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For me these two photos epitomize the saying “Living the dream” . (a comment often heard on the Mississippi) In one of its purist forms, “sun on your back, wind in your face”. I hope they and these words may help inspire others, especially those in their fifties and sixties to throw caution to the wind and climb off the treadmill of normality. It really is so refreshing and fun once you have learnt to let go of a few things.
Plan something that will reacquaint you with the natural world, a world so many have really lost touch with, you know, put yourself in a situation where you stop to wonder why a rock is a certain shape. Often the rewards obtained from lavish pursuits and escapes are shallow and short lived. Even a picnic in the forest or on the beach can suffice.
The future is always, replaced by the present.
Plan something that will reacquaint you with the natural world, a world so many have really lost touch with, you know, put yourself in a situation where you stop to wonder why a rock is a certain shape. Often the rewards obtained from lavish pursuits and escapes are shallow and short lived. Even a picnic in the forest or on the beach can suffice.
The future is always, replaced by the present.
29/5/2013 Farm house 30km south of Chacapoto to 12km up the Huánuco Road
D40, T3.35/7, Av11.04, Max53, Tot14729, 4665
Fine, heavy frost and cold morning, about 23, otherwise a perfect day
Waking about 0530, we had both slept in my tent to keep warm, whilst Deirdre’s tent was used for our equipment. We were at about 3500m. The bikes were locked together outside.
We slept with some of our clothing in our sleeping bags.
With the tarp over the tent, the third layer keeps any condensation on the bottom of the tarp.
Upon peering out of our nest, a frost was beheld, it was bloody cold to say the least.
The owner had already let his cows out of the overnight shed. We packed up everything in the tent before venturing out rugged up to the nines.
He invited us in for breakfast, we declined, both agreeing that in this isolated spot and what was ahead, we had to be cautious of what we ate, declining food once in their house would be rude.
It was life in slow motion both of us were very cold about the hands.
I got the stove going and offered the owner and his wife coffee, which they readily accepted.
Breakfast was porridge with raisins and coffee, tea for Deirdre.
We finally got away about 0915, after things had thawed a bit. We gave the owner 10s, he had been very good to us, he didn’t have to show us the little spring for water.
They spoke only Keshwa, so there was a little bit or should I say a whole lot of communication difficulties, but we worked it all out.
His children had moved off the land to Huaraz, such a typical scenario on the land today.
We had what we thought would be a soul destroying 20km return ride back to the turn off at Pachacoto.
Leaving the farm, some 8km into the passage, we realised why we were so wasted yesterday, it had been a steady uphill climb, the ride back was a sheer pleasure.
We stopped at a spot that could easily have been the McKenzie basin in NZ where my sister lives. We took photos there.
My health idiosyncrasies are becoming quite humorous. Yesterday I had been passing wind all day, to the point where I could feel myself getting lift from the expulsion of air! Bloody hell only 5 days ago liquid had been the issue from this orifice, now it was wind. What next? There isn’t much, except constipation.
Anyway, in the tent last night, this wind was of absolutely no use in a sleeping bag, where I was told to fire up a Dutch oven. Believe me it was relentless, like every fifth breathe I took, found its way into the sleeping bag. Each was loudly announced.
Deirdre and I cracked up, here we are two people in this tiny little tent in the middle of the Andes in Peru. We hardly knew each other and she’s holed up with a guy who passing wind like there’s no tomorrow.
It was one of lifes classic scenarios. We watched the movie Red Dog. Here’s me getting all emotional, tears coming out of my eyes, air coming out of my bum and a runny nose. Mind you, she confessed to some emotions, it is a great movie, it touches a raw emotion within.
We laughed heaps, Deirdre didn’t have to many exit options.
Anyway, it took an hour to get to the turn off. Here we bought eggs, tea bags, spuds, tomatoes, onions and some rice. We boiled the eggs before we left, they would have been scrambled on the rough gravel road ahead.
Speaking of boiled eggs, it dawned on me the correlation between boiled eggs and passing excessive wind. I have been eating boiled eggs so much lately, say 10 in the last 3 days.
We eat them whenever we can with bread. This theory will be put to the test in the next day or two as I abstain.
Loaded up, we headed up the road, about 10 km slowly up hill. It was rough going with loose rocks everywhere.
A gang of workers were moving along shoveling excess rocks off it. This would be a great way to give some people in our countries a bit of purpose in their lives.
Moving on, we were now at about 3800m. Deirdre was getting despondent and lacking will, as we had to walk up some sections, they were steep and had too much loose rock to negotiate.
She said, “I can’t do this”. Thinking about things to say to her, I had to be reassuring and careful at the same time, her spirits had to be lifted.
· “Think of the smile on your face as you fall asleep at night in Smithers knowing you have ridden this road,
· there would only be a handful of 60 year old women who would have ever done this,
· We are in this together, we can’t let each other down, health issues aside.
· this maybe the hardest thing you ever do in your life, the rewards will be multi faceted and never forgotten, for me it would be difficult too.
· we have all the time in the world, if we do 15km in a day so be it,
· the scenery is going to reward us so much more having ridden to see it,
· I am going to do all I can to help you you do it,
· only bail out if you think your health is at risk
were some lines that come to mind.
Amongst all these comments I had to be honest and tell her that I would not be catching a bus out of here with her, only if my heath too was at risk.
The opportunities for both of us to achieve this task will more than likely never arise again from a time perspective, though more importantly a motivational perspective at our age.
It was tough going, we stopped further on and had a good chew on some coca leaves. Cal was added, my whole mouth went numb, it was nice, it did actually help my breathing.
Now she was using my ipod and cruising along in her world and making good progress.
For me a large part of the truth was that Deirdres company was especially enjoyable, we now know each other well, including our habits, good and bad. This journey together had tested us both socially and physically. The resultant experience continues to be so enjoyable. I do hope she completes this journey to Huánuco.
The road now got easier going and the scenery was indeed becoming preoccupying.
Deirdre’s spirits were back where they needed to be, it was so nice to be witness to this.
Off in the not too far distance were snow covered mountains, tarns were roadside, as was a stream winding its way through the tussock. Amongst the treeless landscape were the majestic Puya Raimondi, from the bromeliad family. They had tall floral spears reaching skyward.
Their presence reminded us we were in Peru. At one point, we left the road and walked up to a solitary specimen to take photos.
Arriving at the entrance to Parque Nacional Huascaran, we viewed the visitors building and paid our fee.
A sign outside noted the elevation at 4130m.
There were stone fence enclosures in some areas, obviously for herders to hold stock, other little rock and tussock shelters were roadside for those caught in bad weather.
The distant mountains were drawing us, soon we would be in their midst, until then we must negotiate what lies in between.
About 1400 with Deirdre off ahead, I feel better when she is ahead, every metre under her tyres is a metre towards Huánuco and the refuge of a motel. With this, will come a feeling of elation for us both.
With a huge puff of air my flat tyre was deflated coming down a small incline. Stopping to repair it, Deirdre came back to check on me. Once it was fixed, we now needed to find a camp.
Our elevation was now about 4400m, the temp was rapidly falling, Deirdre had wisely rugged up while I was repairing my tube.
We are both well aware of the need to maintain body temperature now.
Soon a camp was found to the right of the road, the opposite side of the stream
It was quite sheltered and received the last sun of the day.
Setting up camp, we knew in the morning it would be brass monkey conditions. Early starts were not an option.
Once set up, we had fried potato chips, 3 or 4 cups of tea, and a lentil, pasta, tomato, soup, garlic, ginger and chilli number. All good except the left side of my tongue and mouth felt like a blow torch had been applied momentarily, it was red raw. Too much cal had been taken with the coca leaves.
Wandering out from under the tarp we marveled at the stars on such a dark night. The Southern Cross brilliantly displayed low in the southern sky.
It had been a day of coming to terms with the conditions for the next few days, a day where we both had to keep our spirits high.
D40, T3.35/7, Av11.04, Max53, Tot14729, 4665
Fine, heavy frost and cold morning, about 23, otherwise a perfect day
Waking about 0530, we had both slept in my tent to keep warm, whilst Deirdre’s tent was used for our equipment. We were at about 3500m. The bikes were locked together outside.
We slept with some of our clothing in our sleeping bags.
With the tarp over the tent, the third layer keeps any condensation on the bottom of the tarp.
Upon peering out of our nest, a frost was beheld, it was bloody cold to say the least.
The owner had already let his cows out of the overnight shed. We packed up everything in the tent before venturing out rugged up to the nines.
He invited us in for breakfast, we declined, both agreeing that in this isolated spot and what was ahead, we had to be cautious of what we ate, declining food once in their house would be rude.
It was life in slow motion both of us were very cold about the hands.
I got the stove going and offered the owner and his wife coffee, which they readily accepted.
Breakfast was porridge with raisins and coffee, tea for Deirdre.
We finally got away about 0915, after things had thawed a bit. We gave the owner 10s, he had been very good to us, he didn’t have to show us the little spring for water.
They spoke only Keshwa, so there was a little bit or should I say a whole lot of communication difficulties, but we worked it all out.
His children had moved off the land to Huaraz, such a typical scenario on the land today.
We had what we thought would be a soul destroying 20km return ride back to the turn off at Pachacoto.
Leaving the farm, some 8km into the passage, we realised why we were so wasted yesterday, it had been a steady uphill climb, the ride back was a sheer pleasure.
We stopped at a spot that could easily have been the McKenzie basin in NZ where my sister lives. We took photos there.
My health idiosyncrasies are becoming quite humorous. Yesterday I had been passing wind all day, to the point where I could feel myself getting lift from the expulsion of air! Bloody hell only 5 days ago liquid had been the issue from this orifice, now it was wind. What next? There isn’t much, except constipation.
Anyway, in the tent last night, this wind was of absolutely no use in a sleeping bag, where I was told to fire up a Dutch oven. Believe me it was relentless, like every fifth breathe I took, found its way into the sleeping bag. Each was loudly announced.
Deirdre and I cracked up, here we are two people in this tiny little tent in the middle of the Andes in Peru. We hardly knew each other and she’s holed up with a guy who passing wind like there’s no tomorrow.
It was one of lifes classic scenarios. We watched the movie Red Dog. Here’s me getting all emotional, tears coming out of my eyes, air coming out of my bum and a runny nose. Mind you, she confessed to some emotions, it is a great movie, it touches a raw emotion within.
We laughed heaps, Deirdre didn’t have to many exit options.
Anyway, it took an hour to get to the turn off. Here we bought eggs, tea bags, spuds, tomatoes, onions and some rice. We boiled the eggs before we left, they would have been scrambled on the rough gravel road ahead.
Speaking of boiled eggs, it dawned on me the correlation between boiled eggs and passing excessive wind. I have been eating boiled eggs so much lately, say 10 in the last 3 days.
We eat them whenever we can with bread. This theory will be put to the test in the next day or two as I abstain.
Loaded up, we headed up the road, about 10 km slowly up hill. It was rough going with loose rocks everywhere.
A gang of workers were moving along shoveling excess rocks off it. This would be a great way to give some people in our countries a bit of purpose in their lives.
Moving on, we were now at about 3800m. Deirdre was getting despondent and lacking will, as we had to walk up some sections, they were steep and had too much loose rock to negotiate.
She said, “I can’t do this”. Thinking about things to say to her, I had to be reassuring and careful at the same time, her spirits had to be lifted.
· “Think of the smile on your face as you fall asleep at night in Smithers knowing you have ridden this road,
· there would only be a handful of 60 year old women who would have ever done this,
· We are in this together, we can’t let each other down, health issues aside.
· this maybe the hardest thing you ever do in your life, the rewards will be multi faceted and never forgotten, for me it would be difficult too.
· we have all the time in the world, if we do 15km in a day so be it,
· the scenery is going to reward us so much more having ridden to see it,
· I am going to do all I can to help you you do it,
· only bail out if you think your health is at risk
were some lines that come to mind.
Amongst all these comments I had to be honest and tell her that I would not be catching a bus out of here with her, only if my heath too was at risk.
The opportunities for both of us to achieve this task will more than likely never arise again from a time perspective, though more importantly a motivational perspective at our age.
It was tough going, we stopped further on and had a good chew on some coca leaves. Cal was added, my whole mouth went numb, it was nice, it did actually help my breathing.
Now she was using my ipod and cruising along in her world and making good progress.
For me a large part of the truth was that Deirdres company was especially enjoyable, we now know each other well, including our habits, good and bad. This journey together had tested us both socially and physically. The resultant experience continues to be so enjoyable. I do hope she completes this journey to Huánuco.
The road now got easier going and the scenery was indeed becoming preoccupying.
Deirdre’s spirits were back where they needed to be, it was so nice to be witness to this.
Off in the not too far distance were snow covered mountains, tarns were roadside, as was a stream winding its way through the tussock. Amongst the treeless landscape were the majestic Puya Raimondi, from the bromeliad family. They had tall floral spears reaching skyward.
Their presence reminded us we were in Peru. At one point, we left the road and walked up to a solitary specimen to take photos.
Arriving at the entrance to Parque Nacional Huascaran, we viewed the visitors building and paid our fee.
A sign outside noted the elevation at 4130m.
There were stone fence enclosures in some areas, obviously for herders to hold stock, other little rock and tussock shelters were roadside for those caught in bad weather.
The distant mountains were drawing us, soon we would be in their midst, until then we must negotiate what lies in between.
About 1400 with Deirdre off ahead, I feel better when she is ahead, every metre under her tyres is a metre towards Huánuco and the refuge of a motel. With this, will come a feeling of elation for us both.
With a huge puff of air my flat tyre was deflated coming down a small incline. Stopping to repair it, Deirdre came back to check on me. Once it was fixed, we now needed to find a camp.
Our elevation was now about 4400m, the temp was rapidly falling, Deirdre had wisely rugged up while I was repairing my tube.
We are both well aware of the need to maintain body temperature now.
Soon a camp was found to the right of the road, the opposite side of the stream
It was quite sheltered and received the last sun of the day.
Setting up camp, we knew in the morning it would be brass monkey conditions. Early starts were not an option.
Once set up, we had fried potato chips, 3 or 4 cups of tea, and a lentil, pasta, tomato, soup, garlic, ginger and chilli number. All good except the left side of my tongue and mouth felt like a blow torch had been applied momentarily, it was red raw. Too much cal had been taken with the coca leaves.
Wandering out from under the tarp we marveled at the stars on such a dark night. The Southern Cross brilliantly displayed low in the southern sky.
It had been a day of coming to terms with the conditions for the next few days, a day where we both had to keep our spirits high.
Boiling eggs for the road ahead. This is the turnoff we missed. The last we ever boiled!
Laguna Patacocha, perfect trout habit but unfishable due to aquatic weed.
Puya raimondi.
Filtering water across the road, fashion "down by the riverside"
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Altitude, 4130.5m
Typical dwellings for herders up here.
The nights camp
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