Reflections from the Road

Jim posting. I have read comments and observations in a other trip reports and blogs, related to “life on the road”, that have really resonated with me.  Things I think you probably have to have been on the road to fully appreciate. For example, I have read comments along the line of how one needs a vacation from the vacation every once in a while.  The drain of planning. where to go, where to stay, what to see, then actual riding, unpacking/packing to ride again – it is hard work, both physical and logistical!  It is very refreshing to just stop and stay put for three or more days once in a while, and just do nothing (well – except maybe laundry!).   I am so glad that Carol and I have scheduled our trip with plenty of time to both see things we want to see, but also to be able to afford to spend a week in one place if we want.  One of our favorite memories thus far is of the two weeks we spent in an apartment in Guadalajara while taking language classes – it was nice to be “planted” long enough that our daily decisions and concerns were not centered around riding. 

Another blogger, Yvonne from “NoFixedAbode” (we were on the Stahlratte sailing ship with Yvonne and her husband Fran) commented in a recent blog post about going into a nice restaurant in Colombia, and trying to fit in; “which is a tall order when you’re dining in zippy hiking pants.” That made me laugh; “zippy hiking pants” are pretty much the uniform de rigor for overland motorcycle adventurers.  I have two pair that I cycle through and live in 95% of the time. I have one pair of jeans with me, which are reserved for “nice places”, and it is so nice to wear those from time to time in place of the imminently practical “zippy hiking pants”. 

One of these “life on the road” observations, for us, is the realization of how nice it is to check into an AirBnB for three or more days, to have off-the-clock (schedule) time to sleep in, read, etc., and to be able to cook for ourselves (and do luandry!). 

We get tired of eating out all the time.  One reason is that you end up eating too much food if you do! You have to watch the calorie intake when traveling and relying on restaurant food, otherwise you easily consume twice the needed calories in a day. I’m pleased that so far I have not outgrown my zippy hiking pants!  It has been a conscious effort to control the calorie intake.  For lunch, if we are riding, we often stop on the side of the road somewhere and eat peanut butter and jelly or such, instead of stopping at one of the many inexpensive road-side restaurants.  Here in Peru, we could easily get a bowl of soup followed by a quarter of a chicken, broiled or grilled, with potatoes, rice and salad (the standard lunch fare), for a few dollars- but combined with eating out for dinner, it is just too much.

Also, we have found the variety of food in Peru, in particular, to be somewhat limited.  Lima is supposed to be a culinary mecca – in our short stay there we didn’t really get to experience that.  For most of the past two months we have been in rural towns and villages, and the dinner menu is pretty much the same;  saltado this and that (stir fry), arroz chaufa (chicken fried rice – there is a strong Chinese influence on Peruvian cooking – the history of this is interesting), pollo (chicken) cooked various ways, and lomo parrilla (wood-charcoal grilled beef), but the quality of the beef varies greatly.  Often you find trucha (trout) in the mountains and maricos (seafood) on the coast.  But Baja seafood has ruined me – nothing has compared! 

Breakfast! The standard “Americana” breakfast consists of over-cooked eggs, cooked till completely dry and lacking any flavor, and some bread.  And coffee?  In Ecuador it usually came via a cup of hot water and a jar of instant coffee, sometimes two jars/brands, in which case you got to choose which type of bad coffee you wanted!  Here in Peru, coffee is served in a very interesting way:  You get a tiny pitcher of liquid “coffee concentrate” – you would NOT want to drink it straight, and I have no idea how this liquid is made (it may be water added to instant coffee for all I know, LOL). Then you get a pitcher or thermos of hot water, and you put a little bit of the concentrate in your cup and top that off with hot water to desired strength.  It is not necessarily better than instant. Ironically these countries grow and export coffee, good coffee.  But they do not know how to make good coffee.   cOne thing at breakfast that is usually good is the jugo (juice) – fresh blended piña (pineapple), naranja (orange) or papaya juice. Papaya is an acquired taste – I am starting to acquire it, but still not my favorite. 

We have had some amazing food on our trip to be sure.  But the point is that eating on the road does get monotonous.

All this came to mind because as I write this we are staying in an AirBnB in Cusco, for a stay of almost a week.  Being a larger city catering to western tourist (who are mostly from Europe – where are the Amercians?), there are several “western style” grocery stores with foods that are hard to find in the small tiendas (shops) in the rural areas.  The first thing we did after unpacking was to walk half a mile to the nearest such establishment, and stock up on familiar food supplies, so we could cook for ourselves.   Last night we had fettuccine with kalamata olives and pesto, and tonight we had burritos.  Not gourmet food, but comfort food, and much enjoyed. 

And I made a real American breakfast!  This morning, I cooked Spanish omelets, bacon, toast and made COFFEE!   The best coffee I’ve had in literally months. I truly had forgotten what good coffee tasted like 🙂  

Setting up house and living a more or less “normal” daily schedule, with no rides to schedule, no hotels to book – it is a needed and wonderful break from the tedium of our seemingly endless vacation, as ironic as that may sound.  

And we did laundry!