Map Musings

Belay that!

I didnt go to Cuzco... I didnt even try to go to Cuzco!

When I was having breakfast in a cafe, there was a TV on and it was showing the news.
There was a story about flooding and there were pictures of crying Peruvians who were talking way too quickly for me to understand... But after a little bit, I figured it out. The pictures were from Cuzco... The place is more or less in a "state of emergency"... There is lots of flooding and land slides, and houses collapsing... (Thats what happens when you build your house out of mud and then it floods - The mud dissolves again!)
Actually, I have plenty of sympathy for them... This sort of flooding has not happened there as long as people can remember, and the houses I saw falling over on TV looked to be a good decade or more old (though I dont know what recent changes they have been making to the drainage systems etc!)

So, Cuzco is not a great place to be for the time being! And, even if I could get there, then I could not go see Machu-Pitchu at the moment because they have closed it and the access road/rail too it... Its just too dangerous with all the rain and the risk of mud slides!

So, Ive been "rejected" on that one for the time being, and the situation is unlikely to change for a week or two as far as I can tell.


Well, thats a bit of a bummer since MachuPitchu was one of the main "locations/sights" that I wanted to see on my South America tour. Oh well, you win some you lose some.



So, my "alternate plan" is to ride back to the coast and down to the city of Arequipo and then on to Bolivia etc.
I decided to get out the map and have a look at the "big picture" to try to decide if I should wait around for maybe a week before heading into Bolivia, to see if MachuPitchu reopens. OR, if I could fit it in to my return trip without too much "side tripping".

And while I was looking at that section, my eyes wandered to the bigger view of the whole of South America, and what my return trip after Ushuaia might look like...


I had sort of thought of going back up the East coast, though Ive not really looked in detail at it ata all... But ya know what!

I had a bit of a look at it and I have to say that there is not really that much there that Im at all interested in...
By the look of it, its all roads, and cities, and farm land... Much like the East coast of North America... And I feel exactly the same way about it... No desire to see it at all!
There are only one or two exceptions in North America for me like visiting NewYork city, and maybe Memphis and Savanah... but not enough to make me want to ride the whole way through it on my way back North.
The exceptions for me in the case of South America are a visit to Buenos Aries, and the Valdez Peninsula, but other than that, Id rather ride up the Eastern side of the Andes and see the mountains and the national parks, and cities like Mendoza...

...And then theres the "Brasil" challenge... Its HUGE... And they dont speak Spanish - Its Portugese which is actually quite different to Spanish... And, much of it is of no interest to me as well... Though there is more "stuff" there than further South...

... And then there is the problem of Venezuela... Its not a great place to be for a North american to be at present... Not from the safety point, but from the financial point... Ive spoken to a few people who just came from Venezuela while I was in Colombia and they said in general that they were being pulled off buses every time there was a police road check (often) and having to bribe the police to let them continue!
Its just that the police and other civil servants have not been paid in months and ... well...I can see how they would find the temptation too much if they had a family to feed etc...
So, anyway, if I cant ride through Venezuela, then the logistics of getting the bike back to Colombia get very tricky...or at least, very expensive if I were to fly me and the bike...

Hmmm

Heres what I think!
I think, Im gonna leave Brasil out all together! Im not even gonna try... Its too big and deserves a whole trip by its self... Not to mention that I am tired already and expect Ill be completely pooped out by the time I get there... As well as being in far too much debt to be comfortable!
Ive never been a "collector" of "number of countries visited", and I dont mind if I dont do ALL of South America (Like in North America, I could easily have dropped into El Salvadore and Belize if I wanted to collect countries! But I didnt.).

And if thats the case, then I can happily cruise up the Eastern side of the Andes and not bother with the densely populated east Coast...And I can pretty easily scoot back to Cuzco on the way North too :)
And, I can make specific side trips to places like Iguassu Falls and Buenos Aries (or even fly there and leave the bike somewhere else) if I REALLY want to see those
places.

Yep, I like the look of that better :)))


So, Thats the new plan for the time being! It will undoubtedly change again in the future, but thats how it looks for the moment... So, Back to the coast I go :)))