A Motorcycle Travelogue – Ride, Eat, Sleep, Repeat
2016 spring ride in southern Peru with Motoquest Tours.
Crazy, fun, not so fun and interesting are good adjectives for experiences in store for us on our way to and in Puno. These included the crazy town of Juliaca, having a reason to say “Lake Titicaca”, dealing with altitude sickness, and visiting the unique floating islands of the Uros people. Continue reading “2016 Peru: Funny Things Happened on the Way to Puno”
The train ride was comfortable and scenic. The “Road of Death,” not so much.
From Nazca it would take us two days to reach the Sacred Valley with overnights in Chalhuanca and Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo would be our jump off point for Machu Picchu. Continue reading “2016 Peru: Entering the Sacred Valley”
We traveled from Puerto Inka to Nazca via the Pan American Highway. In Nazca most of us signed up for an airplane tour over the Nazca Lines and Geoglyphs. Flying in third world countries makes me nervous.
Puerto Inka is a small Resort near Chala, Peru. It has charm with upscale accommodations and a beautiful cove with a beach on the Pacific Ocean. It was a tranquil redoubt with the waves quietly washing up the beach. That was until Rodney irritated Rita.
Our riding adventure began with a ride from Arequipa to Majes River Resort in the Colca Canyon. Mother Earth awaited us.
I spent a total of four and a half days in historic Arequipa, Peru. It is the second most populous city and a UNESCO World Heritage site. A visual aspect of Arequipa is the use of white sillar earth in construction. Due to this it is also known as the “White City”. Continue reading “Exploring Historic Arequipa”
The national drink in Peru is the pisco sour which is sweet and sour. Like the drink, today was good and bad, but mostly good.
The bad: I started showing signs of altitude sickness; headache and body aches. I’ve also been bit by black flies several times.
The good: I had solutions for both problems.
Below is a video of me riding the Arequipa zip line in Arequipa, Peru. It was part of the city bus tour we took our second day. The first section is 750 meters long. The second is 250 meters long to get you back across the Rio Chili where you must hike back up to the original launch point.
The hike, at a 7,500 foot elevation, was taxing for this old-over-weight guy. Although it was a struggle with a few stops for a breather, it felt good. Significantly, I had no signs of altitude sickness. I attribute that to my steady diet of coca candy and frequently chewing a cud of coca leaves.
Thanks to Slade and Dan (members of the Motoquest tour group) for letting me use their videos along with my own.
