Today’s drive sucked pretty bad, too.
I started out at around 8000 feet, went up to 13000 feet, came back down to 6000 feet, then climbed back up to 11000 feet. Why it’s like that? I have no idea…
But the drive could have been better except for one accident. I went around a curve and there was a ditch right around the corner, without any signs. I didn’t see it until it was too late, and after going down 3 feet and coming back up, my car slammed hard on the ground. I can still hear the sound in my head. It was so horrible. But the car kept running! Amazingly. But I stopped shortly and checked under the hood. There was an ominous sound coming from the air filter, and a lot of smoke coming out right underneath from it. I thought something got torn off. And I was at least 30 miles away from Cuzco. I thought it would be better for me to try and get the car over to Cuzco and have a mechanic figure out why there’s smoke coming from the filter.
In less than 5 minutes, though, something dramatic happened. My car stopped. Cold. The check engine light goes off, and I’m stuck, at 8000 feet, without power. 30 miles away from the nearest civilization, which is actually 11000 feet above sea level. I open the hood again, and smoke comes billowing out from under the air filter. I’m screwed.
I leave the hood open and wait about 5 minutes while contemplating my luck and what I’m going to do. A) One good thing about being away from civilization is that I can take off the plates and dump it off the mountain. I was seriously thinking about packing my bags and hitchhiking to Cuzco. B) I somehow manage to turn it around and go down the hill to a nearby small village. Leave the car there, and bring back a mechanic from Cuzco to fix it.
Neither one is a great option, obviously. And I was highly considering option A over option B. I go back, though, and try and start my car. And it works! Miraculously, the car works. I don’t push the car too hard, though. And somehow, the car made it up here. I don’t know how. It just did.
Here’s what I think happened. When the car hit the ground real hard, the oil from the oil pan got thrown up under the air filter housing where it burned. This makes some sense because the hose that recycles oil on my car doesn’t exist, there’s just a hole there. And with all the smoke under the hood, the car wasn’t getting enough air. So it sputtered to a stop.
Now, I’m still worried, obviously. The car could be A) suffering from a very bad case of cracking suspension, B) tires could be suffering pretty bad right now too, C) car could have trouble starting up at 11000 feeet (it did have a bit of trouble at 9500 in Ipiales, Colombia. D) something could very well be loose under the hood and could come popping right out somewhere out there in the mountains. Either way, I’m gonna be in Cuzco for another 3-4 days, and I’m going to try and relax here.
I went looking around to see if I can’t get my rear brake pads looked at to see if they’re working, and also get my air filter cleaned out because I thought that oil must have gotten in there somehow. Afterwards, I looked for a hostal with a garage, which, in Cuzco, is pretty much impossible to do near its historical center. So I checked my car into a garage near where all the hostals are supposed to be and walked.
I went through about 6 or 7 different hostals at least, all pretty much expensive ranging between 15-25 dollars. I finally find one, after about an hour or so of walking around, called Hostal Oasis. It’s cheap, at 20 soles (around 7 dollars), and plenty of gringos around. One couple from Germany (yes, Germans again!) see me through the window using my laptop. They say that they have some pictures they want to rearrange, and they hadn’t had the luxury of carrying around a laptop as backpackers. So we talk a bit about where we’ve been and where we’re going. He said that they started out at Santiago and it was starting to snow around end of April, beginning of May. So hopefully, by the time I get down to the very tip in the middle of August, it wouldn’t snow too bad.
That same night, I had also gone to a travel agency near the hostal. I meet a guy named John, who speaks pretty good English. He tells me the train stations are closed right now, but he can see if there are any cancellations. I use the internet for a bit and he gets back to me, saying that someone named Rafaele Canteno has cancelled his tickets. So I can go in his stead, but it will cost $145 ($28.50 for train ride each way, plus bus tickets, and ticket to Macchu Pichu 120 soles or about $40, and tour guide). Jeez, I wanted to go to Macchu Pichu, but also wanted to relax a bit before all of that. He says I need to meet him at 6AM and I will be back around 8PM. I go to pay the parking attendant another 10 soles for another night because I’ll be back way too late the next day.