Moto Naranja comes out of hibernation

 After nearly a year and a half of forced Covid hibernation Moto Naranja decided to continue her journey where she left off near Grenoble France. Apart from a few cobwebs my old friend weathered this quarantine exceptionally well with the help of my South African friends Alan and Fay.

I decided to resume my trip across Europe with the eventual end point being Mongolia. However that distant place will only be reached sometime next year with the more humble goal of riding as far as Romania before the northern hemisphere winter begins to set in and heated hand grips and heated clothing is not enough to keep the icicles off the end of my nose

I connected the battery and she started right up with hardly a cough, splutter or the need for a PCR test to allow her to venture out into the beautiful countryside of the southern French Alps.

The first day out I rode up the Alpe d' Huez without even breaking a sweat. I  have no idea what all the fuss is about during that annual bicycle extravaganza - just how difficult can it be?

My plan is the ride following the tracks of the Trans European Trail (TET) from France into Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Romania. This trail follows mainly back roads, dirt tracks and some paved minor roads, although I did somehow get on a major toll freeway without the chance of exiting for 20km. Having maps, gpx tracks and Google still does not guarantee that I am not going to get more than a little lost.

Here is a taste of what I have found so far:-

 This was the end of a very steep section coming off a ridge where I think the mountain bikers were very surprised to see a fully laden adventure motorcycle coming down off the pass on the single track 

I am writing this from the little town of Argegno of the edge of Lake Como in Italy and took the day off riding to explore this magnificent lake nestled in this deep glacier created valley.

                                                     This is where I am staying

                                                 This is not where I am staying

Trans America Trail

 Having promised to write about my travels across the United States on the Trans America Trail, a mainly dirt road adventure from “ Sea to Shining Sea” I find myself two weeks into it without having written a darn thing. So where to start?

When I saw this signpost I immediately thought of Shel Silverstein’s book of kids poems   

 

I am not sure which of these little characters I best represent - maybe the dog, holding on for dear life. However I really do love to explore with an increasing sense of curiosity as I now move through my late teenage years. ( get real you old goat you are 65!! ) 

In Mississippi this is where the Sidewalk Ends

It took over an hour to dig the back wheel out of this good red dirt with the only tools available to me - my own two hands. Both the bike and me needed the carwash in the next town 

So I must back up a little since my last blog post on munecatravels.blogspot.com found me having just arrived back in the US with Moto Naranja stuck in a shed in France until a nasty little disease would allow me to retrieve her to carry on with a little road trip from France to Mongolia.

Moto Naranja is still stuck in that little shed in France, so being the two timer that I am I bought another KTM 690 and equipped it for less international travel. 

The riding had been really good fun and I enjoy every day with so much variety but I have to say that it can be a little depressing to stop in little towns where jobs and industry have moved on and a good job is probably in a fast food restaurant.

 But wait, maybe I am just moving too fast and not stopping to really look what is going on. There is no doubt that these towns are hurting and the old factories that employed so many are never going to return but maybe this is where the opportunity lies for the real risk takers. Here is what I saw in the town of Helena, Arkansas on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.

A walk down the main street saw hardly a store open apart from the shoe store that has been there for more than forty years. The old Nichols hotel is long closed and I only wish room rates were still a mere $1 a night

However this is the gem that I found run by a young man who moved here because the idea of starting his own business was intriguing and the buy in was relatively cheap.

                                                     The Edwardian Inn

Then I went out to supper and walked down the main street as it got dark - a little creepy. But the only restaurant open, The Helena Tavern, was owned and run by a young couple who also recently moved here as the place was going for a song. Helena does have a blues festival every year which sees twenty thousand people descend on one summer weekend — so just maybe these little towns will survive and be rejuvenated.

Headed over the big river tomorrow to ride through Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and beyond.

Derogatory Movement

Somehow I feel like something was lost in translation here! Now, I have had derogatory comments made about my dance moves in the past but surely it is a little harsh to equate my gyrations on a dance floor to riding a motorcycle through the French countryside.

This was a document I needed to travel in France and allowed me on the roads to make the ride from the medieval village of Die on the river Drôme to Grenoble. With France on lockdown I was very aware that any movement was counterproductive to the containment of the virus so I mapped out a backroads route across the high Alps from Die to Grenoble. My good friends Alan and Fay Barrow had offered to host me for the duration of the lockdown as they had just got back the night before from New Zealand and would also be in quarantine.
With the concern that the US might at any time close its borders to everyone, including returning residents, I decided to see if it was possible to get a flight out of Geneva directly back to New York. In no time at all I was on nearly empty flights back to Denver. With everyone staying well clear of each other and not a lot of talking going on travel had suddenly become a very lonely endeavor.

From thinking I was in France for a long time I awoke Saturday morning in my Rocky Mountain cabin in a winter wonderland after the recent heavy snowfall. Two weeks of self quarantine is not going to be a hardship here especially as my wonderful family and friends have stocked me with groceries and beer and one very thoughtful, special lady even had the forethought to make sure I had a full 1/2 gal of gin.

Who knows what the future holds with this virus and how travel is going to look in the future but with Moto Naranja waiting patiently in a shed in France how can I not go back and carry on with the Silk Road adventure?

Silk Road Trip grinds to a halt

My timing could not have been any better if I tried. Moto Naranja arrived in Paris two days before France closed all the pubs, restaurants, cafes and any other public meeting place. Surely not the pubs!!

I had been given an address at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, cargo terminal where I could pick up my bike but this proved to be a closed training facility for cargo handlers. After spending over an hour walking around in ever diminishing, frustrating circles a terminal worker asked if mine was the orange bike he had seen that morning somewhere over in the export side of the terminal. That is where it proved to be, but funny because I was pretty sure I was meant to be importing it.
 Once I got all the paperwork there was just one more tiny step -- Customs / Douanes, just the name was enough to strike fear into my skinny little knees. This building was standard government issue with buckled, yellowing ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights with the obligatory buzz - I feared the worst !!

Surprise !!  They were all very pleasant and helpful and 45 minutes later I walked out of there with a wad of papers all bearing an official looking stamp.

Determined to carry on even though my adventure was looking more than I had bargained for, I climbed on my trusty steed in a steady rain and headed south with the hope of finding more pleasant weather. Two days later the weather was indeed a little warmer with clear blue skies and I had spent a magical time meandering along many backroads through the French countryside with quaint stone villages, cattle in the fields and a singing heart. There were castles and chateaus scattered throughout the countryside. 

Getting towards mid afternoon on the second day I decided to stop in the village of Die ( an unfortunate name in the time of corona ) and after finding that no campsites were open for another month a settled in to the Hôtel des Alpes in the center of this beautiful village which has stood in the valley since Roman times.
After finding something to eat and a beer from a small grocery store I checked the news -- France was going to prohibit all travel and close its border for 15 days -- starting tomorrow!! Now that is definitely a little more concerning than closed pubs
So here I stay for the next two weeks in a beautiful French village still with the stone walls built in the 2nd century, a comfortable hotel with breakfast, magnificent views out of my window and a chance to learn more French than just Bonjour.

View from my room

Muñeca Travels the Silk Road

Coming March 2020.
After a lot of introspection Muñeca has convinced Richard that an adventure across the Silk Road from Europe to Mongolia would be an extremely enjoyable jaunt.

With early planning now taking place and plenty of maintenance to the KTM 690 ( Moto Naranja ) it is hoped that the Silk Road will be ready to divulge some of its timeless secrets in March, 2020.

Cusco to Lima

Five up

I encountered this multi person transporter in a little village in the mountains of Peru. I counted at least five but there might have been more. The girl on the back did seem to be gripping her friend's shoulders for dear life as they took off up a dusty track

Cusco Main Square

After returning from Machu Picchu I spent a few days in the magnificent old Inca capital of Cusco. There are so many churches in the city as the Spanish, upon arrival, demolished all the Inca palaces and built churches on the foundations as a way of showing there dominance.

Two bull roof ornaments

Many houses have these two bulls adorning their roofs to protect against evil spirits

Beautiful carved wooden balconies

The houses of the nobility had carved wooden balconies

Sacred Valley

Here was the start of the Sacred Valley with the Urubamba River running through the middle

Colorful Pisac Market

The town of Pisac has an incredibly colorful market not only selling plenty of touristy stuff but plenty of food, fruit and vegetables as well. Traditional clothing mixed seamlessly with backpacker chic and less chic hippie matted hair.

Inca Ruins at Pisac

The ruins above the town were very impressive with stone citadels perched way above the valley floor and huge stone terraces where the Incas grew their crops

Moray Terraces

A few kilometers down the valley brings you to the stone terraces of Moray which is thought to have been an Inca agricultural experimental station where they studied the effects of different microclimates on their crops

Stonework at Ollantaytambo

Next up down the valley is the town of Ollantaytambo with what is probably the most impressive stonework I have seen anywhere in the world. These massive stone blocks were transported from a quarry on the other side of the valley, up a steep hillside, carved with laser like precision and assembled so that it is impossible to insert even a playing card between them. This is a mystery that has many theories but none of which seem entirely plausible

Sun Temple 

The Sun Temple is the most amazing example of this rock carving technique with expansion joints between the polished granite pieces that have withstood the ravages of time as well as numerous earthquakes without having moved a millimeter 

Carved Lock Piece

Seen here is part of the carved locking mechanism between the stones.

Urubamba River

Muddy Mountain Road

I had mapped out a route through the mountains which I hoped was passable as some maps showed a road being there but others just a region devoid of even tracks. The roads were in fact there but not in exactly the places that my GPS Open Source Maps showed but it certainly added a bit of excitement. This soft muddy section brought traffic to a standstill as a truck sunk up to it's axles in the mire. Easy going for my trusty KTM

Many Stream Crossings

I crossed so many little streams on one section as I worked my way up into the rain forest. Often I could not see what the surface was like or see the rocks lurking on the bottom. At one point I nearly dropped the bike in the river which would have been a miserable experience as it was starting to get dark and the temperature was dropping quickly as mist and light rain rolled across the lush undergrowth. This was a very strange area as I did not see another vehicle for over an hour and passed through a number of abandoned villages. This was an area of intense guerrilla activity during the days of the Shining Path wars that depopulated vast areas of the high mountains of central Peru

It was a little unnerving waiting my turn to squeeze part this truck that had been caught in a landslide, especially as rocks and debris kept raining down onto the road in front of me - maybe I should have waited further back up the road where I had been told to.

With no room for error vehicles managed to barely get through between the truck and oblivion

Great Road Sign

I love this road sign and the name of a horn being a claxon somehow just appeals to me

Squatting is a problem?

Talking about blowing your horn - you gotta be kidding that this is a problem!!!

Mountain Scenery

After 5 days of riding through some most amazing scenery it was time to get to Lima

Beautiful Stone Bridge

Dropping down into stunning river valleys

Limestone Mountain Scenery

and through areas of stark limestone mountains I joined the main road at the gold mining town of Oroya. From here the road ascended into the clouds at an altitude of 4810 meters ( nearly 16,000 ft ). The road was almost bumper to bumper trucks with cars suicidally passing on blind curves with thick mist and snow making it impossible to see the heavy laden gasoline trucks coming in the other direction. After the pass I descended for almost two hours under some of the worst road conditions I have seen on my entire trip - it was downright scary with cars forced off into ditches by passing trucks with no regard to life or limb. I decided to find a place to stay for the night as I did not then want to deal with Lima traffic at the end of an extremely taxing day.

And now here I am in Lima, this sprawling city of 8 million inhabitants. 

Having now completed the loop of South America and having been on the road for over 13 months it is now time to find a way to ship Moto Naranja home. I expect it will take me a week or so to sort out the logistics but I have decided that this is the end of the road for this incredible adventure.

 In some ways I am sad but but also so very grateful for having this opportunity to live my dream. It started with a heavy heart with the then recent loss of Maggie, my amazing, wonderful wife of 33 years but ends with a new sense of wonder and happiness. The road really has helped me to heal and come to know that love shared is love that can never be lost. 

Machu Picchu Peru

Machu Picchu, one of the world's foremost tourist sites lives up to all it's hype and then some. This spectacular mountain fortress/sacred site hidden from the world for centuries deep in the Peruvian jungle is truly stunningly beautiful.

Machu Picchu in all its glory

With a little help from a friend Muñeca made it up the over 1700 steps through the humid jungle starting at 5am in the morning.

Inquisitive locals

The Sun Temple

Main Temple and sacrificial altar

There is so much to be said about this amazing city but all I can say is that it is a place of supreme tranquility even with the thousands of tourists that mob it every day of the year. I was apprehensive that it would be a letdown after having seen hundreds of photos of it over the years but it was anything but. If you are able, just go and experience the wonder of this place.

I took the long route to Machu Picchu by doing the five day Salkantay Trek that wound its way through the mountains

Lake Humantay

Mount Salkantay towers above the valleys at over 6000 m. The cloud halfway down the mountain in this photo was caused by an avalanche we saw when a large section of ice broke off one of the hanging glaciers.

Mount Salkantay - 6271m , 20574 ft

The second day of the hike was the most strenuous at 22km which crested out at over 4000 m ( 15,000 ft) at Salkantay Pass before dropping down rapidly into the jungle below.

We passed through numerous little villages and the tour company would be waiting for us at one of them with a cooked lunch. 

At night we would stay in permanent camps in villages with once again plenty of hot, good food. The entire tour with all meals provided, entrance to Machu Picchu and transportation cost a total of $170 - what incredible value for money.

One morning I woke with painful blisters between my toes, not from hiking but from dancing ( or at least my version of that difficult art form ) for hours with the fun group of people from all over the world that were my fellow travelers for a few days. I was the oldest by at least 25 years but after a couple of beers and Inca Tequilas age and cultural differences were forgotten and I embarked on the difficult task of teaching them all Poephol Cricket.

Upside down Zip Lining - this is not me

One day we had the option to go zip lining with four lines stretching over a canyon, one of which was over 1 km long. The upside down traverse was the most disorienting but most exhilarating of the morning.

And then came the final 13 km along the railway track from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu where we spent a night before waking up at 3.30 am to begin the hike up the mountain.

Aguas Calientes main "street"