Author Archives: Bob Rogers

End-of-the-Road in Peru, Yurimaguas
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Amazon "Foothills"

It was quite a ride over the final ridge of the Andes, steep and increasingly verdant, filled with village roadside life. We knew the heat would come, and it has. We are resisting air conditioning, even though is is sometimes available, hoping to quickly adapt to the heat. We have kept the days short, trying to be done by early afternoon, when heat stress begins to take a heavy toll. The andes end abruptly at Tarapoto, Peru but are immediately replaced by the Andes foothills, steep and lovely. Read the rest of this article…

Which Came First the Chicken or the Egg?
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Egg number two

In the village of Pongo, I ordered a common soup in Peru, Caldo de Gallina. Usually it is chicken noodle soup with a leg or thigh, sometimes an egg stirred in while cooking. Not this time. I got the real deal. I turned over the chicken back and found it filled with chicken innards. Now, I grew up on a farm, and we ate the heart, gizzard and liver of the chickens we slaughtered, but let the rest of it go to the hogs. After closer inspection I discovered a complete egg, shell and all, just ready to be laid. That was cool. I ate it, Read the rest of this article…

The Rest of the Story
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After Cajamarca we succeeded in topping out the Andes’ first high ridge on a rocky, dusty road at 3765 meters. Claire began coughing at the most excellent bicycle resort, (an earlier post) and I at first thought it was the thick fine dust we’d been subjected to over the pass. It wasn’t dust. By the time we reached Celendin, Claire was as ill as I’ve ever seen her, coughing violently and choking. I was very concerned, and mentally planning how to store or abandon Zippy and get us back to Lima. She did improve over the next two days, but certainly not enough to consider cycling. We took a bus to Chachapoyas, and stayed for a week, where I got my current lung infection. Bummer. Read the rest of this article…

Who Needs A Bullfight?
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We arrived in Celendin during a big fiesta week, on the day of the bullfight. We made our way to the still-under-construction bullfight ring. After careful consideration of the rickety contraption, that would soon hold, we hoped, a few thousand people, we selected seats (rough cut boards) on the second level fronting the ring. Our strategy, should the thing start rocking, would be to jump into the ring, and take our chances with the bulls. This was not to be. Lack of language had led us to think the event was free to all, and seating was open. No. Just at the end of this video, we were unceremoniously escorted from our seats. Apparently a family group buys a whole section, and we were trespassing. Oh well, we were able to see a couple of bloody bull deaths later on local cable TV in our (no water, but cable TV) room. That was close enough. Read the rest of this article…

Cruz Conga, Peru; Resort Extraordinaire
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It’s all part of being travelers. Sometimes things don’t turn out as expected. The day began beautifully; a 300 meter climb, on pista (pavement) for a change. Sunny, lazy dogs, Zippy behaving, and a change of landscape over the top. Our legs felt good. It was to be a short day, 40k to a village just big enough to have accommodation and food. We found the food, but wasted an hour looking for the hospedaje, and failed to find it, after being pointed to all corners of the village. Read the rest of this article…

So Much Like a County Fair in any U.S. State
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We went to an agricultural fair in the Peruvian Andes and were surprised at just how much it was like our own county fairs. There was even a cuy (guinea pig) queen, lots of farm animals, food and even a limited but very popular equestrian jumping competition.

We had cuy for lunch. A little greasy and not much meat, but not bad tasting. Claire shot some video. Many photos coming.

PS. We love Cajamarca; brightly painted, clean, good food and music, friendly people who don’t seem to look at us a tourists. Maybe it’s because Gringoes don’t come here. More Andes tomorrow. Read the rest of this article…