TravelStream™ news feed for member johnorton on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/johnorton en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 28 May 2009 18:27:43 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242951300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242951300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242951300/tpod.html Thu, 28 May 2009 18:27:43 -0400 Motorcycle trip over the Andes Bolivia & Peru: - La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Macchu Pichu, Nazca Lines, Lima

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Aguas Calientes, Sacred Valley, Peru

We are here at the base of Machu Picchu. What an amazing ride and train trip from ollyuntumbo(sp)
Anyway this internet cafe is sloooooooow... so pictures and a major update of the trip today and Machu Picchu tomorrow evening when we get back to Cusco
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Phoenix, Arizona, United States

I just love to come home from any trip, but this one was exhausting. I think we saw enough of Peru & Bolivia to make the trip eventful. Certainly would change a few things if wew did it next time time make our lives a little easier, and might ask for more personal information on some travelers.One woman we traveled with had underwear stolen (missing) from her washing which she sent out in Cusco and was making a big hullaballoo about her missing underwear. I thought it was a bit of a joke to complain so badly about a pair of underwear, which I thought you could buy a replacement pair for less than a $1, until I learned that they were "Compression Underwear" valued at $50... now that's a whole different story. I'll have to look into the whole "Compression Underwear" thing... the first thing which came to my mind was "Like a Girdle"? Apparently not?
Anyway, home at last - the dogs were sure happy to see us -again!
Now its time to go through the multitude of pictures and videos; sort out the good from the bad and post the best of them here in the next few days....
If you are ever thinking of riding motorcycles through South America... drop me a line!
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Houston, Texas, United States

Anyone who has spent time wandering around airports knows, there is only so much you can do before you go stir crazy.For me its about 14 minutes... Anyway, the flight from Lima to Houston was full and I got to sit in the aisle seat, so I could put my leg up over Susan's leg - to lessen the anticipated swelling on the flight. My feet & legs normally swell a little when you are crammed into the cattle class seats, but with an injury I knew it was going to be a little worse.I popped one of the pain/anti-inflamatory pills under my tongue which we got from the "pahrmacia"... rejected the "chicken or beef"? question regarding the meal - recalling the sandwiches we had eaten on the route "Chicken or Beef"? - "I don't know perhapse a CSI team can help identify which one it is"?After an hour or so I could feel the swelling in my leg starting to make my skin itch, and the pain started to get a little worse, so I popped another magic pill and fell off to sleep. I must have been asleep for a couple of hours when Susan woke me up and asked me to stop kicking the guy in the window seat with my bad leg... After what seemed like an eternity, it was time for the inevitable "Get up and walk to the bathroom" mission.Hmmmm.. looking at my now swollen to 3 times the normal size, foot.. this mission might be one to avoid. Instead, I opted to arrange a wheelchair transfer at the gate. The rest of the flight was relatively painless, except for the episodes of "Friends" I chose to watch.The plane landed in Houston and the usual shuffle of bodies emptied around me. The it was my turn to attempt to get up and reach the wheelchair waiting on the ramp 40 feet away. The first 10 feet or so, hey - feels like walking on a balloon, but no real pain as I used the seat backs for support. Then came the test of all tests... the 18 feet between the last seats and the wheelchair, whith nothing but air to grab onto.
The first 2 steps went fine, and then GRAVITY pulled all of the fluid in my leg down to my ankle....The next 5 steps turned into a slow motion horror movie... OOOHHHHH...MMMMUUUUSSSSTTTT GGRRRAAABBBBB TTHHHHEEEEE WWWHHHHEEEELLLLCCCCHHHHAAAIIIIRRRRRRRRRR!! as each successive step felt like a spike had been driven through my leg. I slumped into the wheelchair like I had just done a 3 minute mile; dripping with sweat and my heart doing 150+. As soon as I got my leg elevated though , I was just fine.
We breezed through immigration and customs then headed to Hobby airport for a Southwest flight to Phoenix. Continental could have gotten us to Phoenix, but it would have been through Newark or Salt Lake City, so we used some SW points to get home a little earlier.The cab ride to Hobby was 40 minutes, and surprisingly light traffic for Houston. Happily I was walking again after my leg was up in the cab, back to normal but a little swollen still.
Ordered some real Amercan breakfast items, with no "mystery products" and jumped the flight to Phoenix.
This time I got smart and asked to get on first and select a seat where I could put my leg up - window seat, and block the rest of the row with my leg and Susan sitting in the aisle seat - YAY we got the perfect row with no-one inthe middle seat.... Then came the announcement... "Ladies and Gentlement, this is a completly full flight, please take any of the middle seats you are standing near"... NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Nothing we could do about it - crammed into the seats again...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242553560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242553560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242553560/tpod.html Mon, 25 May 2009 13:45:40 -0400 Motorcycle trip over the Andes Bolivia & Peru: - La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Macchu Pichu, Nazca Lines, Lima

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Puno, Peru

We left La Paz yesterday morning for the first leg of our motorcycle trek. After breaking the ice off the seats and wondering if we were actually doing the right thing, off we headed into the La Paz traffic.

I have to say, if you can drive a motorcycle in La Paz and live you can drive anywhere. The rule of the road is "Whoever gets there first".. other than that, the rules don't apply.

It was a little chilly and we were heading out onto the Alti Plano so we geared up with 4 layers of clothing, including long johns. It took us maybe an hour to reach the city limits 8 miles from the starting point due to the traffic, so the 4 layers, the altitude and the sun beating down on us at our cracking stop & go pace of 2 miles an hour had me sweating in my gloves, my helmet and my boots.

Once we got out of the city, it was much better and we were able to maintain a decent pace. Susan was on the back with me on our BMW 1150, a little tight but the right bike for the conditions.

The roads are actually fairly good for the most part but in sections we encountered an array of potholes. Giant speed bumps were an effective way of congesting the traffic even more and were used in some of the rural towns to slow everyone to a crawl. Usually there was a yellow sign with a recognizable picture of a speed bump. Just as we were approaching the Bolivia/Peru border crossing (doing maybe 140km/85mph) I noticed a different sign on the side of the road...something about "velocidad" with about 10 other words around it which I didn't quite figure out. Just as I was trying to work out what the words might actually mean... we go airborne from what could only be described as a small ski ramp in the middle of the road...not a speed bump as such but some sort of buckling of the road which had yet to be fixed. As the road was straight we just landed safely and slowed down with Susan hitting me in the back of the head saying SLOW DOWN!!!

We pulled up to the Bolivia/Peru border with 7 bikes, a land cruiser and large trailer. The border is actually on a bridge over a small river on the edge of Lake Titicaca, so there is an immigration point for leaving Bolivia and one for entering Peru across the bridge. On the Bolivia side we all filed into the immigration office and most of us got through easily except for me and another guy in our group who had lost the little green piece of paper which they give you when you arrive - after the episode at the airport when we arrived, who knows where that could be - probably still at the airport. Anyway, with my limited spanish I could tell this was going to be a big problem. I picked up the fact that this was an official piece of paper wich was required by the government immigration for anyone leaving Bolivia. We had visions of being stuck in Bolivia for a while.. and missing this piece of paper made it official that we were not getting across the boarder. Just at the point when we were picturing ourselves on the TV show - Locked Up Abroad a very official looking senior immigration officer said something like "10 Bilivianos por passe" which roughly meant to me that we could bribe the officals to get across the border with Bolivian national currency - 10 Bolivianos is eqivalent to maybe $1.50 US. Mike, my soon to be cell mate agreed that this was the likely course of action and pulled out a 20 Boliviano bill. At this point, the stamps came out and all of the "No, No No" we had experience turned to "Si, Si, Si" and 3 minutes later we were off to the Peru crossing 200 yards over the bridge saying, that wasn't really a bribe, it was just an expedite fee. I did notice the cash went straight in to the official's pocket for safe keeping. I told Mike he should have asked for a receipt :)
Over the bridge we hit another snag. Getting people into Peru was easy...getting vehicles in is another matter. Each bike, drivers license, VIN number etc, was gone over with a fine tooth comb, all while we were parked on the Peru side of the bridge, with nothing but a rope to stop you from entering - oh and a bunch of guys with AK-47's sitting enjoying the sun.
Fortunately we had some sandwiches available, but a couple of people were starting to feel the effects of altitude sickness and were on the oxygen, not looking well at all.
After what seemed like an eternity (4 hours) we were ready to go. It seems that all of the information from the vehicles and drivers needed to be entered into the "system". Between the internet snail pace and the fact that the office closes for siesta we would be lucky to make Puno by sundown.
Back on the road again, the sun slung lower in the sky and a chill was starting to arrive. The drive from the border was filled with experiences... several of them "near death experiences" with drivers overtaking where and whenever they please, thinking a motorbike will move over for them if they come at you head on... they are totally correct!!
For most of the drive you can see Lake Titicaca which is just huge. Susan & I pulled over near a little village in the middle of nowhere for a break. A few minutes later we heard some viking horn sounds, and then see a herd of sheep, goats and llamas headed our way with 3 boys herding them using the horns as signals to move left or right. Naturally I grabbed for my camera and got some still and video shots. The custom is to hand over a few coins or a couple of bills of the local currency if you take pictures, so as soon as the herd was safely passed, the boys were asking for deniero. We had crossed the border and had a few Boliviano left over, so we handed out a couple of 20 Boliviano bills to the boys, who's mother or aunt or some relation was watching from the bus pickup a few yards away. Anyway, within 3 minutes we noticed a few people coming towards us and then a few more asking for money or if we wanted to buy plates or other things.... it seems word traveld fast that there were two Americanos handing out cash at the bus stop, so it was time to leave.
We hit Puno just after sundown and made our way to the hotel.
Not 10 minutes later, Susan said, "I don't feel that great, I'm nauseas" and, "I'm really cold" and, "I really really don't feel well"... you guessed it, altitude sickness - out came the oxygen (several times), but it doen't seem to be doing much good.
Plenty of water, oxygen and rest. The locals say it can take 3 days to feel sick, so I am wondering when it will hit me. So far there are only 2 of our group of 9 who have not suffered the effects
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243271640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243271640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243271640/tpod.html Mon, 25 May 2009 13:23:58 -0400 Motorcycle trip over the Andes Bolivia & Peru: - La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Macchu Pichu, Nazca Lines, Lima

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Lima, Peru

Just having a lazy day at the hotel before we head out to the airport early evening.
Breakfast was very nice and now we're chilling in the business center.

I did notice that my leg took a few steps backwards when we got to Lima, probably the change in elevation, but it is back on track better than ever, with the bruising starting to fade measurably.
I am soooo glad not to be in the middle of nowhere. The farmer's strike last week shut down all of the roads in and out of pretty much all of the small villages and you could see a pile of glass every now and then where rocks had been thrown through the windshields of cars who probably tried to break through the barricade.

I'm not complaining, this is definitely a 3rd world environment when you get outside the major cities. I'm just satisfied with our decison not to venture further off the beaten track right now.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243182480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243182480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243182480/tpod.html Mon, 25 May 2009 12:46:51 -0400 Motorcycle trip over the Andes Bolivia & Peru: - La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Macchu Pichu, Nazca Lines, Lima

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miraflores, lima, Peru

Staying in the lap of luxury for a couple of days is definitely my idea of ending an expedition, even if we did duck out early.
We walked along the cliffs of the beach to the nearby Larcomar shopping center, which is built right into the cliffs. If you didn't know it was there you might miss it.

We wandered the stores for a while and then found a very nice restaurant overlooking the ocean. The smell of the ocean was very inviting, but the Pisco sours and the Ceviche topped off the lunch indeed.
On the way back we found a fruit guy selling bananas and passionfruit and such, but he also had something I had never seen before, which looked like a giant green been pod, about a foot long. Never one to shy away from an experience, I asked how you eat this giant bean and swapped the peruvian equivalent of $0.35c for it.
The guy cut a slice of skin the length of the pod and revealed a white flesh with big black beans inside. He pulled out one of the segments which had a bean in and made a gesture that I could eat the flesh aroudn the bean, but not the bean itself... showing me the bean and then putting his hands to his throut like he was choking - I got the idea pretty quickly.
So I pull out one of the white flesh segments and pop it in my mouth and experience a little juice from the flesh, and spit out the giant bean into my hand. After the juice was gone, I was left with sort of a cross between wet toilet paper and cotton balls in my mouth.

I was showing Susan how this thing was segmented, when two women from New Jersey passed by us and asked "what is that"? Naturally I said, "I don't know - would you like some"? Apparently they were as adventurous as me, and they tried it too, with pretty much the same result - wet toilet paper & cotton balls.
I still don't know what it was, but it won't be a fruit I will be having again anytime soon.

We fly out tomorrow night and have managed to juggle a few flights so we don't end up going round the US 3 times before we get home, so we will drop into Houston and transfer to Hobby Airpost and jump a Southwest flight to Phoenix.

Our dogs will be just so thrilled to have us home, and I know Susan will be just as thrilled to greet them as well.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243123680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243123680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243123680/tpod.html Mon, 25 May 2009 12:26:17 -0400 Motorcycle trip over the Andes Bolivia & Peru: - La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Macchu Pichu, Nazca Lines, Lima

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Lima, Peru

After seeing the guy on the train, and realizing that we were about to head into the hinterland along mining roads, along with Susan having a sore throat and altitude issues, we have decided to let the healthy people carry on with the tour and we are heading home. We hopped out of Cusco on a flight to Lima and have a couple of days to wait for an available seat, so we hit the Miraflores district and swapped dirty roads for clean linen (and not a day too soon).

Here's a picture of what we came across (on motorbikes) at the top of a hill around a blind corner - I just had to stop and take a picture after we went through.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243039680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243039680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1243039680/tpod.html Sun, 24 May 2009 12:08:21 -0400 Motorcycle trip over the Andes Bolivia & Peru: - La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Macchu Pichu, Nazca Lines, Lima

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Cusco, Peru

Ok back in Cusco at the same hotel as 2 days ago. We left our luggage here and just carried some overnight packs to Aguas Calientes.
Aguas was pretty different: No vehicles... Oh no cars you say... no... NO VEHICLES WAHTSOEVER!!!
The train is the only transport other than the busses which go up the mountian to Machu Picchu, so you have to walk everywhere. Even the supplies for the town, which is much bigger than I expected have to be hand-carted through the town from the train. There are no roads to this town. Even the busses are delivered by train.
So it was up at 5am for a breakfast of - bread and jam?... oh well it was early but a good breakfast was needed if we were climbing any stairs.
Off to the bus station arriving at somewhere around O-dark-30, sneakily thinking that we would be one of the first in line for the bus... WRONG! Must have been about 600 people ahead of us when we got there and the busses were already shipping people up. The bus ride up is not to be missed, if you like switchbacks and looking down over 2000feet to the village below, as you pass another bus, on a road made only 1 1/2 busses wide. After maybe a 40-50min ride we made the parking lot at the top.

We have a couple of people traveling with us who wanted to do the hike up the back mountain - WannaPicchu (sp?) which overlooks Machu Picchu. I can tell you this is not for the feint of heart - you would need to be very fit or very dumb to climb that thing. There are only 400 people a day allowed to climb that particular mountain and you have to sign in and be one of the first 400 to get to do it. Alas, they were too late and didn't get to do it, which was a real bummer I am sure.

The walk to the view points on Machu Picchu wasn't too bad, you could see most of the ruins without having to go too far. Not being the fittest peron on earth, I decided to stick with the best photographic vantage point and then took a climb up the staircase to the "Guardhouse", which, from where I was standing looked to be maybe 300 feet up from where we were standing. Susan has a bad ankle from a head on collision some years ago - nearly lost her foot - so she stayed where it was smart - I mean safe...
So off I go, climbing some steps, more steps and a few more steps, stopped for a break, more steps, more steps, round a corner, and more steps. Check heart rate, breathing, consciousness... wait a minute (pretend to be looking at a really interesting rock) - up, up and up... thinking to myself "why did I do this?.. oh well I'm committed now". I spotted a guy taking a picture of his wife - and kindly ofered to take a picture of them both - just another excuse to stop for a few minutes.
As I neared the "Guardhouse" I could see people coming down from the vantage point I was headed to, dripping with sweat and totally out of breath, as if they had just run, and won a marathon. I thought, "Jeez, these guys look pretty out of shape" and I looked at my own shirt and it looked just like theirs. I have to say I was extremely pleased to reach the top, and wondered how they would get me out if I collapsed, or would they just push me off the edge of the mountain and be done with it. As it happens, we would learn a little later how you get out if you are criticaly ill or injured.

We spent maybe 2 hours in the ruins - they are just stunning, if the clouds permit. We had some exceptional views of the mountains and the site. Unfortunately my big cameras are locked away for the night, so I don't have any of the mountain itself.

After the ruins Susan & I went to the Sanctuary Hotel for breakfast. This was a real breakfast with poached eggs and hash browns - YUM!, then we hit the bus again to head downhill.

Lunch at a Pizza place in town and off to the train.

Once everyone was on the train, I noticed the people on the other side of the carriage looking at something coming onto our carriage from the platform, with 5 or 6 people around it. I couldn't see what it was but though we were about to be invaded by donkeys, pigs or horses. Then I saw what was coming aboard. A mountain rescue stretcher with a body bag on it, but it was still open at the head end, with a guy, wrapped in bandages, bleeding from the head and an I.V. in his arm. Please don't judge me too harshly for taking a picture, but I now know how they get you out if you are injured ....like everything else, they put you on the TRAIN.

Back to Ollyuntumbo and on the bikes again for a fast ride through the mountains and back to Cusco - finally arriving after dark.

I promise to update with photo's of Macchu Picchu, but I have attached a few from my pocket cam.

Off to Colca Canyon tomorrow with maybe , just maybe an internet cafe, so you might need to wait for the awesom Machu Picchu pix.
PS: No pix from the small camera either - my chip reader is in the camera bag too (sorry).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242853500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242853500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnorton/1/1242853500/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 17:39:09 -0400 Motorcycle trip over the Andes Bolivia & Peru: - La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Macchu Pichu, Nazca Lines, Lima

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Cusco, Peru

It seems the farmers strike/revolt has shut down pretty much all traffic in and out of Cusco. We are being told that there are rock barriers built on the roads to stop all the traffic entering and leaving.
One of our crew was supposed to take a bike back to La Paz today, but couldn;t get through, so he will need to leave tomorrow instead. Also, none of the tourists got out to Machu Picchu and I expect some may have missed it altogether if they had no flexibility.

Today we visited another cathedral, built on top of Inca ruins, then hit McDonalds again - I had the local version "The McNifico" (pictured) - interesting but decent.
We also managed to take a quick trip to the market where the locals shop which was just amazing. Susan picked up her favorite - 2lbs of Peruvian coffee, for 10 Soles ($3.30) and a 2lb bag of Cocao beans (also 10 Soles) used for making chocolate.

On the way through the market we found a hot chocolate stand and just couldn't resist. Now I know why they say that Peruvian chocolate is extremly good.
Last night we actually bumped into some people from Santa Fe, NM, who told us about the market and the chocolate - what a small world it is.

There must be more cabs in this town than in New York and they are small, so as to make it through the quite narrow streets. Basically anywhere in the city is 3 Soles ($1), so we are saving our energy and splashing out $1 into the local economy everytime we head out of the hotel.

Tomorrow we are on the bikes again (strike is over) and heading to Aguas Caliente overnight and then up to Machu Picchu at around 5am to beat the crowded train from Cusco. I am told there is no internet in Aguas Caliente so I will update when we get back to Cusco the next day, unless I can find something.
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Cusco, Peru

Wow! we spent today in Cusco walking around the Plaza De Armas, surrounded by 4 cathedrals and some amazing architecture.
To our delight, there was the first McDonalds we have seen on the trip, so we stopped in for lunch before visiting the cathedrals.
These cathedrals were amazing. Built by the spanish with the help of the Incas from the 15th to 18th Centuries.
The architecture and workmaship were simply hard to believe. We were approached by a small old tour guide who could speak broken english, but he looked like he had some history to tell. We later learned he was 97 years old and spoke Incan. His father was Spanish and his mother was a direct Incan decendant. He lived through the 1950 earthquake and helped rebuild the cathedral damage. He was born in Cusco and has never left.
Although pretty small, he looked tough as nails. This has to be the best tour I have ever taken.
The amount of gold and silver in the cathedrals just blew me away. We learned that the Incas didn't place much value on gold & silver, so the Spanish were able to get them to bring it to them and help build the cathedrals.
Check out a few of the photographs for a better idea.

Tomorrow was supposed to be Machu Picchu, but there is a strike by local farmers, who have blocked roads in and out of Cusco for 2 days. Looks like we were lucky to make it in yesterday.
We have changed the Machu Picchu day until Thursday, so we have another day in Cusco before heading out to Aguas Caliente. I am sure we will see a lot more of the city tomorrow.
Oh... my leg looks a lot worse than it is.
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