Derek Jennings
Feeling On Top Of The World

Experience an account of 50 days on a bicycle over the Andes from Lima to Rio de Janeiro

Having undertaken by bicycle a 4,250 mile crossing of the United States of America in 1976 and a crossing of the Nevada Desert and Death Valley in 1979, three years were to pass before the wanderlust returned.

The previous adventures I had carried out unaccompanied. Now in 1981 my eyes were set on a crossing of South America from LIMA – Peru to RIO de JANEIRO – Brazil, and this time once again I would be alone.

Martin Versluys a Dutch cyclist, almost half my age, living and working in the USA, who I had met whilst he and I were crossing America in 1976 heard of my intention and said “I do have experience of South America and you will be foolhardy to go alone” “I will come with you if you wish?”

It took 18 months for plans to be laid and materialise and we would meet in LIMA on September 18th 1981 to start the adventure. Research made us aware of the many problems we were likely to encounter, such as Altitude sickness (from which there is no escape!). Poor roads (rock, dirt and gravel) and limited food and water (which is not to be trusted!)

Throughout the entire 8 week journey overnight shelter will not be available and a tent and cooking equipment will have to be carried. Along with adequate clothing to cope with cold and hot weather, medical supplies, camera equipment, bicycle repair spares, tools, and accessories and whatever food we can find!!

HOWEVER! – Confident that experience gained on other journeys would help us, Martin and I decided to pool our knowledge and tackle it together.

Friday 18th September 1981,
London Heathrow

Up at 4am and after a usual breakfast, the journey to Heathrow was uneventful and took 1 hour 20 minutes arriving at 6.45. Take off on flight KLM 120 to Amsterdam was delayed 1 hour 30 minutes. On a DC8 I sat next to a lad going to Nigeria (bit of a chatterbox!) to holiday with an ex girlfriend. At Schipol, Amsterdam the transfer desk was busy and I joined a queue to be told later that I had just missed the connecting flight to LIMA – time 12.45. Directed to the ticket desk I found the next flight was one week later September 26th.

Another shock was that the bike had been rerouted and was on its way to LIMA via New York! which was discovered when I was taken by an air hostess to recover it. One of the baggage handlers drove out to the New York aircraft to get it but it was packed in a container, already on the plane and could not be unloaded. Nothing I could do now but fly back home and wait until the 26th then “Start Again”!

The ticket home cost me £27 and the clerk said he would get a message to Martin who by now would be waiting for me at Lima airport. I slept in Schipol arrival lounge overnight after phoning Helen and in the morning got a BA flight home one hour earlier than the scheduled KLM flight at 10am. Landed at Terminal 1 and made my way to Terminal 2 to find Helen anxiously waiting. Checking the baggage control about what had happened to my bicycle they said, “wherever it was” they would get it back to Heathrow instead of Schipol, by next Friday.

Saturday September 19th,
London

Back home now the ensuing week was spent 1. Checking if the bike was back at Heathrow. 2. Obtaining an American Express credit card (just in case anything else goes wrong!) and 3. Getting a refund on my air ticket back from Schipol to London (half of it). I also managed to change my flight time back to Schipol on Thursday at 8pm to one hour earlier at 7pm (not going to miss the LIMA flight again!).

Got to the airport in plenty of time and was glad to see the bike box for the first time for a week. When I checked with the baggage office the labels indicated it had been to New York and back – and it looked like it! The flight to Schipol was on a DC8 which took off 1 ⁄2 hour late and cruised at 25,000ft.

Friday 25th September,
Amsterdam

Now I am back exactly where I was a week ago, ready to start again. I’ve spent the night in the airport, KLM provided a pillow and a blanket on request. Slept fitfully and was up at 5.45 to check in at 8am, so I’ve now got the boarding card with a window seat on a DC10. Just time for a snack and a Maloprim (malaria) tablet, ring Helen and spend the last of my Guilders before I climb aboard and head for LIMA at last! The exchange rate is 4.45 to the pound, a cup of coffee is 1.65 (37p) a sausage roll 2.00 (45p). Boarded the plane at 12.30 after the usual formalities and it took off 20 minutes late. The service was good and they served a snack of smoked salmon and egg roll, biscuits and coffee along with a brochure of the complete flight schedule and todays copy of the Daily Mail (keep it up KLM that will help pay my wages!) Landed in Zurich at 2.45 for a 50 minutes scheduled stop. Sat next to a Swiss engineer returning home from Venezuela, he worked on contracts throughout South America and was returning in a couple of weeks. His view was it was a poor country, poor roads, and not all that cheap! He spoke English, which was a help. The schedule now is Zurich – Lisbon 2 hours 40 minutes. Lisbon – Caracus – Curacao (Dutch Antilles) 50 minutes. Curacao – Panama 1 hour 55 minutes. Panama – Lima 3 hours 5 minutes. A total of 18 hours 10 minutes flying time with a scheduled stopover added at each place. LIMA is 12 degrees South of the Equator compared with London which is 51 degrees North. Weather in Zurich is overcast but dry. Took off at 4pm and got a brief glimpse of the snow covered Alps and small lakes below, before rising above the clouds then 24 hours later (after crossing the Equator) landing in LIMA spot on time at 12.15 (local time 05.15).

Through immigration I spotted Martin waiting in the customs hall and while I waited for my baggage he shouted and leapt up and down with excitement just like I knew he would. I had an anxious time waiting for my bike, but it showed up in the end. By now Martin had attracted the attention of the airport police so we hastily put my bike together and rode 6 miles to the city. Spent some time roaming around seeking food and taking pictures and finally settled in at the Union hotel, Martin had stayed there waiting for me to arrive. What a hotel!! – What a city!! everything is so old, buildings, cars, and buses, and the craters in the roads and sidewalks are so deep! “ESTA” unbelievable! It seems to be a city of endless solicitors offices, police, and shoeshine boys. Everywhere you go there are children and adults begging for tips, even coming to the tables in cafe’s. I got my first card off to Helen then spent the evening with Martin in a local bar listening to live traditional music. Even that didn’t stop my eyes from drooping so it was back to the Union for the first nights sleep for 2 days!!

 

 

Sunday 27th September
LIMA
We’re off at last ! !

Slept well and rose at 8. The hotel was completely without water (not for drinking or washing) so we left and grabbed a breakfast at the back of the Plaza. The clock on the church is British made by Gillet and Johnson. Left LIMA from the Plaza de Armas watched by a Sunday morning crowd of spectators, got some good pictures. The ride out of the city was hair raising! The traffic, road surfaces and drizzle added up to a nightmare. Then we lost our way! and ended up riding through what seemed to be LIMA’s equivalent of LONDON’s Petticoat Lane! Martin said if we dared to stop they would strip us bare!

The first kilometres to Chosica were on roads with some broken surfaces but the traffic was still heavy. Would you believe it! we got mixed up with the day trippers from Lima going to the country clubs and camp sites situated beside cool streams in the mountains. Weather had now improved, quite sunny, so we lunched in Chosica on a local rice and chicken meal. We were now at 3,000ft and the climbing really began and continued all day until Matucana where at 5.30 we had to stop before it got dark. The altitude is now almost 8,000ft and from sea level this morning, that’s not bad in one day, is it?

Found a room in the Hotel Grau, which is named after a famous Peruvian Admiral. The room charge is 7,000 soles and there is water, a little better than the Union hotel this morning! Supper here in a local cafe was bistec and chips, cafe con leche, and mineral (750 soles). I do not recommend drinking in the local bar. Coping with Spanish spoken by drunken Peruvians is difficult. Everyone wants to speak to us and it looks as if it could break into a riot at any time!

This afternoons ride was a real experience, the mountains were enormous, quite frightening to think we were going to ride up and over them. Came across a toll road and rode over the register strip, which meant I must pay. I did not heed the whistles and calls to go back and I escaped.

A lot of gravel road made the going slow, it took 21⁄2 hours to do 20km. Very dusty, and quite a few hairpin bends and I have used all my bottom gears today. Consumed a lot of Agua mineral this afternoon, what would I give forsome good old tap water right now? Martin is proving to be a good leader –speaking Spanish well and making us understood, also finding time to get ahead to take some good photographs. I’m still not happy with my camera, the light meter reading is too low.

Monday 28th September
Matucana

A noisy night and morning, so we rose at 6.30 and spent the time packing and taking pictures. A breakfast of bread and cheese and jam before 8 o’clock, then it was cafe con leche in the cafe next door and we were ready to push off on the 2nd days riding under blue skies. The road up to San Mateo climbed through gigantic perpendicular gorges. As we passed the Agua Mineral bottling plant the workers behind the gates offered to fill our own bottles for free!

Stretches of broken road surfaces appear frequently and now at the 103km mark we got lunch at a remote roadside cafe (took some good pictures of the proprietors children). I was hungry with all that hard climbing but fried eggs, chips and coffee was all that was on offer! Covered 25km this morning, slow going but the altitude is not a problem yet! Had a fright this morning when a dog, (they hunt in packs here) snapped at my leg and brought up a lump with a slight break in the skin. Bathed it with Savlon and I’ll just hope for the best, there’s not much else I can do. Medical treatment here is non existent and I haven’t had a Rabies vaccination.

At the 120km point it now looks as if this is as far as we can go today. We are still climbing and at 4,300m the distant peaks are snow capped. Very difficult climbing and soon the peaks were quickly covered in cloud, thunder rolled, lightning flashed and the sun disappeared within an hour. Sought cover in a roadside bus stop shelter adjacent to the mining town of Casapalca.

Hail and snow encouraged us to stay overnight and sleep here in the bus shelter. Up ahead it looks pretty foul and vehicles descending have a covering of snow. It has turned exceptionally cold and the thermal jacket Martin has got for me is welcome. This afternoon I experienced slight giddyness as I went to dismount and along with my shortness of breath I’m not sure if it is just the effect of the hard climbing or an altitude problem, but it is just as well we rest here, just in case! Martin has Coramine (an aid for altitude sickness) which he bought in Lima. We might need that.

Tried to take a picture of a family waiting beside the shelter, but the lady leapt up as if she’d been shot and gave me a Peruvian telling off. They obviously don’t like their picture taken. As darkness fell we crept into our sleeping bags, it was all I wanted to do, I felt I’d had enough! a whole days climbing had left me shattered.

Tuesday 29th September
Casapalca

I thought the trucks and buses that travel this road would abate at night, NOT SO!! the traffic continued all night and we were only 5 yards from the road. At times the trucks seemed as if they were coming through the hut. Martin was twice sick during the night and I had traces of a headache. So after a restless night I awoke with a terrible mouth and feeling sick. Not encouraging when I knew there was more climbing to come, but I reluctantly and slowly stowed the gear on the bike and set off. We had very little water and our food was low. (we’d eaten all our fresh food last night) but my stomach didn\’t seem as if it could accept food anyway. Took a couple of tablets (headache) and Day 3 is ahead of us.

The first few kilometres climbed around many hairpin bends surrounded by snowcapped peaks and it continued like that all morning. But now the altitude was telling, we had to stop every few kilometres to rest. My breathing was labouring and I was becoming weaker. Martin got some oranges from road workers and we ate some dried bananas, but a little further on he was sick again. We found nowhere along the route to eat and we didn’t know when we’d come across the next! Now the cloud darkened and it snowed, but it’s 11am and HOORAY! we’ve made it to the summit of the Anticona Pass at 4,843 metres – 15,860 feet and alongside one of the worlds highest railways that had been with us from Lima. No sign of refreshment so it was just a few camera shots and a descent for an hour to a little village and an early lunch! something like beef casserole? We bought a tin of fruit salad and ate it out of our tea cups. It’s very risky eating anywhere, the cleanliness is non existent and if kids are about they’re absolutely filthy!!

The afternoon was spent descending a few thousand feet to La Oraya on rough surfaces. Arrived at 5.30 and decided to go no further, the roads West end of town were incredibly muddy, stony and practically unrideable. Buses and trucks flying about, crowds of people, and everything so dirty! Rode to the East end of town to find shelter but things didn’t get any better. We did find a hotel and had to take a triple room at 41,000 soles! This is an incredible place surrounded by high rock faces, very close by and adjacent to a large mining area belching smoke and pumping effluent into the river. If we’re lucky the hotel might have water and we can get ourselves cleaned up, but everything is such an effort to do, all I can think about is laying down and it’s only 7pm.

The next 24 hours was spent in bed with a bad attack of diarrhoea. Martin was as reliable as ever and made sure I was comfortable. I have managed to shower and eat a little (egg, fish and cheese with a banana sandwich) now all I hope is that with a nights sleep I’ll be fit enough to move on towards Huancyo in the morning.

Thursday 1st October
La Oroya

Woke at 6.30am and really did not feel like getting started, but after forcing a little food down I decided to chance it. The morning was sunny and we eventually left at 9am but I was feeling weak! Martin rode ahead most of the time, but always within sight, which I preferred. The surfaces were good alongside the railway and river with high mountains all around. The barren rock faces of La Oroya eventually gave way to grasslands and a few trees with some small communities dotted along the river. Had lunch in a roadside cafe (egg and chips) and a Dutch coupled called in to say hello, they were on the diplomatic staff in Iquitos and were on a 4 week touring holiday. We also saw our first cyclists’ today and would you believe it they were two Frenchmen riding from Rio de Janeiro to Lima, AMAZING!! and they were nearly there! They had been travelling 21 ⁄2 months and Martin managed to overcome the language barrier and understand what they were telling us. They said the roads ahead of Huancayo were terrible and remarked how clean our bicycles were. “You have a 1,000km of unpaved road ahead of you and it is tortuous” I heard them say! Talking to them was a problem and Martin wondered if he ever again would have to try and speak 4 languages in 1 day (German, English, French and Spanish).

So after 80km we arrived in Juaja and decided to call it a day at 3pm. I was ready for it, surprised and thankful that I’d got this far today. The Hotel El Ganso de Oro is our resting place, not bad, but the water situation is again appalling. We have a private bathroom but no water for washing or to flush the toilet and the shower had no handles on the taps! We’ve just returned from a walk around the town which is a vast improvement on La Oroya. Dry streets, but still so old! The shops are just like lock-up places under railway arches, all very dark and dingy and women sitting at the roadside selling food. I chanced a meal of roast chicken and chips, let’s hope it stays down! I do think my digestion is feeling better. We’d had our first puncture today, Martins rear tyre blew out, but it wasn’t a Michelin! (mine were!) he changed both tyre and tube. It’s now 9 o’clock, time we got bedded down.

Friday 2nd October
Juaja

Today I must take another Maleria tablet! I had a much better night, but was troubled all the time with vivid dreams. Martin was up a couple of times with diarrhoea. After breakfast in a restaurant and a visit to a bike shop for lubricating oil we made our way to Huancayo about 43km ahead. The ride was on paved roads and through a valley of small communities, we reached Huancayo about 11.15. I went to cash a cheque, which was utter chaos! I was in the bank three quarters of an hour while Martin stayed outside guarding our bikes. Lunched in the Plaza where there was a military parade taking place. In the Post Office afterwards I posted cards to Helen and Angela and got talking to a journalist who took our photo outside in front of a monument. I have his card.

Left for Pasos and in 5km the unpaved road started. The Frenchmen said there is about 1,000km of this! and if that is so I can’t help feeling that I shall not make it. The going is so slow and rough with the route through the villages just appalling! A muddy, rocky, uneven and steep path. We have been followed by young children running alongside us. Reaching Pasos by late afternoon we hung around the Ministry of Agriculture offices in the plaza for an hour looking for shelter. Watched incessantly by all the village we had to pretend to clean and maintain our bikes and eventually a local employee opened the door of the empty building and let us stay the night, but locked the door (for security reasons he said!)

Saturday 3rd October
Pasos

Rose at 5.30am when our host turned up to unlock the door! A storm in the night had turned the Plaza and the road into a quagmire, but after packing and eating we left just as the plaza was being set up as a market 8am. Within a few yards Martin was in trouble, his wheels clogged with mud. It was a bit discouraging to think that our first experience of muddy roads on this trip would be the very thing that would stop us getting any further. But things improved and the roads dried with the sun and we were able to ride (upwards!) A spectacular days riding brought us to PAMPAS, up mountain passes strewn with rocks and potholes and a 12km descent which was hairaising and tortuous as well as breath-taking! Decided to stay at Pampas, although it was tempting to head out and cover a few more kilometres. But we needed provisions so we stayed and made sure we were prepared for the next stage which looked as if it could be difficult. Our hotel (no better than the Hotel Grau) cost us 600 soles each. In the Plaza we met the local pharmacist, he’s from Huancayo (50km back) he practices there but comes here to practice on Saturday and Sunday each week. He played host, taking us for coffee and at the same time introducing us to Comomile tea. Martin is not feeling well, a diarrhoea problem is making him weak. It is now 7pm and once again the thunder rolls!! The rain has come, which means some messy roads in the morning.