Pedro and Maria Motorcycle South America!: Abamcay to Cusco, 135 Miles

I didn’t know how I would feel in the morning, after sleeping in such high altitude, but to my pleasant surprise, I felt great, well, still had a dry throat and a tad dizzy…but good enough to eat some breakfast and hit the road towards Cusco!

I’ve been looking forward to Cusco for some time now, so today was an exciting day. From the pictures I’ve seen it looked like a really beautiful colonial city high in the Andes Mountains with plenty of charm and culture. It’s the oldest city in South America and the original capital of the Inca civilization. It also happens to be the hub for Machu Picchu in which you need to take a train from to get to Aguas Calientes, and then a bus up to Machu Picchu; quite a trek.

One thing that I would like to state, because it is blowing my mind and I’m not sure if we have emphasized it enough, we have gone through some extreme temperatures! Initially before we left on this trip, I anticipated some cold days, but thought more about the heat of the jungles through Central America. Well, we had some really hot days through Mexico and Central America, some very comfortable days through Ecuador, cool and hot dessert days through northern Peru, but up here in the Andes is another story. Just as we mentioned we saw snow on the ground yesterday, its cold! I wear all my layers, sit behind Mike who breaks my wind, and still have a chill through some of these mountain peaks. I’m glad we invested in good gear and I have my heated vest!

We enjoyed our free breakfast, the typical bread, jam, juice and coffee, although here in the mountains you have a choice of coffee or Mate Te (coca leaf tea, which is supposed to help with altitude sickness). Mate Te tastes kind of like what I would expect wheat grass tea to taste like, but after a little sweetening, it’s not bad. If it actually helps us, even better!

Mike was in better spirits from the night before, maybe from a good rest; maybe from getting out of the dingy town. We sped out of town and started to climb back and forth up the steep mountain sides. The scenery was beautiful, and the switch-back roads gave us plenty of opportunity to take it all in. I’m sure glad we were on the bike, because I think I would have had some bad car-sickness if I was in a bus with how windy the roads were. The mountains were lined with little crops, livestock and houses. The people all bundle in several layers wearing those strikingly tall top hats, the women in puffy thick skirts and most had some very fashionable leg warmers. I was thinking to myself, did we steal that fashion trend from these lovely ladies back in the 80’s???

Some people friendly, some not so much, but you never know what you’re getting. There are little boys on the side of the road that just watch you pass by, almost with a dropped jaw, then there are those who hold their hands high and wave vigorously with a big grin, but there are also the occasional rock throwers. Yes, at first you think it might be a friendly wave and before you know it they have chucked a rock at you, or spit in your direction. After a couple mountains sides I decided to refrain from waiving back until I was absolutely positive that I was receiving a wave rather than a rock. Along with the mix messages from the people, the same went for the dogs in this region. Plenty of peaceful dog lining the roads just watching us roll by, but then we also got a lot of chasers. The fun chasers are the ones that were peacefully sleeping until, after we have almost passed, they see us, quickly jump up and give as much gusto as they have in their body to catch up with us. I think it must be more of a game to them…poor things never win. Thank god Yoshita has a little punch when we need her to!

We passed valleys, mountain tops, rivers and canyons all with amazing scenery on a beautifully paved road. Yoshita is great, she climbed those hills like a champ! At one point I had Mike pull over by the river so I could take a pee. Because we have been told to drink plenty of water while climbing high altitudes, it has been difficult for me to hold it long enough to get into a town. Well, let’s just say that for the 30 seconds I had my pants down I somehow managed to get the BIGGEST bite on my bum. Who knows what from, but I guess that’s what I get for trying to relive my bladder! Men have such an unfair advantage…

After passing a few villages full of ladies with their finest top-hats, we turned a corner and could see below us the beautiful city of Cusco. Most of the roofs around here are red clay brick and compliment the surrounding hillsides very well. After checking a couple hotels around the square with parking, quoted $65, we cruised a little ways out of the main center and found a little gem for $20 a night and the guy said we can keep our bike here while we take the train into Machu Picchu. It’s a clean comfy room, but just like every other hotel in the mountains, even though it’s freezing they don’t have heaters!!! I don’t know what is up with these people…

First thing on our minds was food! We set out and found a pasta place and enjoy some delicious lasagna and ravioli. It was either excellent or just a breath of fresh air from what we were used to. Topped that off with an ice cream Sunday and a slice of Tiramisu that had the texture of a sticky marshmallow mousse (un-edible). Don’t these people know that Tiramisu is made with cream, not marshmallow! With full bellies we felt great, just as we left the restaurant we ran into Tom and Maria again. What a nice surprise! They had just arrived by bus that morning so we walked to the Norton Rats (a biker bar, which ironically has no bike parking and is located on the second floor) for a beer. We had another great conversation, sharing stories with them about some of our adventures and then split up as they were on the 6AM train to Machu Picchu. I was hungry again so we had some soup and sandwiches at a lovely restaurant which I’m hoping to enjoy some breakfast at tomorrow morning! Hopefully we’ll run into Maria and Tom again Saturday night before their flight to Miami.

We made it movie night back at the room and enjoyed Infiltrated with Matt Damon and Leonardo Dicaprio; great movie!

Mike can't breathe too well