Peru 7

The day to HELL!

On the 30th of Octobers, we leave Tarma and head to Ayacucho, Peru. Little did we know what was in store for us today, but that is jumping ahead of the story

The day started bright sunny at the Los Portales Hotel in Tarma.
The contrast is hard to miss. Nice beautiful hotel, and hillside shacks. Makes you feel a little guilty!
The day started with about 35 miles of dirt roads. It is shocking to see how closely people live with their livestock!
I would guess that the average height of the indigenous people is less than 5 feet.
We arrive in Pazos, Peru and it was market day.
In less than 30 seconds people start gathering around the bike.
All the guys were intrigued by the GPS display.
This was the main street through a small village of about 1,000 people.
We sure felt like foreigners....
Then on to some great twisties.....
Then back onto the dirt roads through the Peruvian highlands.
At Izuchaca, Peru the 120 miles of dirt road begins. We were told that 5 hours was plenty of time to cover the distance. WRONG!
This was the only gas station in Izuchaca....
Sandy, the GS and an old rail car...
There were a few small villages along the way...
There should have been three destinations on this sign. The third destination should have been "HELL"!
The speeds we were able to manage were way too slow, and day light was going to be gone shortly...

Then we starting having problems with the Jesse mounting hardware. The bolts were backing out, even with Loctite! It got to the point that I had to stop every 5 miles. Then the allen bolts started stripping! I was pissed! I was frustrated with having to unload everything, every five miles and trying to fix the problem. I asked Sandy, "Do we need this... or this", and then started pitching things over the cliff into the river. The audio tapes on how to "Speak Spanish" were the first things to go! Less than 30 minutes of daylight, and we were only 1/2 the way to our destination. We talked about sleeping on the dirt road. It was too dangerous to ride at night, as the road had 300 to 1,500 foot drop offs.

Then we stumble on this small village with about 10 homes and a restaurant. Sandy looked like a raccoon from all the dirt on her face. We found a home that had 3 beds for $2.00 per person.
Every kid in town stared through the door at the restaurant. We bought cookies for all the kids, hence the smiles.
This was a typical home in this village.
The staircase to our room.... There was no bathroom.... No toilet,,,. No shower... No running water... And everything was dirty.
	All I have to say, is Sandy is one good sport. About 30 feet from the back of this home was a hole in the ground.... for you know what! It was disgusting. And Sandy had to use it, and when she did, she lost her balance and fell. Without a lot of detail, I thought she was going to lose it! But she held it together. She is tough. She is still riding along. A lot of women would have bailed by now! Then it gets worse. Loud crap music until 11:00 PM. No sleep. I am frustrated with the Jesse hardware and the 3 hours we lost trying to fix the things. I am frustrated about putting Sandy through this ordeal. I am frustrated about not making it to our destination. I am PISSED! Then, at midnight, there is a loud knock on the door downstairs. The owner answered the door, and then there is a loud argumentative discussion in Spanish. The word "Moto" is used! I look out the window and there are 5 policemen in Black uniforms that look a lot like the Federales in Mexico. The outfits include the ammo belts. "Nice look!". Now the only thing going through my mind is we are 50 miles from the "Shining Path" epicenter, where nearly 70,000 people were killed. Yes, Guzman was caught, and now he ia in prison. Yes, the "Shining Path" is history, but what happened to all the "BAD" guys? The mind starts playing games. No sleep, pissed and frustrated. Not a good combination.
At 5:15 we hit the road. We could not get out of here fast enough! Our room was on the top floor of this dive! This place was "HELL"....

So, early on Halloween morning we arise to ride the rest of the way to Ayacucho.
Another "Bridge" picture....

Another "Bridge" picture.....

We made it to Ayacucho by 10:00 am. We immediately took long hot showers. That night we took another long hot showers. In the morning, we took another shower and finally started to feel clean! Bless Sandy for tolerating this journey. She is truly a good sport......
Ayacucho is an old Colonial city.
Another church picture. This church was unusual, in that it had the weird balcony on the front of the church. During the Spanish Inquisition, this was were the "Hangings" were performed!
An old "Peruvian" Harley...... Any idea on the size or year?

The main church in Ayacucho. It is one of 33 churches in this city.

We left Ayacucho, after a good nights sleep, and replaced ALL the bolts on the Jesse bags.

Most of the ride was over 12,000 feet.

At one point, we rode for 30 miles and never descended below 14,000 feet.

Does anybody make a turbo for the R100GS?

Some of the ride looked like the "Million Dollar Highway" near Ouray, Colorado!

Only higher.....

We were heading back to the coast of Peru to see things like the Nasca Lines.

Again, we almost hit 16,000 feet!

Sandy is giving me the thumbs up, and we were only 2 days from "HELL".... What a good sport! Notice the great road in the background.....
Very barren and brown. Villages like this are few and far between......
The llamas' ownership is indicate by the color of the yarn balls attached to their ears.
Sandy and I really enjoyed this 225 mile day. The animals, blue skies, and great road made for a nice day.
Today I was wishing that I had the 950 KTM!

More nice roads. I prefer dirt, but for asphalt, this was hard to beat!

We had a quick lunch in Huaytara, Peru, then back to the road.
For 50 miles of the ride, the ride reminded both of us of the Palm Springs area.

Hell was 2 days ago. We felt as though we had arrived in Heaven, when we found the "Hacienda San Jose", near Pisco, Peru. They had a web site at....... www.HaciendaSanJose.com.pe

This place was built in 1688 and was originally a sugar cane plantation. At one point there was nearly 1,000 slaves.
The door in the masonry wall directly behind Sandy is here slave were locked up for 2 weeks if they tried to escape. Very brutal. Also got us thinking that the miserable day in La Esmeralda was not THAT bad....
We rented a suite for $53.00 per night. This was the entry, which was at least 22 by 12 feet.
This is about 1/3 of the bedroom. Again, very large.
This was ONE side of the Hacienda. Our room was just to the left of Sandy.
It had it's own church, including catacombs!
The room where slaves were tortured.... Pretty sad. Outside the doors to the Hacienda, live about 350 families, most of which are descendant of the slaves that worked on the plantation. Today the Hacienda San Jose has large parties which specialize on Afro-Peruvian music.

A painting in the Hacienda, which shows the grandeur of what life was like during the days of the plantation (dated 1834). It has not changed much!

The paintings are of the original owners. It was like staying in a museum.
The Hacienda was finally purchased in 1913 by the Cilloniz family, which still owns it today. This is Teresa, which we had the good fortune of having dinner. The pride of ownership and the history she possessed was interesting and appreciated.
	Between 1968 and 1972 The President of Peru , Juan Velasco took most of the Hacienda away from the owners and gave the land away. Teresa mother, Angelita, went to meet the President on his birthday. There was a long line of Peruvians, which shook hands with the President. She was able to get an appointment with government officials. She stated that she had 12 children and that her husband had recently pass away. They owned 2 Haciendas. One was sacrificed, but she was able to keep hacienda San Jose. She decided to turn it into a Hotel, and apply the money to the constant restoration, which is required. It was neat having dinner with a lady that grew up, as a kid, living in this huge Hacienda. Her husband is a doctor. They had lived in Miami, Florida, New Haven, Connecticut and New York City, so her English was excellent.
This was the original bath tub made for the 1st owner of the Hacienda.
Their family dinning room. The lady in the photography is Teresa mother. She is now 79 years old, and still works at the Hacienda. During our visit, Angelita was visiting another daughters farm in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
We went for Lunch in El Carmen, which was about 2 miles from the Hacienda.
When we returned to the Hacienda, I went on a short tour of the catacombs. The owners from which the Cilloniz bought the Hacienda were murdered on the steps of the Hacienda, by the slaves. Their bones are under the church, in the catacombs.
Jose led me through the catacombs with 1 candle. I was glad I brought my small headband flashlight along.
I believe that Jose stated that there was nearly a kilometer of tunnels under the Hacienda.

That's it through the 2nd of November, 2005. Sandy has been a REAL trooper. She deserved a few nights in places with modern conveniences

Click on the "Next" button to proceed to "Peru 8".....