Sneak preview: My favourite thing in South America so far - "The Llamas".

 

The hike to Inca city Choquequirao was a slog but so worth it. It started at Capuylioc, a small ride in early morning mist from Cachora. With most luggage left at the hotel, the bike felt beautifully responsive - oh for it to always be so light!

 

Choquequirao has no roads leading to it. All goods arrive by mule. Visitors also have the option to ride.

 

It's a 18km trip one way, from Capuylioc at 2950m to Choquequirao at 3050m. 100m ascent - easy!  

The trick is the Apurimac River in between at 1500m. It was perfect weather dropping down the rocky path - mist giving way to soft cloud cover, no wind.

 

I'd made an equipment blunder in not bringing shorts. By the river my nether regions had heated up something fierce. Having not seen another soul for an hour, I judged there'd be little chance of embarrassment going trouser-less. 

It sure was a relief.

 

The ascent was relentless on loose rock.

 

A bloke coming down with his horse laughed and said something including the word "liberty" (I think) while pointing at my legs. We then sat down for a conversation of sorts. I could make out a solid 5% of his speech and with a bit of backwards-and-forwards got that he was 70yo, he was healthy from walking in the mountain air with no stress, that the residents of his town Cachora didn't have much money but worked hard and he had some strong view on the role of China, India and the USA in the internet. I think.

 

A nice aspect of the route is a smattering of places to eat and stay en route, so a light backpack. Marampata is a collection of houses near the end where I enjoyed a typical Peruvian meal, simple but filling before an equally simple bed.

 

The restaurant was having a deck added. To repeat, all of these materials were brought in 18km of tough rocky track by mule.

 

There was even spotty WiFi. It was pretty bizarre to be on a mountain top, chatting with John about DR650 carburetor needles, especially as he was not home in Colorado but in Melbourne visiting family and friends.

 

Only an hour's walk away the next morning was the site itself. This was where the Incas held out against the Spanish for some 38 years. It's spread out more than Machu Pichu, so there's plenty of huffing and puffing to see it all. The precision of the stonework is impressive, as is it's breathtaking location.

 

"Las Llamas" is a set of terrace walls with inlaid white stones depicting the native creatures. I reckon I spent half an hour absorbing them from afar.

 

It's terribly difficult to convey a place in mere words and photos. Maybe this video will help.

 

Machu Pichu gets thousands of visitors each day. I spotted five others here. Nice.

 

Things went momentarily off the rails returning. By 3pm I'd finished a late lunch back at Marampata. It seemed too early to stop walking for the day. Better to knock off some kms for an easier tomorrow. I could overnight at the next hospedaje, Santa Rosa Upper, an hour downhill. 

No one around at Santa Rosa Upper.

Oh well, on to Santa Rosa Lower another half hour. Sorry, all full.

Bugger, next place was over the river, half way back uphill to the end. It was about 6pm and dusky by the time I reached Chiquisca. Water was pretty light on and I was both tired and angry with myself. It all turned around quickly though with a shower, meal and bed.

 

The meal was fun, sharing with French couple Emil and Christina that I'd met at the site that morning. They were touring South America after two years working in Rio and before returning to their home country. Both were full of life. 

 

Hotel owners Yovana and Eduardo gave a warm welcome upon return. For anyone contemplating a Chiquequirao visit, I heartily recommend Casa de Salcantay in Cachora. Their hospitality is genuinely loving.

 

Cachora itself was a sleepy town in the low season.

So sleepy that no eatery was open that day. The corner shops only offered typical packets of biscuits, soft drinks and the like. I got excited finding a wholemeal loaf and bananas. You beauty!

The slices had a marked firmness. Closer inspection showed "best before" a month prior. Beggars and choosers ...

 

"Inca Kola" is an institution here. It's milder than the stuff in the red can and it seemed fitting that Peru should have its own soft drink. Have a guess who owns it though ...

 

Oh, and the 70yo man with the horse recognised me back in town, even with trousers. He said I was strong to have gotten back so quickly. I think.

 

Electioneering signage is common on buildings in many Latin American countries. Mexico in particular had much of this, especially only a couple of months after the presidential election that put Claudia Sheinbaum into office. Elsewhere in Peru most signage had candidate mames with "2025" and "2026". 

Cachora is perhaps a bit slower to change.

 

For all the three day break was worthwhile, getting back on two wheels felt good, as always. It started with an easy burble up out of the valley into the clouds.

The few hours to Cusco were pleasant on fast curvy tar amidst by now normal spectacular mountains.

 

Cusco is a big city and entry was mad as usual. I found its centre visually appealing - majestic buildings, many parks, a bustling central market and so on. There are a million gringos, a billion hawkers on the street pitching their wares and one can spend a squillion soles on stuff from good coffee to fancy restaurants to up market accomodation to artesan creations on the like.

 

The pre Colombian museum was mildly interesting. It had a room for each material: wood, ceramic, gold et cetera. These were finely sculptured birds on pins to hold shawls together.

 

Street food is ace. Five soles (~$1.50 AUD) bought a dish of rice, fried chips and a salad. One lady stood peeling spuds, leaving a pile of skins on the pavement. They started covered in dirt, got peeled, handed directly to the other lady without washing, sliced in the second lady's hand and bang! straight into the oil. Didn't notice any grit.

 

Remember the wallet being lost in Panama and a replacement credit card being sent to Colombia? Well there was a misunderstanding and it travelled without tracking. Sadly I cannot say where it travelled to. A second replacement was sent ahead to the Australian consulate in Cusco (thanks to Kirsten's mate Jutta for the suggestion). Turns out the honorary consulate is Tammy, who has lived in Peru for 26 years. She hails from Ferny Creek - just over the hill from our home.

There's a nice little piece on her here. Have your browser translate it.

 

Sadly Tammy was away, but her charming assistant Brigida helped me out. A weird thing - seeing a big map of Australia on the wall and these flags instantly put a lump in the throat. 

 

The number one attraction thereabouts is Machu Pichu. Access is via the town of Aguas Calientes. One cannot ride one's motorcycle to Aguas Calientes, indeed only two options exist:

1) take an expensive but direct train ride or

2) get to Santa Teresa, then walk in along the train line.

Being a "do it under your own steam" person, option 2) was obvious.

However 2) was the long way round. First overnight stop was Ollantaytambo, with its own set of impressive Incan ruins. Again, the stonework precision was wonderful. 

There was a certain "exit through gift shop" vibe.

 

There was an amusing interaction with our good friends the police in Ollantaytambo. A smashed and burnt motorcycle was parked outside the cop shop. It intrigued me and I took a photo. Two grim faced coppers strode out, made the Latin American finger wagging "no" sign and insisted the photo be deleted. I did so but they didn't believe me, taking the phone and scrolling to be sure.

Little did they know I'd inadvertently captured the bike earlier when I shot their start of day formation. So there.

 

There was a miserable freezing wet ride over an otherwise engaging mountain pass.

 

Followed by a blast on dirt to sunny Santa Teresa.

 

In Santa Teresa a request for coffee prompted a lesson on coffee cultivation, roasting and export from Pablo.

 

A roadworks traffic controller just out of town was holding the road closed until 6pm. Bummer. Way too late to finish the ride then do a 10km walk. Shrug shoulders. Find a spot to stay in Santa Teresa. It was a gorgeously quiet little town, a welcome break in between the enormous Cusco and mega touristic Aguas Calientes to come.

 

Next day I parked the bike at Hidroeléctrica, the western end of the train line. It was a pleasant sunny day for a 10km flat walk. With the backpack holding not much more than toothbrush, spare undies and sun hat, it was an easy two hours beside the track.

 

Oh boy was Aguas Calientes an assault on the senses. 

The process for getting a ticket to Machu Pichu was a scream. 

• present passport to booth, get ticket number 123

• come back at 4pm

• wait in street with mob until man with megaphone announces 121, 122, 123 ...

• join queue inside

• at counter, choose arrival time at Machu Pichu tomorrow & which part(s) to visit

• pay and if dirty foreigner, pay handsomely

 

Then were heaps of restaurants, bars and masseurs, every one calling out to passersby, sometimes even draping an arm around the shoulder in mock friendship. It got old pretty quickly. 

 

I walked until the first eatery without a salesman. This was out of the main drag, a typical Peruvian low key place serving locals only. The big TV was playing Rambo - strange hearing Stallone with a high pitched Spanish voice. Perfect otherwise.

 

While you're here, let's talk food.

I've mentioned the "Chifa" restaurants earlier, the Peruvian-Chinese fusion places that make "Arroz Chaufa" - a huge plate of fried rice. Filling and cheap. Probably my favourite. 

Other Peruvian fare is fairly plain: a base of plain white rice, a single piece of meat, tiny salad, usually a fried plantain. All preceded by a soup. Accompanied by a juice or tea. Often a restaurant has one offering for that day.

I don't mean to complain - the meals are everywhere, cheap and satisfying. Here's one from a recent day. Just moments after I sat down, the soup was placed on the table without me asking for anything. Paying just 8 soles (~$2.50 AUD) had me leaving completely full.

Otherwise, hamburgers and pizzas abound across Latin America. 

 

My new favourite drink is "chicha morada", a slightly sweet soft drink made from purple corn with cinnamon and cloves, pineapple and quince. It's said to have at times sold as well as Coca Cola.

 

Ok, back to Aguas Calientes ...

Local kids played soccer and volleyball next door, an old favourite of mine from high school. They were all smiles.

Next morning at 5:30am a great crowd waited for a shuttle bus up the hill. I suppose they were aiming for sunrise. 

 

I'd chosen a 7am entry, so a 5:30 start was ample for the hour-ish hike. Where the bus takes a zig zag route from Aguas Calientes on the river up the 540m ascent, we hikers take an almost straight line up on rocky steps.

 

No two ways about it - Machu Pichu is a mind blowing sight.

The location so high, surrounded by majestic peaks, with so many stone structures, just everything about it. Wow. Worth the journey. I sat and soaked it up for ages.

While descending to the train line, Omar caught up. Moments after starting to chat he offered an orange and later a mango. He was a 28yo chef/kitchen worker, currently employed in Agua Calientes, but he'd worked in many South American cities. He'd like to work in Europe, but visas are difficult - did I know about working visas in Australia? He was so friendly that I'll follow up on the visa query.

 

While grabbing a snack on the return journey, two young blokes hobbled up, their music box playing Flame Trees.

"You've got to be Aussies?"

"Yep. From Bondi and the Central Coast"

Why hobbling? The Saltankay Trek, a 60km alternative to the famed but overpopulated Inca Trail, had taken its toll on their feet and knees. They had been aiming to increase their fitness before surfing in Colombia !

I handed over Pablo's mango, which they seemed to appreciate. 

 

Blow me down, I got caught by roadworks a second time leaving Santa Teresa. Luckily it was earlier in the day this time, so managed to escape after an hour's wait. They sure were putting a heap of effort into it - a three year project to create a huge tar highway down to the town. 

 

I'm curious how it will work for future visitors as they'll surely still need to catch the train or walk the last bit into Aguas Calientes. 

 

I caught up again with German V-Strom rider Thomas on the way back to Cusco and we've been together since. We met at Doris's place between towns on the mountain pass. She sold eggs, chicken meat and tea, in addition to offering a campsite, rooms and meals. Doris, son Sandro and daughter in law Gabrielle seemed awfully pleased to host us.

 

We stayed in Cusco until some parts arrived. A new chain and sprocket set for a DR650 may well exist somewhere in Peru, but blowed if I know where. I had given up and ordered them from the US at horrible expense.

 

By and by they got to Cusco. 

The pick up process was worthy of a Central American frontier crossing:

• tracking says it's here, come grab if you want

• notify by WhatsApp that yes I will come grab

• at post office fill out slip with package details + show passport

• get given bill for customs (in USD?!?)

• go to bank to pay

• no señor, no puede pagar con targeta ("you cannot pay with a card")

• hit ATM for cash

• return, pay, show passport again

• get two copies of payment slip

• return to post office, hand over papers, show passport again

• pay post office's own fee

• walk out with box and worn out passport

• woo hoo

 

A new rear tyre was easier - order from capital Lima, arrived in a couple of days.

 

The next mission was a workshop to fit this stuff. The chain would need shortening and I didn't have a tool for this. Changing tyres is also a PITA so I'll happily pay someone more proficient. 

We rocked up at the local Suzuki dealership unannounced. They were having lunch, could we please return in 45mins? Most polite.

No worries - we dumped the two bikes (Thomas wanted a small bit of work also) and wandered off for Lomo Saltado, a meat stir fry favourite of my new friend.

 

Post lunch the workshop got stuck in. They struggled a bit with removing the chain master link and fitting the rim lock, managing to pinch the tube. Alex the manager was most apologetic, explaining that the tube was now patched. Shrug shoulders - I've done worse. 

 

Like so many folk, Alex was keen to get photos of the travelling customers in his workshop.

Just before the work was done, the heavens opened. We hung around the dealership like bad smells waiting for a break. The good folk there brought out hot chocolates and bread unsolicited. Lovely. The rain lessened.

Told you the staff were friendly.

 

 

We were both so happy returning to the hostel on our "new" bikes, joking and laughing our heads off, even with half of South America trying to kill us. That's Patchacútec watching over his descendants - it's believed that Machu Pichu was built as his estate.

 

One could stay in Cusco for a long time. There are many archeological sites in and close by in the Sacred Valley, museums and the like. 

 

(Boring bike talk for a sec)

Tyres used so far:

Motoz Tractionator GPS rear + Battalax AX41 front

 - happy: good all round, rear lasted 15,000km

Mitas E07+ rear and front

 - fairly happy: great on dry tar, slippery in wet, poor in mud, rear lasted 12,500km

Metzler Enduro rear and front

 - disappointed: great on tar, great in mud, rear lasted 8,000km

 

So back to a Motoz rear. An Aussie tyre, too !

 

Chain gearing:

- stock is 15/42

- until now used 14/42 for better off road

- now trying 15/46 for front sprocket longevity & slightly more off road capability 

  Sometimes in rough stuff too much clutch slip has been required at low speed.

 

Ok, enough of the nerdy bike talk.

 

Lake Titicaca then Bolivia await.