Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Cajamarca (ka' ha mar ca)

The road from Balza to Celendin (See len din) was supposed to be more of the same that we had encountered from coming down into Balza.  However, other than the climb and switchbacks it was not bad.  However a number of kilometers before we reached Celendin the road turned really rough.  Because of road construction, I think they had just let the road go.  It looked like it had been made with large rocks as a base covered with gravel then sand.  The sand and gravel had long disappeared and what was left was the ends of the large rocks sticking out of the mud.  No way to avoid the rocks.  It was rough. 

By the time we reached Celendin we had decided to stop and clean the bikes.  Mud had lodged into the radiator decreasing the ability to cool.  The fans seemed to run all the time.  We found a car wash and while there someone in the group looking on, noticed that Chuck had a leak from one of his front forks.  We checked the others and all four forks were leaking, two on each bike.  We did some quick checking on the internet and found the nearest KTM dealer with new seals was in Lima.  We changed our plans and decided to spend the night in Cajamarca, and go from there to Lima. 

We had heard the road from Celendin to Cajamarca was asphalt.  That was mostly a lie.  We beat more crap out of the bikes and the clean bikes we started with in Celendin was now again packed in mud.   We stayed in a nice hotel on the square in Cajamarca and left the next day for Lima.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Hi, I welcome your comments, but please remember that my family is following this blog so keep your comments civil. Thank you. Joe