Diarios en Bicicleta

Puno – September 26th, 2008

Dogs : the good, the bad and the ugly…

The two rest days in Cusco were appreciated by everyone. We could have stayed ( much ) longer because the city has enough to offer. Anyway, back on the bike in the direction of Ushuaia. Some of us had stiff legs from the walks around Machu Picchu, especially Bene, Mick and Sean who climbed almost every mountain around the impressive Inca ruins. They had to pay the toll for their great hikes. The cycling days south of Cusco are fortunately rather flat compared to the stages of the last couple of weeks. We have reached the Alto Plano : this means that we cycle at an altitude of about 3600-3800 meter. We are surrounded by mountains which reach an extra one to two thousand meter in the sky, but the road follows a relatively flat course. We make quite some distance in the direction of Puno : almost 400 kilometers in three days.

The first day to Sicuani we pass old Inca walls, one of the oldest churches in South-America and traditional Indian markets. The women wear in every village different colourful hats and carry their babies in a cloth on their back. The babies hang in the cloths sometimes upside down, but nobody cares. The winds are favourable and the 145 kilometers fly by, also for the new participants Jakob and Karin which join us from Cusco. Geert wants to show his good legs and tries to win the stage. He breaks away one kilometer before the finish but he is not the best map reader of the peloton. He misses a junction, cycles an extra 20 kilometer, and arrives one and half hour later after Len and Sean, which come in first. He is not amused…

We camp at the local campsite in Sicuani which is situated in a populated area. At least populated with dogs. A lot of dogs. Tens of bad dogs bark and howl the whole night loudly and keep us awake till 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the night.

The impact of the dogs night concert is to see on the breakfast table. All tiny eyes, but again ready to cycle 140 kilometers across the Altiplano. A gentle climb to 4338 meter in the first part of the stage and later long, flat, straight roads. Days that you expect that nothing will happen. But… an ugly dog next to the road jumps to Cees’s bike and the frightening beast bites Cees in his right leg. F**king dog… A shock goes through Cees’s mind : “Rabies. What to do ??? My last hours have been counted !!!” The dog’s teeth stand a centimetre deep in his calf. A few kilometers further Didier and Mient provide a second lunch for the day. Didier can reassure Cees with his twenty years experience as ambulance nurse. Cees has had rabies vaccinations back home, but he will need - now after the bite - a few new injections to make sure that everything will be fine. The first injection : within 24 hours!!!

We are standing in the middle-of-nowhere. The next little town is kilometers away, but to everyone’s big surprise the local little hospital has the necessary injections available. The first danger is gone. Thank goodness.But, what about the good dogs in Peru ??

The 140 kilometer stage out of Sicuani ended a few kilometers before a little village in a bush camp next to the road. My appetite was good after another day on the bike and I ate Kirsten’s pasta with full pleasure. My stomach was the last couple of days a bit weak, but that didn’t stop my appetite. I went to my tent with a full stomach, too full. I woke up with a vague feeling in my stomach; time to zip open my tent in the cold night and to run out... Not enough time… I had to vomit in front of my tent. Almost on time… Spots ended up against my tent and the rest in my front garden… Luckily a good dog came along… He ate Kisten’s warm pasta with full pleasure and licked most of my tent clean… Good dog.