Nazca - Abancay : 290 miles

When I hit the curves on the way out of Nazca I wondered how it could be possible to reach Cuzco in one day. The road surface was poor and twisties continuous. The landscape changed to a different kind of barren, with crumbling rocks growing into mountains. I had done my time. The torture of straight rides on emptiness was over. And guess what: I had no regrets. Would I do it again? Of course not.


A new chapter in barren.

The road kept folding for a reason. We were going up and up, each up making it colder. Eventually, the scenery grew breathtaking; not in a shockingly beautiful way, but rather in a sense of vastness. We were in the land of gods, tiny, insignificant, weak. I should've taken coco leaves with me.

Breathtaking led to short of breath, and vast drained any energy I had. I could barely keep my eyelids open, and getting off Katirga meant risking falling off my feet. I could hardly stand! Was this the altitude sickness people had been talking about? I thought it merely caused upset stomach and stuff. Maybe I had something else.

For the next hour and a half I was in no shape to drive a motorcycle. So I let Katirga do the job while I merely hung on. Stopping up there at 5000+ meters wouldn't make me better, it would make me freeze. The road showed mercy and wound down. Kat did an incredible job and got us all the way to a tiny village, and I was fine. Some junk food from the micro-market, I was shiny as new.


Alpacas and llamas can be quite dangerous. They are fast, stupid, and camouflage well.





Take a photo of vast to end up with waste.




Down to mortal friendly altitudes.

As we neared Abancay the road became really inspiring. Riding parallel to a deep cyan river as it turned and twisted, I wished I weren't so tired. When we entered town it was 4pm, and I had been riding for seven and a half hours. Cuzco was still within reach, but I had to call it a day. I checked in to the first hotel with parking I came across, for $14 with breakfast. (Hotel Imperial, Av. Diaz Barcenas 517, imperialhotel1@hotmail.com) The hotel had wireless internet but the town didn't have cold beer. What is with people???


Next : Cuzco
 

Ride to... Rosarito Ensenada Bahia de San Quintin Guerrero Negro Bahia Conception La Paz Mazatlan San Blas Sayulita Puerto Vallarta Tecoman Maruata Zihuatanejo Acapulco Puerto Escondido Mazunte Tuxtla Gutierrez San Cristobal de las Casas Chamula & Zinacantan Agua Azul Palenque Comitan Panajachel Antigua Rio Dulce Livingston Tikal Copan Tegucigalpa Granada Laguna de Apoyo Isla de Ometepe San Juan del Sur Tamarindo Samara Monteverde Fortuna Puerto Viejo Almirante Bocas del Toro Panama City Puerto Lindo San Blas Islands Cartagena Medellin - I Medellin - II [ Los Angeles ] Medellin - III Heliconia & Ebejico Bogota Zipaquira Villa de Leyva Cali San Cipriano Popayan Ipiales Quito Middle of the Earth Latacunga Chugchilan Riobamba Banos Salinas Puerto Lopez Cuenca Vilcabamba Loja Piura Huanchaco Trujillo Lima Huacachina Nazca Abancay Cuzco Pisac Machu Picchu Nowhere Puno Copacabana La Paz Death Road Oruro Sucre Potosi Cerro Rico Mines Uyuni Salar de Uyuni San Cristobal Calama San Pedro de Atacama Maimara Salta Cafayate Tucuman Cordoba Rosario Buenos Aires Punta del Este Montevideo Mar del Plata Necochea Viedma (HU meeting) Puerto Madryn Punta Tombo Sarmiento Los Antiguos San Sebastian Ushuaia Punta Arenas Puerto Natales El Calafate El Chalten Estancia La Siberia Bajo Caracoles Lago Posadas Puerto Bertrand Puerto Rio Tranquilo Puyuguapi Chaiten Bariloche San Martin de los Andes Puerto Varas Centinela Valdivia Pucon Valparaiso Mendoza

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A solo motorcycle journey through the Americas, by photographer Serdar Sunny Unal.