South American Sojourn -
A Trip to the Past
by Bob Love
by Bob Love
One of the joys of our love of motorcycling is taking a long trip. A trip that lets you get away from it all. A trip that lets you see, and if you're really lucky, experience life a little different than your own. I was recently fortunate to take such a trip to South America that was 32 days short. The trip was an "expedition" tour to the Land of the Incas which was organized by Pancho Villa Moto Tours.
The explanation behind the expedition designation was that we shouldn't expect 1st class accommodations, good roads, or to be pampered. What we should expect were reasonable accommodations, difficult roads and the joy of spending substantial time with the indigenous peoples of the altiplano or high plateau of Bolivia and Peru. Our goal was to reach Machu Pichu and view the marvelous Inca ruins in the Cosco area. The tour was to be accomplished on our own bikes, which were dual sports, by necessity. My bike was shipped from the Bay Area in late July. I next saw it in Chile on the 5th of September.
The group was made up of 12 bikes, with two couples riding two up, and 4 staff, three on bikes and one in a chase van. There were 2-R80 GS, 4-R100 GS, 1-R1100 GS, and 2-F650. Japanese bikes of various makes and models made up the rest of the group. The two up riders were on an R100 and an F650. We were very fortunate to have world traveler Helge Pedersen as one of the staff.
The trip planned to leave from the coast of Chile near Santiago,
head east across the Andes to Argentina, head in a northerly direction
to La Paz, Bolivia, head westerly to Cosco, Peru, turn southwesterly
to the coast and finally southerly to return to our starting point
in Vina del Mar, Chile. The trip was approximately 4700 miles,
and included about 2000 miles of dirt or very rough paved roads.
The weather has been fairly rotten since arrival. Cloudy and rainy on the coast, with word that the pass is closed over the mountains to Argentina. Upon inspecting my bike, after retrieval from customs, I determine that one of my fork seals is blown. OK, is the problem just that the front end was tightened down too hard for shipment and there was weeping through the seal? Do I want to change it tonight or just clean it up and ride for a day or two to see if I really have a problem? Since it's pretty late and we are going to leave tomorrow for sure I elect to just clean it up and see what develops. After all we have about a two or three day ride until the road gets bad.
We leave Vina del Mar early in a heavy rain. The word is that the road is closed over the mountains, but we are all itchy to get going. We decide to take off and get rooms in Los Andes on the Chilean side of the mountains in case we can't get over the top. We go to Los Andes, make arrangements for rooms and then continue on. We go for about another 25 miles before the road is closed. We return to Los Andes, check in and then plan what to do. After much checking and talking, it is decided to stay in Los Andes for at least two nights in the hope the road will reopen. The road has never been closed for more than two consecutive days before. Assuming the road opens as we think it may, it will have been closed for 5 consecutive days. It seems like El Niño has been affecting S. America for some time already.
I decide that as long as we aren't going anywhere soon, I'll change
the fork seal which is indeed still leaking. That accomplished
I kind of hang out as the rest of the folks took off to visit
Santiago. Wake up the next day to clear skies and the word that
the road will be open at 10 AM. We take off get to the road closure
and wait for several hours until they open the road. Finally we
get to really go over the Andes. The day is beautiful and sunny
though somewhat cold and windy. The road over the pass rivals
anything in the Alps for beauty and road quality. Great switchbacks.
But it is coooold and wiiiindy. Finally make it over the border
and to Mendoza, Argentina back in the rain. The fork seal replacement
seems to have fixed the problem. I'm glad I did it when I had
time and a good place to work. Let's see now, three nights out
and two days behind schedule. Hmmm
Traveling north through Argentina is fairly uneventful. The area
seems quite prosperous, the cities and towns have shops with pretty
much all the consumer products one might want and the roads are
well-paved. The cities and towns are all laid out in the colonial
Spanish style with a central plaza. As we are two days behind,
we elect to ride hard and miss some of the area we had planned
to visit. In looking at the trip plan I had noted several times
where we would travel one day and stop for a day. It also appeared
that the distance to be traveled was not that great so it seemed
we could have skipped some of the days off. This is not to be
as it seems easier to get back on schedule as soon as possible
to minimize the changes in hotel arrangements. In retrospect I'm
glad we didn't eliminate any rest days. The terrain in parts of
Argentina reminds me of Nevada. Lots of scrub brush and dry land.
As we head, north the elevation increases and we cross some passes
in excess of 4000 meters. As we get north of Salta the road becomes
predominantly dirt. This is the last long stretch of paved roads
we are to see until we cross the Andes on our way south leaving
Peru.
The altiplano is unique in the Americas. It is a very large plateau area that is 12000 - 14000 feet in altitude that has been settled for thousands of years. I imagine the high plateaus of the Himalayan are much like this. There are no cities and few towns. You can travel for hours and see no one or see no sign of life other than the road and the occasional llama.
There are small "villages" of ten to twenty mud houses Life on the altiplano is much like it has been for hundreds of years. There is no electricity, running water, or sewage in these areas. Life depends on subsistence farming and raising llama or other livestock for food. Yet despite the rigors of life at these altitudes (very cold nights) the people seem very content. They are extremely dignified, recognize the fact that they are poor, but are proud to be Indians.
All members of the trip are suffering from the altitude. The tour
leader develops altitude sickness and must return to Argentina
and lower altitudes. We don't see him again until we return to
northern Chile. Going through some deep sand I crash, hurt my
shoulder and break a few minor parts on the bike. The description
of the trip as an expedition is entirely accurate. We are to spend
a total of 15 straight days at altitudes above 10,000 feet. The
local people are working outside in rather cold weather wearing
nothing but a light weight shirt or a light alpaca sweater and
seem to feel nothing of the cold. At the same time I am wearing
all my gear for warmth. It is amazing to be totally out of breath
from walking up two flights of stairs in a hotel room and walk
around the corner to watch a group of people playing soccer.
Potosi Bolivia is at about 13,500 feet altitude and is the sight
of perhaps the richest silver mine in the world. It has been mined
for probably thousands of years. The mint in Potosi is the best
preserved Bolivian building from the colonial period. It was built
in the 1700's and actually minted coins for Spanish use in Europe.
The silver quality is extremely high and was much desired by the
Spanish. There are silver presses in the building from the 1700's
that were brought from Europe to Buenos Aires and shipped overland.
The presses were turned by 4 mules or 20 slaves. It is estimated
that 8,000,000 Indians died working in the mine over the years.
Today a miner makes about $5/day.
Continuing on the altiplano we eventually reach La Paz. I am expecting
to see a very poor city with poverty and begging everywhere. This
is not the case. La Paz is a pleasant city with a strong mixture
of Indian people and people of obviously Spanish decent. As we
are still at very high altitude, walking on the hilly streets
is not easy. La Paz is a city of markets. There is an area for
whatever you want to buy. When I crashed, I broke a camera lens
that I want to replace. After visiting several "camera stores"
I am told to go to a specific area to find what I want. This area
turns out to be the consumer electronics market. I find a store
that sells camera lenses and am able to buy a replacement. This
type of commerce is what existed in the US about 75 years ago.
In cities there were areas where you went to buy specific items.
If you walk a block from the electronics area you might be in
the appliance area (stoves, refrigerators, etc.). I find this
very interesting as it reminds me of certain areas in New York
where I grew up.
Departing La Paz we start heading west to the Lake Titicaca region and Peru. We will be leaving the high plateau region and start crossing the "foothills" of the Andes.
Lake Titicaca is an intriguing place. The altitude is still very
high at 12000 feet and it seems as if life has been going on here
for thousands of years. This is the area where the famous Kon
Tiki raft was built that was sailed to the South Pacific. This
was done to demonstrate a theory that there was a migration from
South America to the South Pacific. There are still a group of
Indians that live on floating islands on the lake. They migrated
here during the wars that went on between the various Indian groups
and developed a culture on these islands. You can observe the
young people rowing their boats to the mainland to attend school.
We finally achieved our goal of Cosco and Machu Pichu about ten days after departure from Chile. Cosco was the center of the Inca culture.
Unfortunately when the Spanish conquered the Inca, they destroyed
all of their buildings after looting the gold and silver. Many
of the churches in Cosco are built on Inca foundations. Its interesting
to note that while the churches have collapsed in earthquakes
many times, the Inca foundations remain undamaged. The stone work
is incredible as all blocks are fit together without mortar. Some
of the blocks are in excess of 300 tons. The center of Cosco is
a beautiful plaza that rivals any in Europe for 17th century beauty.
Machu Pichu is the highlight of the trip. This was not discovered
by the Spanish and its amazing to see the complex city built in
an incredibly remote location on the top of a very rugged mountain.
Unfortunately earthquakes did what the Spanish didn't. The area
had a major fire about 1 month before our arrival and instead
of the lush tropical vegetation we were greeted by burned hillsides.
The area around Cosco had much to offer in the way of other Inca
ruins and very old towns. The town markets were extremely interesting
in that it showed how the people really lived.
Leaving Cosco we head toward the town of Chivay with the intent of visiting the Colca Canyon. This canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, but it seems was formed in a different manner. The canyon is extremely narrow. It is also the home of the condor which we hoped to see. We arrive in Chivay in the rain and wake to the rain in the morning. A few of us go out to the canyon anyway and are rewarded with some beautiful views in changing, unstable weather. Looking across the canyon we can see a substantial amount of new snow, and wonder collectively just how bad the final crossing of the Andes is going to be. Leaving the Colca Canyon we gas up in Chivay and head over the Andes. As the road climbs the weather gets worse, changing from rain to snow to heavy snow. We generally travel at an individual pace. I am not as fast as some of the riders, but I like to ride faster than others. Consequently I rode by myself most of the time. On this particular part of the trip I am not happy I chose to ride this way.
As the road gets higher, the snow gets worse, until at some point the only thing to be seen is a single very narrow track through the snow. At one point I remember cresting a hill and looking out at nothing but white with a very narrow line disappearing into the distance. I have to admit I am more than a little nervous. Nothing to do but continue. Eventually I see a bus pulled over in the distance. Ah, people. I stop and talk to some of the folks on the bus who turn out to be a few young Germans on an extended trip. The bus has come from the town I am trying to get to so I am encouraged. As I get ready to leave, one of the bus passengers indicates to me that we are at the highest point and things get better weather wise on the other side. I leave, go about 50 feet and drop the bike. Unfortunately it falls on the right side. I pick it up, try to get my leg over but can't, and throw it down on the left side. Now I can get it up, on the side stand, and get going. After about another hour of snow I finally get out of it. I have to stop and try to relax. I was so intently focused on the road I just am worn out. I find out later that day the altitude at the top of the pass was 4850 meters or 16005 feet. This is confirmed by two individuals with GPS sets.
Crossing the Andes leads to the Atacoma desert. This is perhaps
the driest place on earth. In some places it has never rained.
Nothing grows on the desert, no cactus, brush, grass. Nothing.
Occasionally in the distance it seems to be green and you think
okay here's some grass. When you eventually get there, you find
out that what you saw were green rocks. It's really an uninviting
place. It's also the home of the geoglyphs, the most famous of
which are the Nazca lines. It's quite amazing to see these ancient
symbols and try to imagine why the people made them and how they
lived in this harsh area.
Well we finally made it back to our starting point, got the bikes loaded in the shipping container. My bike got back to the Bay Area the second weekend in December, about 5 months after initial shipment.
The trip was an unbelievable experience, an experience of a lifetime, for me. It was a very demanding trip from the physical and mental perspective. It was equally demanding on the bike. I cannot overly stress the importance of conditioning for a trip like this. Your physical health, mental health and attitude are of critical importance. Bike preparation was a significant issue along with the carrying of whatever spares you felt were necessary to complete the trip. We were all basically on our own with modest directions on where to go and what roads to take. There were very few road signs. Maps in general could not be relied upon in the more remote areas. If anyone is wondering if I would take a trip like this again, the answer is absolutely yes. I hope this article provided interesting reading to club members. If anyone is interested in more details feel free to call. You have seen some of the photos I have of the trip. There are many more that I am willing to share.
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