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| Arequipa - Tacna – Arica (20-25/12/2010) | 12 km parcourus |
Nous sommes restés si longtemps au Pérou qu'il a décidé de nous adopter. C'est bien simple, il a tout fait pour nous empêcher de partir. Sacré Pérou va !
Km 26 avant la frontière.
Le vent à décidé de ne pas nous jouer les mêmes mauvais tours que les jours précédent et c'est à une allure soutenue de 30 km/heure que nous fonçons vers la frontière chilienne.
Km 25 avant la frontière.
Après avoir un peu trainaillé une centaine de mètres derrière Corinne, j'enclenche le turbo et la rejoint pour mener un train soutenu..
Km 24 avant la frontière.
Tout se passe très vite.
Je vois un chien me foncer dessus. Il arrive presque de face et se retrouve très vite, trop vite près de moi. Par réflexe, je freine brusquement afin de m'arrêter oubliant que Corinne est juste derrière moi.
Je sens à peine ma roue arrière bouger, j'ai juste le temps de me retourner pour voir Corinne dévier vers le centre de la chaussée. Je retourne la tête à peine un dixième de seconde en direction du chien qui s'est volatilisé comme si il n'avait jamais existé et là, BARDAF, j'entends le vilain bruit du métal qui frappe et racle le sol.
Corinne est affalée, la tête en sang, gémissant à m'en donner la chair de poule.
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| Même pas mal ! |
Dès ce moment, les événements se bousculent. Je cours vers elle et essaye en même temps d'arrêter bus et voiture qui viennent à contre sens.
L'attroupement est rapide, une trousse de secours arrive, sortant de je ne sais quel véhicule.
Corinne a pu se relever, s'asseoir sur une sacoche et, après une évaluation rapide des dégâts, monter dans un bus en direction de l'hôpital.
Tout a été vraiment très vite. Tellement vite que je ne l'ai même pas vu monter dans le bus. Le temps que je déplace les vélos sur le bas-côté et elle avait disparu.
Un brave péruvien a alors réussis à engouffrer nos deux vélos et bagages dans son coffre arrière afin de me conduire à l'hôpital.
Là, aux urgences, Corinne attendait, assise sur une chaise, à moitié groggy.
Mais au fait, qu'attendait-on pour la soigner ? Que j'arrive et que je me rende à la pharmacie des urgences pour y faire la queue et acheter le nécessaire pour la soigner.
Incroyable ! Ici il faut payer avant de se faire soigner, même aux urgences.
L'hôpital semble être assez moderne, mais son administration est d'une lourdeur incroyable.
Au total, Corinne s'en sortira avec une grosse frayeur, l'arcade sourcière ouverte par le bris de ses lunettes solaires, le coude ouvert mais apparemment pas cassé et de multiples contusions.
A l'heure où je vous écrits, nous avons finalement passé la frontière (en bus) et nous trouvons à Arica où nous passerons quelques jours, le temps de vérifier que les plaies ne soient pas infectées et le temps également de pouvoir retirer les points de sutures.
Allez, on garde le moral, dans quelques jours nous serons à nouveau sur la route.
| Arequipa - Tacna – Arica (12/20-25/2010) | 12 km cycled |
We stay 2 days in Arequipa (=the white city of Peru, as they call it here, because of the many colonial (white) buildings). It seems a little like Cuzco to me (=with many tourists, tour-operators, museums and restaurants..., but without indians (=there aren't as much here)).
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| Plaza de Armas, Arequipa |
There are many tourists here, because (apart from the city) there are many things to see in this region, like the impressif Colca-Canyon, volcano's and lakes, and more...
I think it must be very nice to cycle there too, but Enzo wants to get as soon as possible to Chile and leave Peru. He is also again a little sick (=some undefinable pain in the belly(?))
The second day I go to a museum of (ice-)mummies (=about 500 years old (=Incas), mostly children (girls) between 12 and 14 years old, sacrified by the Inca to the Gods and buried on the top of the volcano. The most famous one is 'Juanita'. In fact they are not really mommies, because they are not mummified (=they have all their organs) but these bodies are very well preserved because of the ice, and like that a lot of info of the past can be investigated/discovered.
There is so much to see in Peru that you could stay a whole year and still not seen all. We (for example) still have'nt (really) go into the selva (=jungle).
As Enzo wants to move on, we take again a bus (=to Tacna) which we reserved in the center (with 'Cruz del Sur'= this is the company most tourists travel with, because it would be more 'secure' (=the other day we saw again in the Peruvian news that a bus was attacked/robed), but it is also the most expensive one, but we had not much choice, as all travel-agencies in Arequipa only work with them...).
We had to be in the terminal at 6am (=so we got up at 5am), but arrived there, they don't want to take our bikes... Luckily to give us the total-price back, so we go to the other terminal, with the other (less expensive) companies, and not even an hour later we're on another bus, direction Tacna (for half the price than with Cruz del Sur !).
The route to Tacna is again desert and wind, so also here, no much regrets doing this by bus... (=we had our dosis of this).
Tacna is a nice town : the last one (30kms before) the Chilenian border. And it is always a little strange to see how these 'desert'-towns can function = they seem to miss nothing here. It also seems quiet rich (and more civilized) here, compared to the mountain-villages, and compared to for example the first village after the Equatorian-border. It is all Peru, but yet so different : here are no moto-taxis, no noisy and chaotic street-scenery, but instead : bigger/newer cars, pizzerias and +/-fashionable dressed people.
The next day we're ready to make the 40kms by bike to Arica. Although there is wind we are able to cycle a good tempo (=we make more than 30kms/h). Cool, that means that in about an hour we cross the border... but... again, bad luck.
At this speed of 30km/h, I was cycling right behind Enzo (=protecting for the wind), as suddenly he slows down very promptly (without any announcement !)... I don't have time enough to brake, so I try to avoid him, going to the left (=to the road-side), but still, my front-luggage hits his back-luggage, which is enough to make me lose balance, and fall (hardly) on the ground... (=The reason Enzo had stopped so brusquely (=instinctively, thereby forgetting I was right behind) was for a dog running up to him... Damn...)
The moment I felt my head hitting the ground, I thought 'This is bad'...
I had a lot of pain (=not so much the head and arm that were open and bleeding), but my whole right side (=leg, hip, ribs, arm and shoulder)... I try to get up, but immediately think 'I better sit (or even lye) down again... no, too painfull= I can't sit still and (although I don't cry) I cannot help myself of screaming= I am a little in shock...
Quickly, a bunch of people surround me. One girl holds some ether (or alcohol) under my nose, to calm me down... (=which helps, as soon I start to say that I think it is not too bad).
I still feel very groggy and my body hurts (because of the hard smash), but I realize that I don't have anything broken. (=I have been very lucky, but most of all because there was no car on the road the moment I fell).
Still, the people insist I go to a hospital for checkup. They are very nice : guiding me to a bus (that had stopped, and all passengers where looking at the scenery), driving me back to Tacna and there guiding me to the hospital by taxi (=leaving Enzo and the 2 bikes behind)...
In the hospital I get a brief checkup, and they mention that the (finally minor) lesions (upper-right-eye and right-elbow) better get some punctures. Very quickly I see Enzo appear. (=he did very fast). I don't like so much making this punctures here (as it all seems a little unorganized), but I don't have much choice. I hope it's well done (=I will see that later, so far I didn't wanted to look in any mirror).
Leaving the hospital, I still have quiet some pain on all the right side and my body feels heavy and tired (which will last a few days more).
We take a bus to Arica =it is the first time that we pass a border by bus, and not by bike... it starts to look more like a bus-trip instead of a bike-trip... :-(
I'm a little sad this happened just now, because in Chile we had planned a (very) though parcours (=maybe the most difficult of the whole trip), so, I hope I'll recuperate fast (and completely) soon...
In meantime we stay in Arica... It's so different from Peru (=girls with shorts and bare-legs-skirts, fast-foods,...) =Enzo makes a joke about it : 'After I fell, I suddenly woke-up in another world'.
