Mini Motorcycles Meet Mighty Adventure: An Epic 8-Day Trek Across Peru
7 thrill-seekers hit the road less traveled on two wheels for a city-by-city trek across the Andes.
Location: Peru
Waypoints: Ayacucho, Peru to Pilcopata, Peru – via Monkey Bike
Day One: Ayacucho to Chumbes (115km)
Day Two: Chumbes to Andahuaylas (150km)
Day Three: Andahuaylas to Abancay (150km)
Day Four: Abancay to Curahuasi (70km)
Day Five: Curahuasi to Calca (150km)
Day Six: Calca to Pisac (19km)
Day Seven: Pisac to Paucartambo (105km)
Day Eight: Paucartambo to Pilcopata (110km)
Most Adventurous Moment:
“By far the last day riding through the Manú Rainforest in Manú National Park. It was such an incredibly remote and beautiful area. This is where we all stopped to hike into a hidden waterfall, and here, I spread a small vial of my sister’s ashes. We came back to the bikes only to find another flat tire. At that point, we’re in the middle of nowhere and we have to get to the finish line.”
Most Epic Moment:
“The Airbnb in Calca. A bunch of dirty, smelly people basically fall into an incredible rental property that was the same price as a hotel in Lima/Cusco. The eight-bedroom ‘castle’ came with a dry sauna, wet sauna, cascading pools, several hot tubs, stone walls, full-sized tree trunks and natural wood, blooming orchards, pizza, beer, and breakfast. We all felt like the survivors of ‘Lost’ like we were dead but just in purgatory or something.”
Interactive Wayward map; zoom out for the full effect
“On every one of these trips, we show up to the start line and there’s somebody there who’s never in their wildest dreams thought they would be – and yet there they are.”
Walker Richardson and Andrew Thompson have motorcycled across the deserts of Morocco, minibiked the Carpathian mountains of Romania, and traveled nearly all of Sri Lanka by tuk-tuk. True adventurers at heart, their willingness to take on any literal or metaphorical bump in the road has left them no strangers to unexpected outcomes on uncharted expeditions.
For their next adventure, after years of bottled-up time at home due to the pandemic, Andrew, Walker, and five friends set out with an explosion of anticipation, excitement, and fearlessness on perhaps the wildest and most rugged adventure yet: An over 850-kilometer journey by Monkey Bike – a tiny but mighty 90cc, 4-stroke, 5-horsepower motorbike, with 8” tires – across the 13,000-foot Andes Mountains in Peru.
Yep, you read that right: The Andes.
Training Ground: Day 0
“Knowing a little bit of the local language and just having the confidence to approach a stranger and say, “I’m in trouble and I need help right now,” goes a long way. You can get by not knowing how to turn a wrench. More importantly, you must be willing to problem solve and speak to [locals] to get the help you may need.”
After a 10-hour flight to Lima, and a short connection to Ayacucho, the group arrived at the starting line in south-central Peru. There, travelers were provided a starting point, a finish line destination, some brief training on how motorcycles work, and a couple of hours of riding around in circles training, they hit the “road” for their eight-day journey.
No guides. No formal directions. No experience necessary. The entire journey up to the adventurers themselves. Reflecting on the trip, Andrew and Walker insist the key skill needed for any adventurer on this is the ability to problem-solve.
Expecting the Unexpected: Days 1 – 3
“Two people on our trip had never ridden a motorcycle before. Walking up to the Monkey Bike, which they were going to travel on for the next eight days, was the first time they’d done so. Every motorcyclist’s worst nightmare scenario was thrown at them on day one – and despite everything – they came out of it just fine.”
At the starting line, blaring music, wild cheering, and high-five after high-five riders charted off on the bumpy, dusty, and uncertain road ahead.
Half a day and 35 kilometers into an over 850-kilometer journey, Andrew, Walker, and the other riders in their group found themselves stranded on the side of a 14,000-foot mountain pass in the Andes. Lungs and bikes gasping for the little oxygen they could find in the air, their Monkey Bikes continued to sputter out for several hours as they struggled to climb the increasingly-steep mountainside.
The weather turned dark and temperatures dropped swiftly as rain clouds rolled in and hail started to fall. The crew was still 60-70 kilometers to the closest town, Chumbes, and the first stop-over night of the trip.
Shortly after the rainfall started, Walker and one other teammate were able to flag down a lone, passing pickup truck to hitch a ride to town. After one scary moment of sliding off the road and into a ditch, the two eventually made it to town. Determined to make their way, the remaining teammates, including Andrew, used two working bikes to tow the non-starting motorcycles up the remaining incline of the treacherous and dark roads. At the road’s highest point, the mountain pass began to decline and they were off-to-the-races (aka slow-moving with lots of braking) as they coasted the rest of the way to town.
The best way to celebrate the safe arrival: shots of pisco (grape brandy) for everyone.
“Several hours after we made it to Chumbes Luke and I saw tiny headlights and heard a choir of buzzing exhaust pipes. To say we were relieved is saying the least. Unbelievable.”
Days two and three were much more manageable, despite needing to fix a broken clutch handle, a dying battery, and addressing a nagging oil leak, at mechanic shops along the way. The sounds of a gang of barking dogs, crowing roosters, and generally being wet and cold were a lot to get used to. But, warm beers, pisco sours, and celebratory feasts including the best (and cheapest at $1.25 USD) street food of the trip in Kishuara – rotisserie chicken on a bed of rice, tomato slices, and fried potato wedges with salsa – made up for the tumultuous travel.
Walker recounts that the scenery along the first three days, especially the stint traveling 13,000 feet up before descending 6,000 feet into Abancay, was absolutely breathtaking: endless roadside waterfalls, lush foliage, and sweeping overlooks with mountain peaks as far as the eye can see.
Welcomed Surprises: Days 4 – 6
“[Falling into an epic Airbnb happened] by embracing the “whatever happens, happens” approach. This trail of serendipitous moments led to us walking through palace doors. We were standing there, covered in God knows what from those roads, smelling like all high heaven, telling ourselves we don’t even want to walk through here until we’ve taken a shower. But it turns out, we were totally welcomed.”
On day four, the group woke up to one of the bikes with a flat tire. Yep, another one. After working with a local mechanic to fix the flat, replace yet another battery, and lube up some chains – they were off.
And, just six miles later…another flat. Number five.
Finally, after getting through a morning of bike troubles, the group was able to climb up to 13,000 feet on endless switchbacks before descending to 8,700 feet in Curahuasi. Here the crew enjoyed the juiciest roasted half chicken from a local hotel, which the owner said the secret to the recipe is roasting it over Leña wood, local to the region.
“Lubricated by Chilcanos in the hotel bar our group spent the night recounting shenanigans of the trip thus far, including earlier that day when one of our group members, Ben, got distracted watching the mountains and hit a speed bump going 50kph – sending him airborne.”
Along most of this section of the trip, the group spent hours on the road surrounded by massive flora-covered mountains and natural marvels. There were several moments when the scenery changed and everyone in the group was mesmerized. Following the Urubamba River and grabbing mid-day beers and lunch in towns like Limatambo and an unnamed town between Compone and Inquilpata, these days felt easier than the start of the trip.
By far the most memorable experience at the halfway point was booking a spur-of-the-moment Airbnb in Calca to celebrate Walker’s birthday. Splurging on a mansion tucked away into the rainforest, the almost indescribable mountainside retreat featured several cascading pools, bubbling hot tubs, a luscious green estate, puffy king-size beds, and steamy showers.
A welcomed respite for smelly travelers with empty stomachs and aching bodies.
Push to the Finish: Days 7 – 8
“There is a noticeable shift in everyone’s attitudes by the last day because you all feel like, okay, we’ve only got one day to go. Whatever problems we have, they can’t be that bad. We’re at the finish line. The bikes are leaking, whatever, we just got one more day to go.”
An early start on day seven helped the crew squeeze in a quick pit stop at Pisac, a town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas region, which features historical Incan archeological ruins. The towns of Calca, Pisca, Urubamba, and Ollantaytambo, are all popular basecamps for Machu Picchu, so more tourist sightings and built-up towns are prominent around these parts. This stunning part of the country, however, brings some of the most epic mountain scenery. But regardless of the priceless views, travelers have to pay high prices for food, beer, and accommodations in these cities.
Now on their last leg, the Monkey Bikes start leaking liquids at a faster pace than the riders can keep up with. Packing a spare container of oil helped make traveling across the final kilometers of the trip possible.
On day eight, the group climbed up steep inclines, which led to plummeting temperatures at high altitudes, before finally descending into the last breathtaking destination – the Manú National Park and Rainforest.
Spreading ashes
“The Manú National Rainforest is a really special place – and it’s truly untouched. It’s very remote but there is a single amazing road that leads you through it. Enormous green mountains and canyons, water-filled tunnels, waterfalls, endless twists and turns, armies of butterflies.”
Post-rainforest, the riders dropped into the finish line on an unbearably hot and dusty road. Cold beers and whooping cheerleaders welcomed them at the finish line. It’s an experience worth remembering. Upon arrival, riders re-lived the entire adventure all over again through storytelling and photo sharing. As any good Peruvian adventure should, the finish culminated in a giant celebration with music, food, and friendship.
And, of course, bottomless shots of pisco to go around.
“The finish line is a really cool experience because you basically re-live the entire adventure all over again. You’re so excited to be done, you hand your bike, and immediately jump into celebrating the experience through sharing stories and memories that will, most certainly, last a lifetime.”
Going All In
Walker, Andrew, and the crew set out to experience the authentic culture of Peru while charting their own path along the way. The trip was a reflection of what it really means to “go all in'' on adventure travel. Through immersing themselves in the people, the tastes, and the sights and sounds of Peru, this trip went beyond action-packed adventure by offering so much more:
It quenched their thirst for adventure post-pandemic lockdown;
It introduced them to new ways of problem-solving;
It inspired them with local music, views, and conversation;
And above all, it introduced them to new cultural perspectives.
