Day 1,012
Misti
After a few days of film editing, blog updating, eating and relaxing in the ‘White City’ of Arequipa, we set off to Puno and Lake Titicaca. The city is dominated by the dormant volcano, Misti. It rises up above the city, and we were very excited to be riding nearer to it. However as we set off it was nowhere to be seen, living up to its name, it was hidden by mist.
We were both excited but somewhat nervous about the days to come. Puno was 177 miles away, not too far, but most of the route was on dirt. It is the rainy season, which,as we were heading up to over 15,500 feet, means heavy rain, snow and hailstones and the whole route is barely inhabited! To make matters interesting maps.me actually said for one section the road didn't actually exist. What had we let ourselves in for?
Apart from the mist in the hills above us, the ride out of the city wasn't too bad. It was all uphill but to start with we had tarmac and Tom as usual had come up with a really quiet route. Then we left the city and the tarmac behind and it became a grind uphill, with nothing to see. The fog was so thick Tom and I lost sight of each other even though we were only yards apart, and it also seemed to blanket any sounds, so I'd stop and yell “Tom” and he couldn't hear me. Well that's what he said!
By mid-afternoon we knew we had to find somewhere to camp as we wove our way up the hillside. There was absolutely nothing to give us any shelter and in the end we simply pulled off the road onto a dirt track and pitched our tent in a tiny clearing, just hidden from the road. In the morning Tom got up first and I heard him gasp with amazement. I joined him and there before us was Misti, finally clear of mist. We were both stunned by the sight, thrilled but somewhat sad at what views had been hidden from us.
Nothing for it but back on the bikes and upwards to complete the first 10,000 feet of the climb. Yesterday the surface had been just about perfect for gravel, today though it wasn't to be. We could see some orange figures above us,and when we reached them we realised these were the road resurfacing crew. We had about a mile of work in progress, think trying to ride through something resembling wet concrete up a steep hill and you'll have an idea of what a nightmare it was. Then when we cleared that we hit the unrepaired surface. It wasn't awful, but it just took so much effort to find a decent line between the potholes and loose stones.
This track ended at a fork in the road. Right was tarmac, straight on was a really awful surface which would be a struggle to ride on. Naturally that was our route, by now the mist was back so we simply couldn't see a thing. There was really very little traffic so we rode all over the road, which was fine until a blast of a horn warned us a speeding coach was just metres away. Taking extra care we inched our way forward. We were now approaching the Laguna de Salinas, a salt lake, now part of a national reserve due to its wide variety of plants found in the area. It is also home to flamingos, alpacas, verrucas, llamas, guanacos, and chinchillas. Not that it mattered as we couldn’t see a thing! Then by some miracle the mist slowly cleared the there before us was the lake, and those pink things? Flamingos! Hundreds if not thousands of them! When they took flight the deep pink colour of their wings was revealed, we were so thrilled we forgot to look at the flora! There were also Andean geese, crested ducks, silver glebe, giant coots, but we didn't spot the very rare pampas cat.
As we edged our way around the lake the surface got even worse, deep sand, ruts and the ever present potholes made it very slow progress. We realised that the weather was changing and the storm clouds were looming. Despite it being only early afternoon, our plan was to try and find shelter in a building in the small village of Salinas Huito. Though there were several hundred houses and about 5 municipal buildings it appeared deserted. Tom found a large porch at the front of one of the government buildings and we popped the bikes there. I finally spotted a man and asked if there was any chance we could camp inside? Could he help, he nodded vigorously and headed off to hopefully get a key. We knew from experience that he probably couldn't actually get the key and sure enough when he returned 30 minutes later, it was sans key but he did bring a friend to say hello! Max, who ran the local shop which sold biscuits and gasoline, was more helpful. He confirmed we could camp there, and invited us into his lovely warm shop to show us his month old vicuña, beyond cute. Tom cooked tea and at 5pm we hunkered down for the night, cold but at least the porch kept the wind and rain off us. In the morning we had a disaster, the stove refused to work. Max’s wife heated up some water for us so we could make coffee and porridge but we were both worried about the days to come.
We set off as snow fell upon us, but as time passed a weak sun replaced it and we were loving the ride. We left the lake and the sand behind us, and rode through stunning limestone hills. The road was long and winding and apart from the animals we had it all to ourselves. Again we were heading for the next town, Pati. Google maps and iOverlander had no information about it so we weren't hopeful. When we arrived our worst fears were realised. Despite having a brand new football stadium, 4 or more municipal buildings it appeared to be a ghost town. Even the porch was too narrow to pitch our tent in. Then by some miracle I spotted a human! Francisco owned a house in the village and he offered us a room to stay in. He no longer lives there but uses it as a work space and storage for animal skins. By the time we had packed up our bags, he had cleared out the piles of skins, swept the dirt floor and we had shelter for the night. This really helped, as although our tent is pretty snug, being stuck inside it from about 3pm until 6am is just too long. Here we could sit in our chairs in comfort. We even had a stuffed fox for company! Tom took the stove apart, cleaned it for the umpteenth time but no joy. So it was cold beans and tuna for tea, and yes it was as awful as it sounds!
