PERU, SOUTH AMERICA: BEAUTIFUL CULTURE AND FANTASTIC PEOPLE.

Where can you find a country where you won’t see anyone screaming, shouting, or anyone arguing with one another?  This really happened to me. I’ve witnessed to this and it was really hard to believe the patience and tolerance level of these people. Yes, these were all Peruvians and I was in Peru! The entire time I was in Lima, Peru, other towns, villages and cities, while I cycled down to the Peru-Chile border which was 1300+ kilometers, I just didn’t see a single argument, I didn’t hear anyone screaming or shouting. I said “wow this can’t be true”! Perhaps it was a coincidence during my three weeks of cycling in Peru before entering into Chile. But it wasn’t a coincidence and it was the truth!

                              Southern Peru. After the town of Nasca Pacific Ocean.

              Southern Peru, on the way to Tacna and dinner at Ica town.

Peru is one of the most diverse and culturally rich nation has so much to offer to any type of traveler.  An amazing culture, customs and high-level of respect to others no matter of how diverse their population is. And it really didn’t matter how some section of this country was poor: they were still happy people. Over the decades as I traveled around the world, I’ve seen many other countries in which their cultures and its customs were completely different from each other. I can give a few examples where when you watch these nationalities speak to each other it sounds as if they are involved in a heated argument and about to get in a fight. But in reality, that is their way of talking with each other. Perfect example would be: Greeks, Turks, Italians, Lebanese people. When you watch these nationalities talking or having a conversation from a distance the way they scream, shout and argue is so amazing that you would wonder what is next? Hahaha it really makes me laugh because I’m from that background. But I never saw this in Peru! Peruvians were different!

                                         Near Atico, Peru. Pacific Ocean coastline.

     Peru borders with Brazil and Bolivia to the east, Pacific Ocean to the west, Chile to the south, Colombia and Ecuador to the north. It’s located in the central western section of the South American continent. And two thirds of its population concentrated living in the coastal region. Physically it’s a beautiful country. There are mountains, Desert and the Pacific Ocean. Because I was bicycling Peru, Chile and Argentina, Peruvian mountains were a great experience to cycle. And I have to admit that the coastline of Peru from Lima down to south to Chilean border town Arica was an eye opener with its beautiful views. Especially the stretch between the towns of Atico and Camana. I just loved it cycling along the Pacific Ocean with hundreds of spectacular views. And these views were never ending. As many times as I stopped with my bicycle to take photos and filming this area, still, it wasn’t enough. You really need to spend lots of time in this area to appreciate what it really offers. From Lima down to Peru’s last city before Chile, to Tacna basically you travel on Pan American Sur Highway. This route changes its numbers and names at some places and spots, but basically it’s the same route. It’s a comfortable and wide road, but there are so many trucks traveling on this road as this route is their main route to transport their goods.

            

                            Lima, Peru.  City Tour,From my headcam. Very popular video.

   I never went up to Northern Peru, but for me only interesting part there was Huascaran National Park on the mountains and that entire region all the way up to Alpamayo which is on my travel list next year when I return to South America. Of course that will be after I complete the Silk Road in Central Asia. Northern Peru Mountains looks amazing with a mixture of lakes. I will definitely will stop by and explore that region next year. The stretch between the capital city Lima and the border town Tacna is about 1300 kilometers. And it was a great road for bicycles where you experience Mountains, Sechura desert and the Pacific Ocean. I loved cycling this road! Pan American Sur Highway has those emergency lanes on the right side of the road which bicycles use as it’s their special road. Hahaha, taking advantage of this road was excellent. It gives you a cushion and comfortable safe feeling between your bicycle and the flowing traffic next to you. Of course at times it gets dangerous as oncoming traffic cars at times decides to pass one another and they end up looking as if they’re coming right on you. I’ve experienced this scare twice as one of the trucks was passing another truck. It was wide and big which part of this truck was even on an emergency lane coming straight at me. I was able to move quickly to the right all the way to the grass area to get away from its path. Still, this route was safe enough to travel comfortably compare to some of the roads I cycled around the world including Europe. There are certain roads around the world, in fact in every country which has no lane on the side for the safe ride of bicyclists. Despite the fact many nations and its citizens respect bicyclists and as they pass you they’re being careful, still, you just don’t feel safe whenever there isn’t any lane on the road for bicyclists as you travel on the same road with cars and trucks. I still think every nation has to work hard at creating more bicycle roads or an access to cyclists where they can ride on the same road with flowing traffic safely. We have heard and we have witnessed some of the worst incidents where drivers butchered some of the cyclists on the roads. Latest one I heard was three Swiss cyclists were being chopped off by a drunk driver in Spain which all three lost their lives and died. That is terrible! And we read about similar stories almost every month in some parts of the world. There are times I do feel uncomfortable on some roads and that are when I am very alert. There isn’t any time to relax in a situation where you feel unsafe, but yet, you’ll have to travel on this road to get to your destination and there are no other alternatives. Of course experience plays a major role in bicyclists’ world whenever he/she on a long distance tour.

    Southern Peru, On top of the mountains. Speeding with my bicycle.

      In Central and Southern Peru, overall, I felt safe and secure both riding bicycle and for my personal security from others. I was able to read people’s face their intentions easily. Great people and a great culture! Yes, there are good and the bad in every country and in every region, but usually experience always brings out my best instincts about people, about towns, cities, villages, good or bad neighborhoods to take precaution.  Anyways, this route from Lima down to Chile covering southern Peru is amazing and covers Sechura Desert which I cycled cross between Andes Mountains and Pacific Ocean. And this southern region holds one of South America’s best archeological sections. You can still see coastal wild life and fantastic landscape all the way down south to Tacna city before the Chilean border.

   Amazing views down to the Pacific Ocean. From high Cliffs. Southern Peru.

    When I cycled between the capital city Lima and the border city Tacna, mostly I camped out at nights by the Pacific Ocean on desert sand at times. After a hot day of cycling all day, in early evening hours here comes cool air and breeze from Pacific Ocean and it really gets cold at night as the desert climate takes over. I was happy to bring 0-F sleeping bag and a therma rest with me. It really kept me warm at nights sleeping with the sound of waves. Once or twice a week I checked in to Hostels or Motels. Lodging was another good thing about Peru. Staying at Motels or Hostels was very reasonable price. I remember paying 3 dollars for a private room at this Hostel in Chala, Peru and in a small village by the Pacific Ocean outside the city of Palpa, Peru with your own bathroom and shower. In Ika, in Atico and in Camana I was able to find accommodations for $5 at night. Still that was very reasonable. But at the same time, I just love camping out outside breathing that fresh air.  As a long distance bicyclist resting and eating good is one of the most important. However, there are times no matter how much you eat, you still end up losing so much weight during a ;long distance bicycle tour. That was the case with my early European Tour which I lost 7 kilos and on this South America Tour I lost about 9 kilos.

French cyclist joined me for two days to pedal together to Ica, Peru. After Ica we split to our own ways.

    I love the food in Peru, I really did and I ate 5 times a day to gain all those calories I was losing from riding bicycle all day about 12 or 14 hours. Because during the day weather was very hot and because you’re riding your bicycle in a hot weather sweating extremely which even makes you lose more calories and more weight. So all of a sudden, every hour and a half you getting hungry and you really want food you really want to eat. I’ve experienced this many times in the heat. When it’s hot, you lose much more calories than in a cooler weather.  You usually eat more and drink more.

                      Sechura Desert and the Pacific Ocean, Southern Peru.

Peruvian food was great, delicious and available almost everywhere as you ride your bicycle. Pan American Sur Highway in Southern Peru has many restaurants, markets, local house restaurants, fresh fruit markets and mobile pickups which carried fruit and food in the back of the bed of the truck. They were all over the place. So this was a haven for bicyclists. But I can’t say the same about Chile or Argentina. As you will read on my travel blog later when we get to Atacama Desert, Chile where I couldn’t find food and water for every 250 kilometers where I had to stop trucks to get water and food. And there was no warning about it (Scary).  Because of the diverse population, diverse culture, Peruvian food got its influence from Europeans, Africans, Chinese, Japanese and of course indigenous population. European influence were mostly from Spain, Germany and Italy. This is what makes Peruvian food so unique. There is everything for everybody. Because of its multicultural history, today Peru’s cuisine is one of the best and handpicked around the world. While cycling southern Peru, I usually shopped at the markets and ate my breakfast and lunch out in the open kind a like picnic on the grass under a tree. But when it came to dinner time in the evening or even late at night, I always ate at a restaurant. And this was the time I’ve experienced the Peruvian kitchen and its cuisine. I loved it. You don’t just have meat all the time, but variety of vegetable cooked in a different style and you can have it with a fresh fish on the side. I loved every dish I had in Peru.  Cities of Palpa, Chala and Tacna have some of the best restaurants at a very reasonable price with a great service. I will also have to mention about some of the Peruvian families who invited me to stay at their house overnight who were super nice letting a stranger stay at their house. These were always nice part of traveling as you make new friends and share your stories and cultures together. I love this part of traveling as this happens to me all over the world. Perhaps it’s my personality and my character where most people are able to read me easily. They can tell my inside and outside are same. They know I do not hide anything and I’m good with people. Every country I have been to, I made so many friends. And I love doing that. It’s so nice to get to know people from different nations, get to know their cultures and learn about their country.

                             Tacna, Peru. Border city with Chile. Southern Peru.

   I have nothing negative to say about Peru and Peruvians! They’re nice, helpful and very hospitable people. I had the best time and I know I will return soon. I do not believe I can stay away from a country I loved that much.

                           Lima, Peru. The day I began my South America Tour.

WHY I PICKED SOUTH AMERICA?

My original plan was to stay and travel this continent by bicycle between 6 to 8 months. However, I end it up cycling only for 10 weeks (2, 5 months) three great countries: Peru, Chile, and Argentina. I wanted to begin cycling from Venezuela, then down to Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and the coastline of Brazil.  But I realized this will take little over a year. I changed my mind and decided to come back to this continent next year again to do the rest. However, Peru, Chile, and part of Argentina were an eye opener.  I loved cycling with great details of these countries. Especially coastline of Peru between Atico and Camana and Patagonia in Chile side was an amazing corner of the world I still can’t get over it.

                                       La Serena, Chile.

                                     Peru coastline: Pacific Ocean near Atico, Peru.

   I’m definitely destined to return back to South America next year which is most likely after cycling central Asia and the Silk Road. Why I really picked South America? In 1980s and early in 1990s I had a chance to see Bolivia and later some parts of the coastline of Brazil including Rio de Janeiro. I really fell in love with this continent’s landscape. And I already knew what other things it offered. This continent has everything to show and they’re not just a handful, but rather many amazing places in all over the continent. And it’s all extreme in South America, not just your regular Sydney city in Australia or Lake Tahoe of the United States or Swiss Alps of Switzerland. South America’s spots are much more unique, intriguing and it will make you dizzy wondering after awhile. Argentina’s Buenos Aires, both Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia’s mountains, lakes, rivers and its nature will definitely take you away and win your hearts forever.

                                        Peru Coastline

                     Atacama Desert and Atacama Region, Northern Chile.

                    Atacama Desert, Northern Chile. Middle of nowhere. 

     They have the longest mountain range Andes which stretches from Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and highest mountain Aconcagua 6,962 m (22,841 ft). This continent has the largest rainforest Amazon Rainforest.  It has the highest capital city above sea level, most dry non-polar place on earth, the Atacama Desert. I can go on and count some more amazing statistics about this continent, but there is no need to as this place really has so much to offer for expeditionary bicyclists, explorers, backpackers, travelers and even short time visitors. It really doesn't matter your style of traveling, there is something for everyone in here. I usually bicycle long distance and that is my style of traveling. I just knew South American countries would be an intense challenging for bicycle travelers as it has mountains and hills in every corner. There is no way of avoiding those high mountains unless you’re a cheater who hitches with his/her bicycle. I've seen this in Europe and in South America.  I despise bicyclists who do that and later go on to tell people that they cycled South America. I've been cycling many years, and South America was the hardest and stiffest so far in my life. Patagonia will eat you alive! It has gravel roads and stiff hills on its mountains that you will scream and beg for your life after awhile to be on a normal flat road again. Weather is another thing around Atacama Desert and Patagonia which wind will slow you down to 5 kilometers an hour and if you’re not a patient person, it will irritate, annoy and frustrate you all day along that you wish you weren't bicycling.

                              Cerro Castillo National Park, Patagonia.

                                      Patagonia, Chile near Coyhaique.

                     Near Rio Ibanez, Chile, Patagonia. Ruta-7

   But despite all the hardship you go through as a bicyclist, it’s still the best way to travel South America and see this continent inch by inch. It’s worth of millions of Dollars to see most part of Patagonia and experience the long distance Atacama Desert. You won’t get to see some of the most desired views and best part of the Patagonia unless you travel some of the least traveled roads which have so much to show you. It’s full of adventure and it’s guaranteed you will never see anything like it anywhere around the world.

    It’s basically those reasons which attracted me and made me decide to travel South America. I’m always into adventure and long expeditions. On my next blog I will begin giving out the details of the routes I took which began from Lima, Peru and all the way down to Patagonia. And it was all with bicycle to do 6,400 kilometers in 2, 5 months. 

              Route-265 Chile. On the way to Chile Chico town.

SOUTH AMERICA'S TRIPLE BEAUTY: PERU, CHILE AND ARGENTINA

It hasn’t been that long since I returned from a 10 weeks cycling trip to South America. In fact not even a month yet and I’m back in New York. I still haven’t opened the big cardboard box for my bicycle. I’m using my other city bicycles in the city. If I open this cardboard box to put my world touring mountain bicycle together again, I would be hurt. In fact I know It would really make me sad unpacking that box which is carrying some of my panniers half full, some of my bicycle tools and the muddy tires which  still has dirt from Patagonia. It still (my panniers) has some of the piece of papers which was written by such a nice people whom I became friends of Peru, Chile, and Argentina, carrying addresses, phone numbers and e-mails.

  Somewhere in Peru. Sechura Desert Begins. You can tell I turned very dark in Peru. Strong Sun!

Watch me speed with my bicycle on the mountains of Peru, reaching 70 km an hour at times.

           On the way to Palpa, Peru. November 14th 2014

               Early in the evening hours, to Tacna, Peru - Chile border.

   Unpacking this cardboard box indeed would bring me down. This bicycle has full of memories. No, I’m not as emotional as you think I am. It’s just a continent that I fell in love with. I’m scared to look at the map again. I’m afraid I would see the places I cycled in South America which still gives me the goose bumps. This bicycle carries some of the dents and scratches of the gravel roads in Patagonia which there were times I was cycling at 3:00 in the morning and falling down on to the ground at dark scraping my face, my legs and my arms. But still, road conditions as hard as it can be for bicyclists, I loved it and the harder it got the more I wanted to ride. Physical beauty of these three countries in South America, especially Patagonia in Chile, and its breath taking landscape was too much to handle that I didn’t mind the hard conditions of the roads to bicycle or the pain I was going through from this stiff hills and amazing bike climbs to the mountains from gravel roads.

 Peru, Sechura Desert, Pacific Ocean and my touring bicycle.

Peru: Pan American Sur Highway. Sechura and Pacific ocean.

No, it wasn’t easy to cycle in South America and I can guarantee anyone that it’s not a cake walk. Unless you’ve used some of the easier roads, ignoring gravel paths or roads and you choose to cycle on pavement or asphalt. Some people do ride and loves it on pavement. South America possesses such a secret and a hidden beauty with its intense landscape that I was ready to be injured or get hurt on some of these impossible roads. Entire my life, there were times I took risks and really didn’t care about the outcome. That was due to an amazing desire I had for certain things. Taking risks and exploring some of the dangerous zones was so appealing to me. And I believe what they say “least traveled road is the best traveled road” and I believe to this. It has always been most intriguing for me to see least touched roads and places.

Experience does not come easy.  It really takes time to learn and along the way there are things you sacrifice to achieve your dreams. Sacrificing is not easy for some as you completely give yourself to the cause. And for some, sacrificing may not be hard for a cause, for a place or for someone, but it would be very hard to find a special place or even a person who deserves your sacrifice. South America’s especially Chile’s Patagonia’s landscape certainly deserved my sacrifice. Over the decades as I traveled around the world, from an experience, It was very easy to tell, if I really should give myself completely to any region. And if it was worth to explore this region, or even spend longer time, then I would definitely do that sacrifice.

Atacama Desert region. Heading towards to Santiago. But first Antofagasta.

Atacama Desert from my headcam video. Looking for food and water.

     South America’s landscape has everything. It has high mountains, it has deserts, it has rivers, lakes, forests and just about everything you think of is possessed by this continent. In beautiful Peru, I cycled through cities, towns, villages, hot flaming Sechura Desert, amazing coastline of Pacific Ocean and the one of the stiffest hills to the mountains. I really thought that was one of the hardest places I’ve ever rode my bicycle. But entering into Chile, right into the arms of scorching Atacama Desert even made things harder. Atacama Desert and its canyons, mountains, hills on this desert which took me 14 days to complete back into the civilization. I continued on a beautiful coastline of Pacific Ocean to get to the Santiago, Chile. My skin on my arms, my face and my legs peeled twice from the heat. But before getting down to south to Patagonia, climate in South of Lima, Peru all the way down to Chilean border Tacna and Arica and then to La Serena, Chile, days were very hot, but nights were cold and windy. Of course this was during the months of November and December. Of course since we were talking about landscape, getting down to south of Chile after Santiago to Puerto Monnt changes very quickly. All of a sudden you begin to see trees, farms and landscape getting much greener. In Puerto Montt, entering into one of the most adventurous road around the world: Carretera Austral Route-7 (Ruta-7). Of course at the beginning of this route, since there are no access to road, you’ll have to take a ferry boat for three times for a few hours. But right after this ferry boat ride ends, the real adventure begins. Gravel road all the way down to south. Once you arrive Chaiten where Patagonia begins, you look around and laugh a bit “how many different landscape formation this continent possesses?”

Santiago, Chile, Plaza De Armas. Crowded place and this is spot where Santiago began.

Once I arrived to Chaiten, from what I saw so far, I knew I will be sacrificing a lot in Patagonia. I felt the happiness, joy and the excitement. I knew Chilean Patagonia had everything I was looking forward to. I knew Chilean Patagonia was worth taking risk without even thinking twice.

Next 15 blogs or so I will be covering my bicycle tour to South America happily with details. It’s important for me to note that I mostly spend time in Peru and Chile more than Argentina; however, I’m destined to return to Argentina next year after the tour of Asia. I’ll also post and share many photos and videos to make readers feel as if they were there to understand my feelings. I do not believe I can open the cardboard box which is carrying my world touring bicycle until my next tour. I’m really not ready to open this box to see those memories from this trip. Not yet! 

TRAVEL FOREVER:

TRAVEL FOREVER

       It may be hard to explain or even very difficult to describe the feelings, but when it comes to traveling, exploring or going on a new expedition, I become one of those little kids who jump up and down from happiness, joy and not being able to hide expressions of my emotions. Yes, these are all sign of a happy kid, independent adult or a person just can’t get enough of traveling who is addicted to be on the move most of the year.

      Yesterday I sat down at a café and just looking out from a window to this huge avenue in New York made me think of past decades and took me back to my childhood in 1960s. It’s very hard to compare those years with present time. Quality of those decades, people, nature, food, life and many other things are priceless. And I know it will never be the same again! I think about my childhood a lot. And the main reason I love looking back to those years in 1960s and 1970s while I was growing up, has a lot to do with today. How I was, who I was and what I was doing those years while growing up,(60s and 70s) are same as these years (2015) what I am doing now. I haven’t changed at all!

     I had one of the best parents anyone can have. As strict as my parents were, they also made sure I grow up independent. I was a happy child who smiled, laughed and played most of the day in our neighborhood streets with other kids. Full of energy, full of motivation and enthusiasm just never knew when to stop to rest. Yet, at the same time, the way my parents brought us with high discipline, respect to others, amazing manners and the type of behavior we had was exceptional. Up to this date, today, I still have those manners, respect to others and the discipline my parents gave me while I was a little boy. And funny thing about it: I never changed. I still have the same character and personality as I had while 8 year old. Another thing has never changed was: long range expeditions. Yes, it may or it would shock or may surprise most people, but when I was 8 or 9 years old, with friends from my street, we would go on an expedition 15 miles away from our houses. This was in Izmir, Turkey which was situated by the Aegean Sea and we all loved our seashore, cleanliness of the water and of course adventuring around. Of course now these years, I do not believe any parents would allow their 8 year old kids to walk 15 miles to the seashore to swim and play same day.

Looking back to those decades in 1960s and 1970s, there were hardly any crime and no one dear to touch a little kid no matter what. Especially the culture I was coming from. Those years, because we were always playing on the streets, running around and being energetic really kept us in shape. Agility, endurance and being active at all times gave us an amazing power to walk for long hours and walk for long distance. Basically we were never tired. Of course most of the time our parents really didn't know how far we were walking, but they were aware of us walking to other sections and districts of this beautiful city. And yes, there were times both my mother and father hit me physically to bring discipline and make sure I was on the same page as they wanted me. I remember many times being hit by my parents due to my late hours playing soccer and not being able to make the dinner on time at the house. Eating dinner all together with the entire family was important and my parents took this very seriously. If you didn’t have a good excuse for not showing up to dinner at the house, they made sure we get a good spanking. Almost every weekend I went on 15 miles expeditions with friends to the seashore and to the beach to swim. And we were only 9 

years old. About a year later while we were in 4^th and 5^th grade in elementary school, we became obsessed with world map, geography and history. Between the friends we always talked about exploring the world in an adventurous way. How amazing those conversations were! Here we were only 10 or 11 years old and we were discussing and making plans for traveling around the world. We all knew traveling, exploring and going on to expedition, were already in our blood, in our system, and we all knew being independent was one of the best to become. And I knew a few years’ later (age 14- 15-16) my solo traveling experiences in Europe during my teenage years; I would become an addict for traveling. I was 18 when I was sent to the United States of America for university education, but most of my teenage years while in High school, every Summer school break, I explored the continent of Europe. Those were the years; I knew I’ve become an extremely independent at a very young age.

Today, by 2015, since the 1960s, I've traveled, explored and visited 96 countries. And some of these countries included more than twice. But, still, I can never get enough of traveling. This is the reason I continue. Of course everyone is different and everyone has different style of traveling which I respect every type of traveling. Over the years, I've used every type of transportation to complete my journey, but last 15 years, it has been all bicycling and backpacking. I would say, it has been mostly and perhaps %90 of it bicycling around the world.

In my own opinion, if it wasn't for traveling around the world, seeing new places, getting to know the new cultures, meeting with others, making friends in all over the world, going around the mountains, lakes, rivers, deserts, intriguing cities, towns, villages, breath taking landscapes and meeting with the nature head on, I do not believe neither I can enjoy myself nor I can live forever at the same place staring at same streets and same buildings. I've nothing against people who chooses to stay in the same city, same town or same village forever all their life. I respect that! Whatever makes people happy. Everyone is different and I wouldn't expect all of us having the same desires or same life style. There are really great people around the world. Here, I’m talking about myself. I’m addicted to traveling extremely and I do not know how to stay at the same spot more than a year. It is very hard and difficult for me to stand still in the same city or same place. Perhaps traveling and exploring has become a disease for me that I can’t get rid of it. And funny thing about is: I will never stop traveling until my death. I do not have an answer where this intense desire or urge comes from, but this is the reason I wanted to begin this blog about my childhood.

It has been long time since I wrote anything on my traveling blog. And I decided to write more often, bringing my recent expeditions front of everyone with photographs and videos. So expect many blogs coming in your way soon. I’m going to get to the transportation and traveling styles in later blog. I am also going to continue to this blog on Part-II about the details of my teenage traveling years. And of course I will share this past year in 2014-2015 my bicycle expedition in Europe and in South America which I had the most fantastic time