South America - Trails of the Incas Tour
Trail of the Incas Tour - 4843km (or a little more) over 22days
Chile Bolivia Peru with an unexpected glimpse of Argentina
Our Tour Group - still smiling at the end of the 22 day tour
Our tour of South America was amazing but also included far more riding and longer days than what we had expected. A great crew of diversified people from Australia, Canada, England, Germany and the United States came together on the 17th of March to discover a little of South America on two wheels over 22 days. There is a sense of achievement and satisfaction at the end of the day when you have met the unexpected challenges, taken in amazing scenery, ridden roads that seem to twist and bend for hours and avoided the inevitable pothole big enough to make a Llama disappear. On a motorbike you smell, see, feel everything. As we spent most of the journey above 3,000 meters, on roads at times questionable in their labeling as roads, the comfort of a conventional vehicle with nice suspension and heating may have been welcomed but then I wouldn’t have been able to take photos on the fly and we wouldn’t have as great a story to recall for the future.
Prior to the commencement of our “Trail of the Incas” tour we arrived into Santiago to enjoy a few days of touring around Santiago with Brent and his wife Priscilla. We first met Brent in Iceland last year and were very excited when Priscilla decided that she would also join us in South America. Unlike myself, who takes to being a pillion with camera in hand on overseas travels, Priscilla rode her own bike, the only female rider on the tour and certainly the one with the biggest smile whatever the challenge.
Our tour Guides, Juan and Augustine of Argentina.
Juan was our trusted van driver, luggage transporter, accommodation coordinator, emergency support vehicle and the supplier of great food for picnics by the roadside. Our second guide was Augustine. He was our daily ride leader entrusted to get us from point A to B through all sorts of traffic conditions from livestock leaping from the roadside, protective goat herding dogs attacking, aggressive traffic and ever changing road conditions. He was an awesome mechanic who ensured the bikes kept on the road no matter what the conditions threw at them or we as riders put the bikes through.
These two kept smiling no matter how exhausted they were or frustrated with an unexpected hurdle. It certainly was no easy task to coordinate 14 people on 12 bikes through border crossings, congested city streets and on a route not ridden in recent years.
Hats off to both of them.
The group assembled in Santiago before flying north to Iquique to collect the bikes for the tour. Our journey began at sea level on the Pacific coastline, on the edge of the Atacama desert that stretches for some 105,000 kms along the western coastline and is regarded as the second driest desert in the world. It was an amazing backdrop to be riding alongside mountain high sand dunes lacking in any vegetation dropping into the sea. As we began to climb, the effects of the higher altitude soon began to show and had some of us reaching for High Altitude medication whilst others tried the traditional method of chewing Cocoa Leaves. The plan was to be crossing into Bolivia from the Chilean town of Ollague, a town of only 70 residents, where you really did feel like the tumble weeds should be rolling by. So, on Day 6 with an early start and high expectations, we arrived at the border crossing, only to be met by a very officious Border Control officer, who decided that despite all the correct paperwork we didn’t have the Chilean owner of the bikes with us and may have been at risk of selling the bikes in Bolivia, or for some other not interpreted reason, regardless the answer was simply “NO”. It was clear no amount of discussion, even from his superiors was going to make this guy change his mind and in the end it was deemed safer for all to turn around, ride back through San Pedro de Atacama and enter Bolivia via Argentina.
The detour added some 1200kms to the trip, but on the up side gave us the opportunity to return to the pretty town of San Pedro De Atacama and sent us through the Andes and some of the prettiest scenery and interesting road systems of the tour. Interesting included a 46km off road detour that turned into a sand trap that didn’t make the nicest day for some of the riders. Lifting bikes up in sand in high altitude is next level of aerobic challenging.
Having successfully made it into Bolivia we were able to get the itinerary back on track by skipping the intended journey into the city of Potosi. Our first two night stay was in the town of Uyuni famous for its salt flat, the largest in the world at 10582 sq kms. After a quick morning walk around the local markets we were distributed amongst several tour vehicles for the drive out to the salt flats. Getting out of town was a bit of a long process of stopping and starting as each element of the lunch was collected from a different vendor. Apparently this was a Bolivian government mandate. Though not efficient in time it did ensure a lot of suppliers received a contribution from our tour. Once at the Salt Flats we donned gumboots. Not what we were expecting but definitely an added bonus as the flats were flooded and presented an amazing backdrop on which to dine for our lunch, under a shade with reflections stretching to the horizon.
With a little encouragement our drivers agreed to detour on route back to the hotel via the Train Cemetery. The train cemetery is literally a cemetery of trains dating back to the 20th century and apparently mostly of British origin. When expansion of the railway fell through due to conflicts and mining decline the trains were simply left behind, forming the Uyuni Graveyard of trains. Today the trains are in a state of disrepair having been stripped over hundreds of years and exposed to the extreme corrosive salt conditions. In more recent times graffiti artists have turned the trains into a backyard for their work.
These small vans are transport buses that stop and start without warning and owned the road as far as they were concerned.
Our next two day stay was in the city of La Paz. At an elevation of 3500m it holds the title of the highest administrative capital in the world. For us it will be forever remembered as the worst city to negotiate with chaotic traffic. Three hours to do just on 20kms in the most aggressive traffic ever experienced. The original itinerary of leaving the bikes out of town and taking a gondola into the city hotel was looking like a much smarter idea. Perhaps next time!
The optional rest day in La Paz was also the only day available to take on a tour on trail bikes of the notorious “Death Road”. North Yunga Road as it is officially known was a narrow road that joined La Paz to Coroico over a distance of 69kms and reaching an elevation of 4650m. Due to the hundreds of lives lost up until 1994 the road became known as “Death Road”. The road is nolonger in use for daily traffic but is a draw card for mountain bikers wanting to take on the descent. For the riders on our tour it was decided that Death Road had nothing on La Paz traffic but the scenery was amazing.
So, 300km does not sound far for a days ride but our day from La Paz Bolivia to Puno Peru would prove to be another long one, taking over 12 hours. It was a day of many experiences beginning with negotiating traffic to get out of La Paz. We always seem to find ourselves in the middle of a market! The ferry crossing across the Strait of Tiquina was unique and provided an interesting challenge to get the bikes off the barge. The border crossing between Bolivia and Peru took hours but thankfully we were well fed having just feasted at a local restaurant in the pretty tourist town of Copacabana. There were some stunning views of Lake Titicaca before darkness descended and we managed to find the biggest pothole that damaged our front rim and forced us to put the bike in the van for the last 50kms into Puno. Welcome to Peru.
Puno
Another two night stay this time in the city of Puno where our Hotel overlooked the Plaza de Armas. It was the perfect vantage point from which to watch the procession of worshippers that filed out through the streets from the cathedral on darkness for Good Friday.
Puno itself is situated on Lake Titicaca the largest lake in South America that sits at a height of 3800m - yes we were still up there in altitude. The lake is also home to the indigenous Uros people who began building islets from Totora roots and reeds hundreds of years ago as a line of defense from the then Inca Empire which had begun to encroach on their mainland homes. Today the tradition of island building continues with many people appearing to be in the business of hosting tourists such as ourselves, demonstrating how the islets were built, how they live and selling crafts made locally.
No trip to Peru would be complete without a visit to the Inca Ruins of Machu Pichu or apparently trying Guinea Pig. We can now tick both those off our to do list.
We rode into the township of Ollantaytambo, leaving our bikes before boarding the PeruRail train to overnight in Aguas Calientes. From Aguas Calientes it was an exhilarating bus ride up and back from the ruins with drivers who obviously felt very competent, going by the speed with which they negotiated the road and its tight bends.
Machu Picchu is probably the most iconic and well known image of the Inca Empire. Established in the 15th century it is believed to have been a palace complex that incorporated stepped agricultural terraces that were watered by an aqueduct system, residential buildings, plazas and temples. It was a very special feeling to suddenly have the ruins come into sight, their sheer size and position on the side of the mountain leaving you in awe of a civilization that could achieve such a construction so long ago. Our time amongst the ruins was very controlled to ensure that the ruins are not overcrowded at any time. The time went so fast it was lucky we had the photos to look back at and ponder what we had seen. Obviously, if one had more time and perhaps a lot more enthusiasm for leg power, Machu Picchu is only one of many Inca Ruins that can be ventured to by hiking in the area. For us we were happy to have had the opportunity to visit as we did. A very special highlight of our trip.
Alongside the amazing Inca Ruins, beautiful plazas in the cities of Cusco and Arequipa we were also treated to some unique animal encounters in this area of Peru. No more so than in the Colca Canyon - Valley of the Condors. These birds have a “wingspan maxing out at around 3.2m, and weighing up to 15kg. The Andean condor is the heaviest bird of prey in the world and the raptor with the longest wingspan. It also stands an impressive 1.2 metres tall.” (BBC Wildlife) It was a very early start to get the bikes up to Mirador Cruz del Condor but the scenery along the way and then the display of so many condors soring overhead made the effort so worthwhile. Throw in an unexpected group of horsemen herding wild horses down the hillside and our day was made.
Lady in Chivay Peru
A highlight for me was to capture the different headwear and garments that the women wore specific to the region in which they lived. It also continued to amaze us how these women, often small in stature could carry so much upon their backs. It certainly took hard labor to another level given the climate and altitude in which they were working.
Before we knew it we had left the greenery and altitude of the Andes and were back enroute to Iquique with the Atacama Desert once more as our backdrop. No blog on South America though would be complete with out the photograph of Llamas, Alpacas and as we found out the wild version of Vicunas and Guanacos. So had to include a couple of our encounters.
This was an amazing glimpse of a huge continent. As always with travel you come home to appreciate the simple things in life like a guaranteed hot shower. We are definitely planning to go back and the more we review our huge collection of photos the more appealing the idea becomes. Just need a little more time to forget the smell of diesel and the taste of dust.
Great trip with good people, thanks to all who were part of “Trail of the Incas.
Now to prepare to go sailing.