Last night we parked in the Hotel Reception, we were not the 1st Bikers to stay at this hotel as the Receptionist had little rubber mats that she handed out for each of us to put under our Side Stand so that we did not scratch the shiny tiles.
Then we went “Out On The Town” and found the little Town Square and a very brightly lit Eat House, I can’t call the places we eat Restaurants, they are places where the locals eat. You buy your Pot Luck Wine from a place that has wine on its shelf, (also not a Liquor Store as they also sell sweets and Dog Food.) And when I say “the locals eat” I am not exaggerating.
Then we strolled around town dodging the Tuk-Tuks that were buzzing around town. The hawkers were selling their food and clothing and there were a few Stalls selling clothing brands we have never heard of.
This morning we had not coffee or anything to eat as our hotel, which was very new and fancy, had no Food Service. They also did not have any wardrobes, hooks on the wall or towel rails and the toilet paper was issued onto each bed, which you only discover when you are already done on the toilet and the toilet roll is still next to the soap and the towels on your bed. We had ridden from Sea Level on Thursday to 3400m last night, and this morning we just continued to climb, not fast but continuously climbing, one turn lead into the next and so it went for the 1st hour. Then we found our “breakfast” stop, where we had coffee, Chicken, Rice, Short Rib Potatoes and Chilly Tomato Sauce.
The mother of the 2 daughters cooking (who did not want to marry peens) explained a whole lot of things for us here, at the top there is her Wi-Fi Password and then there are three dried fish and a dried lamb which she had a lot to tell us, but lost in translation.
This is what our Breakfast stop looked like from outside, in a very cold 9,8 Degrees and at a hight of 4457m above sea level.
As we were on the back-roads it was easy going with hardly any traffic, but as this is their Summer Window to do Maintenance own the roads we had several Stop And Goes. But the scenery was top-notch and apart from wearing all my warm clothes, having to put my Heated Handlebar Grips at Max, we had a great day in the saddle. There were straighter roads at the top of the mountain which we followed, I stopped at a lake but there must have been 10 lakes we passed on the top, snow still melting filling these lakes. When we dropped down we started following a river and had to cross over very few kilometers, we stayed in this river-gorge for at least 2 hours, it was lovely!!!
But as we were passing the Stop & Go’s and asking how long we would have to wait, we heard that there was one up ahead where people sometimes wait 2 hours to get through. And soon we got to that Stop & Go, we rode past at least 50 trucks and cars, right to the front and then waited only 10 minutes before we could go. But, this was hectic, there was a very big stream with deep water we had to ride through, then few 100 meters of mud. Tex was using his fancy Helmet Camera which he started using on Leg 20 and was riding right at the back, hoping to video one of us falling, but no one fell and the camera did not work, i that is what I hear now, but, Tex is still trying to figure it out if there is a video I can Post.
The entire day was in the mountain and it was an entire day of twists and turns, LOVELY Riding.
A few more of todays photos;
Our hotel is very bad today, but at only $13 per room we smashed out and got 6 single rooms. Once again it is the small things I miss, like just a bath-mat to put in front of the shower, and hot water, and a toilet roll holder, and wi-fi that actually connects to the Internet. I can do without the bedside lamp and the very small TV, I am a simple man. But, this hotel has got parking and that sealed the deal.
I am lucky, I have a Toilet Seat, poor Millsy did not get that luxury.
We are deep into the mountains and off the Tourist Route in this Mining Town tonight, but tomorrow we het the main Tourist area and will hopefully find accommodation that will meet our Normal Pros Standard, we have been slumming it these past few days.
Note all the straight roads leading to our town tonight above.
The heavy rain yesterday scared Millsy so much that he has just returned from the Hardware Store wit his new Cutting Edge Water Proof Rain Gloves, or for builders.
Here are two photos Tex did manage to take yesterday before we got flooded and fogged out.
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Another video of today, click on this link to open;
And now I need to go and try to report my Fibre Outage at my house in Johannesburg, they refused to speak to my wife as I am the account holder, so Mweb is on my Hate List as I now have to try and solve this ongoing problem from my little hotel room without wi-fi and from a little town in Peru.
So Cheers, more stories and phots tomorrow
Fleisch
Mooi Mooi Mooi!!