Another crazy day was waiting for me. Google told me I had a 6 hours road ahead of me and I was planning my day accordingly. The roads until of far were in great condition and almost better than any asphalt in Europe which I still could not truly believe. However, this day was a true challenge with many problems along the road. I would have loved to turn back the time to make some changes but well… see yourself what happened 🙂
My first issue started in the town of Huanuco where the laundry was not ready to be picked up on time. I had to wait another 30 minutes before I could pack my luggage and “hit the road”… NOT! Where is my GOPRO????? WHERE? Damn it, I remember to have put it into one of my pockets before checking into my hotel. I unpacked everything again and was looking everywhere… Sh*%&, it is gone!!!!!! Oh NOOOOOO, please not again another lost item on my list and especial not my valuable gift from Bjarte, one of my best friends from Switzerland.
My last hope was the hotel room and I asked the hotel manager for the key again. Opening the door I intuitively checked the first thing where usually all of my lost items would hide… under the bed! And YESSSSSSS, there it was, lol. The GoPro got somehow kicked under the bed! What a relief!!!! Happily, I put it back again on my helmet and finally started my trip with approx. one hour of delay. Still acceptable I thought.
Well, After 2 km out of town I still drove on pretty bad dirt roads with plenty of potholes everywhere. It can’t be this road I told myself and checked several times the GPS and Google Maps just to be sure. Fu*% it, it is the route… no other way to my next destination than this nightmare. I also asked several people on the way and everyone confirmed my luck. Well, there are still REALLY bad roads in Peru and I got hit by reality again making my plan for the day obsolete.
The next problem did not let me wait too long and suddenly I was finding myself in a huge traffic jam in the middle of the mountains. Apparently, there were road works ongoing and I had to wait another 40 minutes. It did not take long until curious Peruvians were surrounding my motorbike and asking again the popular question of the value of the BMW. GREAT… They made my day again. After telling them not to understand they still tried to figure out for the next 15 minutes the costs of my bike which was simply pissing me off.
The “funny” discussion of the locals resulted in a possible theft of my bike and for how much money they would be able to sell it. Cool! I told them there is a GPS chip installed and it would not matter if they steel it since next morning I would be knocking together with the police at their door. The locals were laughing. Me not!
The 40 minutes felt like a century when I finally was able to move again. I was first in line and the masses were behind me… Apparently, I was not the only one who was inpatient and 50 cars were blowing permanently their horns since I was not able to drive fast enough on this challenging terrain – sand, mud and gravel.
Some cars were trying to take over on the single lane and I was just waiting for the first one to fall off the cliff. How stupid I yelled at them trying to take my emotions under control again which was impossible. S-T-U-P-I-D!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After sucking for an hour the dust of the cars and trucks I decided to make a short stop, just to realise that the support of my side panels broke again. Shit, it was just hanging lose on the ground and I was really lucky to have realised before anything more serious happened.
Not really a master mechanic, I decided to use my wonder tool which is the best invention on this earth ever. The black magic tape… It did an amazing job and fixed the problem “immediately”. Well, it was holding the construction together but it would only be a matter of time until the whole thing would fall off. Great!!!! I carefully continued my way and asked several locals for a mechanic close by. The next one was an hour away and I hoped my magic tape would fix the issue until so far. It luckily did and after an hour and two mechanics later I finally found a nice guy who was willing to help me. He fixed the construction within 10 minutes and I could continue my way – without sorrows anymore. He asked me for 4 Soles which is around 1 Euro. There are still nice people in Peru who don’t try to rip you off, I thought.
It was already late and if the conditions of the road would continue like that I would never make it to Huaraz. Consequently, I decided to cancel the reservation of my hotel since it was more than unrealistic to achieve my final destination of today. 9 Dollars cancellation costs could be worst!
I was rather wondering where the heck to sleep tonight. I was in the middle of nowhere and just tiny villages around without any hotels. Hopefully I would not have to sleep at another homestay again. The experience from the rainbow mountains was enough for the rest of the year, lol.
After another 3 hours or so I could not believe my eyes when the conditions of the asphalt were getting better and better again and I could significantly increase my average speed to 70 – 80 km/h. Another 200 km were ahead of me and if the situation would last I could make it again…. YIPIEEEEEE!!!!!! Well, my happiness lasted exactly 10 minutes until the sky became pitch black and it was pouring down cats and dogs. Yea, How lucky am I????
I quickly tried to put my rain suite on and managed to pull it over after 10 minutes. I should have really bought the stuff in XXL!!!!!!!! Whatever… I continued my drive and after reaching the top of the mountain range the weather got luckily better again and I could continue my ride towards my final destination. The scenery was mystical while the impressive mountains of the Cordillera Blanca were covered in grey to black fog.
I could not believe that I finally still made it to Huaraz. What a day!!!!!! Of course, the navigation system did not find the way to the booked or cancelled hotel and I had to find a new accommodation. Luckily, It did not take long and I found a nice one with parking for 15 dollars. Jackpot.
I went for an “early” dinner, had a Pisco Sour and a beer and returned tired to my bed.
I definitely needed a break the next day!!! My butt was hurting like hell and I was just exhausted…
Good night all!
