Sunday, October 28, 2012

Nasca / Puquio / Abancay

NASCA
One of the things on our list to visit on this trip was the Nasca Lines.  We had decided to forgo the cheaper solution of paying for a climb to the top of the viewing tower and actually forked over enough for the flying tour.  

Our Flight Plan

The tower from the air

I decided to try out my video capability, let's put it this way, the Amateur film makers have nothing to fear from my untapped talent.  But, just to give you a feel for what we experienced here is a view of the "Parrot", also is a picture of the route we took from Nasca to visit the lines.  All in all it was about a 35 minute flight and cost $110.00 US.  Chuck was a little woozy from the flight so we took a break after we landed to let him get back his land legs.

PUQUIO
When we finished the tour of the Nasca lines, it was only around noon, so we took off for the next town towards Machu Picchu; Puquio, about 150 kms.  It is just incredible to me the rise and fall as you cross west to east across Peru.  In those 150kms we climbed to around 13,900 feet and back down again to just over 10,000 feet in Puquio.  We found a nice little hotel on the plaza and parked the bikes.  Asked the proprietor for a restaurant recommendation and he gave us a recommendation.  It was really good food and the courtyard was a relaxing change from much of what we have experienced. 

Below is the church viewed from the hotel in the town square.  The bell tower on the left was actually rang by young parishioners who either had very good ear protection or came away with an extreme headache.



After dinner we turned in early, got up late, had deysayuno a the same restaurant, got packed and we were on our way again.  It was a little exciting getting down from the parking garage, that emptied into a street with busy traffic.  Many of the hotels / hostels have parking but it may be a small enclave in the hotel, which usually means steps and gutters to overcome.  The owner of this hotel had obviously experienced this before because he had blocks and boards specifically sized to overcome the obstacles.  However it was a good 20 degree incline with no place to put your feet.  But no incidents, not even a bobble.

ABANCAY
As we left Puquio it was obvious there was going to be rain, in fact there was even hail.  I stopped and put my rain gear on, and I was glad I did.  But once I have my rain gear on, it is really hard to take pictures.  The road actually began to accumulate hail and turned white like snow.  But it wasn't slick and we had no problems with traction or slipping.  

I did stop and take some pictures as we reached one of the high points, 14,960 feet.  There aren't even mountain tops in Colorado that high.  We reached this height several times and the lowest temperature we experienced was 38.8 deg as indicated on the bike. 


These guys were very suspicious of this gringo on a motorcycle taking pictures of their charges.

On to Machu Picchu! 

1 comment:

  1. I am also a little woozy after watching your video. LOL ;) What a great experience you guys are having! I'm enjoying it with you. Lori

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