Black Dogs In The Dark

As someone who grew up in the city my exposure to livestock is limited to farms I’ve passed and The Keg. Beyond that I’ve never really come into close contact with a cow, pig or sheep at all. This all changed in the time it took to round a corner somewhere short of Ollantaytambo. In this part of the world farmers walk, yes I said walk, their cattle to and from fields on the road. My speed comparative to a herd of cows is pretty quick which means the time between... “hey that’s neat!...to “how the hell do I get around this pile of cows?” is shorter than the guy tending to them.

The first experience wouldn’t be the last as the light of day faded into a pink and orange blend. The loss of light was adding to the challenge of spot the flock of sheep. This part of Peru had no street lights and the Transalps light begins to cut a narrow hallway in the growing darkness. The team is spread out and the red glow of taillights serves as a guide. Approaching Larry as he slows I notice the old bike is once again in protest. The rear wheel has begun to wobble as the axle bolts have slipped. He pulls over as the support truck tucks in behind him in the dark to once again work on the bike. I accelerate into night to catch Aldo and let him know what’s happened.

Confident that Carlo Miguel and Kiko Molina would help Larry out, we continued on. Following Aldo I notice his usual pace has been replaced by a much more cautious one. This proved to be some good logic as the flash of a black dog bolts out from in front of Aldo’s front wheel. I didn’t see the approach, I only saw the departure. How Aldo didn’t hit the dog and crash is still something I cannot answer. It’s also relatively certain that had he collided I would have likely been caught up in the mess.

Ollayntaytambo is a very old and very beautiful little town with cobble stone streets and wheel eating drainage tracks. Searching for the hotel found us behind and truck squeezing its way between the buildings lining the one lane roads. The truck clipped a cable hanging over the road and it dropped forcing us to stop and evaluate the potential of electrocution. Someone just jumped out, grabbed the wire without much concern and we quickly passed underneath.

Finally arriving at the hotel we were greeted with nerve calming cups of tea and a roaring fire. The arrival made the treacherous ride in worthwhile. Well that and of course tomorrow it’s Machu Picchu.