Monday Sep. 3, 2007
After Huaraz I headed south and then east to see the ruins at Chavin de Huantar. This site turned out to be very interesting with its intricately carved heads and large stone columns. But even more surprising was a large vertical stone carving (like a totem pole) centered inside a special underground chamber amidst a series of tunnels and rooms.
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From there it was back out of the Andes mountains and down to the coast. Along the way, as I exited a tight corner on a relatively busy highway, I saw this little baby girl (maybe 2 years-old) walking on the side, crying very hard and getting ready to cross. By the time I had slowed down, turned around and went back she was already across. There weren't any adults around, and when I picked her up and tried to get her to show me where her family was, she pointed to a nearby field where I saw a young teenager was walking towards us. By now, on the other side of the road I also saw a very old woman walking towards us very slowly. The teenager arrived and took the baby and I was told that her mother was at work, the old lady was her grandmother, and that she was her sister, but it was her job to watch the cows - and to NEVER leave the cows.
Later on on this same highway I was stopped by 6 cops in 3 Toyota Land Cruisers for passing on a double yellow a couple of kilometers back. Seemed pretty serious, but I remember seeing them and waving so it couldn't be that bad. I knew it was probably true because there's double yellow everywhere, even where it's obviously not needed, but I argued just the same. They wanted 370 Soles ($117 US), but I managed to get them down to 100 Soles ($32 US) cash instead. I wasn't too worried about it though, because I knew Peru was currupt - even the gas pumps lie about the volume.
And then south to Lima, probably the ugliest and dirtiest city I've ever seen. With it's cold grey, weather (96% humidity), diesel polluted, overcrowded, caotic streets, overpriced hotels and unfriendly people, it wasn't a place I wanted to stay, but I had to pass through because that's where the highway runs. Lima turned out to be a bit of a Bermuda Triangle for Buzz though, and he started having a couple of problems that took me a few days to figure out. I was surprised by how badly one of the main moto dealerships (Desert Racing) was run, and how very unhelpful and unfriendly they were to me. Although, Carlos Chavez at the tiny Perea Honda was quite friendly.
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A couple of days later I headed south again through the earthquake stricken cities of Pisco and Ica. Sadly these poor people were hit hard by a strong earthquake only 3 weeks earlier (Aug. 15) and most of their feeble houses couldn't take the shock. Most of the neighboring countries had pledged help and it was obvious that the cleanup had begun, but there really wasn't much activity going on as I drove through.
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Along the highway I noticed a few dune buggies sitting in a small business in the desert so I decided to stop and check it out. The 2 owners were great guys and had no other customers so I decided to go for a ride with one of them. Originally, I'd though it would be fun to rent the buggy and drive it myself, but shortly after starting the trip I realized it was far more difficult than I'd imagined. Some of the drops were huge, and it was incredibly hard to see some of them - these guys knew what they were doing. We stopped for pictures in a couple of beautiful spots and I even got a chance to try sandboarding. It was a nice break from riding and allot more beautiful and fun than I'd expected. Be sure to stop in and visit Mario & Omar with Sandtours if you're passing by.
At Nazca I took a flight in a small plane to see the mysterious and huge Nazca Lines that have been carved into the desert floor for hundres of years. They were impressive, but I felt kind of skeptical for some reason.
And even though I don't agree with it, I wanted to see a cock fight in person. It's a surprisingly popular event still in some parts, where people drink and bet on which rooster will live after fighting with a sharpened metal blade attached to its foot. It proved to be another sad reality of life in these parts.
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