Day 3- Restday - Boqueron

Aguatia

Rest day today... it was needed after the crazy night riding. I thought to myself that if everyday was going to be like that it would be a long trip, I would have to man up mentally. Got some video off the balcony next to our rm. Moto taxis everywhere. Pretty typical peruvian town in the high jungle. Today I would venture out on my own and try to blend in, I am Peruvian so that should be easy, just don't talk to me since my Spanish needs some work.



I walked around the bock and found a bakery.... score! Just need some coffee, bread and I would be set. I  felt like special ed trying to order. I really need to work on my Spanish, the lady gave me that "are you serious" look. You know the one.

Well most of Peru is not known for its coffee... this is why. You can get essence of coffee(coffee sludge) or instant coffee at most places. Only place they have good coffee is in Oxapampa and we will be visiting that place in the up coming days.



While I was exploring the area I happened upon an internet cafe. It's nice to live in the states and have internet available almost everywhere. Most of my friends have it on there phone so this was a new experience for me as it would be to most of you.



Connection speed is very slow, it seemed like I was on dial up! Most of you guys can't even remember what that is like anymore. I knew then that updating this blog would not be possible and I would have to post some quick updates on Face book.

Who wants to see pictures of Peru scenery? Every time I travel I always take pictures of scenery and they are ok but I always take pics of my room why? Because it bring more of a human side to this blog. Well I had to take advantage of having some free time and decided to do some laundry.



You can tell I am having a good time!

Team C

We lost some 2 members of our group at this time. Kelly was only able to ride a couple of days and Jim was all banged up and would be heading back to Lima and to the States the next day. We picked up another rider, Grego and his wife Marcy. They are from Nevada and were a good addition to the team. We also picked up Phyllis and her son Michael Porter they would ride in the support truck with Rachel. Also Helen and Jim would be joining us till Oxapampa. All good people with open hearts and minds.

From left to right:Back row-Heidi, Helen, Jim, Toby, Michael, Rachel, Grego
Front row-Rob(my dad), Phyllis, Me, Marcy

It was time to meet the other team members and head to the Boqueron via back of a pick up truck. We quickly made our way out of the town and into this amazing place. We had driven by this place last night but it was dark and foggy so we could not see how amazing this place was.



The Boqueron was a place that many of the MK's(missionary kids) in Peru have gone to when they were young, this was there favorite stomping ground. This trip was a reunion of those kids which are now adults, coming back and remembering all the good and some bad memories this place holds. One of there friends drown in the river when they were young...

We parked and had a look around- So beautiful...





I did not have my camera with me, I left in in the truck because they said that we may have to cross the water by foot it the pull cart was not operational.. what? We got there and it was working. I will have to borrow someone else video on this.

We had a great day, swimming and relaxing. Water was pretty cold but you got use to it. It's one of my favorite natural sight that i have been to.

On the way back we when back thru the tunnel. I don't know why i like them but they are fun to ride thru.



Got back in to town and clean up and when to eat with the rest of the group to a local restraunt.
Quick recap of my experience at the Boqueron


By the way the guy from Texas was Jim not Lou, I kept calling him Lou for some weird reason.

My side note about Jim.



Off to get some food.




My meal



This fish just looked at me while i was eating it, kind of weird...
This fish is in the same family as the pirana but doesn't eat meat. Well back to the hotel and to bed day. Good night.

Day 2 -Juanjui to Aquatia

Got up ate breakfast and loaded the truck up and we were on our way, more dirt roads and i was getting more comfortable on the moto. Toby lead the group followed by Kelly myself Jim and my dad. The support vehicle followed. It had our gear and extra moto and 2 passengers, Rachel and Heidi.



The ride started out mostly on dirt, it was very loose at some places. The Peruvian infrastructure is improving, Peru's road are getting better. Everywhere we traveled we saw a lot of construction on new roads. When I was young it took forever to travel in the jungles of Peru. The dirt roads had huge potholes everywhere. It looks nothing like that anymore. Granted in the rainy season these are still washouts and mud that you contend with but overall it is much better.

Here is Jim living the dream.



If you guys could just smell, hear and experience where we were, you would absolutely love it!

Break time, we stopped for a break at this bridge in the early afternoon. The bridge that you see looks pretty sturdy right? Wrong some of the support wires had been cut, it had been sabotaged a while back, and they only let small vehicles over the bridge. The big dump trucks and semi truck had to get over by other means.





It was hot! Here I am stopped waiting on the other guys. I am starting to get delirious as you will begin to see. I could not think straight....



still on the side of the road...



Well since I was feeling more comfortable on the moto i decided to try to hold my camera and ride at the same time. Not the best idea but it worked, here Kelly in blue on his honda 600 and my dad passing me up.You can realy see the greenery around us in the high rolling jungle and the dusty dirt road ahead.



We rode hard all afternoon and at one for our short breaks we noticed that Jim had a flat tire. Toby and Kelly had gone ahead unaware, we stopped the support vehicle. Instead of trying to change it we just took the spare bike off the back of the truck and put the other one in the truck bed. We were back in business and back on the road. The road was kind of weird, it was paved and then it when to dirt and then back to pavement. Here is a stretch of pavement that we were flying down to try to make up some time.



RIDER DOWN

It had been a long day and were were not even close to Aguatia the sun was starting its decent. We were all moving and then I noticed that I was alone. I pulled over and waited as we were instructed to do. Toby was ahead of me and I must have sat on the side of the road for about 15-20 min. Next thing I see him coming back towards me, he stopped and said that someone fell... and rushed off. I turned around and followed. Immediately I thought it was my dad since he did not say who it was. My heart was racing and I felt numb... It wasn't, it was Jim from Texas.



Jim was banged up, we did not fully know the extend of his injuries. But we knew he need medical attention. Rachel the nurse in the support vehicle took care of Jim. Toby made the decision to push on ahead to Aguatia since he knew there was a hospital there. The other option was to go back to the town about an hour behind us and see if they had a clinic or hospital, chances where there wasn't one.
The push was exciting and scary all at the same time. I had never ridden on dirt in the dark and I was going to learn. We also had to deal with the elements, it got foggy, so foggy that we could only see 10 feet in front of us and the construction on the roads made it big hazard driving. At one point my dad was in the lead and he was stopped to look at a map and stepped down on loose stones and fell. I pulled up as he was on the ground, he was more embarrased than anything but he did hurt his shoulder. On the other hand it was probably better that we didn't see what we were driving next to. Huge drop offs and shear ledged were just few feet from the road. We got into Aguatia in darkness and lucky to get there in one piece. We made it!