High as a kite!

When we woke up at 13k the tent was so covered in ice that the rain fly sagged into the mesh of the tent. We had spent the night in well below freezing temps, but the amazing marmot sleeping bags kept us warm and toasty! We got up several times during the night to see the stars as we were miles from any man made light source and the thinner atmosphere made for an unprecedented view of the night sky. There were more stars than black space in the sky! The ice on the tent and bikes was like small towers of crystal and melted in the morning sun. The herds of guanaco strolled trough our camp as we broke things down for the days ride. We had ridden a ways off the highway on a dirt "road" until our progress was halted by a raging river. The river was now a babbling brooke. The river must have been swelled by the downpours in the distance as we went to bed. Once we had dried out the tent and the bikes in the intense sun we hit the road only to stop a few kilometers away to listen to a group of people in a small brick hut playing home made instruments. It was a blue grassy tune and the people danced up a cloud of smoke on the dirt floor in the hut! The women were all dressed up and the men were dancing their hearts out! The road began to wind down in elevation until we hit about 5k and the temps climbed accordingly. The elevation didn't seem to be bothering us so we pushed on over the next pass. I checked the GPS at a mountain lake and we were already up to 15k! The view was like watching a movie with snow capped peaks piercing the blue sky. Alpine lakes dotted the landscape and we went down and up two more times before running into the night. The closer we came to cusco the more the guanaco gave way to herds of alpaca. Hundreds of them grazed in the limitless green pastures as waterfalls cascaded all around us. The last pass took us up to 13k and it began to rain, the sun had set and we couldn't find anywhere to set up a tent. We rode and rode and the rain began to drive into us like riding through a sheet of water. The road was packed with cars that felt it necessary to flash thier brights as they went past us rendering sight impossible. For 34 miles we rode like this until we hit the city of cusco. The city lights shone in the distance as a teaser of a possible dry place to rest. The roads were now flowing with muddy water and the sewers spewed geysers of brown sludge as we passed by. The roads were as steep as San Francisco California only they were cobble stone and slick as snot. We made it to the first hostel we could find and drove our bikes right into the front lobby where they would ride out the storm. The room was quite possibly the worst to date. We slept in our camp gear and tried to fathom the madness we had just rode through. At one point during the worst of the weather we had pulled into a gas station to yell at eachother a bit and a dog began to attack us, I had so much steam built up that I let out a roar and chased the dog away running with his tail between his legs! We made it out that night via taxi to the main town square and went to the norton bar for a beer to wind down before bed. It was well deserved and it even got us some info about the next days journey to Machu Picchu.

The sleep was good until about 4 am when the noise of the city set in. We got up and got going as the hotel didn't lend itself to calm clean relaxation. The train station was open so we bought some tickets for the train from ollataytambo to aguas calientes. The road to ollataytambo was to be straight forward and the farthest we could ride on the bikes so we set out for a short day on the road. The ride was breathtaking, with hanging glaciers atop jagged peaks glowing in the distance above fields of crops and animals grazing. We stopped and bought a few small braclets from a little girl in a field on our way to the river crossing that would take us to roads end. Once we made it down to river level we were met with a crowd of people gather ed around the bridge. The bridge was closed and had seen better days. It had a use at your own risk sign on it for pedestrians but all vehicles were prohibited. We were instructed by local authorities at the bridge that there was an alternate route that was equally good if we just went back a bit. I asked about the road conditions and either my Spanish has deteriorated or he lied outright! The road turned to dirt and then we hit a small town with absolutely no signage at all. After about 4 attempts at getting directions were on the right path. The only problem was that the path was a mud road that crawled down the side of a mountain! One lane switchbacks with traffic in both directions was bad enough, then it started to rain. We made it down to the river and crossed and older worse looking bridge than the one that was closed and made it to ollataytambo. The road was made from rock and the one place to camp was down a trail too narrow to fit the bikes. A marching band rolled through town and it was fun to see. We ended up with a cheap room at a hostel. The driveway into the hostel was two cobble paths with slippery grass in between. I went first and a big rock came unlodged under my tire and I went down instantly. No damage as the crash bars did their job perfectly. Only the pride was scratched. We met a nice guy from Holland who helped us right the bike. He is traveling south as well, and in much the same direction as us on a 90's super tenere. It's always so nice to hear other stories from the road! We head to Machu Picchu in the wee hours tomorrow, looking forward to it as it has been quite an arduous journey to get here!

No air.

Started the morning itching to get on the road after 3 days of Dakar rest. We got up at 5 am and we were done with breakfast by 6:30. We got suited up and packed the bikes and were on the road by 8. Getting out of lima was a breeze, the town was all still sleeping on Sunday morning. We had 150 miles under our belts by 10:30am. We rolled through Pisco and saw stage two of the Dakar out in the dunes. (Pictured). We blazed on by and made it to nazca earlier than we anticipated so we just turned and headed up the mountain towards Cuzco. The road just kept going up and up. It was twisty and tight, with no guardrails. Semis were cutting the corners on our side if he highway which made it really quite sporting! We crossed into guanaco territory and started to see herds of them roaming the high plains. They are a nice light tan color everywhere except their bellies and when they see you coming they put their ears back and make a funny face. They look like a cross between a camel and a llama. We stopped to put on rain gear and took a look at the GPS when the clouds started to leak. The road was about to get really twisty and steep so we decided to find a camp because it was about to get dark and we had ridden 350 miles already. Tonights camp is at 13000 feet amongst snow covered hills and when we stopped the temperature was about 42 degrees Fahrenheit. The sunset was amazing. Golden ribbons of clouds decorated the blue sky while heavy clouds hung below them on the horizon. I hope it doesn't snow too much tonight so we can ride out of here tomorrow morning!

Dakar 2013

We rolled into Lima in the early afternoon, on one of the craziest roads of the trip. A giant mountain of sand that fell hundreds of feet in to the rocky ocean below, had a road carved into the side of it. No guardrails in place most of the way, I have no idea how the whole road didn't just slide down the dune! We stopped for gas on the out skirts of town. The road was dirt and sand into town, it twisted and rolled past hills filled with one room shanties. The city unfolded before us in a cloud of dust and we rode along the beach searching for the Dakar Village. It was hard to find and the information on the web was completely inadequate, but we managed to find the road to it only to encounter a road block. The guard must have thought we looked like competitors or something because they waived us through and right into the entrance to the scrutineering tents to be checked in for the race, past countless spectators! It was a cool feeling, and I'm not gonna lie, I went along with it for a bit. People kept asking if we were in the race and we had to tell them no. My dad said we should just pay the entrance fee and hit the podium. Seriously considered for a while, until we watched some footage of the course. The trucks and bikes and other vehicles were very impressive, but the organization of the event is lacking something for sure. The info tent was vacant all day, everything is in Spanish which I think is strange for such an international rally. No information is clearly defined for the location of the start and merchandising is a joke. You would think something like this would have motorcycle stuff for sale everywhere! We are going to just watch from a distance tomorrow as they take off. After we had our fill of the village we started to search for a hotel. Place after place sent us packing until I found a room online and we went in to book it and she said that they didn't have one. I said that I saw online that here was one available, she said she had to check to see if she could sell it and asked if I could just wait. After way too long without any word this way or that I took a different tack. I booked it online and walked back up to the desk and told her I now had a reservation. She handed me he keys. Strange! I have been laid up all day today with some sort of illness. Hopefully I beat it for the start tomorrow, so we can get moving again. Sitting still is hard to do on this trip. We had the privilege of checking out a KTM that was in the race up close, as he was staying at our hotel. The city is buzzing with anticipation!

Decisions decisions decisions

Left the crappy hostel this morning, and hit the road for Lima. Camping is so much better than dirty hotel rooms. Just outside our first gas stop today we saw a row of trees so full of nesting egrets that they looked like flowers in the tree. There must have been hundred of them in there! Saw some fellow motorcycle travelers at our lunch stop. Everyone seems to be headed for Dakar. The group we saw today all had a giant duffel across the back of their bikes. It contained a paragliding chute and gear. They are going to do that over the Dakar! Sounds like a great time. Right after we saw them some very impressive trucks went by hauling and immense load if grass. It looked like the truck was way overloaded. (Pictures)

We had some delicious street ceviche today. Just outside of the fishing port where there were hundreds of fishing boats! It came with an awesome slice of sweet potato and some dried corn which was great in the ceviche sauce. Followed it up with a watermelon and we were good to go. The towns were depressing again today, just as the scenery outside them was spectacular. The mountains to our east went up to 22k! It was a great temperature for riding most of the day. The wind picked up again in the heat of the afternoon. We ended up at a campsite on the beach just outside Lima. Gonna check out the race tomorrow! The trip sure has been different than my imagination pictured it to be thus far. Things have been a lot poorer and dirtier than I thought they would be. Most of the ride has been depressing, with sprinkles of amazing mixed in there. It's hard to believe that this many people live like this in the world. The people who run our campground fish in a nearby stream every night for dinner. Tonight he caught 8 tilapia! They spend their days on the beach miles from any town and their nights are spent in a locked fortress for security reasons. They have large Rottweiler guard dogs and everything is locked up. I am not sure who this is protecting against but it seems like all of South and Central America is like this. Even if they are happy, what kind of a life is this? Some live in cardboard huts in the middle of the desert that resemble solitary confinement at a maximum security prison. It really makes the consumerism of the US seem so much worse. Going to hit the sack now, got a big day of race festivus tomorrow!

Peru is sand.

We woke up at 6 am as usual in the tent this morning, just a tad before the sun comes up. The waves were crashing to the right and the sounds of New Years parties were still raging to our left. They went all night long. Fireworks and booze and music and yelling. It was impressive how hard these people partied! Took a morning swim in the ocean before getting suited up for the days ride. It was tempting to just stay in the water as it was the perfect temperature and the sun was starting to heat things up on the beach. Instead, we hit the road just as everyone was going to bed. It was nice to have the highway to ourselves. We left the coastline on the only road south with any semblance of pavement and the scenery went from sandy beach to desolate desert! There was no vegetation of any kind for quite a while. We twisted through some foothills for a while and then we were out on the flat lands of sand. The road signs read zona de dunes. They were serious about that as the sand piled itself into mountains and the wind began to whip across the landscape reshaping it right before our eyes. The wind picked up until we were riding at a 45 degree angle to the road. It cranked up another notch still and the dunes started to cross the road! I literally felt like the bike was being blown across the highway a few times. We passed a large tour bus that sucked us closer as we started to draft on it and then the wind was blocked so we fell into the bus and then when we got around it the bike was blown sideways again. It took everything I had to keep the rubber side down! We managed to crank out about 400 miles today despite the wind and the 95 degree heat. The towns we went through appeared to have survived a war as the buildings were just piles of rubble and the smell of sewage and trash dominated. The landscape outside the cities was otherworldly. We searched and searched for a place to camp but found nothing so we ended up in a hostel in a small mining community who was deep in the throws of celebration for the New Year. Couples kissing on every park bench, tons of beer being passed around in the town squares and music pumping out of every bar in town. The hostel reeks of sewage and there must be 15 motorcycles parked in the lobby! Gonna try to catch some z's before the big push to Lima tomorrow in hopes of diving into the Dakar festivities head first when we arrive.