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Day 42

Day 42

I had the worst dreams ever last night. I barely slept and my body was destroyed. We woke up at 3:30am and packed up all our shit to leave it downstairs since we wouldn’t be back for checkout time. We had another shitty breakfast which was absolutely horrible. We were outside as a team ready to start moving at 4:30am and Aurelio wasn’t with us this time. He was taking the bus to the mountain. We had a 20 minute walk to a bridge and when we showed up it was closed. They checked our passports and were told to wait until 5am to open it. The gates to Machu Picchu opened at 6am up top and Aurelio said it takes about an hour to get up there.

Will stayed up drinking a bit later than I did and we both gunned it as soon as the gates opened on the bridge. We were on a mission to get up there as fast as we could to finish the whole trip with a good and fast ending. We took off like a bunch of animals at the stairs. I think it was 450 meters of stairs to climb. We got after it straight away and weren’t planning on slowing down. Will is 22 and in great shape, his heart rate hit 190 and he was starting to lose it near the top but kept it together. We ended up hitting the top at 29:02. I can but I can’t believe we got up there that fast. Will nearly had a heart attack and now was completely soaked in sweat and it was cold up there. The guards up there couldn’t believe we did it that fast. They said record! Doubt it but cool if it was. We waited around for the rest of the group to show up and we were some of the first in MP that morning. I was speechless and I cried a bit looking around when we saw the first view.

We got to witness the sun coming up over the mountains behind us and saw the first light on MP that morning with the whole place nearly empty. It was the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen with my own two eyes. This place is magical and i’m getting goosebumps writing about it and thinking about it all over again.

We did the tour with Aurelio and were in heaven. Funny part coming up. We paid for circuit 3. You can do Circuit 1,2,3,4. circuit 4 is booked out three months in advance and all we got was 3 for $70 I think I don’t remember. After we exited MP he said we also paid for the MP mountain and we could go climb it. We were all beat and once Aurelio split up from the group to start heading home on a bus we decided we would check out the mountain and see how far we could get.

On the way up I saw a sign for Circuit 1,2 and no security guard there. I got everyone to make a hard right and we walked in like we owned the place. Everyone’s tickets allow them in for only 2 hours. We turned into Circuit 1,2 and ended up doing a tour of the whole place and we were in there for about 4.5 hours. I couldn’t believe it. We did it. We snuck in and got to see it all. We had such a good time and took so many pics and got in trouble a bit here and there.

We made our way back down the mountain which was brutal on the knees, made it into town and had a huge brunch. I got two burgers and a few juices. We hung out and walked around the cute little town until 2pm when we headed over to the train station. Our train took off at 2:30 and dropped us off 1.5 hour later where we took a bus for about 1.5 hours back to Cusco. I showered and headed over for a dinner spot called Organika recommended by someone. It was the best food I had in South America so far. I went to meet up with the guys after my dinner and I called it a night pretty early.

Ok enough typing. Now go look at all these lovely pictures I hiked for so long to take.

 

 

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Day 41

Day 41

Today we have to hike 18 miles and it’s going to be the longest day. And some of the crew is in their worst shape they could be in. I was mind blown when I saw Markus and Luca along with the other people that were throwing up last night. Everyone in camp was struggling though. We ate the weakest breakfast we’ve had yet which just just straight up fruit. No protein is starting to really hurt me. We got the group together and turned up the mountain as soon as we left the campsite. Everyone was pretty beat on the hike and there wasn’t much talking. Julian busted out a speaker and played some music along most of the way. Most of the morning was a blur. We stopped for a break at a viewpoint with a swing on a mountain.After that we kept moving and found a viewpoint of a few mountains that were covered by clouds but we did get to see Machu Picchu from afar.

We continued on the hike and finally had a nice break in the sun again on a mountainside with some ruins behind us. I took a little bit of a nap which felt so good. Then we had a long long descent. We maybe went down 2000-3000′ in elevation for the next two hours. Some of the group was moving hella slow enjoying their time and I could tell Aurelio was getting annoyed because we were behind schedule. At one point he jumped in front of the slow people and started running and I got right on his ass. We ran all the way down to the river, crossed a bridge and met a few guys from our group that were ahead of us. I said I wish I would go for a swim in that river and he said you can if I walk up about three minutes but we had to be quick so the group wouldn’t have to wait for us once they caught up. Me and the other guys took off running and found the spot we thought he was talking about. We jumped in and my god was it such a good feeling. I washed my socks and shirt in the river and they smelled pretty bad. We hung out in the cold water for about 10 minutes until the slower people caught up and then we continued on the hike.

We made it into Hydroelectrica which was the name of the town. We had a big lunch there. I had two meals and we rested for a bit after. Most of the people were falling asleep at the table waiting for our food to come out which wasn’t great at all. We had about another 3 hours to go. We had to walk along train tracks to get to the last town called Agua Calientes. It was a nice walk, it rained a bit, we stopped for some snacks along the way and followed the other hundreds of people walking along the train tracks for hours. There were lots of bugs and we even threw a few Peruvian Soles on the tracks to have some flattened coins as souvenirs. It worked for a few of us. We made it into the town in the rain covered in filth and sweat but shit were we happy to be there. We checked into our rooms and the 5 of us guys went out for food and beer. I just got a burger and went back to the hotel room to shower when our duffle bags arrived. Everything in the bags were wet and stinky though so it wasn’t great. We went downstairs at 7:30 for dinner and a briefing for tomorrow. A bunch of people ended up drinking for a while late into the night because why not right? That was our night.

 

 

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Day 40

Day 40

My calves have never hurt this much in my entire life after running that downhill toe striking the whole way down. For fucks sake I was in some pain! We had the same typical night of cracking up before going to bed. This morning I was woken up with coca tea and it was still cold out this morning even though the elevation dropped quite a bit. We got up and had the typical bread and jam breakfast. I did a little workout on the grass while everyone was eating and we hit the trail.

Aurelio stopped maybe 10-15 minutes in and grabbed some berry looking things off a bush and we all knew exactly what was happening. Face painting time. He drew something on each of our faces and then at the end I got him with a  face painting. He told us this is what the locals used to dye clothes for different colors. We marched on all looking like ancient Incas. I don’t even know how many miles we hiked today. Maybe between 5-12 who knows. We made our way down a valley with a river in the middle as always. I had a nice chat with Anya, Stefan and Demi along the way. We came into a small area with a house and a lot of fruits growing there where we all rested. They had a lot of fruit for sale that was grown there along with some light food. While we were devouring dragon fruit and some other goodies it started to rain pretty hard. We were all bummed with how cold it was because we had a chance to jump in a river up ahead in a bit. It was raining and cold at this point and it didn’t look like it would clear up. We were filthy and sweaty from the morning and I was dying to get my clothes wet so I could wash them. They were starting to smell.

When we made it to the river I said fuck it and decided to throw my speedo on and jump in. It was actually much warmer than the cold shower we all took the night before and god damn did it feel good. Once me and three of the guys jumped in, the girls decided to jump in. Anya and Demi loved it as well! We finished up the hike and made our way into a few vans. We went to a local village about 45 minutes away while blasting some good music with the chief in the van. Damn it was such a good time.

We got out of the vans and learned how to roast coffee. I was the one mixing the coffee with a stick on a fire and then I grinned it. in the process I popped a rib out on my right side. Aurelio told us he had another surprise for us while we were drinking the coffee we just roasted and this guy pulls out a huge red dick shaped thing full of alcohol. So of course we all start to take a bunch of shots. This guy is definitely a wild one. We got back in the vans and took a short ride to our campsite where we had about 2 hours to relax and eat lunch until we were going to take the vans down to a hot spring. We all picked our tents and chilled out. The sun finally came out along with all the bugs in Peru. Most people started to drink for happy hour which is what they called it. I think happy hour was all day everyday on this hike.

As we loaded up the vans the guys decided to buy a bottle of Pisco and ginger ale. So we got in the vans and for some reason were the only one blasting music with cups in everyone’s hands full of alcohol. I’m hanging out of the side of the van with two cups so I can give one to the chief since he definitely needs one. A minute later the van is blasting down a dirt road and everyone has a cup of alcohol in their hands. I’m pretty sure the van driver had one as well. We had a one hour ride and holy hell did it get loud and rowdy in the van.

We pull up to the hot springs and the other groups pull up behind us as well. We bought two more bottles of Pisco at the hot springs little shops outside. The doors are wide open blasting music, where all screaming makes a ton of noise and the other vans are pulling up all quiet looking at us all confused. We weren’t allowed in the springs with the booze so we mixed it in the ginger ale bottles and made our way in. We relaxed in the hot water and the god damn germans in our group were so fucking loud. Markus and Luca yeah i’m talking about you guys! We met some people from the other groups and all chatted about where we live and our lives while everyone else in the part of the hot springs we were in moved away with how loud some of us were. They were definitely pretty pissed and annoyed!

We made it out at 6pm and got a few tables for everyone at the little shops by the springs. This is where it all started to go bad. We got bottles and bottles of booze and everyone started drinking. After an hour the van pulled up and shit got real rowdy in the van. The 1 hour ride turned into a 10 minute ride and we pulled over and Aurelio made us follow him into a bar. Next thing we know we are taking 2 shots and some more shots from another big red dick thing. This guy is out of his mind but we sure do love him. He knows how to party. We get back to the campsite eventually and Markus is 90% unconscious. I tried carrying him in my arms barefoot up the hill to the campsite but he wasn’t helping at all so Aurelio helped me. We ended up laying him down on the ground with a pad to sleep for the night. Other people started rolling in getting carried as well and they were puking everywhere. Me and Mary were the mom and dads of our groups babysitting everyone that was very drunk. We had dinner. It was a shitshow and then danced for a few hours in a little hut made of mud. We all passed out drunk and wet from the humidity in the jungle. I had no idea how these people were going to make the next day’s hike.

 

 

 

 

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Day 39

Day 39

We were all woken up at 5am by one of the cooks with a cup of tea full of coca leaves. For those of you who don’t know they chew on them here a lot for help with the altitude. It’s what they make cocaine from. Sucking on the leaves for 20 minutes at a time numbs your stomach so you can’t get nauseous from the altitude and so you won’t get hungry and can work in the mountains all day long.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get my cup. We all packed up our shit and made the hike up to the house which felt better after being up at that altitude for the night and making the trek to the house a few times while we were there. We dropped off our duffel bags to get loaded up on the horses while we waited for breakfast. Breakfasts were kinda weak. A lot of bread and jam. not really much protein at all. We drank a few cups of coca tea to get us ready for the high altitude and to keep us warm. It was maybe 35-40 out that morning. Packing my bag for the hike was rough. I didn’t want to bring a lot of clothes because it would be getting warmer later in the day and it’s a lot of weight. Along with my big Sony camera and water the bag was getting heavy. I opted for shorts and my down jacket with a rain poncho.

We gathered around that morning. The other two groups were stretching and doing some team dances or something if I remember correctly meanwhile we are learning all about coca leaves. We picked our team name at some point before that yesterday and it was “Pinches Gringos”, which translates to “fucking gringos”. But while the other teams were stretching and doing some rituals they came up with we are all stuffing coca leaves in our cheeks with some black solid stuff to make our body absorb the chemicals faster. We decided that were also going to be called “Team Cocania”

We were off. It wasn’t a race but only if you’re in first place right. We were moving pretty quick. The views were fucking insane guys. The high snow capped mountain in front of us which we were working to get to. We started up the long steep uphill that was named the gringo killer. I think they over hyped it because we were doing pretty well for the most part. We stopped a few times for some breaks, we were covered in sweat but it was still cold out. The horses from the camp and the cooks passed us maybe an hour or two into the hike.

We came to an opening with a large field and a few of us took a seat behind some rocks to wait for the rest of the group while getting shelter from their strong cold winds. We all took a little break here once everyone caught up and had some snacks. I was thrilled I brought back about 20 protein bars from NY which I was munching on. It was so nice talking a little break and making each other laugh the whole time getting to know everyone a bit more and more as the house passed. Aurelio had a lot of funny stories and good info on the local area which was lovely to hear. We hiked and hiked and finally reached Salkantay pass. Holy shit guys this was incredible. It was just incredible. Rocks blasting up to the heavens covered in snow, I guess you can call it a glacier. We all took a bunch of pictures and sat around in the circle for the chief to educate us on the local area. He passed around a little gift he brought which was a local type of alcohol. Now we’re taking shots in the middle of a 12 mile hike! I like this guy and I see where it’s going! Haha

We sat around and chatted for a while after he was done teaching us and then we packed up ready to head out. We had the hardest part of the day over and started the hike down. We were at 15,500 or 16,000′ at the pass and we were descending down to about 10,000′ I think if I can recall and it was all downhill. The groups spread out a bunch and I ended up walking with a polish guy Stefan that showed up early this morning from Cusco. We chatted about all sorts of things which was nice. Then I paired up with Anya and we ended up chatting for hours on the hike down about life, its wonders, psychedelics, sharing our experiences and I think we learned alot from each other those few hours. We all met up at a point for lunch and of course it started to pour as we were eating. I had a lovely view of the whole valley we came down from while eating lunch as you’ll see in the pictures below. We threw on our ponchos and headed down even more into the valley. The group split up quite a bit and I ended up catching up to Ian up front. He was thankful as he hadn’t seen another person for a while and thought he got lost. We made it down into the jungle area of the hike now. It was starting to get really hot and humid. We all hung out for a bit at a little break point where there was a hut with food and drinks. The rednecks got some good old cervezas.

The chief told us some stories about military guys he did the tour with one day and they did it all in two days. Once we picked up our gear Will and I decided to run down the rest of the way. It was some steep dirt downhill on a cliff edge. We had 3 miles to go after the long morning of the uphill and downhill. We were moving so fast bouncing off every rock passing everyone there was to pass. It was so much fun to be able to throw in some hardcore fitness into the hike like that mixing it with taking it slow and talking to people.

Will and I got to camp and took a freezing cold shower, my stomach was destroyed from drinking filtered water from the river and I don’t think my filter was working properly anymore. We all gathered around for some card games and chatted about all kinds of things, did a lot of shit talking which was hilarious, played some more card games and before we realized, it was time for bed. We were absolutely beaten and I crashed again with the rednecks. We were nearly crying from laughing so hard in our hut trying to go to sleep. We had such a good time. No service for two days now and this was absolutely incredible.

The path we had in the morning to the pass. You can see it on the right side and then cutting up to the left side near the middle of the picture.

Morning cocaine meeting before we started the hike.

My man!

Lunch with the girls and the valley in the background

The area at lunch time

Catching up to Ian thinking he was lost.

At some point on the downhill before I ran with Will

GUYSSSSSS. WHATTTTT!!!!!!!

Where we slept for the night. Incredible

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Day 38

Day 38

No riding here! 🙂

Today was the day of the Salkantay Trek. I can’t believe I got on this thing so fast after I arrived at Cusco two days ago. We met up last night to have a briefing on what to expect and we’re told to meet at the office at 4:45AM to take the bus to the beginning of the hike. We were told we have a 5am wake up every single day except for the last day for MP we had to wake up at 3:30AM. Brutal.

All of us met in the office at the center of Cusco and we loaded up the buses. There were three groups of about 12 people each. My group looked pretty fun from what I saw. We took like a 3 hour bus ride and stopped for a light breakfast in the middle of the ride which was pretty much just fruit. Once we got to the beginning of the hike we all loaded up what we needed into our backpacks and had extra duffels that horses would carry with sleeping bags and anything else we had. Max weight was 7KG.

The elevation was quite high. I made two friends from Idaho straight away. These kids were degenerates and we clicked right away. It was pretty much a hike at a 45 degree angle to Laguna Humantay. A few of us decided to go full on and were dying with the altitude. We pushed it a bit too hard. We did a few kilometers that morning to the lake and then stopped for some photos. It was incredible. The guide was telling us how the snow came down 3/4 of the way down at least 6 years ago and it all started to melt recently due to global warming. That made us all quite sad. He said the snow will probably be gone in 6 years or so and the lake will dry up which is terrible for the villages down below because that’s the water they use to survive. Everyone started to open up and chat some more which was nice to see, including myself. The guide Aurelio was awesome and it seems like we got a good guide and group which I was worried about. I didn’t want to be stuck with a boring guide and boring group of people.

After the hike to the lake we made it a few kilometers to our campsite. The first day was a very very short hike but we needed to get used to the altitude. Once we got to the campsite we unloaded a few things and laid out in the sun. We had a light lunch after maybe an hour and then I laid out in the sun on the mountainside. The winds were strong and it was cold but as soon as I found a little spot in the sun hidden from the winds it was so warm and lovely. I laid there for a few hours until the sun started to get low on the horizon. A few people from the group came over to where I was and we all hung out and chatted for maybe 2 hours or so and it was so nice. We got to know each other pretty well and where everyone was from. The group was solid. I liked them a-lot. Once the sun dropped behind the mountains we still hung out and chatted until dinner was ready. It was quite the hike up to the house we ate dinner at from our cabins. I got teamed up with the rednecks from Idaho for the houses we slept in. Small triangular shaped huts with grass roofs. Once dinner was over everyone tried to use the bathrooms, I took some night shots of the stars and we all passed out fairly quickly.

Gearing up for the start

Group photo as we started

Humantay Lake

Julian, Demi, Jubel, Tom

These are our huts in the background with the white straw roofs, the building above it is where we ate lunch and dinner.

The view of Salkantay pass. We will be hiking there tomorrow

Lunch and dinner spot

Soaking in the sun. Was still a tad bit windy there.

Im checking out the view for tomorrows hike

Catching some rays with the rednecks.

Watching our sunset.

 

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Day 36

Day 36

38,470 – 38,622  152 Miles today (15,922 Miles Overall)

Abancay, Peru – Cusco, Peru

I got up at about 6 and loaded up the bike as fast as I could. I skipped that freezing cold shower since it was about 45F in the morning when I woke up. The owner asked me where I was going and got me a bit nervous when she told me I have a long long day ahead of me and making it to Cusco would be tough with the amount of riding I had ahead of me. I was wondering if I messed up my route I had planned for the day.

I got the bike out of the patio and didnt drop my bike thankfully. It was a sketchy exit. I started up into the mountains and my god was it beautiful. The temps were dropping slowly as I was in the shade and made my way up a few thousand feet on the side of the mountain. The views were breathtaking as usual. I can’t believe how these mountains just go on forever and ever and ever.

The roads were hugging the side of the mountains the entire way. As I got up higher the cliff on the edge of the road got steeper and steeper until it was just a straight sheer rock cliff face. One wrong move and you are gone forever. I doubt anyone would ever even see my body or motorcycle at the bottom of the mountain thousands of meters below in the jungle. I picked this route because it looked even better than Canon Del Pato in northern Peru. This road was leading me to a spot called Tuneles De Carcatera.

I turned a corner and there it was. Holy hell it was more beautiful than I could have imagined. The road was just carved into the side of the mountain. I don’t know how they did it. At some points they carved the road through a few tunnels which were pretty long and very dark inside. My headlight has taken a beating and won’t point forwards anymore it just drops straight down pointing at my tire for the most part. I gotta remember to tighten the bolts on it when I get to stop in Cusco.  I stopped for a while to enjoy the views and take a bunch of pictures. I stayed for about an hour. Maybe 2 people on bikes passed and a truck. I couldn’t believe the views in the distance. Mountains everywhere are a few thousand meters tall for hundreds of miles. It’s so quiet up there and all you hear is a few local waterfalls and birds chirping. I was in heaven.

I started the bike up and decided to go around the mountain the long way instead of going back where I came from. I wasn’t even sure the road would take me to where I had to go but these are the days I live for. Hours and hours of riding on dirt in the absolute middle of nowhere with so much peace and quiet, as long as I didnt fall off the side of the mountain. On and on I went. Burning up time just parking the bike and sitting down on the ground enjoying the view and noises. I came around another corner and there was a waterfall going right across the road. I washed the mud off my boots and took a few pictures. I continued on and decided this would be a good spot for breakfast. I parked my bike and pulled out a protein bar and protein shake and just sat down for about 30 minutes staring out into the vast mountains hundreds of miles away. We really are nothing in the grand scheme of things. These mountains have been here for millions of years and we’re here for such a small part of it. Humbling.

BEEP BEEP! A truck comes around a corner blasting its horn to make sure no one else is coming around the corner so they don’t have a head on collision and I get covered with dust. I put my gear back on and hit the road. I pass through many little villages if you can even call it that. Just single houses on the cliff edge every few kilometers and some that had a few houses next to each other. It was lovely.

The road was all dirt with some gravel in the middle from rocks falling off the side of. the cliffs and I got a flashback from the death road in Colombia. I hit the gas and started doing 50mph on this dirt road with the cliff on the edge. I was feeling alive, in tune with my body and everything going on around me. My god it felt incredible. It’s just me and myself here and absolutely nothing else matters at all. These are the days I live for. This is my meditation, my being one with my body, what BASE jumping used to be for me. I am here and only here. My brain isn’t thinking of anything else and nothing else can slip into my mind for a split second. I feel every little bump in the road, every split second my tires aren’t gripping the dirt causing my tires to slide, every tenth of a degree of the change of temperature of the air, the slightest bit of sunlight hitting my hands in and out of the shade, feeling my back tire slide if I hit the brakes too much going over there gravel in the middle of the road. So many tiny feelings, time has slowed down. Everything has slowed down. Focusing on keeping my bike on the path while I’m pushing myself and the bike to the limits a few feet from death is an incredible feeling. It’s nice to have the skill and knowledge to be able to do that whenever I want and then take a step back and not live at 100% of my skill level.

I ripped down the dirt road for about an hour like this, putting every ounce of my brain to work so I can focus. It was incredible. I wish I could get some of this every single morning. I think it would keep me young and keep my reflexes nice and fast.

I made my way down the mountain and eventually onto a paved road. Time to head into Cusco. It’s nice being back on a paved road. I pushed my bike to the limits again on the twisty freshly paved road dropping down a few thousand feet into warmer air which felt very nice on my hands. I pulled into Cusco at about 1pm. Much earlier than expected. I checked into my hostel, unloaded everything, showered up and headed into the city for a walk. First thing was to try to get on a 5 day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu.

I went right to the company a few people recommended to me since on the website it said the MP tickets were sold out for months. A girl in front of my Anya was paying for the trek and it was starting two days later on Sunday. Right when she was done paying I got the same exact deal and got a ticket for Circuit 3 for MP. I was so bummed for the last few days when I found out the tickets were all sold out online. But here we are, everything falls into place. I paid my $330 and the plan was to leave Sunday morning at 5AM from the office. What a good feeling it was to have that work out so quickly. I ended up walking around the rest of the night checking everything out in the small city. I went to the market and got some fresh juice and ceviche for cheap. The next day would be prepping for the trip and getting some stuff ready for being away.

I was exhausted from being up at 5:30-6am, riding all morning. My brain was really tired from the dirt riding. I called it a night fairly early at around 10pm.

 

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Day 34/35

Day 34/35

 38,094  –  38,470  376 Miles today (15,770 Miles Overall)

Huachachina, Peru – Abancay, Peru

Sitting down for a full day at the oasis town was nice. I got to catch up on a lot of stuff I wanted to do to the bike. First thing in the morning I noticed I had a nail sticking out of the tire. I pulled it out and it ended up being 3 inches long and air started to pour out. I plugged it so at least that was taken care of. So happy I didn’t get a flat on the side of the road on the way to the Oasis the other day. I went out into town and got a bike wash finally, installed 20mm handlebar risers so I’m not bending over while standing up off roading, adjusted the chain, lubed it, organized all my luggage, and cleaned my windshield for the first time since I left NY.

Yesterday was kind of a lazy day other than that. First thing in the morning I went for a hike to the top of the sand dune and then did a solid workout on the roof of the Hostel. I ended up laying on the ground reading a book next to the pool for a few hours in the afternoon working on that tan again which ended up backfiring on me since I’m red like a lobster now. I lost my sunscreen somewhere along the way. At sunset I tried to go for another hike to the sand dune but some asshat wanted me to pay a park fee. Theres people walking all over the place and not paying. So I told him I wasnt going to the top just walking to the other side of the lake. I went to the other side and tried to sneak up and some other guy busted me. I turned around and started walking back to the first guy and just made a sprint up the sand dune. I was cracking up cuz this guy had zero chance of catching me. After he was done running and screaming for about 15-20 seconds he gave up and I scattered off into the crowd of people. Suckerrrrrr

I got up early this morning because I was literally so excited to hit the road and go ride. I was wide awake at 3 but couldn’t really start going anywhere till 6 the latest because the Nazca Lines were two hours away and they opened at 8. I ended up staying in bed wide awake and ended up hitting the road at 5:45am.The morning ended up with a bit of a shitty start. It was 50 degrees and foggy as hell with high winds. After about 1:30 it cleared up. I stopped for a delicious breakfast with a huge cup of fresh Pina juice. hurtle after I stopped at the Nazca Lines. I wish I could have done the plane tour for $75 but they do it out of the beach town I was at the other day and I didn’t know until last night. I was cracking up when I pulled up to the site. These guys built a road right through one of the designs and didn’t even know it until a long time after.  It was a cool sight to see but I only saw about 3 of the designs. The rest are scattered all over the desert. Pretty wild how they have been around for about 2000 years.

Back on the bike and I started my ride into the Andes mountains. I very quickly came up to a road block and blasted right past it. 20 Minutes later I come up to another and its blocked off real well. But I met a local from Cusco that’s returning home with his KTM 1290 he just bought in Lima a week ago. He said the road will be closed for over an hour so we just hung out and chatted about all kinds of things. He was riding all the way back to Cusco and I was cutting out a bit before him so we decided to ride together. I passed him pretty quickly in the turns but when the road opened up to a straight line my bike was getting slow since we climbed up to 15,000 feet and he would catch up. We were playing cat mouse all day catching unto each other when the roads went from straight to twists to straight.

The altitude really kills my bike and slows it down its crazy to see how much it affects it. It was damn cold up there too. It was 50F with some strong winds coming from all directions. We saw some alpine lakes up there which were super blue but I didn’t want to stop and take pics because of how cold and miserable it was up there. We rode in that altitude for hours and hours. I finally came to my part of the ride where I was going to turn off to a place called Pampachiri but I really was over this cold weather and it was 2 hours on a not so great road just to get to the destination and then I have no idea how the road was on the other side. He talked me out of going to the small town so we ended up riding together for a few more hours. When we dropped out of the altitude the temps went from 50 to 96 in a matter of minutes. Even at 9000′ it was that hot I couldn’t believe it. We stopped for some fuel and then we split off. I wanted to take it easy in the twisties because I probably won’t get to see much more of this anymore. I stopped for some delicious trout for $4 and a little bit after that I stopped to go for a swim in the river we’ve been riding next to for hours. It was so nice this river, so clean and blue. The gorge was so deep and beautiful the whole way I couldn’t wait to jump in.

After my little swim in ended up riding to a town called Abancay where I found a hostel and the owner let me park my bike in the lobby. I went out for a little food and found a woman selling delicious strawberries on the street. I got about 2 pounds for $1.25. Score

I was contemplating camping tonight by the river but I really needed wifi to figure out my next few days with this whole Machu Picchu thing. I was going to do a 5 day tour but all the tickets are sold out for the next 3-4 weeks so I’m gonna have to figure out a way to get my ass up there for a one day trip or maybe a 2 day hike if I can find a place that has tickets somehow.

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Day 33

Day 33

 37,884 – 38,094    –    210 Miles today (15,394 Miles Overall)

Lima, Peru – Huachachina, Peru

This morning I packed up everything I had and since the shop wasn’t sure if I would have my bike back for today and no update since last night I went down and booked another night at the Hostel. I was praying I would be able to get out of Lima today. I need to move! It doesn’t even feel like a bike trip anymore.

I got my ass in an Uber and went to the shop. Good news after waiting about 5 minutes. The mechanics were up till about 10-11pm last night working on my bike and they got it done 100%. I am so lucky I brought down that whole throttle body with the fuel rail and TPS sensor on it. After they got the bike running with the TPS sensor that I bought from BMW along with the gear position sensor they scanned it with the computer and it said it had a bad fuel pressure sensor. They ended up pulling the fuel rail off the spare throttle body I brought down and throwing it on my bike. Thank god it worked 100% and it had no more issues.

I ended up keeping the old gear sensor because I hear sometimes you can clean them so ill keep it as a spare incase this new one breaks before I go home. I also pulled the old fuel rail and fuel pressure sensor they swapped out and threw it in my backpack to keep just incase I have an injector go bad or the other fuel pressure sensor goes bad along the way maybe I can still use the old one.

I paid the shop a quick $200 (grrrrrr) and shot back to my hostel. I made it back by 10:50 and the checkout was at all. I ran inside and told them I changed my mind and asked for a refund on the extra night.They refunded me and I ran like a madman to pack up and load my bike up. Liz couldn’t bring back my Tb I found out as I was leaving Lima so I’m going to keep it with me and donate it to a shop in Cusco for some good karma.

I hit the road and shot down to Paracus. There’s some beautiful scenery down there and the desert rolls right into the ocean which you don’t see too often. I had a nice 3 hour ride down to Paracus and paid a $3 fee to get into a park which I didn’t know it was. This place is fucking gorgeous. The desert literally rolls into the ocean and there’s no grass or green anywhere. I miss being on the road like this and it’s sure a lovely day for my first one back since I broke down in Huarez. I met a guy from LA who is Peruvian and we chatted for a bit. Then some guy came over and told me there’s some good seafood about 10 minutes that way so I headed over that way. After a quick ride on the beach (Literally) I pulled up to this little cove of restaurants right on the ocean and had my usual which was a ceviche mixto. They had some good music playing, everyone was having a good time. IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK. I forgot all about the $5k I spent last week! HAHA

I got back on the bike and headed over to a little Oasis town called Huacachina I’ve had my eyes on for a long time. 1.5 hour ride and I pulled into this place. Guys, it’s wild. It’s a small Oasis town. A small lake surrounded by sand dunes maybe 3-400′ tall. It’s insane because it’s cooler than the desert I’ve seen in the Sahara in Africa. It just goes on and on forever from what I saw. People were eating shit sand boarding and skiing down the dunes, there were trucks taking people for rides sending it off the dunes getting some air. One of the trucks hit the ground so hard the front end snapped off it was hilarious to watch. I’m not sure if anyone got hurt because they were far away but it was fun to see! I sat up there for a while watching the sunset and enjoying the view.

I booked two nights here because it’s warm and sunny. I think this is the warmest weather I’ll see till I get to Buenos Aires. I also realized this will be the last time I see the ocean until I get my ass down to Ushuaia or somewhere down there. I was also thinking I’m pretty much more than halfway done with the ride down to Ushuaia. Wild to think about how it’s coming up so quickly. Anyway I walked around the town after the sun went down, cleaned up, ate and worked on this damn blog for you punks at home.

A few cops I passed on the road today gave me that look of “Damn that looks like a fun trip”. It’s such a good feeling to be on the other end of that view. It’s such a good feeling being down here on this trip while everyone else is always saying how fun they think it must be. I’m a lucky guy. Life is damn good right now.

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Day 32

Day 32

Well I’m back and it feels good! I landed here on Monday November 7th. I had an overnight flight. My week at home was awesome and I’m actually super happy I got to go home. I got to see Sameera, go dirt biking with Grandpa Yak, do some man biking, worked out a ton and worked on my bikes at home since the batteries died on everything I owned at home.

I had an overnight flight into Lima which sucked. I landed at 10:30AM I think and got my ass right into an Uber to Touratech. Luckily I didn’t get asked a single question at customs and didn’t have to pay a dollar for bringing back all these parts to Peru. I ended up bringing back

  • 1  brand new clutch pack from BMW
  • 1 brand new TPS sensor from BMW
  • 1 used throttle body with tsp sensor and fuel rail from the guy I talked to on the forum
  • 1 cheaper Chinese fuel pump from Ebay with fuel filter and misc parts
  • Miscellaneous tools I needed, bead breaker, titanium wrenches to save weight
  • Extra Giant Loop bags for tubes and misc stuff
  • 1 front brake pad set, 2 rear brake pad sets
  • 20mm Handlebar risers from Touratech
  • Gear Position Sensor from BMW
  • extra clutch plates from forum man incase they’re needed for me or someone else I meet on the road that may need them
  • cooking pan and cup for cooking while camping

I ended up blowing $3800 on my CC and the flights back and forth were an extra $750 which I paid for with miles so they were technically free. God damn this shit is getting expensive. I spent more at home in one week for me and parts for the bike than I will this whole second leg of the trip for three months. I left NY praying I had all the parts I needed.

On my way to TT Ivan the mechanic texted me and said the mechanic is running late. He was supposed to be there at 12 and I showed up at 11:30. I laid down on the floor in the showroom and tried to sleep since I barely slept on the flight over. At about 1:30pm Ines the shop owner came over and told me the mechanic will be there in 30 minutes. Well it’s Peru and everyone is late all the time! I decided to leave all my parts there that they needed for the repairs and headed back to the hostel. I got my room, got my luggage, and I left there and cleaned up. I rearranged all my shit I had and couldn’t believe how much stuff I brought down.

No word from the mechanics all day and finally at 8pm Ivan told me the bike was running but when they scanned the ECU with the computer it said something about a failed fuel pressure sensor. Well shit. Thankfully I had an extra one that came with the throttle body I bought from Dom. I called up a person that found me on IG a few days ago that was currently in Lima and asked him if he knew anyone here that could bring some stuff back to the states for me because I needed to lighten up my bike. He gave me a name that sounded familiar. A week ago when I went skydiving with my buddy Jimmy, this guy Luis I have known for 14 years approached me and was asking about my trip and gave me two contacts in Peru if I needed help.

I pulled out my phone and boom it was the same contact that Luis gave me. I called up Fernando and asked him for some help. He is a skydiver too and we always help each other. He told me his wife was visiting from Florida and she might be able to bring it back for me but I had to go over and ask her. I went out and got Fernando a bottle of red wine before I went over since he told me he just celebrated his 50th anniversary of skydiving. I took a walk over to his place at 7pm and when he opened the door I stared at them both for a bit and realized I knew how they were but couldn’t remember where. After a quick minute we realized we’ve seen each other around in Lewiston, Florida at some skydiving events. What a small world. We have about 50 mutual friends and started sending everyone pictures and they were all so confused. It was hilarious. As we were exchanging stories I looked behind Fernando in the kitchen while they were making a huge bowl of Chili and saw 11 bottles of red wine. Nailed it!

I ended up hanging out there for about 3 hours and I was sad to leave. Liz ended up taking my little bag that weighed about 10 pounds back to Fort Lauderdale and I’ll grab it from her next time I’m down there! I went home and crashed hard.

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Day 21

What a turn of events this week was. I decided to just hang out in Lima for as long as it would take to get the bike fixed. I didn’t do too much as I was recovering from all the riding I was doing in Peru the last week or so. This was a much needed break. Main priority was to work on getting the bike fixed. The mechanic wasn’t able to look at it until Wednesday, which was two days after I arrived in Lima. I sort of wasted two days because I should have gone to BMW and had them scan the bike to see what was wrong with it. I should have just asked the Touratech shop to do that but I didn’t. When Wednesday morning finally came around they didn’t start to work on the bike till noon which was frustrating. They asked me to head over to help them out. 

Interesting because It’s not a good sign when they call me over to help them out. I hopped in an Uber and made my way over there. The mechanic that was working on it was not the man Ivan I have been hearing about. He started with cleaning the ignition where the key goes in. I was pretty disappointed when that’s the first thing he did before I showed up. Come on man, hook the computer up and scan the code. When I walked in he was poking around the fuel pump and said the problem is coming from there. I was pretty pissed. This guy is just wasting time. I had them bring over the computer with the OBD 2 scanner and we hooked it up to the bike. Boom the codes came up right away. Malfunctioning gear selector sensor which I already knew about and another one about the throttle body on the ride side. This confirmed what I was thinking it was the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor). 

I knew there’s a way to reset this in the computer but I didn’t know how because I’ve never actually used one of these programs. I’m too cheap to buy one for $400. I pulled out my phone and found a post on advrider.com and the guy was helping someone else out 2 years ago on an old thread with TPS issues. Dominick put up his phone number so I decided to call it and to my surprise he picked up and was more than helpful to help me out. Dom thank you man you saved my ass in a way and were a huge help and still are. He helped out finding the option in the program to reset the TPS and we did a few other things with the computer. 

I love how I show up and I’m paying these guys to work on my bike but I’m the one deciding what to do making all the calls. It’s very frustrating. I don’t get it. Anyway we reset the TPS and the bike ran. It was running fine. I turned it on 20-30 times and it looked like we were in luck. I bought 3 liters of oil so I can change it next week on the road. I decided to stick around in Lima for two more days and ride the hell out of the bike to try to make the problem come back because once I leave Lima there’s really nowhere to go until I get to La Paz, Bolivia. I paid a little money for the work and tipped the mechanic which didn’t really do much. They told me about a shop down the block that had tools that I needed so I rode down there and got my 24mm socket to take the rear wheel off if I got a flat which I left in Ecuador. I went down the block to fill up on fuel since I was almost out and when I tried to start it, you guessed it. The same problem was happening. I decided to take the bike back to my hostel to get some food and I texted Touratech to call Bmw asap to see if they have a TSP in stock. I got some food because I was starving and still no reply from TT. I hopped on the bike and rode over to BMW after it took me about 5 minutes to start the bike. I got there and I found out some real bullshit. 

The TSP sensor is attached to the side of the throttle body with two bolts. But BMW decides to sell the whole TB with the TSP attached. Seriously? They won’t sell this $20 part separately. I’m really beginning to hate BMW. Advertise this bike to ride around the world. Yeah, great so what happens when you break down in Kazakhstan or Kenya or Chile. Where the hell are you gonna get these parts from? The guy at the parts counter was pretty much no help at all. The TB kit was $1000 in the USA. But here in Peru it was $2200, BUT they won’t be able to get it for a few months. Fucking useless. I decided to head back to TT to see what I can do there except the bike didn’t start for about 20-30 minutes. Once I finally got it running I raced back over to TT and was told to wait. I was there after closing hours but they were there with me. My man finally showed up. The legend, Ivan.

We tried to recreate the problem for about 45 minutes and we finally did. We figured out it happened when the bike was hot and there was high temps in the engine area. I saw a few BMW’s under a tent and asked what’s up with the bikes. He said they broke down as well and were all back in Europe taking a break from their trips and getting parts. That’s when it settled in. Ivan wasn’t kidding about me having to fly home to get parts. I can’t believe it. They can’t get shit for parts here, and if they can it’s triple the price almost with a ridiculous wait time. Well that was it. I guess I’m flying home Asap to get parts. I can’t believe it. 

I was talking to Dom most of the day and he got a price from DHL through a business account for shipping a TSP down to me which is the size of apple AirPods. $200 and I’m sure as shit it’ll get held up in customs for a few weeks. Ivan said I should get a few extra parts as well. I need to come back with a TB, TPS sensor, hell I might as well bring back three of them, a gear selector sensor and a fuel pump. Since most of these parts go and the gear selector was already giving me issues and can lead to problems with the bike not starting. So that was it. I parked the bike at their shop and called an Uber. I found a flight home the next morning at 11am. It was a scramble to get my shit packed up and in storage. I started ordering some parts online that I needed anyway. When I got down here I asked for a set of brake pads just in case I needed some because the mountain rides were killing my new pads I got put on in Quito. Front pads are normally $80 for the front set and $35 for the rear. Well I was quoted I think $400 US for the brake pads. WTF!

I ordered some brake pads as well to bring back with me. I got my stuff packed away and threw it in storage at the hostel for $5 a night. The flight was $300 or around that with the conversion so not bad. I’ll get to go home and see everyone for a bit and get some parts for a good price. Only problem I might run into is I fucking pray that Ivan and I diagnosed the problem as well as we can because if I come down here with the parts and that’s not whats wrong with the bike I’m actually gonna contemplate quitting because this is some shit. I’m excited to go home and make this a part of the trip. I never thought this would happen but I guess it’s all part of the story. I’m not too bothered by the whole situation right now because I’m on vacation, stock market is up and doing really well and this is still better than being at work at home! 

So here I am on the flight home now after my layover in Bogota. I was just walking to catch my connection and I heard Marko! What in the hell!?!?!? I look up and there’s two women waving to me. I have no idea who these people are. I walk over and I’m like holy shit I can’t believe this is happening. They asked what happened to the bike and now I feel like a jackass. WHO ARE YOU. I played along and after about a minute I realized holy shit it’s Daniella’s cousin and aunt. I left my bike at their house all summer for storage. They were going to Turkey for a trip. What a small world. I was wondering if this would ever happen to me and here we are. I made my connection and on my way home. I’m about to spend a ton of money on parts but Dom is sending me some because he has three of my engines in his garage which are very specific. So I’ll be home for about 7-10 days. I won’t be uploading anything for the blog because I just want to enjoy my time at home and be off social media and just be present. Once I get back we will throw the parts in and pray to god it works. I’m a bit bummed because I left on the trip early to try to get to Machu Picchu early before the rainy season but it looks like that won’t be happening. See you guys in about two weeks.

I’m 40 minutes into the flight and have another 5 hours to go so I’m gonna keep writing after just putting the laptop away. It’s only been 20 days since I’ve been back and I’ve already seen so much and gone through so much it’s just beautiful. It’s so nice to experience different parts of the world all alone and to be vulnerable in the middle of nowhere. It helps you grow so much it’s unbelievable. Being out here alone especially in the landscape is such a wild feeling. Imagine being on a dirt road with nothing 50 miles for each direction. It’s just you and the bike and that’s it. Half the time you don’t have any cell reception and if anything goes wrong out here there might not be anyone to help you. Riding my bike in the mountains the other week where I caught myself in a bad situation with the bad terrain, I can’t even imagine what would have happened there if my bike broke down there. I would have had to walk 30 miles in either direction through hell to get back to civilization and that’s me having to leave my bike and everything I own there in the mountains. Absolutely wild. I’m so lucky I didn’t break down there but I’m starting to get more comfortable being out there in the middle of nowhere by myself. 

I went back through my notes with gramps a bit ago and I have been reading a text he sent me in the beginning of my trip last year because I was so unhappy and full of anxiety and every week it makes more and more sense and I understand exactly what he’s saying even more. Here it is for those that haven’t been around to read it last trip

Give me a call today. But it’s not really about having fun. You can do that here or anywhere. For me the big things that came from that trip.  1st and most importantly I learned to enjoy my own company, talking to myself, being with myself and just figured out how to like and appreciate myself more, 2nd my best experiences were not so much fun or exciting. They were probably conversations I had with people. Random people who I may have sat and talked with for an hour or a few days. 3rd, the beauty, man.  The fucking landscapes that are so incredible they make you wanna cry, the beautiful people who want to help you when they have nothing, the way you see families and communities live so strongly together(especially compared to here).  And 4th the confidence to figure anything and everything out everyday.  That trip is riddled with difficulty,  fucked up roads and maps, crooked governments, landslides mudslide, earthquakes, poverty, fucked up border crossings. Days of rain are nowhere to sleep easily. That’s the adventure man.  That’s the stuff that when you come home and second guess yourself or feel full of shit about who you are, you remember.  You remember that and then know you can do anything always if your mind is right and open. And as I keep telling you, listen to the voice.  The world will speak to you. Not the voice in your head but the outside voice of everything.   

-Yak

Reading this brings tears to my eyes 75% of the time I read it. I didn’t know what he meant by this in the beginning . I mean I thought I did but the more time passes by and the more south I get on this trip it hits deeper and deeper. Some of you might not really understand. You probably don’t. But I know and I get it more and more now because he’s been here, he’s done it, he’s had the same feelings. He’s an incredible man full of knowledge. There are so many times every single day where I can just picture gramps riding on the same road I’m riding on wondering what he was thinking and its fucking wild that were so far from home and we’ve both ridden the same roads in the middle of nowhere and its just so humbling and beautiful. It’s really such a deep, lovely experience. It’s nice to have him around to talk to about this trip because he 100% gets it. There’s no bullshit out here, it’s all real and raw. Thank you gramps, I appreciate this message you wrote to me even though I’ve told you this so many times. I’m bummed to be going back home in a way because I just want to be here exploring more and getting to know myself more and more. I wish everyone did this in a way. It’s such a good experience to have to make everyone trust themselves more and be way more confident with so many ways of their life. Some people are scared to take a flight to another country even by themselves for a few days and here we are riding in the desert with no civilization for miles and miles and miles in each and every direction where we don’t even speak the language.