Motorbike trip across the Andes, the most amazing views and busy local markets.

July 15, 18:38

What a drive! Absolutely, insanely, beautiful. We drove from Chachapoyas to Celendín. And every minute of it was amazing. It was a long day on the motorbike, going over two mountains to get to our destination. I really can’t get over these feelings of freedom, power, and vulnerability, which you experience on a motorbike. Being so close to the edge and looking into the abyss makes you so aware of how fleeting life can be. Especially with the crosses on ridges to remind us of death. There is nothing like this feeling - it’s such a powerful and extremely vulnerable way of transportation. (I wrote something about this).

mountain road to leymebamba, peru — *Mountain road to Leymebamba, Peru*

July 16, 15:15

I was a little sad this morning. Driving past all the small villages here in the mountains and seeing the dead animals on the side of the road. A horse, a donkey and three sheep. And the amount of street dogs and donkeys tied up, waiting to be used, didn’t make it any better. It really makes me hate humans. It also made me realize that I would love to work with animals and I am seriously considering becoming a vet.

In the afternoon, we stopped for lunch in Encañada, where they had a big market going on. So we stayed a little longer to take some photos and walk around the town. This is definitely a place where I would like to come back to. The people were just so friendly and welcoming. At the restaurant, they even gave us this local soda, ‘Inca Kola,’ as a goodbye gift, how sweet! (It tasted terrible, to be honest, like the neon-colored bubblegum you had as a kid).

July 17, 16:50

We arrived at Lake Sausacocha. Somewhere halfway on our journey to Huaraz. This trip is gonna take us a bit longer than we initially thought it would. Those swirly mountain roads are much tougher and more tiring than expected.

Also, this morning we went to look at a giant head in the mountains. But somewhere along the way, we took a wrong turn. We went onto a dirt road only accessible by foot. Which we found out way too late. I had to get off the bike so Mike could try and turn it. It did not go well. The bike fell and the last remaining side mirror broke. (The first one was already gone from an earlier fall) But all good now! We managed our way back to the normal road, of course after taking a few photos of the head, and now we are gonna take a short break at the lake. The weather is sunny and we have super nice views, so definitely all good in the end!

July 18

Just chilling today ✌🏻

row boats on Lake Sausacocha, peru — *Row boats on Lake Sausacocha, Peru*

July 19, 15:53

We just stopped on the side of the road to take some photos and videos of the landscape cause it’s just too beautiful not to. We also stopped at another lake earlier today to do the same. So pretty! These stops are why we’re only driving about 2,5 hours today, to Santiago de Chuco. But it’s worth it! All these moments of standing still really help me appreciate this whole journey a lot more. As the cliché goes: it’s about the journey, not the destination.

Oh, and we’re also only driving this far cause we went to a market this morning in this place called Huamachuco. For a small mountain town, it was such a big market. It was a lot of fun to walk around and see local life happening.

July 20, 21:38

This might be one of my favorite days of my whole travel so far. I just went to bed in a small and very old Hospedaje. The electricity is not working in town so we have to make do with candles, which makes this whole place so cute and romantic. And because there are no lights, there’s no light pollution, so the night sky is unlike anything I have ever seen! So many stars and so bright! We could even see the Milky Way throughout the whole sky. Beautiful!

We arrived in this town Pallasca just after sunset. Right in time to find this place to sleep and also perfectly in time to ride through the mountains during golden hour. So beautiful! The whole ride today was really amazing. The views were stunning and the roads that took us swirling over the mountains were just crazy. An insane day really!

Night sky Pallasca Peru, by Mike Barr — *Night sky in Pallasca, Peru, by* *Mike Barr*

July 21, 12:49

I feel a little bit better now, but this morning was just terrible. I was in my feels, just crying on the back of the bike. This might be the first time on my trip so far that I missed my people at home. I felt like I was letting them down, that I was being a bad friend, daughter, and sister. That they deserved much better. And meanwhile, I am on this crazy adventure looking at amazing views here in Peru and I can’t even share that with them. I felt like I was being selfish and that I was unworthy of them and their love.

So that was my mind this morning. Now we’re on a lunch break and sharing these thoughts are already a big help.

17:57

This afternoon drive is CRAZY! We are almost at our destination for today - I think we are crossing the last mountain. After we left the town where we had lunch, we drove into desert-like terrain with hundreds of uniquely shaped cacti, we saw the snow-capped mountains of Parque Nacional Huascarán, and we crossed many mountains over swirly roads with dangerous-looking edges. All while having crazy views of the Andes. This was also the first time that I was nervous on the back of the bike. I wouldn’t be surprised if these roads are on the list of most dangerous roads in the world. But besides that (or maybe because of this) this part from Tauca to Corongo might be my favorite part of the road so far.