Global Roamer 2

Monday, February 6, 2012

DRIVE EVERY MOUNTAIN

For the last 7 days we have been continuing our drive with Wera & Frisco heading south through the massive mountains in the Peruvian Andes. Previously we have only crossed the Andes east to west or west to east, so we are continually amazed by the sheer number of mountains we are travelling on day after day, winding up and down huge peaks. We never go below 1800m in altitude and most days we go up over 4000m 2 or 3 times a day. Phew! GR2 is coping really well. No altitude problems this trip.

We are trying to keep moving as it is wet season and it really wouldn’t take much to close many of these roads. At least by travelling with another vehicle we can assist each other, and it sure helps being warned about oncoming buses/trucks on these incredibly tight, narrow roads, especially with these crazy drivers who don’t want to back into a passing bay.

Our days take on a similar pattern of getting up bright and early to head off by 7.30am. Driving, driving & more driving, although sometimes only doing 150km in a day, never in 4^th or 5^th gear, with fantastic and continually changing scenery from high plateau to river gorges with massive drops to the river (very scary) to grotty villages. Weather ranges from rain, fog and snow to glorious sunshine. We stop and visit small towns and major cities. Most nights we find a secluded spot to camp (often beside a river) and have a great bonfire. Frisco is an even bigger pyromaniac than John.

Our route (for those of you who like to follow us on Google earth) takes us from Yungay, Huaraz, Pachacolo, Huanllana, La Union to Hunauco. From here we drive up yet another huge mountain into freshly fall snow past another huge mine. The high plateau covered with snow and herds of llamas looks amazing. Then on to the city of Huancayo where we overnight in a secure carpark at Plaza Real – a very upmarket supermarket. Great spot to stock up on food & get Wifi. Only drawback is the knock on the door at 3am by security guards to see if we are OK. On our way out of town we stop at local festivities. It is a wedding and we are urged to join in the dancing & drinking. There is a band playing & crates of beer are been consumed. To top it off there is a parade of strangely masked characters passing. We drag ourselves away – lots of driving still to do. We are now following the Mantana River along more bad road on to Huanta. There is a narrow bridge that GR2 only just squeezes through with cms to spare. It would have been a very long drive back!!!

We stop to visit an ancient Wari site (not a lot left to look at, but another good spot to camp) and visit the cute town of Quinoa, famous for its ceramic churches that sit on the top of its houses. Then on to the city of Ayacucho. It has a lovely old plaza to explore, and there is a parade happening. Always a bonus.

But on we go, into more rain. Of course it is during the hardest rain and on the narrowest road that Wera & Frisco get a puncture. But it is soon fixed under the shelter of their awning on a precarious ledge. Finally we reach Abancay and we are back on tarseal for our final haul to Cusco and the Sacred Valley to Puno, stopping only for food at Cusco and a long soak at some hot pools. We visited this area on our last trip and Wera & Frisco are meeting friends and will return this way.

We finally reach Puno on Lake Titicaca on Sunday right in time for the most spectacular festival in the area – La Virgen de la Candelaria. What a huge bonus for me. I just love these!! We left GR2 in a secure carpark at Hotel Sonesta and spend a magic few hours watching. Finally John & the others had had enough. I could have stayed for hours more. There were 72 groups parading in local costume, dancing, singing and playing instruments. They had been going all day. First they had to do a performance in the amphitheatre, then parade around town. Few what a feat at this altitude!

I can’t wait to sort through my hundreds of photos to put some on the blog, but no time now. We move on to Bolivia today

Adios Amigos. We love to hear your comments and news.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

FROM COAST TO CANYONS - PHOTOS 2

following our friends from a canyon

More gorgeous scenery

Wow look at those rocks, and that road

One of 35 rock tunnels - very, very small

The glorious Blancas

FROM COAST TO CANYONS - PHOTOS

We visited an Automobile Museum in Lima - what an amazing array of old cars in great condition

Our camp spot on the beach at Lima - at Barranca

Miraflores in Lima from the waterfront

The amazing road north - where dunes meet the ocean

Drive at your own risk - Peruvian drivers are pretty crazy

Local hardware store - all you need for a starter house - fortunately it doesn't rain here much

Local transport - Mototaxis

Reed boats on the beach. They still fish from these

Chan Chan - the King never walked anywhere. The mask over his mouth was to show he was special

Carvings in the temple - mostly restored

Riding on a reed boat

Raising of the flag Parade in Trujillo

The pretty part of the parade

Fish off to market

Fruit at the market - Vic in his heyday

Just a few of the many cures - any guesses what is in the bottles

The tomb at Sipan

Driving into Cajarmarca

Plaza de Armas - cathedral

See that road - John joked that we were going to take it - and we did - 26 switch backs

Will this bridge hold 6000kg?

Close up of the bridge

Typical road

Monday, January 30, 2012

FROM COAST TO CANYONS

After a few nights on the beach at Lima (not really as lovely as it sounds – these guys here party hard & leave their rubbish behind) trying to extract a parcel from the Peruvian customs, we head north along the coastline. We have already travelled part of this route, so we zoom by lots of towns & beaches, stopping only to camp overnight at a beach. Nice quiet spot except the security guards who drive by every 4 hours with lights flashing & sirens blasting.

We pass through lots of desert areas, interspersed with cropped fertile valleys. Here there are lots of old mud brick ruins, mostly crumbling away. The lifestyle here is pretty basic, but the amazing thing is that when you get to a large town there are really modern supermarkets and huge new shopping malls that would be up there with Chermside.

We plan to visit the ancient site of Chan Chan the next day, so stop nearby at the beach, but the police move us on to the more touristy area of Huanchaco, a beach famous for its reed boats. It is Friday night and the locals are out partying, so it is rather noisy. So the next day we move to an “RV” park behind the hotels. All the locals out out on the beach, sunbathing, swimming, eating. We both go for rides on a reed boat – a very fun experience, and catch the local bus into town to see the raising of the flag and parade on Trujillo Plaza. The plaza is absolutely magnificent, and despite the lateness of the bus we make it in time for the very pompous ceremony. Oh, and yes, we did go to Chan Chan. The largest mud brick city in the world. The museum even had English writing and the complex itself had a restored section with lots of carvings.

Next stop is the city of Chichalayo, where we visit the local markets – a massive area selling everything from fruit, fish, and meat to witches potions & herbs. Then it is on to gawk at the amazing old tombs at Sipan. Actually the museum was better because we could see copies of the golden jewelry found in the tombs.

This is as far north as we plan to come this time. We are 800km south of the Equator. No more sunsets over the ocean. We now head east into the mountains via Mango valley (our name because it is full of Mango trees heavy with ripe fruit. Yum) There is also lots of rice paddies still being planted by hand. Finally we reach the pass and head down into Cajamarca, a large country town where the locals wear huge straw hats and the women are busy spinning, knitting and crocheting. Here we visit the very impressive El Complejo de Belen (church & hospital) with a gorgeous cathedral – no photos allowed, so you will have to believe me. We followed this with a set lunch at a little restaurant. We had 3 courses & freshly squeezed juice for the princely sum of 8 soles each ($3). Then it is on through amazingly hilly farmland. Crops, cottages & villages everywhere.

When we stop at a very unexciting gravel pit for the night (land is all used here) another camper van pulls up and we are joined by Friso & Wera (a German couple in a 4x4 Mercedes van). We travel together as we are both going via the mountains to Cusco.

The next few days sees us going up and down massive mountainsides on a real mixture of roads. Some narrow seal, some good wide seal, many narrow gravel, and even more simply goat tracks. The goat tracks in the rain were the worst- narrow & slippery with sheer vertical drops, no guard rails and plenty of oncoming buses & trucks. Despite all of this the scenery is magical. Just look at the photos. Gorge after amazing gorge. Scary road after scary road. We finally reach the Canon del Pato where the Cordillera Blanca meets the Cordillera Negra (black & white mtn ranges) – it is very nearly 2 sheer rock walls colliding. The road is a mere strip of dirt/gravel cut into the rock face with 35 rock tunnels. Phew! Finally we reach a wide tarseal road. It is cloudy, but by the next morning we are surrounded by massive snowy peaks. What a sight.

Adios Amigos