DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Easy Come, Easy Go

Venezuela to Peru

Captain Skull and the crew of The Friendly Marauder dropped me off on the Carribean shores of Venezuela last night. We shook hands and said our goodbyes, possibly for the last time.

I set up camp under the canopy of a very dark jungle. All around me, exotic birds squawked & shrieked, insects hummed & buzzed, snakes slithered & constricted, crocodiles yawned & chomped, and jaguars stalked & pounced.

I must admit, it was all a little frightening to this naive bike rider from Minnesota. I've wrestled many squirrels, bears and mooses, but these animals were another thing altogether. I hoped it wouldn't all come down to a major confrontation between me and them.

I did manage to get some sleep though, thanks to sweet memories of the previous few days on the ocean with my pirate mates. We had great success attacking cruise ships in the Carribean Sea. When the passengers saw our eye patches and wooden legs and scurvy teeth, the men were only too happy to turn over their thick wallets and the women practically threw their jewelry at us. Even the security guards opened the ships' treasure chests with no resistance. Not once did we have to brandish our swords and cutlasses to obtain our bounty. [See Footnote]

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I woke up early this morning. I'm not exactly sure why, but it might have something to do with the satchel of Spanish gold doubloons digging into my back. Captain Skull apportioned a small fortune of them as my share of our Carribean bounty and I hid the treasure under my sleeping bag for safekeeping.

Before riding my bike out of the jungle, I hunted down a crocodile for some croc bacon and gathered a few anaconda eggs for breakfast. It wasn't the best tasting food I've eaten, but it was better than some other foods I've dared to eat--things like fried okra, pastries with maple cream filling, and beef tongue.

While choking down the snake eggs, who should appear but my cartoon alter-ego, G-2? Of all the places in this huge world, the odds of running into my nemesis in such remote places as Antarctica and the South American jungle on the same around-the-world bike tour are almost astronomical.

I kind of felt obligated to invite him to ride with me to the ancient Peruvian site of Machu Picchu. The trip wasn't as easy as you might think. We had to get up and over the Andes Mountain Range. There were dirt roads at first, then a few llama paths, and then narrow trails where only coca farmers dare to go.

Speaking of coca, a patrol of Columbian drug cartel thugs robbed me of every one of my Spanish Doubloons. That kind of sucked. Oh well, easy come, easy go. Someday, those bastards will get their just desserts.

Sometimes there was no path at all to ride on.

Other times, there were only precarious mountain ridges.

More than a few times, G-2 and I had to carry our bikes across icy streams.

Mt. Unrealcongua--the tallest mountain on our route.

All of that extra effort was worth it. Machu Picchu--the famous Lost City of the Incas--was everything I expected it to be . . . and more. All I can say is "WOWWOWOWOWWOWZA!!!" I took a picture but, like other photos I've displayed on my unbelievable bike tour around the world, it doesn't do justice to such a wonderful site. (At least that's what I've been told numerous times in my journal comments section.) I'm going to show my photo of Machu Picchu anyway.

Machu Picchu is a masterpiece of ancient Incan architecture.

That was going to be this post's last picture, but G-2 insisted I should take one more--one that included a cartoon alter-ego to provide a sense of scale. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but I relented.

We slept in one of the on-site Incan residences. Only when a National Park ranger rousted us out of a deep sleep, did we learn that we were breaking every Peruvian law known to man. Apparently, Machu Picchu is not a hotel and visitors to the ancient archeological site are supposed to leave at the end of the day. We apologized and moved higher up into the mountains to set up our campsite.

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[Footnote: If your travel agent recommends ocean cruises to tropical-sounding islands like Montserrat, Martinique, Jamaica-mon, St. Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Curacao, Aruba, etc.--heed this warning: DON'T DO IT! Pirates are out there. Stick to bike touring.]

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