The southern peruvian coast road

This is the coast section from Arequipa to Lima. The road from Arequipa dropped down to the seaside town of Camana the had one of the nicest rides kind of like the ride from Anto to Tocopilla in Chile except peruvian styles with narrow roads and cliffs for at lest 250Km. Like Sea to Sky in desert/Peru mode. Then there was a beach road for at least 50 Km, could not resist and went for a dip. Made to Puerto Inka where there is hotel in a small beach besides the ruins of the warehouses for shipping marine products to Cusco. This was also th start of the inca road to Cusco. They had a mail service with relays every 7k os so. A message took 24h.

The hotel was nice and I had a room with a view and I could hear the waves at night.

I also had my first encounter with the police. A policeman flagged me down and I said here we go with the bribes, but he just wanted to know how my trip was going and wished me luck, must have been bored.

The next day I rode to Huacachina passing through the nasca lines, then onto Huacachina, a small Oasis in the sanddunes. I visited the place 10 years ago and it was a sandbording place, now it´s a dune buggy place. Price of progress I guess. It was very hot at night and lots of mozzies (beware Derrick). Today the ride was easy except getting out of Ica because there is a new 2 lane highway and motorcycles do not pay tolls (hurray). Ive also learned that in Peru the headlight and horns are means of communications. The driving is not to bad, just don´t go sideways without looking.

Peru, Sicunani - Colca Canyon and Condors

We started the day with an amazing breakfast which consisted of an tomatoe, onion omelete, yogurt, banana, pear, coffee, real oranage juice, and bread.  The best breakfast we have had too date.  We rode out of town and hit newly paved ashvault which felt amazing since we have been riding rough dirt roads the last past two days.  We rode around a nice section of road and around the bend we could see huge condors flying high above us.  We also noticed the large amounts on tourists crammed on the edge of the road taking in the sites.  Once again these birds are HUGE.  Apparently, the wing span can reach up to 16 feet.  The road coming through the colca was absolutly stunning.  We had wonderered what eduardo had meant by the road along is better than the actual sight, but we completly understood once completed.  Winding along the cliffs of the canyon in the peruvian landscape was incredible.

We stopped off in a nice town called Chivay.  We had a nice lunch and a coffee to help keep us awake while we digest.  Once we left Chivay the road turned into... well... more dirt.  The dirt is washed out and slow to ride.  We rode about 330 kms that day which took basically 8 hours to do.  The dirt road winds up and down the mountain changing elevation constantly.  We rode high enough that we were riding in the snow line and our new high of 4800m.  We definitely didnt have it as bad as others we have encountered though.  The coca candy definitely has been helping with the altitude sickness!

As we were riding through the valley we came across two bridges, one of which was replaced by a plank and another that was almost washed out completely as it had a giant hole in the middle of it.  Colin and I decided it would be better to ride on the plank and the 2 feet of existing bridge than to backtrack.

We were running out of daylight quickly and realized that we would not make it to Cusco so we settled for a town called Sicunani.  Not the greatest town as we had to look for hostels for awhile before we came across a hostel that provided parking, toilet, shower, and clean beds for a reasonable Peru price.  

Peru, Cabanaconde - A Long Rewarding Road

The second day in Arequipa we toured around town in the normal fashion; in a frenzied parts hunt.  On this occasion it was tires for Eduardo and Derrick.  After not finding any, and being to late to move to the next town, we decided to take it easy and tour around.  We went to a museum which consisted of a the frozen ice godess.  It was pretty interesting and also included a little movie which we attempted to stay awake for...

The next morning, we vetured out of town together and had a nice ride on the last pavment Derrick and I would see for quite some time.  80km out, we waved goodbye to chileman, and ventured into the abyss.

The road was rough, averaging about 50, we figured the long road ahead could only get better.  Then she started to weave up the mountain side.  Averaging 30 or 40 by this point, we set our sights a little lower than Cusco which we had orginally intented. 

Once we gained a sufficient amount of elvation, rending us both short of breath, acheing and with a numbed mind.  Derrick rear tire decided to have some fun again and have a flat.  Thanks to our experience in the tire changing it only took an hour at this elevation and a short nap for myself on the rocks beside the road, and off we went again.

The road came down into a small but nice town where we had lunch in the Plaza.  Many locals came to talk to us, including a Ketchua (probably not spelt correct) man named Alpaca, we think.  We thought it was just our poor spanish, but after much back and forth we figured out it was another language.  A nice rice and tuna lunch and off we went.

The road past the town decided to show the rewards, and they were sweet indeed.  We were now in the grasps of the Colca Canyon, one of the largest canyons.  With the stricking green terrain and terraced farms, we felt refreshed from the hurdles earlier.

We stayed in a Cabanaconde, a small town which many tourists use for a hub to hike the Colca.  Stayed in a very nice Hostal which someone had written, Great place, very cold, in what looks like my sisters Kileys writing.  Really cool town, great food, very chill.  Went to bed a little early so we could witness the condors in the Colca the next day.

Below is derrick practicing his lean angles... actually this is our attempt at straightening his crash bars...