A Day Off The Bike

Normally I am skeptical when a person walks up to me and tries to sell me stuff, but this one señor had a nice demeanor and I was already planning to ask how to get to Catarata Gocta. I didn't feel like waiting for a bus and thought the motor cart he was offering would be a direct route. After his initial offer of 40 soles to get to the waterfall, I haggled for 30 soles even though my hostel owner told me it would likely cost only five soles by bus. I hopped into Carlos' moto, with his wife and son joining me on the back bench.

Within the first five minutes, we made a stop at a lady's house to fill up on ten soles worth of gasoline. From a craft that looked like it could hold water for a large dinner party, she poured the gasoline into a funnel with a cloth over it to help clean any particulates that could be in the combustible fluid. Upon kick-starting the engine, he informed me that the ride would cost 35 soles. My initial reaction was "I like this guy for his promptness and his spontaneity!"

Each stop always involved a few phone calls and extra kick-starts to get the motor running again. When it ran, it sounded like there were a few rocks in the bottom of the transmission, but it didn't matter as we were soon on our way again. We had a few other stops: dropping his wife off in town, letting the motor cool down after a small hill, chatting with a bus driver, and (my favorite) stopping in a small village. Carlos pulled up to a small casa where a lady brought out two sweaters for his niño. He then prompted me for cinco soles, the amount he added to my trip just a few minutes before making a phone call. The five soles went from my hand to his, then to the lady who just gave us the sweaters. I smiled to myself. A true businessman, having any incurred costs paid directly by the customer!!!

About 15 km down the road, we reached the turn off for a dirt road. We started to ascend when soon enough, the motor overheated and we stalled. Carlos wanted to wait dos minutos, no mas. No problemo. As the owner of a Vanagon, I have come to learn that engines don't always perform as expected. Carlos told me that this waterfall I was going to was beautiful, and that Kuelap was also worth visiting. Then he said there was another, more remote waterfall that is the third highest in the world. At least, I thought this was the third highest; maybe my friend, Ankoor, can do some fact checking on this!

So there I was, helping prevent the moto from not rolling back as Carlos gave the motor a few extra kick-starts. Eventually it purred again, but as soon as I ran alongside the cab to hop in, my extra weight (~70 Kg) killed the motor. We repeated this a few times only to incur another "two-minute delay". Another motor cart drove past us down the hill and Carlos caught up to it and started chatting. I knew what was happening once I saw money exchange hands. I gathered my bag and water bottle and switched vehicles. Before departing Carlos and his child, he gave me his phone number and promised a moto that could make the return journey. This is why it pays off to have such a social and friendly driver. I'll admit the new moto was not as exciting, but we arrived to the trail head for the falls within 15 minutes.

Carlos paying off the other Moto to bring me the rest of the way!

It was ten soles for a ticket and a map. The map was drawn right before me and explained how to follow it. After 25 minutes of hiking on what I was pretty sure was the designated trail, I came across a man, a woman, and a horse carrying water. I asked about the cascade vista, which they told me I was on the wrong path, but if I just went up a little more and took a diverging path, I would soon meet up with the right trail. Twenty-five minutes later on that trail, I realized I should turn around because it was not connecting to the waterfall trail. An additional 20 minutes later, I was back at the trail head, only to confirm with returning hikers that I was actually on the correct trail.

Ticket and Map

The total hike was estimated to be four hours, so my detour set me back a bit. But I laughed it off and figured I'd try the official trail. The trail was beautiful and before I knew it, I was at the falls. Thanks for reading the story this far, here are some pictures of the falls.

The hike back went even faster than the hike there. Back at the trail head, I had fewer options to get back to the hostel than expected. However, I did have one. Carlos showed up 30 minutes after the estimated arrival time he told me over the phone. And this time, he had even more family with him. I joined his wife and younger child from that morning, as well as another older son (maybe 8 years) on the back bench. I thought the ride down the hill would be a breeze, but our first stop after ten minutes was at a roadside house to buy a flashlight. The headlight on the motorbike would dim when the engine was not revved up (weak alternator + used battery). The house wasn't a store and didn't have a flashlight to sell us. We turned around and continued, but the next two houses couldn't help us either. Carlos ended up driving all the way back to the trail head where he picked me up 45 minutes earlier.

The store at the trail head did not sell flashlights, but a tour guide outside the store had one. He wasn't intending to sell it, but Carlos tested it out and liked it enough to replace it with a 10 sol bill directly into the tour guide's hand. The guide didn't seem to have too much of a problem with the exchange. Once again, another case demonstrating that for businessman Carlos, everything has a potential price tag.

We eventually continued down the dirt road while his son held the newly-bought flashlight, and I used my little LED battery to serve as an additional light. Going down the hill, we only made one more stop to tighten the cable for the rear drum brakes!

Riding back down the hill in the dark.

When we made it to the paved road and cruised along, my mind started to wander. I remember asking my friend, Andre, about driving an unreliable vehicle. He explained to me that it might not always get you to where you're going when you want it to, but eventually you will get there... somehow and your life will be more interesting because of it. Historically, transportation has always been an adventure. Think of all the journeys across the US on horse and buggy, or virtually any trip by boat. Only since Ford and his assembly line have cars been made readily available and reliable. But in doing so, they've made our trips focus more on the destination rather than on the journey.

My daydreams started stuttering as soon as the engine did. This time we were stuck on the top of a small hill with an empty gas tank. Carlos and I pushed it enough to roll down the hill, but we still had no way of getting back to Pedro Luiz without some gasoline. Carlos made a few phone calls, but I think everyone was charging him too much as they would have to deliver the petrol to us. A few minutes later, another moto drove by and offered to tow us with a string. This worked quite well and, since I was pushing the rear already, I just hung onto the back and made sure everything looked okay.

Carlos making some phone calls with an empty gas tank. Note the flashlight!

Further down the road, a van and its passengers were driving in the other direction when they saw our moto-towing setup and gave us a two-liter bottle of gasoline. "Cero soles", they called out, as the driver held the bottle out for Carlos to grab. Carlos was happy to pour every last drop of that gasoline into his tank, and he drove me and the family straight back to a restaurant in town. He acted like he owned the place when he walked behind the counter and shouted out an order for two cups of coffee. It turned out that he did own the place. Besides his moto business, he also arranges local bus transport, strategically using the restaurant as a makeshift bus stop where people can conveniently eat before or after their trip. Genius marketing!

The resturant, bus stop, Moto business the morning after to have breakfast with family!

The cups of coffee Carlos and I shared were interrupted a handful of times as he ran off to get something in the restaurant or make a moto trip to pick someone up. He is a very active guy who diverts his attention a lot. However, he is a natural businessman who has a unique talent for being a classic middleman; he knows what someone wants and how he can provide it, with money flowing directly through him.

Carlos loved this picture!

He browsed through all of the pictures on my camera from that day. He loved seeing photos of the waterfall and really liked the one from that morning of his younger son riding on the gas tank as he drove.

-Matt

P.s.