17/6/2013 south of Mariscal Cáceres to 4km south of La Esmeralda, camping
D72, T4.42/8, Av 15.37, max56, tot15500, 5435, Tot South America 6239
Perfect temperature, perfect day, perfect road and scenery, 25 degrees
After a great nights sleep and waking early but choosing to lie in for awhile, finally arising just before sunrise.
Coffee and porridge were made.
I wandered about the site looking at all the species of cacti here.
Last night there was concern about puncturing the airbed, as there were old cacti spines all through the grass. Luck was on my side.
It had been an excellent campsite, my tent was even pretty dry in the morning. The early morning sun allowed me to pack it that way.
It was a beautiful day in the making, mild and clear. The road followed the river Mantaro.
This was riding at its very best, brilliant scenery and easy riding following the river downstream for the most part.
I couldn’t help myself stopping at very regular intervals to marvel at and take photos of this unbelievable scenery. Unlike other most countries, where a bit of awe inspiring scenery comes and goes.
Peru has this ability to keep astounding, varied scenery coming at you for miles and it just keeps coming. Everything is on such a raw, grand scale. A wash out on the road will not be a few dozen metres down, no, it will be a hundred metres or two.
There were rocks on the side of the road that had come down in a landslide, they were not just big rocks, but the size of a garage.
My time here in Peru, whilst traveling at such a pace, has allowed an awareness of all around to be experienced almost all the time, Peru is now in my veins.
This scenery and the tranquility is like being put on a drip of blissfulness, slowly engulfing my whole being, and in doing so, all my senses become acutely aware of everything around me. It is totally euphoric. As said, it just keeps coming, it is not a rush but just slowly lifts you to another place.
Peru’s scenery seen from a bicycle seat can take you wherever you want to be.
This experience, I know, will have a lasting impact on my perception of all around me in the future. Seeing Peru by bicycle has done this to me, it has opened a door to a part of me that was latent. Present but not realised or utilised.
Whilst earlier looking for a campsite, a very elderly man with a walking stick and a warming expression wandered along a foot track towards me, after having spoken, he sat himself down on a block of wood. The vista before him certainly had the power to take him to another place and time.
Something told me, this is why he came to sit in this place, above his beloved river and the mountains where it found its power. His life and sweat had likely been spent and spilled in the fields of maize and fruit, on the river terraces below.
Riding along, this almost one way gorge road, on the most tranquil of days, surrounded by the rawness of nature, time was spent just thinking how utterly, ridiculously, unbelievably special, this romp we have been bestowed, called “Life” is.
For me it was a day, that was being lived to the fullest, a day where one was overdosing on all it could give, a feeling of one with the surrounds was experienced. A day where, the catalyst for this euphoria was an overwhelming notion of exemption.
The landscape harboured all sorts of cacti, agave, pepper trees, and bromeliads, though it was a dry environment, there were water courses and small creeks at regular intervals, on two occasions I had to take my shoes off to cross creeks,
A truck had broken down at one crossing, the road was blocked most of the day, riding a bicycle was most advantageous at the site.
Apart from a few quarry trucks, this road was mine.
There were small pueblitos most of the way enroute. People were always friendly. Avocados were bought, they grow them here.
Supplies for the night were bought at La Esmeralda. At the tienda, the lady was talking to her friend, another woman about my age, I understood none of it, they were talking in Quechua. Upon inquiring, she told me they generally use this language but can also speak Spanish.
A campsite on a disused farm overlooking the valley was found, a stray dog soon found me, he got the short shift, I might add.
The cup was cradled lovingly, as it was lifted to my mouth, sitting upon the camp stool, the coffee was a deliciously relaxing reward for an already prepared camp, in surrounds bathed by the sound of flowing water and an evening breeze, all this bordered by towering ranges.
The evening was unbelievably mild and peaceful, a fitting end to an unforgettable time spent in the gorge of the Rio Mantaro, here in the Peru highlands.
D72, T4.42/8, Av 15.37, max56, tot15500, 5435, Tot South America 6239
Perfect temperature, perfect day, perfect road and scenery, 25 degrees
After a great nights sleep and waking early but choosing to lie in for awhile, finally arising just before sunrise.
Coffee and porridge were made.
I wandered about the site looking at all the species of cacti here.
Last night there was concern about puncturing the airbed, as there were old cacti spines all through the grass. Luck was on my side.
It had been an excellent campsite, my tent was even pretty dry in the morning. The early morning sun allowed me to pack it that way.
It was a beautiful day in the making, mild and clear. The road followed the river Mantaro.
This was riding at its very best, brilliant scenery and easy riding following the river downstream for the most part.
I couldn’t help myself stopping at very regular intervals to marvel at and take photos of this unbelievable scenery. Unlike other most countries, where a bit of awe inspiring scenery comes and goes.
Peru has this ability to keep astounding, varied scenery coming at you for miles and it just keeps coming. Everything is on such a raw, grand scale. A wash out on the road will not be a few dozen metres down, no, it will be a hundred metres or two.
There were rocks on the side of the road that had come down in a landslide, they were not just big rocks, but the size of a garage.
My time here in Peru, whilst traveling at such a pace, has allowed an awareness of all around to be experienced almost all the time, Peru is now in my veins.
This scenery and the tranquility is like being put on a drip of blissfulness, slowly engulfing my whole being, and in doing so, all my senses become acutely aware of everything around me. It is totally euphoric. As said, it just keeps coming, it is not a rush but just slowly lifts you to another place.
Peru’s scenery seen from a bicycle seat can take you wherever you want to be.
This experience, I know, will have a lasting impact on my perception of all around me in the future. Seeing Peru by bicycle has done this to me, it has opened a door to a part of me that was latent. Present but not realised or utilised.
Whilst earlier looking for a campsite, a very elderly man with a walking stick and a warming expression wandered along a foot track towards me, after having spoken, he sat himself down on a block of wood. The vista before him certainly had the power to take him to another place and time.
Something told me, this is why he came to sit in this place, above his beloved river and the mountains where it found its power. His life and sweat had likely been spent and spilled in the fields of maize and fruit, on the river terraces below.
Riding along, this almost one way gorge road, on the most tranquil of days, surrounded by the rawness of nature, time was spent just thinking how utterly, ridiculously, unbelievably special, this romp we have been bestowed, called “Life” is.
For me it was a day, that was being lived to the fullest, a day where one was overdosing on all it could give, a feeling of one with the surrounds was experienced. A day where, the catalyst for this euphoria was an overwhelming notion of exemption.
The landscape harboured all sorts of cacti, agave, pepper trees, and bromeliads, though it was a dry environment, there were water courses and small creeks at regular intervals, on two occasions I had to take my shoes off to cross creeks,
A truck had broken down at one crossing, the road was blocked most of the day, riding a bicycle was most advantageous at the site.
Apart from a few quarry trucks, this road was mine.
There were small pueblitos most of the way enroute. People were always friendly. Avocados were bought, they grow them here.
Supplies for the night were bought at La Esmeralda. At the tienda, the lady was talking to her friend, another woman about my age, I understood none of it, they were talking in Quechua. Upon inquiring, she told me they generally use this language but can also speak Spanish.
A campsite on a disused farm overlooking the valley was found, a stray dog soon found me, he got the short shift, I might add.
The cup was cradled lovingly, as it was lifted to my mouth, sitting upon the camp stool, the coffee was a deliciously relaxing reward for an already prepared camp, in surrounds bathed by the sound of flowing water and an evening breeze, all this bordered by towering ranges.
The evening was unbelievably mild and peaceful, a fitting end to an unforgettable time spent in the gorge of the Rio Mantaro, here in the Peru highlands.
The perfect location? Everything at your doorstep. Crops on the steepest of land above in the background.
Quichuas
No one was getting past here. Like a wounded animal there was a jet black slick of oil on the road beneath the cab
During the wet season the Mantaro sadly carries another burden.
With vistas like this behind me, riding was a great pleasure, photos can't do justice to the scale of this valley.
A perfect campsite, only the seeds on the grass detracted from the description.
Attachments of all sorts, eggs, bread, bananas, avocados, a largely unused helmet, dunny paper, empty water bottle and a rubbish bag.
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Such a varied road to be on.
roadside friends, some time was spent here with these two.
Many old dwellings were present, though not an eye sore.
The road on the right was probably built to access extraction from the red earth here.
The nest.
Where my bum spends most days, good English leather by "Brooks"
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