Detailed Description of ATB 2010, part 'C'

You have been keeping track of your friends on the first two parts of the "Around the Block 2010" moto trip.  You dream about your part of the trip ..... sort of like  this video! (This is a different moto rental company, but they go to many of the same places!)

It's Saturday and you are flying off to a distant land.  When you arrive in Miami you meet your other moto team members, and those that are coming down to Peru for the "Boqueron or Bust".  Your flight to Lima doesn't leave 'til 5pm, so you have a chance to catch up with these long-time friends of your childhood...

Your flight arrives in Lima after midnight, and by the time you get thru immigrations, get your luggage and go thru customs, it is quite late..

Humberto meets you as you come out of customs.  You are fumbling to remember your Spanish, but he makes you feel very much at home as he guides you to the van waiting to take you to your hotel.

Hotel Antigua de Miraflores....  You sleep well. Only after you wake up do you notice this incredible colonial 'casona' converted into a wonderful hotel.. And the best part: your childhood friend, David Wroughton owns it!

Altho it is late in the  am, there is still time to catch the breakfast down in the hotel restaurant.  You have a few hours to explore around Miraflores, then it's off to the airport for your flight to Tarapoto, and the "Boqueron or Bust" folks to Pucallpa.

Right now team 'B' is cruising down the highway from Moyobamba to Tarapoto, in time to receive you as you fly in.  By 11:00 pm tonight you will be resting in your room at the quaint 'tipico' Hostal Patarashca.

Tarapoto is a great place for a reunion!  Don't forget that friends from Pucallpa are here too!  We all go out for some cecina y tacacho on the street.  Life is short, and rarely do you get to spend it with such friends as these!

Soon you are saying goodbye to team 'B' as they board their late night flight "home".

Tuesday morning you will be mounting up on your moto (or in the support vehicle) for a long, but beautiful day (map).  Our exact destination today I will not reveal on this site, but we have a special invitation for our overnight along this route.

Wednesday.  Today we will find our way out onto the Pucallpa-Lima road and turn left towards the Boqueron (map).  The Boqueron is  a little different now, yet in so many ways it is still un-tamed!  But our friends are on their way in a stake-bed truck (remind you of anything?) from Yarina and will be meeting us soon in Aguaytia where we will spend the night, so we head on.  Aguaytia has really grown since those days, and has some nice hotels....

Thursday is "Boqueron Reunion Day"!  We will all together head out there for the whole day.  If there is cell reception, we will try a HUGE conference call with as many as wish in the states.  By nightfall, we will be back in Aguaytia posting pictures and blogs of the day in order to include all our friends around the world..

The road continues to call.  We head Friday towards Pucallpa, but at km 86 (Humbolt) we turn right (south) along the Carretera Marginal that follows the Pachitea river (map).  Pto. Bermudez, where we will stay the night, is a quaint town beside the river in the mountain jungle along out way.  Up to here it has been only hilly jungle, but tomorrow we begin to climb!

Saturday sees us climbing to Villa Rica, then over the lush mountain, and dropping down into Oxapampa (map).  As you approach, it seems you are in a dream land.  Normal jungle growth changes to pine and fir.  On the hillside are cattle and sheep, the landscape almost manicured...  Then you see the houses.. wooden alpine style cottages with colorful window boxes..  Are we still in Peru.. or somewhere in the Twilight Zone that seems more like Austria??

Actually, this town was founded by German immigrants 250 years ago, and they have retained their customs, dress, and especially THEIR FOOD.  We will be staying in cabins and eating the best meats off the grill that you have ever tasted!  This will make all that pre-trip training worth it!  On top of it all, we are already into the 28 de julio festivities!  Be ready to dance!

Yes, we will linger for a day here.  Those that are doing "Boqueron or Bust" and have accompanied us this far, will leave for Lima by bus...

Monday we continue on to Satipo by less travelled ways (map).  Satipo is a mountain jungle town that is in the middle of the Campa indian area.  This is where the best coffee in the world comes from!  Cafe del Mono.  Make sure you purchase plenty to take home!

We will only spend the night here in Satipo as Huancayo and the 28 de julio celebrations are calling....

Tuesday we climb out of the jungle and up into the Andes to Huancayo (map).  I have never been on this route, but on Google Earth it looks exciting!  Most of the day will be all gravel until we reach Concepcion only 18 km from Huancayo.  Tonight we will stay in "La Casa del Abuelita", a very colorful hostal with an attached "pena", a restaurant with music or dancing or story-telleng...

Now, on Thursday, we are truly in the Andes!  We won't be in any snow or cold, but we will ascend to near 15,000 ft.  On our "Around the Block 2007" ride we found this section to be the most beautiful of all our trip (map).  Climbing and dropping, incredible vistas, and almost no one else on the road.  We will see the immense hydroelectric dam spaning the Mantaro river and follow the river all the way to Ayacucho.  Only the beginning and end will be pavement.

Friday is a "rest" day in Ayacucho, but there is so much to do.  The famous ruins of the Wari culture that pre-ceeded the Incas...  the Quinua battlefield where South America won it's independence...  the old Wycliffe center in Quicapata above the city.... the colonial vineyards down by the river....  Also, Ayacucho is known for it's cheeses and bread!  There is a stone oven built by the Conquistadores in 1540 that is still in operation today!

Saturday we take the high route out of Ayacucho through Tambillo.  It is much more beautiful and almost no traffic (map).  50 km into our day we will cross the Camisea gas line from the jungle to the coast.  Although we would love to stop often to admire the views, it would be nice to get into Andahuaylas early enough to ride over the hill to see the ruined city of Sondor above Laguna Pacucha.  This Chanca civilization nearly overthrew the Incas in the 1600's.

Sunday is our day of triumph!  Not only will we arrive in Cuzco today, but we will also cross the highest pass on this part 'C', but this one is on pavement (map).  Once over that, we follow the high valley as it turns greener and greener as we drop into Cuzco.  35 days ago team 'A' left here on the relay trip of a lifetime.  For so many of us we have become aquainted with sides of Peru we had not known previously.  The Andes give a whole new perspective on the jungle... and vice versa!

Yes, we will crown this accomplishment with photos (and a prayer of thanksgiving) of all and the motos up on the plaza center, then off to celbrate at Norton Rats!

Monday morning will be many goodbyes.  Some will be staying to see Cuzco and Machu Picchu, while the rest will be finding their way back to Lima and "home".  Yes, there will be most of a day yet in Lima to buy Chicha and Sublimes....  and one last ceviche along the Pacific Coast..