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Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog
The Just One More Mile story of Paul's Trans Americas 2009 motorcycle expedition.Thursday, 22 October 2009
Crossing the Altiplano...
Once again I was woken by the Cusco bells chiming at 5am, but snoozed for a while before finally getting up and updating the blog. Whilst the video clip of “Gay Dad Dancing” was uploading, I walked the couple of blocks to the parking area and brought the bike round to the hotel, parking it with the others out front. Then went to breakfast, taking my laptop with me so I could show a few of the others the video. Nick wasn't there, so I'm still alive...
With the bike loaded we set off, Nick and I riding together despite my blogging, finding our way out of the one-way system without any issues. The road from town started very busy, with lots of traffic and smog, but soon cleared as we left the outskirts and headed into the countryside. Here were lots of fields of crops, being worked on by people bent double or stood knee-deep in soil and mud, sometimes with oxen to help them plough the land. We only saw 2 tractors the whole day, the rest of the farming being done by hand and by beasts of burden. As the road climbed higher towards the altiplano, the scenery became more barren and the crops were replaced with herds of alpaca, llama and sheep. Some of the alpaca had been recently shorn so their wool could be turned into the beautiful jumpers and blankets that fill the market stalls, leaving the poor animals shivering in the cold and looking very forlorn...
We rode up and onto the altiplano, the temperature dropping sufficiently for us to stop and put on some warmer layers. Just before the most barren section of the altiplano we stopped on the outskirts of a small town for a coffee and a cheese and tomato sandwich, made with local cheese. We decided to avoid the pork, having seen how it was transported to the café...
Back on the road we entered pure Mamba country (Mile And Miles of Bugger All), the road cutting across a flat, desolate area of scrubland with mountains on the horizon. We were at over 3,900m for most of the day, the high plateau the highest on earth outside that in Tibet. I'd had to resort to playing music in order to alleviate the tedium from riding on seemingly endless straights through scenery so barren and unchanging. Sometimes the tunes coincided well with the ride (particularly the Pink Floyd tracks) and other times they were at odds with it (Black Sabbath and AC/DC) but they helped pass the time and keep me awake. Eventually we reached the town of Juliaca and once again entered the chaos or Peruvian town-life. From the isolated emptyness of the altiplano we were instantly surrounded by vehicles of all shapes and sizes, from pedal-powered tuk-tuks through to large dumper trucks, all intent on having the piece of road we were inhabiting. The road itself also took on the characteristics of many of these towns, being pot-holed and rutted and sometimes just plain old dirt. The dust and fumes had me coughing, in between the bouts of laughing at the antics of some of the other road-users, including the guy pushing a hand-cart right out across Richard's path, seemingly oblivious to the damage a large motorcycle could do to him and his wares. We managed to negotiate the chaos successfully, no longer phased by it, and found our way out to the main road to Puno. This was much better, a wider, well-surfaced highway along which we could progress without constantly looking round for the next hazard.
We turned off the road to visit the pre-Inca burial ground and funeral towers at Sullistani on the banks of Lake Umayo. Perched high on the hill above the lake are a large number of round stone towers, once again built without the aid of mortar and with stones that fitted perfectly together. These chulpas are the tombs of the Colla peoples, who were conquered by the Inca in the 1400s. Most have been dynamited by grave-robbers, but some remain remarkably intact.
Glad to be off the altiplano and back under a warm sun, we sat for a while looking out over the lake before heading back down the hill for an ice-cream. Retracing our steps back towards the road to Pnuo we stopped outside one of the many llama-farmers dwellings for a picture, the proprietor more than happy to wave for the camera, as she had waved when we passed on the way up.... if you look closely, you can see the little stone pigs on the tops of the roofs...
Riding back to the main road we had a close encounter with a cow and a sheep, both of whom decided that as soon as one of the three motorcycles was passed that it would be safe to cross the road, ignoring the other two... just one of the many hazards that you have to deal with when riding a bike in South America... another was the road into Puno itself, which went from being pristine tarmac to wet dirt just as it descended down into town. With that safely negotiated, we got lost in the maze of one-way systems and new pedestrianised areas in the centre of town whilst trying to find the hotel. We asked 3 different people for directions and got 3 different answers before we eventually spotted it tucked away down a one-way dead-end street, the end of which had been recently pedestrianised rendering the route-notes useless. Checked in and with the bags dropped off we rode the 3 blocks (1st right, 2nd left, 3rd left, 1st left and it's on your right) to the car park and walked back to the hotel. A shower and online chat with Tracy (always the highlight of my day!) and then out to wander round town. I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures, which is probably just as well as we walked round the streets which seem to be organised around a particular type of shop/business. For example, there was a street full of shops where you could get copies made or print off documents, another full of dentists, one full of shoe shops and finally the pedestrianised area full of pizza places and a bar... The “rock and reggae” bar to be precise, which served cold beer and great music – Pink Floyd, The Who, etc. After a couple of beers we went and grabbed a chinese (not fancying pizza again) before walking back to the hotel, stopping at another “rock and reggae” bar for a nightcap and some more great tunes... after all, don't they say “tunes help you sleep more easily”... (I'm sorry, couldn't resist!)
With the bike loaded we set off, Nick and I riding together despite my blogging, finding our way out of the one-way system without any issues. The road from town started very busy, with lots of traffic and smog, but soon cleared as we left the outskirts and headed into the countryside. Here were lots of fields of crops, being worked on by people bent double or stood knee-deep in soil and mud, sometimes with oxen to help them plough the land. We only saw 2 tractors the whole day, the rest of the farming being done by hand and by beasts of burden. As the road climbed higher towards the altiplano, the scenery became more barren and the crops were replaced with herds of alpaca, llama and sheep. Some of the alpaca had been recently shorn so their wool could be turned into the beautiful jumpers and blankets that fill the market stalls, leaving the poor animals shivering in the cold and looking very forlorn...
We rode up and onto the altiplano, the temperature dropping sufficiently for us to stop and put on some warmer layers. Just before the most barren section of the altiplano we stopped on the outskirts of a small town for a coffee and a cheese and tomato sandwich, made with local cheese. We decided to avoid the pork, having seen how it was transported to the café...
Back on the road we entered pure Mamba country (Mile And Miles of Bugger All), the road cutting across a flat, desolate area of scrubland with mountains on the horizon. We were at over 3,900m for most of the day, the high plateau the highest on earth outside that in Tibet. I'd had to resort to playing music in order to alleviate the tedium from riding on seemingly endless straights through scenery so barren and unchanging. Sometimes the tunes coincided well with the ride (particularly the Pink Floyd tracks) and other times they were at odds with it (Black Sabbath and AC/DC) but they helped pass the time and keep me awake. Eventually we reached the town of Juliaca and once again entered the chaos or Peruvian town-life. From the isolated emptyness of the altiplano we were instantly surrounded by vehicles of all shapes and sizes, from pedal-powered tuk-tuks through to large dumper trucks, all intent on having the piece of road we were inhabiting. The road itself also took on the characteristics of many of these towns, being pot-holed and rutted and sometimes just plain old dirt. The dust and fumes had me coughing, in between the bouts of laughing at the antics of some of the other road-users, including the guy pushing a hand-cart right out across Richard's path, seemingly oblivious to the damage a large motorcycle could do to him and his wares. We managed to negotiate the chaos successfully, no longer phased by it, and found our way out to the main road to Puno. This was much better, a wider, well-surfaced highway along which we could progress without constantly looking round for the next hazard.
We turned off the road to visit the pre-Inca burial ground and funeral towers at Sullistani on the banks of Lake Umayo. Perched high on the hill above the lake are a large number of round stone towers, once again built without the aid of mortar and with stones that fitted perfectly together. These chulpas are the tombs of the Colla peoples, who were conquered by the Inca in the 1400s. Most have been dynamited by grave-robbers, but some remain remarkably intact.
Glad to be off the altiplano and back under a warm sun, we sat for a while looking out over the lake before heading back down the hill for an ice-cream. Retracing our steps back towards the road to Pnuo we stopped outside one of the many llama-farmers dwellings for a picture, the proprietor more than happy to wave for the camera, as she had waved when we passed on the way up.... if you look closely, you can see the little stone pigs on the tops of the roofs...
Riding back to the main road we had a close encounter with a cow and a sheep, both of whom decided that as soon as one of the three motorcycles was passed that it would be safe to cross the road, ignoring the other two... just one of the many hazards that you have to deal with when riding a bike in South America... another was the road into Puno itself, which went from being pristine tarmac to wet dirt just as it descended down into town. With that safely negotiated, we got lost in the maze of one-way systems and new pedestrianised areas in the centre of town whilst trying to find the hotel. We asked 3 different people for directions and got 3 different answers before we eventually spotted it tucked away down a one-way dead-end street, the end of which had been recently pedestrianised rendering the route-notes useless. Checked in and with the bags dropped off we rode the 3 blocks (1st right, 2nd left, 3rd left, 1st left and it's on your right) to the car park and walked back to the hotel. A shower and online chat with Tracy (always the highlight of my day!) and then out to wander round town. I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures, which is probably just as well as we walked round the streets which seem to be organised around a particular type of shop/business. For example, there was a street full of shops where you could get copies made or print off documents, another full of dentists, one full of shoe shops and finally the pedestrianised area full of pizza places and a bar... The “rock and reggae” bar to be precise, which served cold beer and great music – Pink Floyd, The Who, etc. After a couple of beers we went and grabbed a chinese (not fancying pizza again) before walking back to the hotel, stopping at another “rock and reggae” bar for a nightcap and some more great tunes... after all, don't they say “tunes help you sleep more easily”... (I'm sorry, couldn't resist!)
posted by Paul # 23:33 
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