, then split a Sublime to seal the deal...

After that we wandered into town, looked around for a hostel... but there were none.. they said that the Catholic church there sometines put up visitors, but the preist was away. They did serve us coffee and tea and wish us well tho..

So, we "hit the road" (literally, as Sara puts it). It is not heaven for me either sitting as far forward as possible and not being able to stretch, or slide back and forth on the seat (this is why we don´t ride 2-up!), so I would cranp up and have to stop and get off and walk off the cramp.. When you are riding alone, you can easily stand, stretch, slide, and do circus acts on the seat to keep limber without having to stop (and it makes it more fun too!).

45 more min on dirt, up and over the ridge to El Descanso. From there to Yauri, it was all pavement.... But as it was past 4 pm, the sun was weak and the winds had kicked up... On the upper Puna, when the sun is not overhead... there is little warmth. Thankfully, we made Yauri by 5:15 pm, still by daylight...

Yauri is not much to look at, but there are warm beds and NICE HOT WATER! I do believe, that with an early start, rests along the way, and no un-expected hold-ups, we can, on ATB 2010, make Yauri the first day. But it is good to know that there are places we can "fall back to" should things not go as hoped (like with us...)...

Maps to come......