19 April to 1 May 2006
I left to meet John at Lima and had a great ride through some amazing and changing scenery and was really giving the Dakar some “big licks” along some pretty fast open country roads.
I was thoroughly enjoying the ride and turned on to the Pan American highway. Within a few miles I was waved over by the Police, an event Phil and I had become accustomed to. However, on this occasion within a few minutes words like “rapido” and “radio” entered the conversation and I had the distinct sense that I was in trouble one way or another…somewhere in all of this I had a sense also that they might have been bluffing or that I really had been caught red-handed, and I wasn‘t sure which one was which ! After a few more minutes they asked me to show my documents and led me over to their car where they produced their “infraction“ book. Within which are all the possible driving offences you might commit and fine levels for each infraction. According to the Officer my fine was approx 300 Soles, about $100. I told him I didn’t have it but we could go to the cash point…he didn’t want that. In the end, he settled for 120 Soles which was pretty much the only Soles I had in my wallet. The long and the short was the guy wanted a “bribe” rather than hand out a ticket. I was actually confused as I left the incident behind as I just hadn’t expected to face such circumstances-naïve probably, but nothing previous to this had prepared me…….. I continued at a more leisurely pace.
Eventually I stopped for the night at about the halfway point between Huarez and Lima at a place called Huacho, finding myself one of the only guests in a large hotel with a lovely and large swimming pool.
I set off the next day with plenty of time to meet John, so no need to break the speed limits! However the Pan American to Lima splits into two and I inadvertently picked the route which is only for Heavy vehicles ….for which I discovered the reason why later whilst being blown about with shear drops and no barriers to my right…. Anyway, just about a mile from the end of this section of road I passed a Police car and gave a wave, the next thing I see in the mirror is the police car with flashing lights and tooting his horn for me to pull over. He was angry and I didn’t know why. I immediately protested that I had been obeying the speed limit. To cut a long story short, he had my licence and passport and, according to his infraction book, was entitled to withdraw my licence….this was for using the wrong road. My protests of not knowing the language were ultimately met, I think, with their equivalent of “life is hard !” Ultimately they had me over a barrel. I just wasn’t prepared for such abuse of Police power and found myself bartering for my licence. The original asking price was $100, I declined, they asked for $50, I offered $30 and they settled for about $27 as I only had largish denomination $ notes and didn’t feel like “change” was going to be an option, so I paid them in Soles. They were very nervous afterwards and I then realised that they had overstepped the mark but I was pretty well powerless to do anything so I took it on the chin, and my view and respect for the Police changed, and my initial love of Peru took its first knock.
Miraflores in a suburb of Lima, and according to all, the place to stay if you need to be in the area. Trying to find Miraflores turned out to be a nightmare, even with the GPS, the roads were confusing. Some of the parts of Lima I saw were very grim, and crime is quite prevalent. Finally I make it to the main Plaza in Miraflores and am looking for the Flying Dog back packers when an excited Spaniard comes running over to me to introduce himself. It turns out that he is about three quarters of the way through an around-the-world trip on a 6 cylinder 1500cc Goldwing…and John and I thought our bikes were heavy ! To cut a long story short, he directed me to an alternative backpacker, La Casa Nostra, where I finally set up shop for Johns return. His name is Raymon and we agree to meet up a few nights later for dinner.
I arranged for a Taxi to the airport to meet John, via McDonalds ! …… and was really pleased to see John walk through the barrier …..with the new TKC80’s
, and my other new toys !! 
The following evening and day we spend the day catching up with each others news.
The day after we re-fit my TKC80´s from Tuscon to the bike and try to buy some additional footrests to increase the height of the rear ones as Johns legs were resting on the pannier lids (since having them enlarged when we were in the States.). We finally settled for cutting up two pieces of broomstick and gaffer-taping them to the original rear footrests. (another hi-tech solution !)
On Saturday we left for Huarez and meeting up with Phil. We arrived there in the dark having been stopped 6 times by the Police for spot checks!
It really did seem near the end that they were working collectively to try and get a bribe out of us for something as on our penultimate stop the two Policemen virtually ran at us to ask if we had insurance which we´d never been asked anywhere before. When I started to argue that it was not necessary they then started talking about "rapido" i.e. speeding, BUT I knew I had ridden within the limits and had the extra conviction of that to stand up to them. One of them tried it on John(as my passenger!) that I´d been speeding but he denied it....so, yes, you´ve guessed it, they went back to the issue of insurance again ! It is actually quite a complex issue but we finally got a letter from the largest insurer in Peru to the effect that we couldn´t get insurance as we didn´t have Peruvian driving licences. 
Huarez from the hotel...
Our first day in Huarez and apart from trying to get used to the altitude and a new town we started to look for someone to take us for Spanish lessons. With the time away I had all but forgotten the little Spanish I knew. Mike obviously immersed in the language had improved since I last left him. This was going to be a difficult challenge for the teacher. We found two places in town who were able to teach Spanish. The first was our hotel and the second was the owner of a café in town. The owner of the Café wasn’t present so we left a message for them to contact us later in the day.
The next morning there had been no reply from the café owner but the teacher connected to the hotel turned up and after a short discussion we enrolled for the week with lessons three hours a day plus homework! Starting straight away… well after breakfast.
The time in Huarez was for me to get used to the altitude and to go on as many walks as possible to strengthen my ankle so on the Monday afternoon Phil, Mike and myself set off towards a large cross on a hill just outside town. We set off at a fair speed but that soon dwindled as the altitude and because we were struggling to find the path up. After an hour or so not finding the path we called time and headed back as my ankle was starting to get sore and the sunlight was on its way out for the day.
After the previous days activities we had a relaxing day after the mornings Spanish lessons with a long lunch, a snooze then dinner where we planned our walk for the next day.
This time we worked out our walking route in advance so there wouldn’t be the failures from before. The walk was a Taxi ride away. So with rucksacks full of water and food we headed off into the hills in a taxi. The road, to the planned starting village, was the usual un-made road and the car bounced around and grounded numerous times before we made it about halfway to our destination. At this point the only single track road stopped as the road had been dug up for repair! So after a quick discussion we changed plans to walk back to the hotel. The views were spectacular with huge aloes with even larger Flower spikes growing out of the hills sides along with terraced farmland, lakes and alpine trees.
View of the track up
To give an idea of scaleof the flower spike, the aloe at the bottom is about 5ft high
As before we took the next day as a rest day. The only news to report that my bike finally made it to the steamline at Miami. The downside it would not arrive until the 10 May. ( There have been numerous problems shipping my bike. I’ll write a complete low down when I finally get it!). Given this info we discuss our plans and dates and decide to head off next week for Nasca & Arequipa whilst waiting for my bike. This way we will get as much as we can out of Peru. It means for me riding Pillion for a while!
The following day, after our Spanish lesson, we went on a long walk out to the hot springs. The route was out of town and up. Phil has been to the springs before and said it wasn’t too far and that there was a route via the hills rather than taking the main road. After asking a couple of locals we confirmed that we were on the right road, at the bottom of the hill and started heading up hill. The road climbed and climbed. It climbed very steeply what seemed forever. Fighting for air and the heat we finally arrived at the town on the map which showed the route across to the springs. After a quick search we could not find a route so we asked a local who promptly walked us down the hill some 400 meters (Arghh!). Found the path and enjoyed a relatively flat walk for a while. Phil who had been to the springs before pointed down to a building directly below us in the valley below. To get to it we had to take a very small path down. Ever wary of twisting or over doing the pressure on the ankle I followed slowly. As we proceeded along the path it became narrower and steeping finally turning into a sheep run! Given that there was no way we were going to climb back up at this altitude to find the right path we carried on and eventually making the bottom and the main road.
Once at the bottom Phil realised that the baths were in the next valley (add in your own expletives here), so after stopping at a Tienda to get some drinks and the owner saying that we were very handsome (Seems they don’t get a lot of ‘new blood’ in town. I’m obviously talking on behalf of Mike and Phil here. Me, I can completely understand why she said it…. Anyway I digress) . We followed the road for a while, but on route the rain started but we managed to get to the hot springs without getting too soggy. The springs were unlike the one’s in Laird Springs, Canada which are set in the natural environment. These are big footballer’s / rugby plays baths which were in a fairly large building and are filled as required from taps. We found ourselves a tub and started filling. With the rain and being inside it was quite dark and dingy so we tried to turn the light on. No joy. We asked the assistant who was cleaning the corridor about the fault with the light to be told that the lights will only come on after 6 pm!
Regardless on the lack of light we stretched out in the hot waters and stayed until we could bare the heat no longer.
The plan was to get a taxi back into town but none were around so we braved the collectivo. /The collectivo are mini bus style passenger vans that cost 1 Soli a trip (16 p). the vans are crammed with about 20 people and the drivers stop of nothing on the road, when pulling out but will stop at a drop of a hat for another fare (These are great to follow on the bike as rarely do any of the rear lights work and there is absolutely no chance of them using indicators). We made it back into town in one piece and kicked back in a bar for a quiet evening.
The next day was more Spanish and, although tired, none of us ached from the long walk from the previous day. Never the less we had a quiet day relaxing anyway.
The next day was my birthday. Still in shock from rejoining the trip and the ankle still stiff when getting up or down I didn’t feel for a big party. Anyway there isn’t many places you can go in town anyway.
So after a long stretched out breakfast we made our second attempt on the Cross we could see on the hill just outside of town! This time we asked some locals for the way and Phil was ably assisted by a local drunk who was more than happy to show us the way for a Soli….
This time we made it although the route we ended up on took us via the next hill which was only passable by a summit route. The weather was hot again and the altitude was really making us suffer. To add insult to injury the peak we had to go via was higher than the cross so more extra leg and lung work. Finally we made it and it was a pleasant trip down into the town and a good meal and a couple of beers to finish the day.
The route up
Near the top where we are fighting for air... Locals are tilling the fields by hand!
Making it to the peak ... Finally
The next day Phil was off to Miraflores ahead of us as he wanted to do an oil change before heading south to Nasca and Arequipa.
Flying start from Phil...
Mike and myself decided to take a trip to some high plateau lakes some 80 miles away for the day. The road up the mountain was unpaved but was meant to be in good condition. The journey to the base of the mountain was pretty but uneventful apart from a small boy serving at the petrol station trying to rip us off for another 10 Solis (Not much but a real pain!)
When we turned off the road it deteriorated rapidly (with me riding pillion it became pretty uncomfortable) and we became prime sport for the local dogs who chased and barked along side us, in front of us and behind us. That aside the views were spectacular and lakes were stunning. It was well worth the effort and a great day to end our time in Huarez.
Start of the trip into the high plateau
Road beside one of the lakes...
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/10708027/156708238.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The lake itself.
The road is a little on the rocky side...
Nearly at the top...
The clouds just cleared long enough...
The route back...
John (With help in the first section from Mike)
I left to meet John at Lima and had a great ride through some amazing and changing scenery and was really giving the Dakar some “big licks” along some pretty fast open country roads.
I was thoroughly enjoying the ride and turned on to the Pan American highway. Within a few miles I was waved over by the Police, an event Phil and I had become accustomed to. However, on this occasion within a few minutes words like “rapido” and “radio” entered the conversation and I had the distinct sense that I was in trouble one way or another…somewhere in all of this I had a sense also that they might have been bluffing or that I really had been caught red-handed, and I wasn‘t sure which one was which ! After a few more minutes they asked me to show my documents and led me over to their car where they produced their “infraction“ book. Within which are all the possible driving offences you might commit and fine levels for each infraction. According to the Officer my fine was approx 300 Soles, about $100. I told him I didn’t have it but we could go to the cash point…he didn’t want that. In the end, he settled for 120 Soles which was pretty much the only Soles I had in my wallet. The long and the short was the guy wanted a “bribe” rather than hand out a ticket. I was actually confused as I left the incident behind as I just hadn’t expected to face such circumstances-naïve probably, but nothing previous to this had prepared me…….. I continued at a more leisurely pace.
Eventually I stopped for the night at about the halfway point between Huarez and Lima at a place called Huacho, finding myself one of the only guests in a large hotel with a lovely and large swimming pool.
I set off the next day with plenty of time to meet John, so no need to break the speed limits! However the Pan American to Lima splits into two and I inadvertently picked the route which is only for Heavy vehicles ….for which I discovered the reason why later whilst being blown about with shear drops and no barriers to my right…. Anyway, just about a mile from the end of this section of road I passed a Police car and gave a wave, the next thing I see in the mirror is the police car with flashing lights and tooting his horn for me to pull over. He was angry and I didn’t know why. I immediately protested that I had been obeying the speed limit. To cut a long story short, he had my licence and passport and, according to his infraction book, was entitled to withdraw my licence….this was for using the wrong road. My protests of not knowing the language were ultimately met, I think, with their equivalent of “life is hard !” Ultimately they had me over a barrel. I just wasn’t prepared for such abuse of Police power and found myself bartering for my licence. The original asking price was $100, I declined, they asked for $50, I offered $30 and they settled for about $27 as I only had largish denomination $ notes and didn’t feel like “change” was going to be an option, so I paid them in Soles. They were very nervous afterwards and I then realised that they had overstepped the mark but I was pretty well powerless to do anything so I took it on the chin, and my view and respect for the Police changed, and my initial love of Peru took its first knock.
Miraflores in a suburb of Lima, and according to all, the place to stay if you need to be in the area. Trying to find Miraflores turned out to be a nightmare, even with the GPS, the roads were confusing. Some of the parts of Lima I saw were very grim, and crime is quite prevalent. Finally I make it to the main Plaza in Miraflores and am looking for the Flying Dog back packers when an excited Spaniard comes running over to me to introduce himself. It turns out that he is about three quarters of the way through an around-the-world trip on a 6 cylinder 1500cc Goldwing…and John and I thought our bikes were heavy ! To cut a long story short, he directed me to an alternative backpacker, La Casa Nostra, where I finally set up shop for Johns return. His name is Raymon and we agree to meet up a few nights later for dinner.
I arranged for a Taxi to the airport to meet John, via McDonalds ! …… and was really pleased to see John walk through the barrier …..with the new TKC80’s
, and my other new toys !! The following evening and day we spend the day catching up with each others news.
The day after we re-fit my TKC80´s from Tuscon to the bike and try to buy some additional footrests to increase the height of the rear ones as Johns legs were resting on the pannier lids (since having them enlarged when we were in the States.). We finally settled for cutting up two pieces of broomstick and gaffer-taping them to the original rear footrests. (another hi-tech solution !)
On Saturday we left for Huarez and meeting up with Phil. We arrived there in the dark having been stopped 6 times by the Police for spot checks!
It really did seem near the end that they were working collectively to try and get a bribe out of us for something as on our penultimate stop the two Policemen virtually ran at us to ask if we had insurance which we´d never been asked anywhere before. When I started to argue that it was not necessary they then started talking about "rapido" i.e. speeding, BUT I knew I had ridden within the limits and had the extra conviction of that to stand up to them. One of them tried it on John(as my passenger!) that I´d been speeding but he denied it....so, yes, you´ve guessed it, they went back to the issue of insurance again ! It is actually quite a complex issue but we finally got a letter from the largest insurer in Peru to the effect that we couldn´t get insurance as we didn´t have Peruvian driving licences.
Huarez from the hotel...
Our first day in Huarez and apart from trying to get used to the altitude and a new town we started to look for someone to take us for Spanish lessons. With the time away I had all but forgotten the little Spanish I knew. Mike obviously immersed in the language had improved since I last left him. This was going to be a difficult challenge for the teacher. We found two places in town who were able to teach Spanish. The first was our hotel and the second was the owner of a café in town. The owner of the Café wasn’t present so we left a message for them to contact us later in the day.
The next morning there had been no reply from the café owner but the teacher connected to the hotel turned up and after a short discussion we enrolled for the week with lessons three hours a day plus homework! Starting straight away… well after breakfast.
The time in Huarez was for me to get used to the altitude and to go on as many walks as possible to strengthen my ankle so on the Monday afternoon Phil, Mike and myself set off towards a large cross on a hill just outside town. We set off at a fair speed but that soon dwindled as the altitude and because we were struggling to find the path up. After an hour or so not finding the path we called time and headed back as my ankle was starting to get sore and the sunlight was on its way out for the day.
After the previous days activities we had a relaxing day after the mornings Spanish lessons with a long lunch, a snooze then dinner where we planned our walk for the next day.
This time we worked out our walking route in advance so there wouldn’t be the failures from before. The walk was a Taxi ride away. So with rucksacks full of water and food we headed off into the hills in a taxi. The road, to the planned starting village, was the usual un-made road and the car bounced around and grounded numerous times before we made it about halfway to our destination. At this point the only single track road stopped as the road had been dug up for repair! So after a quick discussion we changed plans to walk back to the hotel. The views were spectacular with huge aloes with even larger Flower spikes growing out of the hills sides along with terraced farmland, lakes and alpine trees.
View of the track up
To give an idea of scaleof the flower spike, the aloe at the bottom is about 5ft high
As before we took the next day as a rest day. The only news to report that my bike finally made it to the steamline at Miami. The downside it would not arrive until the 10 May. ( There have been numerous problems shipping my bike. I’ll write a complete low down when I finally get it!). Given this info we discuss our plans and dates and decide to head off next week for Nasca & Arequipa whilst waiting for my bike. This way we will get as much as we can out of Peru. It means for me riding Pillion for a while!
The following day, after our Spanish lesson, we went on a long walk out to the hot springs. The route was out of town and up. Phil has been to the springs before and said it wasn’t too far and that there was a route via the hills rather than taking the main road. After asking a couple of locals we confirmed that we were on the right road, at the bottom of the hill and started heading up hill. The road climbed and climbed. It climbed very steeply what seemed forever. Fighting for air and the heat we finally arrived at the town on the map which showed the route across to the springs. After a quick search we could not find a route so we asked a local who promptly walked us down the hill some 400 meters (Arghh!). Found the path and enjoyed a relatively flat walk for a while. Phil who had been to the springs before pointed down to a building directly below us in the valley below. To get to it we had to take a very small path down. Ever wary of twisting or over doing the pressure on the ankle I followed slowly. As we proceeded along the path it became narrower and steeping finally turning into a sheep run! Given that there was no way we were going to climb back up at this altitude to find the right path we carried on and eventually making the bottom and the main road.
Once at the bottom Phil realised that the baths were in the next valley (add in your own expletives here), so after stopping at a Tienda to get some drinks and the owner saying that we were very handsome (Seems they don’t get a lot of ‘new blood’ in town. I’m obviously talking on behalf of Mike and Phil here. Me, I can completely understand why she said it…. Anyway I digress) . We followed the road for a while, but on route the rain started but we managed to get to the hot springs without getting too soggy. The springs were unlike the one’s in Laird Springs, Canada which are set in the natural environment. These are big footballer’s / rugby plays baths which were in a fairly large building and are filled as required from taps. We found ourselves a tub and started filling. With the rain and being inside it was quite dark and dingy so we tried to turn the light on. No joy. We asked the assistant who was cleaning the corridor about the fault with the light to be told that the lights will only come on after 6 pm!
Regardless on the lack of light we stretched out in the hot waters and stayed until we could bare the heat no longer.
The plan was to get a taxi back into town but none were around so we braved the collectivo. /The collectivo are mini bus style passenger vans that cost 1 Soli a trip (16 p). the vans are crammed with about 20 people and the drivers stop of nothing on the road, when pulling out but will stop at a drop of a hat for another fare (These are great to follow on the bike as rarely do any of the rear lights work and there is absolutely no chance of them using indicators). We made it back into town in one piece and kicked back in a bar for a quiet evening.
The next day was more Spanish and, although tired, none of us ached from the long walk from the previous day. Never the less we had a quiet day relaxing anyway.
The next day was my birthday. Still in shock from rejoining the trip and the ankle still stiff when getting up or down I didn’t feel for a big party. Anyway there isn’t many places you can go in town anyway.
So after a long stretched out breakfast we made our second attempt on the Cross we could see on the hill just outside of town! This time we asked some locals for the way and Phil was ably assisted by a local drunk who was more than happy to show us the way for a Soli….
This time we made it although the route we ended up on took us via the next hill which was only passable by a summit route. The weather was hot again and the altitude was really making us suffer. To add insult to injury the peak we had to go via was higher than the cross so more extra leg and lung work. Finally we made it and it was a pleasant trip down into the town and a good meal and a couple of beers to finish the day.
The route up
Near the top where we are fighting for air... Locals are tilling the fields by hand!
Making it to the peak ... Finally
The next day Phil was off to Miraflores ahead of us as he wanted to do an oil change before heading south to Nasca and Arequipa.
Flying start from Phil...
Mike and myself decided to take a trip to some high plateau lakes some 80 miles away for the day. The road up the mountain was unpaved but was meant to be in good condition. The journey to the base of the mountain was pretty but uneventful apart from a small boy serving at the petrol station trying to rip us off for another 10 Solis (Not much but a real pain!)
When we turned off the road it deteriorated rapidly (with me riding pillion it became pretty uncomfortable) and we became prime sport for the local dogs who chased and barked along side us, in front of us and behind us. That aside the views were spectacular and lakes were stunning. It was well worth the effort and a great day to end our time in Huarez.
Start of the trip into the high plateau
Road beside one of the lakes...
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/10708027/156708238.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The lake itself.
The road is a little on the rocky side...
Nearly at the top...
The clouds just cleared long enough...
The route back...
John (With help in the first section from Mike)
