Cajamarca - Merry Christmas

Firstly if you organize an event you should turn up ....

We I did ... at least for part of the first night, James & Colleen Tucker, Tobius me and Ellen out for a snack



Christmas eve, all the crims had arrived and got sorted, we had a few grogs and went out for tea, we had Chinese and I got a bad batch of chicken, by later evening I was turning green, by midnight I was not feeling great but we went into town for a look around and got back about 1 ish.

Fours mysterious Ghosts



Cajamarca Peruvian crew on Christmas eve ... good times



Shortly after things went sour with No2’s going from cable to wifi and me talking to the big white telephone several times during the night, BIG discussions were held . (no photos)

So my Christmas present was food poisoning ... yay, Christmas day I was sub sheets all day, sweating, freezing, dunny, repeat.

Not sure what the others did so that is my Christmas report .

Boxing day I was still alive although heavily washed out and badly dehydrated so Ellen got some Gatorade to help refuel me then slowly on dry biscuits I got back into it.

Next night when I was fit and almost well Tobius, Devin Ellen and I went to a steakhouse for tea... outstanding it was too, incredibly nice and a treat after being so crook.



We did have time to take in the sights of Cajamarca finally, again Tobius, Devin Ellen and I take a ride to Banos Del Inca hot pools and the three lads got a massage too...awesome soak followed by a good beating.



Inca face carved into a tree, well done I say.



The local (crazy) market also providing some bulk entertainment it was hustle and bustle supreme, as luck would have it pretty much the best coffee place in town was two doors down.

The louts, Ellen, Me, Tobius and Devin



Merry Christmas with the ADV salute to go..



Tuckers away



Tobius away



As usual .. the kiwis ... first to get there last ones to leave

Leycabamba To Celedin To Cajamarca

After some deep thoughts in Kuelap can it get any better... yeap!!! ...now I am on my moto with deep thoughts and scenery to get possessive over

Worlds most beautiful road, one of many we have had the privilege to ride and stunning it was, one of many we in Peru.

We left at the normal time of about 9.00am and soon caught up to Devin who was cycling up the monster hill which goes up to 3600 meters.

We towed him the 8 - 9 km up the hill which saved his legs and lungs a good 2 hours slog knowing he would need his energy for the following days climb outa Balsa.

Totally legal of course and we had consent ....




For the vid




Saying goodbye at the top .. group photo



Waving bye bye to a happy camper we quietly meandered our way down this beautiful black boulevard of scenery, the fog playing with us and the narrow and winding road keeping my mind on the job.



Narrow in places





WOW, I am not sure I got outa 2nd gear the whole way down as we took our time gobsmacked at the beauty.

This was the section of road the mum nature sent for a holiday down the chasm, a new temporary permanent bridge in place, you don't look off the side



Into Balsa the outside temp hit 41 degrees C, a quick feed under a tree and few good gobs of water we set to the next leg up and over to Celedin.



Coupla local boy racers taking the outside line but with some kiwi skill we kicked their Asses



Cool scenery and rock faces



This is common sight along this part of road, a complete monster rock garden



Crossing the swollen river at Balsa



The roads goes on and on up the valley then you leave the tighter section and realize you are actually only about 1/3 of the way up, we thought of Devin riding up there and were extremely grateful of a 950cc donk.





Finally up and over we continued to Celendin where we finished for the day as a stopover to destination Cajamarca Christmas.

Some locals in Celedin



Typical tall oversized hats are worn by everybody except the hot chics trying to impress the boys and the horny boys who don't wonna destroy or disturb their new 1980's Bobby Brow hairdo



Only having about 120 km to do for the day we didn’t bust our nuts and had plenty of time to get sorted, James and Colleen Tucker and Tobius were joining us for Christmas in Cajamarca for a gathering of the homeless, request was wifi, parking cheap, the request was fulfilled.

Christmas afternoon James and Colleen rolled in followed by Tobius followed by Devin on his pushbike .... top effort!!

Kuelap

Poor mans Machu Picchcu ... not on your life, this place is unreal and a genuine treat back into, at $5 compared to Machu Picchcu $50 I hope Machu Picchcu is ten times better.

A great road leading to Kuelap we found lodgings in a small town Maria and the following day took the ride to the top.



This is a model of what used to be there in their hay day.



Well for poor mans Machu Picchcu it is outstanding, we spent the good part of 3.5 hours wondering around the photogenic ruins...the ex home of 3000 inhabitants at 3000 meters above stress level.

Entrada/Entrance, one of only four.



Of interest all the buildings were built circular except the big meeting room, the views from all side can only be described as majestic.



A newly restored building showing what was there.



Some local llamas followed us around, I think they just wanted their photos taken with some whiteyfoos.



Different decals on the walls for different levels of society



Tombraiders .... I think we beat Angelina Jolie here



Propping some ruins



Stoned



This is the point I sat there, looked out over the valley and had some deep thoughts (normally I am very shallow ), so wow, here WE are in Peru in Kuelap sitting here looking straight in the face of raw history, I felt inspired and bulletproof, taking some fresh air in, big breaths, big views .... I was there



Ellen got some air too .... Phil and Jayne ...is this one ok?



Completion the ruins satisfied and fulfilled with our rocking experience we set to heading south to Leymebamba, the road was completely wiped out a coupla of weeks ago so we had no idea if we were going to do an epic backtrack or not, the bus drivers at Kuelap said no you can’t go through so we thought we would have a look anyway...glad we did.

We bumped into Martin a German RTW traveller and he had just come through no problem so game on plan A still in effect with scenery road supreme in our sights.

Crashing the night in Leymebamba we met Devin a Canadian on a pushbike so 3 x gringos go out for tea in the small town, great end to a superb day.