Overall Notes:
This trip was a great adventure; the sheer magnitude of everything we saw and experienced simply cannot be captured by words or pictures. As I took photos on the trip, I knew that most would be inadequate, and after developing I found it was the case. Many times photos would have been much better at different times of the day, with different weather, lighting, etc, but of course photos had to be taken when we were at the location riding thru on our bikes. To add insult, the pictures on this site are heavily compressed, so they lose much of the detail. Sigh.
There were also long stretches where I took no shots, due to weather and other factors (laziness, no time to stop late in the day, etc.). I invite all participants of the trip to email me any shots that they have that help fill in the blanks, and I will post them. Also any written notes would be great to add, or if other websites show up, I will add the links.
Note that I only did the first half of the trip, the bike ride. Most others went on to a hike up to Machu Picchu. So, this website will be devoted solely to the bike portion of the trip.
It was not a trip without mishaps; a rider hit by a truck in a tunnel on the first day (he recovered to ride a couple days later; his bike did not), one rider bit by a dog (we all got chased by many dogs; amazing that there was only one bite); a broken arm after a night-riding crash on tricky gravel roads, many cases of gastro problems (don't drink the water), and of course different degrees of altitude sickness. Everyone held tough, and enjoyed the ride nonetheless.
Final note: All photos in this site are thumbnails; simply click on the thumbnail to see the full-size picture.
Arrival
We arrived in Lima late Saturday night. In fact, it was close to 5:00 am by the time we go to our hotel rooms. Turns out this was an omen of things to come. After only a little sleep ( a mosquito kept buzzing my ears; I likely got 2 hours of sleep), we got up for breakfast, and to assemble our bicycles. Then it was back in the bus for a "tour" (term used loosely) of Lima. We had time to see a couple sights (from the bus), exchange money from dollars to soles (3.4 to the $), have lunch in a sidewalk cafe, and eventually head back to the resort. Then it was back in the bus again for a trip to dinner at a Chifa (Chinese) restaurant. Then back in the bus (yes, it got old) to the resort.
Here is a photo of some flowers at the resort; note the barren hills behind, the start of the Andes.
The weather in Lima is always mid 60's and cloudy, but hardly ever rains. Strange that a city so close to the equator at sea level has this climate; has to do with cold water currents running up the coast from Antarctica. Picked up a few bug bites; strange fly bites that started out small but would grow over the next few days. Fortunately they generally didn't hurt or itch. Anyway, tomorrow we head out.
Day 1 - Lima to somewhere 10K past San Mateo