Stage 4 of my South American Journey - November 2001 My Transalp was parked at Walter Nosiglias Honda shop in La Paz. When I picked it up it was well serviced and ready to go. In the beginning, I had some problems adjusting to the bike, which I had not ridden for 6 month. But after a few kilometers it was okay again. 140.000km should be enough to get used to the bike. The Hotel Oberland in La Paz - Mallassa has become my home when I visit La Paz. Walter Schmidt has transformed it into a very nice and comfortable place and is nevertheless looking after the needs of travellers on a budget. Since I visited La Paz several times within the last year, I longed to get out of the city into the countryside. Unfortunately, bad weather forced me to abandon my plans to visit the small Andean town of Sorata. Heavy thunderstorms gathered in the mountains and reached far into the altiplano. My first stop was in Tihuanaco, where the largest and most important ruins of Bolivia can be visited. There I met a resident Argentinian, Ricardo, who has travelled with his Transalp all over South-America. We had some good motorcycle talks and he showed photos of his Transalp deep in the mudholes of the Yungas roads and white of salt on the Salar de Uyuni. Crossing the border into Peru was much easier than expected. After one hour both sides were completed and I could move on towards Moquegua, almost on the coast. The road from Desaguadero on Lake Titicaca to Moquegua is fully paved and in perfect condition. It runs at 4000-4500m altitude, at one point climbing up a pass to 4755m. Up to 4500m the Transalp had no problems, except some loss of power. Above 4500m, there were intermittent problems with one cylinder. But that seemed to be not serious, as it only occurred when going uphill. The scenery was great, grazing llama and alpaca, volcanoes, big empty spaces, and towards the coast huge fields of sand. The descent from 4500m to 2000m was a breathtaking succession of curves, serpentines and steep descends with great views. Moquegua was badly damaged by the earthquake in June. There are many gaps between houses where once proud buildings stood and now construction workers try to build new houses. The city is charming, but there is not much to see. Continuing on the Pan American Highway parallelling the coast was pretty boring. Although some curvy sections were no too bad, long almost straight sections through the desert made me almost to sleep. After staying in the uninteresting town of Camana for the night, I continued north on the Pan-American Hwy high above steep cliffs that made Hwy 1 in California look like a street along a flat beach. Although the area is dry as a bone, there are some irrigated valleys, where water from the mountains produces an abundance of crops. Rice fields in the desert are a very surprising sight. In Nasca I flew over the famous lines. Between 4400BC and 600 AD the Nasca culure has produced huge figures, geometrical forms and seemingly endless straight lines int the dry ground. They are only visible from the air and there are Condor, Monkey, Hummingbird, Dog, Astronaut and more figures to see. The climatic change threatens these old structures, since the first rain ever recorded in Nasca was in 1998, and last year it rained one day for 4 hours. The runoff water has swept away parts of the lines, and it is possible, that further rain will wipe out large parts of the figures. Here in Nasca I met Kris from Belgium. He is travelling around the world on a Honda Pan European. He shows that it is possible to do all the bad roads with a 328 kg touring bike as well. We went go to the oasis of Huacachina, 300km south of Lima to relax for a day or two at the desert lake surrounded by dunes. I went through Lima, non stop since I don't like big cities. And the brown, almost treeless mass of this desert megalopolis did not excite me at all. Lima stretches the desert coastline for almost 70km. A small dirtroad turns off the Panamericana 200km north of Lima. It follows a narrow valley and climbs from sea level into the Andes. There was almost no traffic, but the scenery was very impressive. After 6 hours I reached the small village of Cajatombo. The local policeman greeted me on the townsquare, while a local guy took a photo of me. There had not been a tourist in town for several weeks. I enjoyed the relxing atmosphere and had a nice conversation with my hosts at the only, very basic, hotel in town. The road across the Sierra Huahuash had been washed away years ago, so I had to go back to the coast before I could continue to travel through the Andes further north again. The rainy season seemed to arrive, after noon most mountains were covered by thick clouds, and showers kept the valley wet. I went to Caraz where I stayed in the small paradise of Hostal Chamana. It's a great place, run by a German family. Caraz is a good starting point for exploring the Sierra Blanca mountains. Travelling through the Llanganuco valley, dominated by snow covered Huandoy and Huascaran /6768m) mountains was just breathtaking. Going up from two turquoise lakes on a small dirt road towards sheer cliffs is a very spectacular ride that can probably only be found in the Andes. The pass is at 4850m and the view towards the toweling mountains and into the deep valley is marvellous. Leaving Caraz was difficult, since I did not know when I would be residing in such a nice place again. Thanks for the good time, and the good food at Hostal Chamanna, Caraz, Peru. The road to the coast through the Canon del Pato, Canyon of the Duck, is spectacular. An old railroad track is used, very narrow, with 35 dark tunnels. Most of it is unpaved, but reasonably good to travel. Beyond the canyon, the road gets a bit rough, but easily passable all the way to the coast. I made it to Huanchaco, a fishing village near Trujillo, 500km north of Lima. Its a small seaside resort where local fishermen still ride the waves with their tiny boards made from reet. The nearby ruins of Chan Chan, once a thriving city of 28 square kilometers in size, gave only partly a feeling for the huge city that still existed when the Spaniards conquered the area. My next destination was Cajamarca, the city where the last king of the Incas, Atahualpa was killed. Its situated in the Andes, 200km from the coast. The weather was mixed, with sun in the morning, but heavy rain in the afternoon. The room, where Atahualpa was kept as a prisoner is now a museum. The Spanish conquistadores demanded a room full of gold for his release. Atahualpa delivered, but was nevertheless killed. There are some nice churches and many old buildings in Cajamarca. The road through the Andes is fully paved and scenic. This made up a bit for the next boring stretch of road through the desert near the coast. After a night in Piura, a boring town in northern Peru, I went to the border with Ecuador at Macara. Just before the border, I had my first flat tyre of the entire journey. With the help of a local motorcyclist who stopped when he saw my problem, it was resolved within 30 minutes. Shortly after that incident, I reached the border between Peru and Ecuador. At the border in Macara, which is said to be much easier than the main border crossing at the coast, I had no problems at all. I showed my international registration, and the officials put a stamp in it, no question for a carnet de passage. We talked about the World Cup Qualification where Ecuador qualified ahead of Brazil, and Germany with some problems just a day before. They did not even stamp the motorcycle into my passport as they often do. Football seems to ease the process at borders. From Macara I took the road to Cariamanga. It must be very scenic, but I did not see all of it, since the clouds were low and a long stretch of the road was covered in dense fog. But the rich tropical vegetation was a sharp contrast to the desert of Peru, and Bolivia, and Chile, before. Unfortunately, the unpaved road is going to be paved. There was a long construction area, where loose gravel, mud and heavy rains made it difficult to get through. At one point, the whole road was just a quagmire, and all cars and buses were stuck in the mud. With some luck I got through. I reached my destination, Vilcabamba just before it got dark. The Hostal las Ruinas is a paradise. A great place to chill out. They have a pool, jacuzzi, Turkish bath, sauna, volleyball field and much more. The staff is very friendly, and it cost 10 US$ including two meals per room. The roads in southern Ecuador are a bikers dream. Many curves, going up and down mountain passes with great views. Only the police checks of all passing vehicles in every town are a nuisance. They always want to see the drivers licence and the vehicle registration. But they have not checked yet, if the registration is for this bike. One time, there were 3 police checks within 15km. I enjoyed the nice colonial town of Cuenca, before enjoying more curves on the way north to Baños. In Riobamba I asked several times for the road to Bantildeos, and eventually, I found it. But I was very surprised when I reached a point, where the road was washed away, and there was just a narrow, sandy deviation through the ravine where a truck got stuck. No way to get past him. I was told, that there were more washouts from the recent eruption of the nearby volcano Tungurahua, which was clearly visible above, with a big cloud of smoke. But with the bike it should be no problem people said. I continued and had to do some nice Enduro riding before I got to a steep and long climb. What looked from below pretty easy turned out to be impassable for a heavy Transalp. After about 300m climb, the ground became loose sand and gravel, the bike dug in and it was almost impossible to get it out of the hole the rear tyre dug itself in the steep grade. I dropped the bike several times since my feet slid away in the loose gravel. I unloaded the bike, but to no avail. After one drop, somehow the gearbox was in neutral, and when I picked up the bike, it rolled backwards with me clinging to it. All I could do was to throw it against the wall of sand before it could fall down into the river. All the meters I had gained and worked so hard on were lost, and I gave up, turned around and did a 150km detour to reach Bantildeos. I later learned, that I was only ten kilometers from Bantildeos and only 200m from the paved road. Do not try this road on your own with a heavy bike. Its passable with a light Enduro, or if there is somebody to push through the loose sections. Bantildeos is a small town in a nice tropical environment with six thermal baths, many restaurants, bars, ice cream shops and tourists. After two days of relaxing and reflecting the past weeks with all their impressions, I continued to Quito. Before heading into the bustle of the city, I went to the equator, just 25 km north of the city. Standing with one foot in the northern hemisphere, while the other foot rested in the south was a great experience. I felt a great relief, since I had reached the way point of my Journey. In Quito I met Ricardo Rocco, a local motorcycle traveller who supports passing motorcyclists. A great guy. He just helped Lew Waterman, an American motorcyclist to find a decent hospital to take care of his broken leg. Lew rides with his small dog Punky (going from)Alaska - Fireland. My Transalp was safely stored at Ricardos garage while I had to fly home again. .
WERNER