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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Might be more

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

One more.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

After a few days at Tarma checking out caves, ruins and Inca trails we set off south.

We were handed nothing short of a glorious day allowing us pretty good views all round, plan was Las Bolsas to stay however they wanted more than 2 x our nightly average, also it was early in the day so we decided to carry on.



Given the clear skies I had spotted an intriguing snow capped mountain poking up on the middle of nowhere, we thought we would head for this and check it out.

Our maps showed a road to the top ... perfect, Mrs.Garmin agreed so that was that we were off.

Cresting the top I missed our turnoff because we were attacked by four dogs, one managing to temporarily latch onto my pants until I thumped it with a stone from our cup, we also cracked Maya open and they couldn’t keep up, this is what we saw ... slightly cool!!.



We decided to carry on over and down the other side, the road was in excellent condition and we had it to ourselves other than one stinky truck doings its two stroke impression.

Part of the road



The road seem to go on and on, I was starting to wonder if we had done the right move, late in the afternoon we came across Lampa .... yeah.



There was one hostel being build, one that was really shite and the one we ended up at which was a complete rook for the money but she had us cornered, next accom was around 4 hours away.

This was our room, note the window is a picture frame with the glass.



This was our toilet



There was no hot water .. definitely no Wifi.

They do have a cool tow square tho with a big hat



We have mentioned the barking dogs thing prior, it is worse here in Peru than anywhere else and this night was no exception keeping both of us awake for hours (normally Ellen sleeps through a bomb blast).

I went to find the source, knocking on the door with no answer the dog was going ape, so I knocked louder and heard someone but they would not come to the door so I thumped it harder and they yelled out something which I could not understand and the dog stopped....finally.:clap

In the morning they were not happy with me knocking on their door, the hostel owners were complaining about the dog too but didn’t want to say anything so they left it too me :huh.

The people then said it was not their dog (trying to get out of it) and they wanted and apology, both of us with our eyeballs around our knees they got quite the opposite.:evil

They then conceded acknowledging the dog barking and still wanted an apology ...WTF.... they got even more than they bargained for at that point.

Then leaving town four other dogs again racing out chasing us down the street with the owners just standing their looking ... no comprehension of civil minds there. :eek1

Talking with a local the previous night he said the road to Comas was no problem so we carried on and ha a great ride, getting narrow and boggy in places no vehicles had been through for quite some time so it was interesting, coupled with an assortment yet again of dogs wanting a piece of us....something in the water of this valley me thinks.:rofl







More awful views



And some fun bridges



Starting the decent



Comas appeared at around lunchtime, it was a welcome sight of seemingly normal people, lunch for the day was Coy (Guinea Pig) and it was very nicely cooked.

Maya again bought the place to a standstill with a crowd of about 15 or so very interested in the bike and us, many questions and big smiles .... almost back to Colombia.

The start of the gathering



Waving goodbye to our new found friends in Comas we hit the tar (what a treat) back to civilization and ended up in Concepcion so canned the day there getting a hostel with hot water, wifi and nice parking for Maya.

The main road back

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Hi Andy & Ellen. Was looking for info on the suzuki DR got high jacked, abducted, linked etc etc onto you ride blog Fantastic, thanks for sharing. Have to compliment Ellen though, that was no mean feat, riding a DR & getting as far as Mexico well done or Gud an ya gal ... yep even started to speak the lingo. You paint a super positive picture of south America. Pan Am highway is on my list but pushed way back, am now thinking of doing it earlier though. Was planning an overland trip to Ozz but am now half thinking of making a circle out of it Pan Am & back via Ozz Asia stans etc etc. Gotta have a look at the budget Glad the KTM, (started out as Kiwi Trauma Machine) is working out oke & has turned into Kiwi Tour Machine They are nice bikes. Go for it, keep the rubber side down ... Vince

Heya Vince

Sorry abut the abduction ... and any info we can help on the DR sing out, I still have one in NZ

Yes Ellen rode 32000 km before the big unexplained off, now life is on one moto so we still continue.

South America for us so far has been outstanding and we love it (except Peruvian drivers), as far as budget goes let us know what level of accom etc you like and we can give you up to minute info on what to budget, we have info for all the countries we have been.

And yes Maya, a few trials at first with a dishonest seller but we have her ironed out now and she is treating us well.

Cheers Andi

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Sky to sand ... top of the world to sea level, a 4740 meter drop in a couple of hours.... so feeling the cold, been hailed and snowed on it was “half time change sides” and coastal we go.:clap

I just felt like getting some sunburn and seeing if our camera was still playing up ... luckily it was. :evil ... but then the focus played up :cry

Heading through National Park Paisa Jistica we expected gravel of varying conditions ..... however no, totally tar and great condition, this was actually a bonus for us after bashing around on lumpy gravel so I took the advantage to have a restful ride and a wee snooze on the way... don’t tell Ellen. :wink:



Monster rock gardens



Awful valleys to look at :lol3



More pressure induced rock formations



Tomas, if we had known about it we would have left Concepcion later and stayed in Tomas, what a stunning wee town and very un-Peruvian being very clean.



As it was only mid morning we carried on with a healthy serving of canyons and rock gullies much to our surprise, we also thought we were on the wrong road as google maps show it as road 22 and Mrs.Garmin shows it as road 24 ... not sure who is wrong but we made it anyway.

Just after Tomas the wow was given to us again with a stunning lime rock canyon





As you can see it is skinny



Further down the valley the rock changes colour in the canyons



Our day was uneventful and pleasant until on a right hand blind corner we hit a moto head on, now we were hard to the right hand side like we always are on blind corner, the other moto was totally in our lane and totally on our side as well.

Not sure what he was thinking, if we were a typical Peruvian bus or truck that flies around corners without care they would have been dead.

No real damage to speak of other than the new gouges cover the old scratches, see were we are positioned, I had actually swung LEFT to avoid him but this was not entirely successful other than avoiding a harder impact.





He was very keen to pick up and get away, I think he thought he was in a pile of shit so wanted to get outa there asap.:rofl

Picking up Maya then his bike it was clear damage was minimal and no-one was hurt so all in all a successful crash if there is such an animal :clap

Getting down in elevation the whole moonscape changes from lush mountain to arid desert



Making it out to the coast almost intact we headed north to Cerro Azul to the beach, nice place but spendie compared to the rest of Peru.

Sunsets are something we have had a shortfall of and we have been missing, with our timing right mum nature chucked us a beauty to watch for the evening, total change from the alps and a great contrast for us.



Rock bluffs with surfers



The sea about to put the sun out



The End

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Hiii Andi & Ellen, abduction thingy is forgiven cant beat a goo old abduction to get the fun going Glad you both survived that close encounter of the bendy kind. Have ridden a lot in the Himalayas on an enfield Always fitted a loud horn & sounded it on corners, mmmnnnn doesn't actually help much Thanks for offer of info, hope to take you up on it later on. Am in the early planning stage, gotta get out of working first Regards the bike DR doesn't seem to be sold here in Holland, so have a short list of : triumph 800xc, support me neighbours .... am Irish, BMW 800 support me neighbours, live & work in Holland, KTM 990 adv R piss me neighbours off. But all that can & will change Its all part of the fun. I drive a guzzi norge here in Europe Your walking sticks are they the telescopic ones ?? Have ear marked your site & will follow you here on HU. Will get in contact for info, but think that it will be summer 2015 at the earliest when I can make a move and by then will end up going somewhere completely different jeeeezzzzz. Anyways you two have fun & keep the rubber side down ..... Vince

Sand ... but friendly ...well mostly:clap

Down the Pan Am .... not a lot of fun and certainly nothing worth writing home about ... until Paracas

Paracas is a cool settlement on the beach ....lotsa white faces there.. gringos !!, the place was spendie for what it was nonetheless it was nice.

It’s gem the Reserva National De Paracas which is only 5 minutes from town, this opens up into an unusual place laden with sand dunes and cliffs and colours beyond belief.



So we have seen some pretty cool stuff thus far in Peru and for me this was chart topping stuff, although we have stunning scenery like in Huascaran National Park we do not have stuff like this in New Zealand ... or at least not where we live.

The atmosphere is very lite here too :rofl



While in Cerro Azul we met some french overlanders in a cool truck and we met them again in Paracas after chatting with them about the park.



In the park there are several main drags to go down then you can branch off from there to the various coves, hills, cliffs, sea, sand and spectacular vistas





Now we struck it right with the weather knowing that others had hit fog taking away the breathtaking views, we can now show what is there.

We also spent the evening out and caught the sunset :clap



This stuff was soft tho :eek1



A few pics and not much more writing on this report but you can see why.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Not all cool things were in the desert, while in Paracas having lunch a 1200 GS rumbled into town, being nosy I had to have a look and duly met Nick and Kanchan an Indian born couple who live in Texas been travelling the world for three years.



Needless to say we had lots to chat about, very cool couple indeed.

The beach was also a lure water the water fairly cool even by Ellens standards, there was some nice boats parked in the bay.



There was a cool Russian truck too with Argentinian plates, we didn't get to find the owners tho, would have interesting talking with them.



Surprisingly there was a bit of pussy at our hostel ..... :lol3 and some kitten that provided a lt of entertainment hooning around in reception.



Nice place to hang out for a few days, pretty laid back and friendly.:clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

G'day Andi and Ellen ,love the shot of the lamas,such wonderful country you are currently riding through.Photography up to your usual standard.So pleased the off was not a bad one.Did you give some thought to giving old mate a think lip ?
So glad you are helping Paul ,very nice bloke,i wish him well on his travels.Any hoo until next time YDF Noel.