Urubamba

Hi all!
After a stop in Copacabana, where we were able to get a couple of days rest, change some Bee fluids (and even rinse her off), we headed for Cusco, Peru. The border crossing was a breeze. It was 3 days of easy riding to Cusco through incredible scenery. We were able to arrive on our May 8 deadline- we needed to make it to the beautiful town of Urubamba, located in the sacred valley of the Incas, by the 9th. We were fortunate enough to be invited to an awesome, awe inspiring fiesta. Adam has a friend here in Urubamba who owns and runs a hot air balloon adventure business www.globosperu.com . On the tenth he was celebrating his 10 year anniversary of living in Peru. If we could make it to Urubamba by the 9th, we had the honour of being invited to participate in this event.
We hit Cusco on the 8th at around noon and had a fantastic lunch. This helped prepare us for the ever challenging task of locating lodging with moto-parking (basically, a courtyard without too many stairs :) After some frustrating hunting we finally found our gem. A cheap inn with a courtyard with the key phrase "sure, pull the bike right in." We got settled and headed for the plaza where we waited to rendezvous with our Dutch friend Jeroen. It turns we were both waiting for each other in opposite corners of the plaza! We had not scheduled a time or place to meet, of course, a simple “See you in Cusco on the 8th”. After 2 hours of waiting and being hustled by the many street children peddling goods (I broke down and bought a hand bag from one), we were burnt on waiting and decided to head for the internet to try to make a connection. No sooner did we descend the steps, than around the corner came roaring Jeroen.
We had a bit of a night out in Cusco, where we hung out a an adventure biker bar chatting with the Norton riding owner. The next morning our friend Jeff was in town buying sheep for the barbeque, so he came to our hotel to lead us to his home. It was a fun ride, the 2 bikes plus Land Rover Defender TD5 caravan. Upon arrival we were got to enjoy the most relaxing hot tub ever (in a wood-fired-in-the-ground-rock-hot-tub), then went to town for a quick bite. Full of food and relaxed we hit the sack early. We had to be up at 4 the next morning to caravan to the sacred mountain for the fiesta. By 5:30 we were in town and the adventure had already begun. We had to locate a couple of stray dancers. Adam got to play moto-taxi and went off on a hunt for the final missing dancer with the dance leader. He returned the hero with two passengers on Bee. And off we went.
The drive took hours along beautiful landscapes. Towards the end the road turned to total shit - rivers, landslides, boulders and gravel, but I only had to walk through two parts. We were a caravan of three vans, the Land Rover, and two motos. One of the places I walked through was a river/gravel pit where 2 of the 3 vans got stuck. Adam and Jeroen made it through easily, as did the Land Rover.
After 4 hours of travel we reached the sacred mountain. It was one of the most dramatic landscapes I had ever encountered. Two giant snow covered glaciated peaks jutted towards the sky within kilometres of each other, one reaching over 20,500 feet. At their base was a huge meadow of green grass where we had the dance and parilla.
As the dancers began to costume in their traditional clothes and the musicians began warming up, their beautiful Peruvian music and drums began resounding off the mountain walls. Adam was assigned the task of photography while the dancers were being professionally filmed. I got to play make-up artist long enough for it to be quite clear that these beautiful children needed no make up at all.
The dance itself was being given as a gift or offering to the Lord of the mountains, Apu Salkantay the towering mountain we were in front of. There were 4 main parts to the dance that represented the planting, growing and harvesting of the sacred corn.
It was such an amazing and spiritual time and place. The children-dancers were magical. The music was indescribable as it echoed across the mountains. After about an hour of dancing and music, everyone sat down to feast on the barbequed sheep (four of them!), potatoes, and salad. The food was fantastic. Adam and Jeroen tried their hands at playing the conch (Adam did really bad) before they left. The road up to the site was really bad, so I decided to ride back in the Land Rover. Adam and Jeroen left as the shadows began to cross the valley and the wind began to blow. They made it back to the house in the dark. Jeroen didn’t like the night ride, but Adam did, comparing it to a night scuba dive. I arrived back at 8:30 and jumped in the hot tub. Heaven. I love Peru.