Ride Peru

[MICRider]

Beautiful pictures OG! It's snow and ice here so they are a welcome diversion

[SpudRider]

Thanks for posting the great photos, and the update on Mark, OG. Please encourage Mark to check in, if possible, and post some photos from his adventure.

Spud

[Weldangrind]

It's great that you and Mark connected; glad to hear that he's our kind of rider.

Stunning action pics!

[oldgringo]

The paperwork is finished! Mark picked up the Golem GY-7, 200cc moto, got a few miles on it today, he is heading out tomorrow. Anyhow, we are wondering who builds this motorcycle, there is a certificate in the owners manual, it says XGJAO Motorcycle, also Chongqing XGJAO Motorcycle Ltd. Thanks in advance for any help

OG

[Weldangrind]

Nice looking moto! I really like the aggressive rear tire.

Golem cracks me up; I immediately think of Lord of the Rings.

[SpudRider]

That is a very nice chinabike! I'm glad Mark didn't have any problems securing a title and license plate for his Golem motorcycle.

Spud

[oldgringo]

Mark is on the road, we headed out this morning, I wanted to make sure he got out of Lima safely so rode the first 50 km with him, he made it to Pisco this afternoon, tomorrow he will start the long climb to Ayacucho in the Andes. I'm really impressed with the quality of the Golem, especially the inverted forks, fit and finish is as good as any Japanese dual sport, seems to be a lot of moto for the money.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by oldgringo

Mark is on the road, we headed out this morning, I wanted to make sure he got out of Lima safely so rode the first 50 km with him, he made it to Pisco this afternoon, tomorrow he will start the long climb to Ayacucho in the Andes. I'm really impressed with the quality of the Golem, especially the inverted forks, fit and finish is as good as any Japanese dual sport, seems to be a lot of moto for the money.

Thanks for the update, OG. I must admit, I liked the looks of the Golem right from the start. I'm pleased to hear the Golem is as well manufactured as it is attractive.

Spud

[oldgringo]

I'm still here in Iquitos, Peru (600 miles NE of Lima), it's the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by a road, the only way to get here is to fly or take a riverboat from Yurimaguas or Pucallpa (three days on the road and four or five days on a boat). It's expensive to get a car here, 98% of vehicles are motos or mototaxis, my kind of place, it's a tax-free zone, Chinese motos are cheap and there are moto dealers everywhere. There are two seasons here, low-water and high-water, the Amazon is running at almost record highs so I came over the photograph the floating city of Belen. The houses in Belen are called balsas (rafts), they raise and lower with the river, it is a very poor neighborhood. I also spent a couple of days photographing the Mercado Belen, I've got expat amigos here that got me into the depths of the market, it's not a good place for a solo gringo with a expensive camera. I'll try and get photos loaded up tonight, malo internet connection here



Airport in Iquitos








The buses are shipped in as a cab and chassis, there is a factory here that builds a wood frame for the bus then covers it in tin.






A history lesson, this is the Iron House, designed and built by Gustav Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower guy) for the 1889 Paris Exhibition, a rubber baron bought in from the exhibition and shipped it here, it is actually the first prefab house built in the Americas.









Mavisa, the Mavila dealer in Iquitos

[oldgringo]

Iquitos (Belén), Perú, Amazonia

[oldgringo]

Mercado, Barrio de Belén. Iquitos



Black Vultures, Mercado Belen



A one dollar haircut









Witch doctor supply store





Suri (BBQ grubs)














Here is one of the photos I came to get, my amigo, Bill, knew the vendedora (she is a little crazy!) so I got the shots. This is a howler monkey and they are harvested with a blow gun and poison darts, the poison is a toxic frog secretion.

[culcune]

Wow! What an amazing place!! Your photos truly make you feel like you are there. It seems like a fairly bustling place for being so remote. I hope you make a coffee-table book one of these years!

[yozalo]

Words cannot describe how beautiful the pictures are. Keep em' coming. 8)

[FastDoc]

What a diverse world we all share. Thank you very much for the pictures.

[SpudRider]

I love viewing your photographs, OG! Thank you for taking the time to share them with us.

Spud