So I finally thought to myself it would be criminal not to go up and see Machu Pichu. However a rant is going to have to begin as the cost is quite rediculous! If you want to do it the normal way and I think the cheapest way for most people, you are forced to fork out around $70+ dollars for the Train, (where locals pay $3). You then have to buy the entrance ticket for $45 and to top that off the bus up the mountain is another $12. CRAZY! I mean it was very impressive but my god Im struggling to think it was is $150 impressive!
So to live up to my tight arsed nature I decided I can beat the system and do it on the cheap. I leave at 3pm on the bike to ride up to where the train leaves from. I get there, and after trying to get a local priced ticket and failing I decide that I defo have to use the bike to get as close as possible. To add to it I went up there with a grand sum of $65 for everything incl. enterance, fuel, food etc, so paying the normal price was not an option.
Now it is possible to take a 4 hour ride round some mountains down dirt tracks and crumbling passes all the way to a hydro electric station near a place called Santa Terresa from where it is possible to walk the 3 km down the rail tracks to Aquas Caliente (town by Machu Pichu). So I head off in the dark with the aim to camp half way. The bike is totaly unloaded with just me and me camping gear. So off I head for 10 miles until I realise of course I have a bloody puncture! 10 miles away from any town with no repair stuff. In 20,000 miles this is my first puncture and in 20,000 miles the first time I havent been carrying my tools to fix one. So dam typical. So I ride 10 miles on a flat down a mountain road with lots of nasty bends. To top it off I am going that slowly that every dog in the neibourhood sees its chance with me going so slowly am runs out to bike my legs. Lots of dog kicking required.
Finally I get back to a small town where I find a tyre man. He lives in this crappy hut in a mud car park. He proceeds to fix the tyre, but to say it was a frustrating experience is an understatement. He gets the punctures repaired (3 of them by a big nail) and proceeds to put the wheel back on without having any idea of how to do it. In this part of the world the answer to something not fitting is to hit it with a hammer. It took me 20 mins to stop him trying to hit the axle, and another 20 mins to get him to just leave me alone and stop trying to help so I could do it myself. ARGGHH!
Finally the job was done but it was so late I ended up camping in his mud car park. Now $8 poorer for the puncture repair.
The next day I was off at 4 am. The ride was a nightmare. I was told the road was tarmac but almost all of it was mud and rocks with numerous landslides.(If the loclas dont know they just make stuff up. Anything better than losing face!) I had no money for food, very little for fuel and only just enough for the entrance to machu Pichu. So after 4 hours of hard riding I arrive at the hydroelectric plant. Only to then walk 3.5 km to Aquas Calientes then after buyimg my ticket I couldnt afford the bus up the mountain so walked that too. By this stage I only just had enough money for fuel to get back so I couldnt even afford water. To add to this people in this area were so unfriendly no one would give me even a drink of tap water. Its quite amazing how mass tourism makes everyone involved really quite nasty and money grabbing. I wasnt too impressed to say the least.
Lucky for me, halfway up Machu Pichu I came accross some english tourists coming down, they spotted me drooling and panting up the hill, took pitty on me and gave me some water. When your lucks down you can always trust a Brit!
Finally I arrive at the top to be met by fast food joints and shops. I fight my way through the crowds and in I go.
It certainly is an amazing place, and the scenary is great too. I wondered around looking at the ruins but was frankly so tired I really struggled to muster up any energy what so ever. Here comes the dark side of the place and of course my moan. The number of tourists of course spoils it slightly. There are litteraly hundreds, the funny thing is that there are loads of gap year students pracing around with walking sticks they have paid far too much money for and dont even have a need for, due to this it seemed to be a serious hazard to be anywhere near them as they swing their sticks wildly round without realising it, as what a surprise at 18 yrs old their legs are working just fine without the help of 4ft of walking stick. To top off this hazzard the stick acrobatics being performed were knocking over all the old ladies who actually needed the sticks but didnt have one due to the gap year students buying them all up! Really, it got quite frustrating, so after an hour or so I had to leave, stepping over the carnage of crippled grannies with walking sticks lodged in their hip-replacements and I headed back down. 
I needed to get back to the bike by 4pm as the policia guarding my bike was leaving then. So I really had to get back fast.I persuaded the bus woman to give me a free ride down the hill after I told her where I had walked from, mustered up a small tear and played the sympathy card, so that was a bonus but after that it was the long walk back on the rail lines to the bike, then a five and a half hour ride through dirt mud and rain back to Cuzco, where I finally got to at 8.30 that night. That was a 4am to 8.30 pm non stop excersise session which was evident by the massive blisters and swolen knee I was now supporting. Even the Policeman looking after my bike couldnt belive how fast I had done it. A true mission, and to top it off I only just had enough money to buy fuel to get back. What a trip!
When I got back to my hostel I had a great suprise. Totally broke and tired I arrived to be met by an envolope from a fellow KLR owner who I had met. In it I had been left a very generous donation to keep me on the road. (Thanks so much Aussie Ben, if only you knew how much that helped! See you at the bottom for Christmas)
That same night I also bumped into an old friend from the money no kill incident n Panama. So it was great to hang out with Cessar and we had a funny few days. The best parts had to be summed up by the frog smoothy we both enjoyed. This involved buying up a skinned and gutted frog from some wise old bag, who happened to insist it was good for my health in every sense, whilst telling me that she looked like she was about to drop dead at any moment and was just about hangging onto one last black fang at the front of her mouth. Somehow I felt that she either didnt sample her own remedies or maybe she was just lying, and I was actually buying a basic garden frog with no more mystical powers than a pot of green tea.
So Cessar and I headed to the smoothy stand with said frog, the woman happily abliged on purifying the frog with several delicious fruits and we the downed the whole lot. And before anyone askes no it didnt taste like chicken, in actual fact it tasted like shit! But to look on the more positive side, although I dont feel 10 years younger like the old crone said I would, I am still alive. To add to the irony she told me it was good for my lungs. The next day I got the onset of a chest infection! Rather than eating 20 more frogs to beat the bug Im afraid I went back to good old fasioned antibiotics. I am on the mend.
So the next day I left Cuzco which was actually a great relief as it did seem like a mini dysney world. Off I rode to Bolivia via Lake Titicaca. The ride was quite long and cold but no too bad. Now for the more serious side of things. At this stage I think my initial worries about the bike could be valid. I am currently buring silly amounts of oil, have consulted a friend I met in the USA who knows his KLR´s and I have serious concerns that my piston rings are failing.
Right now I have no choice but to continue and keep filling up with oil as the nearest dealer is many hundreds of miles away. When all feels lost I decided I had one option left. Devine Intervention. So on my arrival to Lake Titicaca and Bolivia I head to a town called Copacabana. Thanks to a great tip from my mate Sal I get the bike and myself blessed by a priest (Also Sal thanks for the donation buddy. It really helps and if I need a new piston I may REALLY REALLY HELP, this same message goes out to Ned, cheers buddy. Im off today to buy mystery gifts of a cursed nature)
So I find myself in the main square of Copacabana in a line with lots of locals. I am the only bike and they find it hilarious. I dress the bike with flowers and other nick-nacks, and after a while the priest arrives. Chants an bit, throws water on the bike and me and wishes me luck. Maybe the now blessed KLR will decided it wants to stop burning the OPEC oil reserves what with its religious moment and all. I doubt it though. (see Video of blessing)
So after me and the bike being blessed, lots of pics with locals, an invite to lunch with a group which I declined as I needed to get moving, I headed off to La Paz. This is where I find myself now. Trying to decide what to do with the bike as the Atacama desert and Salar del Uyni is next. Not a good place to breakdown when youre on your own. All should be fine though as the only choice is to continue.
In a moment Im off to check out this witches market, and to buy a really bad woolly jumper as I am freezing with only T-shirts to my name. Signing out from another intallment
p.s To top things off my speedo has broken. Very annoying so my milage count will have to be an educated guess. Currently I am on about 20,200 miles. Oh and I ran over a small chicken by accident. I couldnt help it I swear! whoops, such a short but meaningful life. road kill count + 1.
Heya Dude, Seems like Machu Picchu was an Adventure! Murphys law with the tyre. BMW finally shipped the parts yesterday evening from Miami, so hoping to get going any day now! Hope that KLR holds together.. never know might even catch you ! Kev
Posted by: Kevin | November 29, 2007 at 05:59 PM
hi! i'm angie and i met kevin last friday here in Lima. let me tell you that you 2 guys ROCK! keep going and keep riding! you're doing it so good! GOOD LUCK every where you two go!. peace! XD
Posted by: anGie | December 02, 2007 at 06:33 PM