My Sister Loves Flipper

Does this look anywhere near the ocean?
Peruvians love their seafood and ceviche is ubiquitous. No matter where you are there is ceviche, which used to make me leery, after all how far from the ocean am I? But now I eat with abandon! "Flipper" is a family owned "chain" of three "Flippers." Enjoy Susan!

Aspiring Big Brother's Take Note: I used to be able to get my sister's dinner, at times, by telling her she was eating "Flipper" then making Flipper noises . . . sometimes all I had to do was make the noise for her to pass it over.

Coca Leaves In Context

"Coke adds Life," well, it certainly did but Coca Cola decocainized in 1903. However, they still import hundreds of tons of coca as a flavoring ingredient for their soda, as well as, a range of other products like Red Bull. Yet, the United Nations in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs lists coca leaf as a "Schedule I" narcotic along with cocaine and heroin. Additionally,the convention calls for the uprooting of all wild coca bushes and the eradication of coca leaf chewing within 25 years . . . so much for that. I have a quid in now as I write. However, if you were not familiar with the politics of coca and the War on Drugs before coming to the Andes - be prepared for an earful. A common t-shirt slogan in Peru is "Coca no es una droga."


The coca plant was first domesticated in the Andes 2-3000 years ago. Coca is a bush that grows wild and cultivated up to ten feet high on the lower eastern slopes of the Andes. Coca plays a significant role in traditional and contemporary Andean culture medicinally, commercially, and religiously. Coca is a mild stimulant that suppresses hunger, pain, thirst and fatigue, plus quells upset stomach and headaches associated with altitude - making it great for all those 12000 - 16000 foot passes on a bike! Also, coca actually increases sexual stamina instead of just making you think you look sexy like cocaine. New leaves are harvested from the plants three times a year and sold legally in markets throughout the Andes. Traveling throughout the high sierra it is rare to not see someone chewing coca when they are working. The tell tale rim of green around the mouth, the bulging cheek, white teeth scoured from chewing the leaves, and the cal dipper moving from gourd to mouth as they stroll across a field. Often when I meet people in the high Andes one of the first social acts is to offer coca then conversation begins.
To chew coca leaves requires two things - coca leaves and an alkaline. The alkaline takes a variety of forms depending on the region of the Andes and serves to release the alkaloid cocaine that creates a numbness in your mouth. Above is pictured coca leaves and a cal gourd that holds quicklime to serve as the alkaline component.




First thing is to open up your coca bag and sort through your leaves to remove stems because nobody wants to chew on sticks. A pint size bag of dried coca leaves costs roughly one sole.













Then starting stuffing them in your mouth and chew a little to get them moist and compacted. You want about a ping pong ball sized wad, or quid, wedged in the side of your mouth. Whatever you are comfortable with. . . though I have been mortified to watch some campesino take advantage of my hospitality and stuff half my bag in his mouth until it looked like he was munchin' a freakin' softball! Most folks are a little more sparing because you can always add more later.



After, you have a nice mouthful of coca you pull the stick out the gourd, it should have a little cal stuck to it, then you swab the cal onto the coca in your mouth a few times. Be careful not to get any on your lips because it does burn. Chew a couple times and stick it off to the side. After 10 minute or so your mouth will get a little numb and you can just hold it and swallow the juices. Periodically, you can a few more leaves and a little more cal. The quid can last hours until it loses its taste depending on the quality of the coca leaves. OK. You are good to go and start climbing those passes.

However, most people in the United States associate coca only with it alkaloid derivative cocaine. But as one guide at Manchu Pichu said, "coca is to cocaine, as elephants are to ivory." The following video illustrates this point - it is a little grainy and in Spanish but with relevant subtitles. I chose it in part because it shows the social condition people who make the cocaine paste.

The ratio is 1000:1 - 1000 kilos of leaves to make a single kilo of cocaine paste - that would be a lot of chewing. After seeing this video and you hear about the destruction of cocaine labs deep in the jungle you have to wonder who is actually getting bombed? When herbicides are sprayed aerially who is getting sprayed? What/who else is being killed? And these people do not look wealthy to me. These issues resonate throughout the Andean chain.

President of Bolivia Evo Morales, a former coca farmer, addressed this topic at the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in August of 2006:
"I would like to take advantage of this opportunity, Ms president, to say that there are also other historical injustices, such as the criminalization of the coca leaf. I want to say, this is a green coca leaf, it is not the white of cocaine, this coca leaf represents Andean culture, it is a coca leaf that represents the environment and the hope of our peoples. It is not possible that the coca leaf is legal for Coca Cola and that the coca leaf is illegal for other medicinal purposes in our country, and in the whole world."

Incidentally, about the only conspicuous drug use I have noticed in Peru over the years has been homeless kids sniffing bags of glue.

More High Sierra More Passes More Fun

I woke early, 5:30am, in Balsas after a hot stuffy night and read Anna Karenina for an hour drinking cold instant coffee while the town awoke. Roosters crowed, wood smoke of cooking fires wafted in, dogs gave lazy barks, engines started and donkeys brayed marshaled for a days work. We wasted little time getting ready and started climbing from the Rio Maranon at 800 meters. Thankfully the morning was overcast though still warm. Each rise we crested opened up into a higher valley with another set of switch backs for the 45 kilometer ascent of over 2000 meters. Traffic was light but dusty as the road continually climbed. The afternoon was clear enough to give a view across the high sierra to the Rio Maranon 1000's of meters below.When we topped out you may notice I have no bags on my bike! For past two days were leapfrogging birders on a bus and on the second day we stopped to chat . . . actually Dylan did, I was head down plowing forward, and what a fortunate stop. I learned that I saw a Vermilion Flycatcher, yes, that was a giant Grosbeak, and tiny Andean Woodpecker. Some of the birders were Cornell grads that were familiar with Binghamton, and the Chilean guide offered to take our bags to Celedin for us . . . It felt great to ride the final 15km with out bags, all of a sudden the climb was really enjoyable! After a short 10km descent we landed in Celedin for a couple days to rest, eat lots, give Matt a chance to catch up, and repair bikes/gear. The top rail on my rear rack, that the bags hook onto, snapped on one side directly in front of the weld. I had some stiff blue plastic tubing that I wrapped triple and secured with hose clamps purchased from the funeral supplies/hardware store down the block . . . should be good for a few more thousand miles - I hope.
We headed out of Celedin late morning towards Cajamarca where we would hit pavement after 250+ km of dirt roads. The climb was a gentle 50km through high sierra diary country at over 3000 meters in elevation. After a rolling top out we had a blazing 20+km descent to the small town of Encanada (slightly dust obscured) and achieved a kind of instant celebrity status. We were directed to the town's single hospedeja with rooms for 15 soles ($5) for the two of us . . . I am pretty sure we could have gotten the room for 10 soles but Dylan asked, "is that each?" . . . oops. I saw her gears spin. She said, "yes, but I'll give it to you for 15." Woman was quick - so we got ripped $1.50 . . . I get used to thinking in local currency. We could not find a restaurant so we bought some chicken and fries on the street for 2 soles (3soles = $1) and cooked in our room later. But we did find a bar. The road workers we passed in the day sat with their helmets still on in a small adobe room with dirt floors drinking Cusquenas for 4 soles (Peru's best). At our feet was a truck tire inner tube with a spout of sorts. The woman running the bar kept filling a 5 gallon bucket from the inner tube then filling various sized plastic bottles that people brought - I asked - it was cana, cane liquor, 1 sole for one liter. Wow! At that price you can't go wrong unless you go blind of course . . . out came the handy platypus bottle.

We rolled out past our hospedeja in the late morning for a short ride into the regional capitol, Cajamarca, site of Inca Royal bathes, ransoming of the Incan King Atahualpa, and his garroting by Pizarro.

Peru Stencils

Yanacocha, near Cajamarca is the 2nd largest gold mine in the world and largest in Latin America. The mine in owned by Denver based Newmont Mining Corporation. The rest is news and pretty self explanatory.

Up Up and Away

Tingo – Leimebamba – Abra Barros Negros – Balsas –We rode from Tingo up the river valley to Leimebamba where we finally leave the Utucamba River valley after 200+km. Road is still quiet and the towns are quieter - with not much bar action but the pigs are friendly. Leimebamba is small and we see the same folks from Tingo and Chachapoyas. But it was a charming place to eat, get a hot shower, and spend the night. I pick up a bag of coca leaves to chew and a gourd for "cal," or quicklime, in anticipation of the big climbs ahead. Coca is traditional to chew in the highlands, helps with altitude, nice energy, and good to share. Coca leaves are legal in Peru and readily available but people never sell the cal with the leaves . . . why, I do not know? But you always have to go to a hardware store to get the cal (used for masonry). The cal, or quicklime, is mixed in small amounts with the coca leaves in your mouth to release the alkaloids from the coca leaves. I went to a corner hardware store to buy some cal and the owner then led me back to the hostal I was staying at, then into a back storage/living area where we sampled some cal out of 50kilo bags to get some that was "hot." The hard part was getting the powder into a hole the size of a pen top at the top of the gourd, but it was free, and we chatted after wards. Peruvians are always a little surprised when a gringo chews coca leaves . . . I just like the gourds.
We start out a little late in the morning because we want to see if the day will clear or if it will rain and neither of us want to climb a big pass on a dirt road in a cold rain. Also, I wanted to see the museum on the outskirts of town that did not open until 10am where Dylan continued on. The museum is small but obviously well funded, probably due to a unique collection of over 200 mummies all from Laguna de los Condores. A large collection of well preserved dead bodies from the same place over a given time available to study is an evolutionary biologists wet dream. Overall, the museum, while nice, is sparse on information about the actual Chachapoyan culture because not much is known. They called “warriors of the clouds,” but eventually subjugated by the Inka Empire, then allied themselves to the Spaniards, the enemy of my enemy . . . Take your pick of imperialists. However, I did learn some things about contemporary Andean cultures and architecture.

Curious Head Wear

Then the climbing began on a beautiful narrow dirt road with little traffic. Passing through small farming communities for the 30 kilometer climb up to 3620 meters over the Barros Negros (black mud) pass – thankfully, it was dry. I stopped for lunch after climbing for a couple hours while finishing up lunch a young man stepped off a bus and walked over to talk - curious about a gringo in full bike regalia with a touring bike. I was just opening my bag of coca leaves for the climb and offered. He gratefully accepted and we chatted while sharing coca leaves. He was going to hike up to a small farm (potatoes and corn) about two hours into the mountains. The sharing of coca is a traditional social practice in the high Andes, that I have used often in the past, and was glad to have some to share because it is a real ice breaker. The views were expansive as the landscape of the high sierra opened . I topped out at 3pm and prepared for a long descent of over 2800mts to Chacanto. I would need maybe 10 pedal strokes for the rest of the afternoon. I had to tell myself to get riding and stop taking photos if I wanted to complete the 60km descent before dark. Even if I was standing on the local dump it was still breathtaking. I had clear views of long stretches of the descent, which was important because the road was narrow, single lane, bailing to the left was impossible because it was usually a wall and to the right was the drop for life. I figure the best you could hope for was to die quick otherwise you were going to land in a crumpled broken heap a thousand feet down to die slowly with no one knowing you were even there. Reminded me of the Buddhist phrase “abandon hope” - best to leave nothing to hope and pay attention to your task at hand. Sections of the road were literally carved into cliff face with room for only one vehicle. Signs warned about excessively narrow sections and told drivers to honk their horns before rounding single lane hairpin turns. Eventually I arrived in the Maranon river valley towards dusk and met Dylan sitting on a bench in the plaza where we had a well earned ice cold beer. The town turned out to be very small with half the residents playing volleyball by the plaza in front of the police station and a single house renting rooms, well a room, with the bathroom “down by the river.” We ate, had a couple beers then passed a hot stuffy night with the black flies before rising for the next big climb.

Kuelap

The alarm went off at 4:30am sharp and I was up drinking hot instant coffee for a change because the stove was already set up from dinner. We were out the door with cameras, water, Oreo s, and headlamps to the trail head in Tingo. We followed the river for 2km then started climbing for the next 8km until we were 1000+ meters higher. The sun started coming up by 6am so we could turn off the headlamps and enjoy the sun rising on all the mountains we had yet to climb. The terrain changed from desert scrub to high sierra pastures as we passed through a stock gate. Small farms started to appear then passing through a small village the walls appeared. We made the hike in good time taking 2.5 hours, of course, everyone asked, it was a nice change up from the bike. The walls appeared as a cliff encircling the escarpment with a narrow gap entering the fortified city that would force enemy armies to single file into the city. . . and die.

The only other people present were excavating/restoring the site, though later we sighted “pockets,” a mumbling German I nicknamed for his pants. Otherwise we had the site to ourselves to crawl over for 2 hours until other people showed up.

Kuelap is only partially excavated and still over grown with bromiliads. Grazing alpacas help keep the grass down. My favorite archeology sites are generally lightly excavated. The complete restoration of a site strikes me less as reconstruction and more as erasure – a negation of time - a reflection of our own desire. The power of these sites is to see once dominant civilizations, no doubt assured of their own perpetuity just as we are, over grown and munched on by alpacas. This too shall pass. The site did not give much information about the Chachapoyan culture because not much is known and the information provided was fairly obvious, like this was where people lived or this is a big wall. Kuelap is noted for certain architecture and design features like the high walls, relief carvings, round structures, and commanding views of the surrounding countryside.

The ongoing restoration project was well funded with a joint grant from the Peruvian and Italian governments. People were bustling about digging, studying, hauling, and rebuilding.

After three hours or so, we headed down to the official entrance with the intent to catch a ride back down the road to Tingo – walking down is more painful than up and we had some hard days ahead. But our early start meant we were finishing up as everyone else was arriving which forced us to hang and wait for a few hours while people went up and came back down. We found a little shade, watched people arrive naming nationalities, talked with cab drivers, and watched the locals work. The real impact of Kuelap was on the local economy. The archeologists and workers at Kuelap all needed to be housed, fed, and supplied beer. Additionally, you cannot drive to the sight which meant everything had to hauled up. Horse load after horse load of sand for mixing mortar went up the mountain. 20 soles per horse per trip each horse

carrying roughly 200+lbs of sand. Locals were also selling snacks and water to hungry people like me. A large truck full of eucalyptus logs pulled up for the scaffolding. I am pretty sure they

would have to be carried up individually by people because horses could not haul them around the switch backs. Just watching the logs unloaded was entertainment enough for 45 minutes.

Eventually, we got a ride from the taxi driver we were chatting with and two other folks. The road down was a tortuous single lane dirt road for 35km that takes over 1.5 hours to drive because it is in rough shape and would have been far faster on a bike. We passed through a series of small farming villages (growing potatoes, coca, and corn) that are trying to capitalize on the tourism to Kuelap . . . but that seemed about as slow as the road. Reminded me of a Darwin quote, “we will now discuss in a little more detail the struggle for existence.”