Motorcycle Explorer September 2016 Issue 13 | Page 58

After riding all day the road finally opened up and we could see the village of Tacabamba below. The sun
was quickly setting, and we knew we would be losing the light fast behind the tall mountains. With
camping opportunities looking to be very limited as the road passed through farming lands en route to the
village we stopped to speak with two ladies that were standing next to the road. There was a
communications tower that overlooked the town and we were wondering if we could camp there. The
ladies were a spunky pair and while I could not hear their animated conversation with Alberto I could see
that it was loud and involved plenty of exaggerated hand gestures. When Alberto returned to discuss our
options with me he said that the ladies had given him a right talking to. They informed him there was a
path to the tower and assured him it was fine to travel as they rode their bikes along it every day. The path
looked more heavily used by donkeys and pedestrians than motorcycles but just the same we went for it. It
was tricky riding but we managed to find a decent location to pitch the tent. As we were setting up the tent
the ladies came walking past to shame us for not driving all the way up to the tower. Just making it to
where we had the tent was hard enough!