It is so nice to be back with my regular readers, I got the chance to go on a dual sport adventure with the gang from Lotus Tours. You may have seen their ads in this magazine. Any how I was invited along as a trip journalist and I would cover my expenses by writing several articles for different magazines. So I’ve been writing to a slightly out of tune audience, having to paint a glossy picture of a rugged trip. But you, one of the lucky ones who get this small magazine I call home, you will get the mostly uncensored not too terribly edited version.

I start out in grade school geography class by seeing pictures of this mysterious place they call Machu Picchu. Later I would see pictures in National Geographic or on TV, I knew Machu Picchu was one of the places I wanted to visit in my life. It seemed like an unobtainable goal right now, mostly unemployed, totally broke, pan handling for Sundays entry fee. Then Burt Richmond from Lotus Tours contacted Paul here at the magazine, Burt wanted a journalist to join one of his trips and invited Paul to go. Paul had to decline the offer but lucky for me, he told Burt that I could go in his place. Four days later and $200 dollars in preventative injections, I was on a plane to Peru South America. The day after that we were riding around the Paracas National Reserve, on sand dunes 900 feet tall. We were riding Honda XR 600s. The sand dunes were very firm and the bikes would scoot right up all but the steepest faces. From the top you could see rugged coast line with waves crashing as far as the eye could see. Then you could plunge down the other side like you were falling down an elevator shaft and grabbing gears all the way. “I may be going to hell on a bucket, but at least I’m enjoying the ride.”

This riding was unforgettable, the absolute most freedom I have ever felt on a bike, up over around left or right any way you wanted to go, it would be possible to ride blind folded here, letting the bike roll with the dunes in a ballet of power and freedom.

Our small group agreed over dinner that this riding would never be topped, and we were all very happy. Flavio Salvetti our guide for the next two weeks smiled too but he smiled because he knew what was next in store for us.

The next morning we boarded a private speed boat and took a ride out in the Pacific Ocean to the Ballestas Islands about 6 miles from the coast. We got to see hundreds of Sea Lions in and out of the water. Two types of Dolphins, one full size, the other type were half size. We saw a pair of nesting Humbolt Penguins, and another 100 kinds of birds I could not identify.

Then it was back on the bikes, we headed south down the coast for 180km. Along here there was a cliff plunging down to the sea, 100 feet tall. Fishermen had tiny path ways worn in the side allowing them to get to the beach and fish. At one place called the “Cathedral” 9’ waves curled up and made perfect tubes that ran out of sight. Later once the cliff tapered off we stood on a rock where the ocean would spray 30 feet in the air being shot through cracks in the rock. After lunch we rode up to a pile of rocks with a broken Inca Kola bottle sitting on top, Flavio checked his compass, we turned away from the ocean and out into the Ica desert at 70*. Here there was no road and we had to cover 60km of open desert. Eventually this course intersected with a mountain range made up of sugar sand, we rode the base of these dunes for 15 miles, they were much softer than the ones before and took more effort to ride but swooping up and down the faces we all looked like video heroes.

We worked our way south for a couple of days until we reached the village of Puerto Inca. This picturesque sea side village would have been a starting point for one of the Inca Trails. From Puerto Inca runners could deliver fresh sea food to Cuzco and the Inca himself. A distance of some 600km and a journey that would take us three days of hard riding.

First we struck out across the Ica Desert, towards a town called Nazca. This town is famous for its Line Drawings and Geogliphs. Those gigantic art works, only visible form the air, one looks like a Monkey another like a Spider even one that looks like an Astronaut. Speculation is they were used to communicate with outer space. Why not? After seeing how advanced the Inca people were in other fields of expertise, I would not be surprised. Across the river up on high ground were the Nazca Burial Tombs. Here laid the bones of thousands of Inca people. You could not pick up a hand full of sand without human bones sticking out of it. Scientist unearthed several Mummies and have them on display. They sit there like their families left them 700 years ago, hair and teeth still intact, their empty eye sockets stare up at us while we line up to take pictures.

At this point of the story the voice of one of my tour guides keeps running through, “You had Animal sacrifice and you and human sacrifice.” I put a great deal of concentration towards making my goal, Machu Picchu. I became very cautious knowing any mistake would stop me short of my goal. Not all of us will get to see what lies ahead. Most will be stopped at the end of this article others will get closer but get stopped by any number of reasons. I had mine. “Human sacrifice and Animal sacrifice.” We had just taken off from putting on the rest of our warm clothing. We were very high on the West Side of the Andes. I clicked the bike into 5th gear and just settled comfortably on the seat when the voice, “Human or Animal.”

CRASH! Two large white faced sheep dove off the ditch bank and into the side of my bike. I only saw them for a second but I watched in horror as the first sheep crashed into the spokes of my front wheel. Ahead of the forks, its head was twisted forward, its neck broke and his momentum threw its body up and around into my leg and my own momentum. The second sheep hit somewhere behind my vision but laid dead in the road for the next rider to see. Every thing played in slow motion, hitting a sheep on a desolate road in South America at 50 mph? Sounds like a career ending trip to the pavement. Had the sheep been ½ a step ahead I would have crashed into him. I would have gone down instantly like this, but luckily the bike had enough momentum, enough gyroscopic force, enough precession, that the bike didn’t flinch or wobble one bit, I didn’t fall or even look back. My leg had enough pain to keep my focus for the first few moments then the sheep would have been too small to see, so I never looked back. “Animal sacrifice.” Not everyone gets hit by a rouge sheep, not every one needs that. For some just the challenge of the language barrier is enough to make their trip “epic”. But I put a lot of emphasis on this goal and I was beyond a trip, I was on a quest. I was playing with bigger chips, I had bigger challenges. I was seeking bigger rewards than just a new T shirt.

The sheep sacrifice seemed like the crescendo of any trouble I might have had, Now the Gods were smiling on me and offering their finest. We came up short of daylight the day we rode to Cuzco. The XR headlights are mainly decorative and we were just creeping along in the dark on a wet twisty road full of cars trucks buses people cows dogs, sheep, and chickens. Treacherous conditions. We rounded the umpteenth million switch back turn for the day and BOOM something magic happened. The full moon had risen between the mountains and the twinkling lights of the Imperial City of Cuzco laid n the valley below us. The moon lit up our road like it was broad daylight and we sliced through traffic and raced to the center of town, Plaza de Armas. This would be our head quarters for the next few days.

Cuzco is the coolest town I’ve ever seen, it’s where the hippies went after Jerry left. Hippies of all nationalities peruse the streets and haunt the bars at night. In a juke joint named Ukukus I heard one of the best bands I’ve ever heard. I danced the Watuzi all night long, these guys were rocking, the one guy played a ply wood box, but I never could figure out their name or where the were playing the next night. The streets were just like a Dead show with vendors selling everything under the sun. Wool sweaters were the best buy and I got mine on right now, sure I itch and smell like an unwashed Lama but I look cool. Tourists gather from all over the world here in Cuzco, they are all making their personal pilgrimage to Machu Picchu.

From Cuzco we had to leave the bikes and take the train through the Sacred Valley of the Inca, along the banks of the raging Rio Vilcanota river to the town of Aguas Calientes. Here we boarded a bus for the final miles to Machu Picchu. This is a magnificent place, a stone city built on top of a mountain buried deep in the Amazon Jungle. Speculation has it that during the Spanish Invasions of the 1500s, well for what ever the reason, the Spaniard did not find Machu Picchu so they did not destroy it like so many of the Inca buildings. The Spaniards were looking for hidden gold and trying to smash the Inca peoples beliefs and convert them to Christianity.

Machu Picchu laid buried under heavy jungle for hundreds of years until American explorer Hiram Bingham rediscovered the Forgotten City in 1911. Walking around this living museum I didn’t feel any thing different like I had hoped when I started the quest. I felt almost a little disappointed walking around with all the other soft white out of breath sweating tourists. I had traveled so far on my own then was plopped on the tourist train. Two days later while we were riding the bikes back out of the Jungle it dawned on me that I needed to finish my quest completely by hiking the Inca trail, and by hiking down into Machu Picchu. So that night back in Cuzco I signed up for a 4 day 45km hike on the Inca Trail. I changed my air line tickets and rented a back pack, I bought a sun hat and 4 liters of water. I said good by to my motorcycle friends and the next morning boarded a bus with a whole new group of people to break in to my peculiarities.

The bus dumped us off at the end of the road. There were 10 hikers, 1 guide and 5 porters carrying our tents and food. The porters took off at a break neck pace and we didn’t see them until that night when we would straggle into our little tent city. It is not the length of the hike that is so toughs it is the altitude and three passes you cross to make the trip. The highest pass is 12,500 feet and the others are slightly lower. One section had over 5,500 steps. Each one hand made by the Inca department of transportation. It is a rugged trip, hiking all day and camping at night. I was already tired of Peruvian food after two weeks of riding but now I’m getting mediocre Peruvian food. After 3 days of hiking we arrive at the Hostel. I had no idea what to expect. It turns out this is the last good spot to camp before the final day hike. So all the hikers congregated here. Maybe 100 people were here. It was great, we had a great celebration party, it was a party for each an every one of us who had hiked the trail. We had music going and we were doing some kind of Peruvian square dance, round and round we would go then under the bridge of hands and out the other end and back around. This went on until late at night and not everyone slept in their own tent that night.

The next morning we got up at 4:30 so we could make the hike to the Sun Gate and get there by dawn. The Sun Gate is the first time we get to see Machu Picchu from the trail. Just like so many times on this trip, the God’s smiled on me again. This morning there was a beautiful rain bow that ended right in the center of Machu Picchu.

The Sun Gate is another of the Inca marvels. It is used in the Inca solar calendar , the other part is two miles away in Machu Picchu. I’ll try to explain. The first day of the Inca New Year is June 21st (our first day of summer). Well on June 21st the sun will shine through the pillars of the Sun Gate and then the beam of light will strike a monolith there in the Sun Palace and the shadow cast splits yet another rock and this phenomenon marks their first day of summer. The farmers used this information and it also marked the biggest celebration of the year, even now the “Inti Raymi” or “Sunfest” is one of the best parties in the world. Madi Gras is for amateurs. But think about how many years of study it took the Inca people to decide what day. How many times was it cloudy when they were trying to measure it? While we were there the clouds swept around so fast, sometimes above you and sometimes below you. But after all these years and after all the earth quakes, after all the doom and destruction, this clock still works. So the Inca people understood their astrology, now you need to look at some of the stone work. Gigantic stones cut and fit together so close you couldn’t penetrate with a cigarette paper. I stood looking at a rock that fit perfectly on all 32 different sides. I laughed to my self at the thought we still use paper gaskets in our bikes. Part of the mystery about the stone work is how? The Incas did not have hard enough steel to break stone. They had gold and silver but these are not tools. Speculation has it the masons would take a large rock and find its natural crack lines, deciding how the stone should be broken they then built a fire heating the rock until it split, hopefully along the intended crack. Then they would drive wooden wedges into the crack and soak them with water, the wedges would swell up and further split the rock. Then I guess they would put the rough cut stone in place and finish cut them. Here they would use harder stones as tools and chip away the granite until it was perfect. Sure the statuary of Italy is beautiful but mere toys compared to the Inca works.

I want to tell you about the Inca farmers next. They were experts like the masons. The farmers built terraced fields on the sides of mountains, some of these still stand and are works of art in them selves. With the terrace system they discovered that each level held its own temperature so each level contains dirt most compatible with that temperature. Today Peru boasts at having over 3,000 kinds of potatoes. How? The Inca farmers understood enough about husbandry to hybridize potatoes. This information is in evidence, it makes me wonder what they really knew. Like in the medical field. The Inca people practiced trepanation a surgery where a hole is bored in your head to achieve enlightenment. If you are not familiar with trepanation I suggest reading the works of Joseph Mellen and Amanda Fielding. The Inca people had such an understanding with this sugary they have a special type of ceremonial knife just for this job and many skulls have been found with a gold or silver plate covering a hole in the head. I guess that would be one better than a tattoo or a nose ring.

We saw so many things and so many things happened I can’t even begin to tell you. All I can do is feed you enough information to make you think. Like just how would you go about breeding potatoes?

“Well I’d put lip stick on one and soak the other in vodka.”

Next time you are driving along and you see a farmer out working the earth from his hydraulic finger tips, flag the big Deere down and ask him to explain to you how to breed potatoes. Fat chance.

Next time you look at a stone building look and see if the stone had been cut with a saw and put in place with a crane, or was it drug into place by 500 toiling workers and polished by hand.

Look at the daily paper at all the crazy killings and then at how many people take attitude drugs, then you might agree some people need an extra hole drilled in their heads.

You need a hole in your head if you don’t try to go on a trip like this. Oh it was so good. Let me tell a few stories now:

On the hike was an Italian guy, he had so much style. Not only was he a good hiker and carried his own weight, he also carried with him to insure a quality event: Cigarettes, both store bought and the kit to roll your own, cans of beer. He carried an espresso maker and Italian coffee, a bottle of expensive Italian wine, a block of cheese, a can of ham, a package of crackers, pistachios, licorice, all kinds of altitude medicine, coca leaves. He was a lot of fun.

Along on the ride with me was a woman, she was older than I am, this is a touchy subject, a ladies age and all but she rode the same bike as the rest of us, XR600. She could not touch the ground and had to rock the bike side to side just to keep balance. She learned how to get the bike parked on the side of the hill where she could get on the pegs and start the bike her bad self. She could start her bike better than all the guys and she was such a good learner that I quit teaching her any tricks because she was getting too fast for me to pass, so I clamed up.

Another special moment was every moment in Cuzco, there were so many Volkswagens, beetles and busses, even the old split window vans that are so valuable here, were on every corner. I want to ride a bike back down there, buy a van, fill it full of sweaters and drive the old VW home. Now that would be an adventure. But it would not be as pleasant as this tour. Lotus took care of every detail, we were pampered every step of the way, the finest Peru has to offer. Many of the places I have traveled I could make the trip on my own, Peru is not one of them. Usually somebody speaks my language but we would have been lost with out our guide in Peru. It was not just the language either, how about a country with no road signs? How about restaurants disguised as homes. At one point I was leading the group and the cold rain had driven me indoors. Not being able to read a sign I wound up standing in some ones living room, they went ahead and served me coca tea and took care of me but I was still in the wrong building. Flavio finally came along and explained to me the restaurant was really next door and I was standing in some ones home. I would have said “Gracias” in a loud Texan voice. The residents just smiled and shook their heads. “Loco”.

You would just have to see me in action to fully appreciate how stupid I really am. First off the sun hat I bought? Well it had never been properly washed so when you wore it a terrible smell started coming out of it. Then I would be covered with globs of sun screen. Then my upper lip would be stained pink from the Pepto Bismol I had been chugging. My hands would be full of every trinket the sales people could pile up on me. My sandals and feet would be covered with shoe polish and a string of boys would follow me waiting until I needed my feet polished again. A voice would whisper, “Hey, Meester, take my picture, 5 sola.” I thought that was cheap enough so I lined up the view finder and realized, “Hey, you’re just a dirty hippie form the states”. I seriously need a guide. I want to thank the guides on this trip, I have not said enough about the mechanics of this trip, here goes, a commercial message, but I’ll come back and tell you another joke before I leave.

Lotus Tours is based in Chicago. Lotus is connected with Flavio Salvetti and his company Inca Moto. Inca Moto is located in Lima Peru, just minutes from the air port. Inca Moto owns 8 new XR600 Hondas. The bikes are in top shape and the driver of the support truck Todo Oscar, is a qualified mechanic and took care of the bikes minor needs. We started on new Pirelli tires and we got to ride as hard as we wanted. It turns out Flavio has raced all over this area in national events and he rode the Acerbis Inca rally winning many prizes. Flavio knows this region so he can choose the best lodging. One place we stayed was a working winery, and another was a 15th century Spanish home. Flavio has done this trip many times, he can fore see where ignorant gringos like me will have difficulties. I can see Flavio now rubbing his head thinking he needs to put s leash on me if I don’t quit buying souvenirs. From the minute you step off the plane to the minute you step back on to go home, Flavio had someone there to help you. Besides this is a tour not a race, but, the distances you have to cover in a day to reach the next village do require some hustle. Especially when something goes wrong. Something went wrong one day. Flavios face is turning purple right now, see he can’t turn red. We were crossing the Ica desert one day and came across a small stream, the plan was to cross it and continue on to the coast, both the bikes and the 4 wheel drive support truck. Doom. The regular crossing had been washed away by Elnino flooding so we had to try another place. The truck drove in and got locked up on a series of giant stones and was stuck in the river. Deep enough it was up over the tires and we must have been 75 miles from the nearest mud brick building. I thought we were done, this was our new home, for two weeks we would sit here waiting for a tow truck and fending off the buzzards. But we rallied together, pushed and pulled, dug out stones and rolled boulders and we finally pushed the little truck back up on high ground. It was an awesome achievement and it felt like we had set one of those giant Inca stones, but what it really meant was we had gained our freedom. Now that I look back, there was never any doubt in Flavios mind, “the truck was coming out of the river.”

Something else that would happen is that every time you bought something, the seller would never have change. An item would be 4 solas, and you would hand the seller a 5 sola coin and it would just stop every thing in its place, the seller would have to close the shop, walk next door and get your change. No coin could be broken with out closing down the buisness. Then while you are standing in a store full of things you could not recognize, you would realize that the coin they could not break is worth $1.50. A $100 sola note was enough to rouse a crowd of people to look at it and it’s worth would be about $30 American. Just for fun, while the shop keeper was out getting change I would pick out something else to buy and would start the change thing all over.

Peru is a very good destination for an adventure motorcycle tour and Lotus Tours does a very good job of making the trip easy and comfortable. Yes, of course it’s expensive, aren’t most really good things expensive? But life is too short to worry about the money, time is the most valuable comodity, so make some time to call Lotus and request a brochure on their tours, start your dream today, don’t wait until it’s too late.