The wind blew past us in gusts, the engines purred, roared and pushed past the green, lush scenery of the highland jungle. The sights from the driver’s seat were breathtaking, yet the thrill of flying through the curvy passage of the road was hard to resist. The girls and I were making our dream a reality.
April 3, 2009: Day 1
As planned, Emma and I were ready to leave at 8am. However, as is usual with our group, no one else was ready (we were running on Peruvian time). Emma and I wandered, paced and did what we could to help our entourage get out on the road. You see this was the day we had been waiting for months. We were taking our first long distance motorcycle ride. Cristina, Emma and I would be driving our motorcycles and in our follow vehicle would be Charlotte (roomie and short term intern), Kyle (Cristina’s Husband), Jon (Cristina’s brother) and Rikki (Jon’s wife). Our plan was to head out to Boquerón, stay in Aguatía and then come back to Pucallpa the next day.
If we had extra time we wanted to head to Tingo Maria. The trip to Boquerón would be about 400km.
At 9:30am we had the whole group ready and we set out. First stop was the gas station. Emma topped off and we hit the pavement. The route to Boquerón is paved for almost 80km, then it turns into pothole hell, then gravel and dirt and then into pavement again. This road is the same road all the trucks, buses and cars take from Pucallpa to Lima and visa versa. Most of the things that are sold in Pucallpa come from Lima or somewhere along this road by truck. Lumber, gas, beer and such from Pucallpa travel to Lima through this passage in return. So we would encounter not only the changes in road conditions, but large, lumbering, and often fast moving vehicles.
The day was gorgeous and the first couple hours were uneventful as we cruised down the road. None of us had a ton of experience riding, so we took it a bit slower at first and then let it out a bit more as we went on. Cristina and I pulled ahead easily since our engines were bigger than Emma’s, but we tried to stay in each other’s line of sight. Once we hit the gravel and dirt we were instantly covered head to toe with dust. As the dust surrounded us we swerved through the rough, rain carved roads, sending rocks flying in all directions.
At one point we stopped in the middle of nowhere to check in with each other. I noticed at that point that my front tire was flat, and I had no idea for how long due to the bumpy road. Our entire fix-it kit was in the follow truck, and we had pulled ahead of them while going over the dirt road. We decided to wait for the truck and pulled into a shady place to wait. Cristina and I pulled in with ease and parked. Emma followed and promptly fell as she tried to drive her bike over the bump on the edge of the road. We stared at first as Emma yelled out. I’m not sure if because I had been driving for several hours that my mind went to mush or what, but it was a moment before I asked if she was okay and if she needed help. Poor Emma, she was just fine, just a bit chagrinned that she had fallen and could not get her bike back up. I helped her get the bike upright and we waited, reminiscing about the ride thus far.
About 40 minutes later the truck arrived. The truck almost roared past us, but Cristina had seen them coming and flagged them down. We explained about the flat and Jon and Kyle pulled out the tools and a new inner tube and set to work. While they worked we pulled out cold cokes and snacks and chatted, occasionally chatting with the guys to check their progress. After much sweat and hard work, the new inner tube was in place. I pumped it up, checked to make sure it was full and we prepared to head out again. Helmets securely in place, we were off.
We made plans to stop in San Alejandro, which would be coming up soon.
After San Alejandro we would drive onto Aguatía. Sure enough we found San Alejandra, less then 10 minutes down the road (if we had only known). As we stopped to take a photo at the bridge, I realized my front tire was flat, again! Although San Alejandro is not a large place, they do have places to have tires repaired. After double checking it was really flat we took the tire to a professional and had it repaired for 5 soles (just under $2). Apparently when the guys were putting the tire back on they pinched the inner tube, and as it inflated it was punctured. I am so grateful we were so close.
After another 45 minute delay we were on the road again. Just past San Alejandro the road turned into pavement and curved its way further upward into the highland jungle. With the truck behind Emma, Cristina and I took off. What a rush winding through the hills was. Our bikes sped onward and we passed trucks, motos and the tiny towns along the way. We arrived in Aguatía energized and estastic. We had made it!
We found our hotel, checked in and then searched out a place to eat. By the time we had finished eating, it become too late to head onto Tingo Maria. We decided then, to head to the Boquerón in the truck. The Boquerón resides in a long gorge which the road follows. It is particularly famous for a number of beautiful waterfalls; El Velo de la Novia (The Bride’s Veil) and La Ducha del Diablo (The Devil’s Shower). Due to the large amounts of water in the area, edges of the road along the river have begun to cave in and in other parts the road has completely washed away. Road repairs are slow, costly and done with minimal machinery. We spent some time enjoying the beautiful views, taking pictures and deciding if we wanted to swim. Since the sun was already setting, we made plans to go in the morning.
April 4, 2009: Day 2
The morning dawned after a brief 2 hours of quiet from the streets. I rolled over not really wanting to get up due to the mediocre night of sleep. My alarm went off signaling that it was time to get ready and packed for the day. At that moment I realized I was 30. The time had come. Good bye 20’s and hello to what some of my friends were saying was the best time of their lives…their 30’s. We snacked and found various foods for breakfast. Emma and Charlotte came back from their search for coffee with gifts of fresh orange juice and a Philip Persio watch (I had recently misplaced my watch and cannot find it any where). The watch is quite lovely and is waterproof to 3 ATM. What “ATM” stands for no one could tell me. As you can imagine we joke quite a bit about some of the knock offs we find here and this watch was no exception. It keeps the time and now appears that I cannot get it off. Guess I’ll keep it.
We gathered our things and headed back to the falls, this time with the bikes. We would fill up our tanks at a gas station on the way. My bike and Cristina’s were running on fumes. Cristina’s bike in fact was not even able to make the trip to the falls since it literally had no fuel left in it to start. We set off and Emma and I tagged along after the truck. We stopped for fuel and then headed back to the falls.
We spent the morning enjoying the beauty of the Boquerón; taking pictures, watching the water as it fell, and taking an icy swim in the water. The water, although cool, was refreshing and quite clean, even though it looked like chocolate milk. The water moved, and swirled very rapidly creating rapids that if you were not careful, you could easily find yourself miles down river. We anchored ourselves to rocks and enjoyed the peace and beauty around us.
As is the case with all great trips, we had to pull ourselves away and head home. We packed up the truck and grabbed a “quick” bite to eat (this only took 1.5 hours). All fueled up (we had filled a couple of water bottles with fuel to get Cristina’s bike started and running so it could be taken to the gas station), we were ready. We headed out without any time to waste.
It felt great to be back on the bike again. I didn’t feel sore and I was looking forward to taking my bike up through the winding road. Unlike the day before, we came across more traffic, mainly big transport trucks. This slowed us down a bit since passing on a curvy road can be a bit tedious. Once we hit the dirt, passing was not a problem, but I think I can probably create a clay bowl from all the dust I inhaled while waiting to pass behind the trucks. The dust filled the air, clouding the view in front of us and I had to slow in order to see where I was going. We pushed on, gaining more confidence with each mile. Once we hit the pot holed pavement again we were cruising, but that is when some of the fun ended.
Cristina pulled to a stop in front of me and pulled over to the side of the road. Her bike had died. She attempted to get it started, multiple times. The sun was beating down on us and once again, we were in the middle of nowhere without any cell phone signal. I tried my hand at trying to get the bike started without any luck, the same happened with Emma. We waited hoping the truck was not too far behind, watching as cars, trucks and motos passed us. Would anyone stop? Did we want anyone to stop? At one point a bus came speeding down the road, weaving in and out of the pot holes. The top of the bus tilted and leaned precariously as though if the bus driver turned just a tad sharper, the whole thing would come falling to its side. How they can travel so fast, with such a tall, long vehicle, full of people was beyond us. Not too long after we had stopped, the truck arrived. Kyle took a look at Cristina’s bike and tried to start it himself. Again, no response from the moto. It was decided that it would be best to put the bike in the truck and Cristina would travel back in the truck.
Emma and I set off again on the last leg of the journey. The road became smooth and straight again and we sailed on into Pucallpa. We had completed our trip in one piece and enjoyed every moment. Although we encountered a few stalls, there were no accidents, rain (that is rare when traveling in the rainy season), or severe problems with our motorcycles. I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate my 30th year. I can’t wait for our next trip! Ride on!
