THIS IS HOW IT ENDED (Monkey Run part 2)

We are two days in to this thing called the monkey run. 40 people from around the world were crazy enough to attempt to drive a thousand kilometers across Peru on these little things called monkey bikes. Hence the monkey onesies. This adventure is completely unsupported, and there's no set route.

I think about the worst possible thing.

Just happened, which is a pretty good recipe for an adventure.

My clutch literally snapped in half.

Especially since these motorcycles are reliably unreliable.

Oh. The starting line was in the town of Ayacucho, high in the Andes mountains. And we have eight days to get all the way to the finish line deep in the Amazon jungle.

Oh, what could possibly go wrong?

So far, we've only made it to here and still have to get here. Wondering how we're gonna finish before the cutoff. So are we. In case you missed part one of this series, let me catch you up.

You almost died.

First of all, we had to learn how to drive a manual motorcycle because neither of us had done that before. How do I stop?

He doesn't stop.

And besides my three minor wrecks, that's been going pretty well. We were off to a decent start. The views were beautiful, we met lots of friendly locals. But unfortunately, day two is when things started going downhill.

I think this is the fastest I've ever gotten sick in my life.

And neither of our motorcycles would start.

What a start to the morning he spilled the entire carburetor off of car's bike.

That night we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, desperate for a place to sleep.

But thankfully, this local family took us in and we got to have a sleepover with some several guinea pigs beneath our bed. After our 6am wakeup call to Madre literally chopping wood right next to our bed, we unfortunately realized our cold sleep did not help Nate's illness.

So after finally getting my motorcycle to start again, we said goodbye to our family and planned to have a nice easy drive to the next big town so that we could get Nate some medicine and a nice bed to rest and recover in. Spoiler alert. That is not what happened at all.

I think about the worst possible thing just happened.

Holy cow. We just drove 30km through a cloud on wet, gravelly roads.

I am completely frozen. Can you see how white my fingers are?

Oh, you're never gonna get better. I'm currently wearing every single piece of clothing that I brought.

I thought we were gonna throw away these monkey onesies after day one. I'm so glad we kept them.

It was supposed to be like a joke. I don't know what we would have done without it, honestly. We spent the next two hours descending down this mountain. Although it looks beautiful, we were pretty on edge and put our cameras away because we realized we were potentially driving through cartel country.

Thankfully, we made it down the mountain drama free. But we weren't celebrating yet. Here's where things started to go south.

We had to get across this river and there was only one way to get to the other side. Not going at the same time. We hadn't seen anyone else on this bridge and had no idea if it was safe. After he made it across, I had no choice but to follow.

Get me out of here. Help me.

Nice.

Not only is that the sketchiest bridge I've ever walked across, but I walked across it with a motorcycle.

Even though we had just spent all morning descending, it was already time to climb up and over another mountain. But little did we know this was the beginning of the worst road of the entire trip.

Let me tell you what these monkey bikes are not made for. Gravel roads with baseball sized gravel. Every time your front wheel hits one, it just shoots the bike in a different direction. We're literally having to walk the bikes up the hill. It's one of the most tiring things I've ever done.

I think about the worst possible thing just happened. We've been on this road for two hours. We haven't seen any other cars. We decided to stop and have a water break, Put my kickstand down, walked away. A bike fell over. And look at this. My clutch literally snapped in half. This means I can't change gears, can't turn the bike on. The bike is useless without this. We haven't seen any cars. This is by far the worst maintained road that we've been on. We're literally stuck in the middle of nowhere.

The only thing I can think is you or I take my bike up and try to find somebody with a truck or we try to start it without the clutch somehow. Just go in first the whole way up and then figure it out up there. I mean, I don't know what's up.

There, but it's got to be more than down here. Yeah, well, so much for making it to the big town with a pharmacy. I was literally just thinking, if one of us popped a tire on one of these sharp rocks, we would be in so much trouble. And something even worse happened. I cannot believe this.

I just can't stop the rest of the way.

This is so crazy.

Rarely does the situation get so intense and challenging that we don't pick up the camera. But that's what happened here. Just trust us when we say that this afternoon was the most challenging of the entire trip.

Real quick, Nate, from the future here. As you can tell, this is a bit of a spoiler alert that we did indeed survive the monkey run. But just because you're watching this and I'm sitting in a nice hotel doesn't mean that we actually finished. So you have to keep watching. But for now, I want to say a big thank you to our sponsor of this video, Surf Shark. Surf Shark has been sponsoring our adventures for years now. And they are also a tool that we have in our traveler toolbox that we believe everyone should be using. Because if you're traveling or just moving around from place to place every day, there's a good chance that you're connecting to public WI fi, which could be a gold mine for hackers. And a VPN can help protect you from that. A VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and it encrypts all the data set between your computer and the Internet so that no one can steal your sensitive information. But it does get more fun than that. Let's say maybe you're sick in a foreign country and all you want to do is veg out and watch your favorite TV show. Depending on your location, that show might not be available on your streaming platform. But VPN allows you to easily change the virtual location of your computer and get access to a completely new content library, allowing you to watch your favorite TV show. If you don't already have a vpn, we highly recommend Surfshark. We've been using it for years now and it is the only VPN to offer one account for unlimited devices. Plus, if you use our code karenate, you can get 83% off plus three extra months for free. And there's a 30 day money back guarantee, so there is no risk to try it out. To get started, just click the link in the description below. Okay, that's all the energy I have. Back to the bike ride.

Oh my gosh, that was the most exhausting drive. But we have made it to civilization. We were literally pushing our bikes up this mud hill into the first town that we've seen in forever. Look how much mud is caked on my tires. And my bike literally shut down right in front of a mechanic shop. Like, what are the chances? And then next thing we knew, he took off Nate's clutch. So hopefully he's about to fix that too.

So when we first stopped to ask if he could help fix the clutch and he said no. Then I think he could see how desperate we were. So now he's pulled the clutch off of this bigger motorcycle, used an angle grinder to cut it down to size, drilled holes in it and he's going to try to fit it on this tiny bike.

No away.

Well he start.

You good?

Not the best place to check your clutch.

Just cross the eyes.

What a legend. I love it. With the pencil and his ear and everything. My eyes are tearing up. Just the fact that this worked out. We could have still been on the side of a mountain with no one. I love these people.

Can't get in my pocket these stupid pants.

He was only going to charge me $5 for that anyway. I tried to give him more money, he refused. But I eventually made it. Crazy.

Can't believe.

Amazing.

Wow. Fancy.

Oh my gosh.

I never thought we would get here. Look at my leg.

I'm so wet.

We are so dirty. I haven't even brushed my teeth today. Oh, today was just full on. From the moment I was conscious this morning. Literally I woke up to madre chopping wood and it has just been non stop. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my whole life.

Day 4 feels like it's been a lifetime.

So yesterday I was probably feeling a 2 out of 10. Today I have a little bit more of my voice back and I'm feeling maybe 5 out of 10. Still a bit feverish, but way better than yesterday. But up until this point it has been all that we could do to make it from point A to point B. And that's included driving in the dark every single night. And we have made it 340km in total in three days. We have 3 and 12 days left until the finish line party which is the cut off for finishing the monkey run. And we have 664km left. So basically we have to do twice as much mileage every day just to make it to the finish line. Which may sound impossible, but I think we have about two hours left on dirt roads today. And then we connect to a highway. The plan was to avoid the highway because that's where on dangerous, dangerous traffic is. But at this point we have no other option if we want to finish. So that's the plan.

Here we go.

Day four.

She's going. It is sunny, it is warm and we are gonna drive so far today.

The next two hours are potentially our last two hours on bad roads this whole trip and I as soon as we hit the highway, I'm gonna miss These back roads in a weird way. So, yeah, today is all about embracing the chaos, soaking in the views, waving at all the locals and the cows.

Monkey run, day four. Let's go.

Look at that monkey go. This road is so fun. It's like I'm playing Mario Kart. I'm going max speed and avoiding the potholes. And these mountains are gorge.

Deduction. This road is a little bumpy, but Honestly, it is 100 times better than yesterday. 200 times better, and best of all, it is right. I am so happy right now. Check this out. Oh, my gosh. I love Screw. We're never going to make it because we keep stopping and taking photos. Look at these switchbacks.

Holas.

This is amazing. This turn on day one would have freaked me the heck out. Not today, baby.

Not that we needed any more drama, but I just crashed a drone into the side of the mountain, and I had to climb down to get it. And it might as well been Mount Everest. Climbing back up here with the way I feel. Oh, my gosh.

I'm a tiny bit embarrassed to admit this, but we learned this morning, day four, the proper way to start these bikes. I was having trouble starting it, as usual, and our host at the hotel came over to Nate and showed him how to just barely turn the. I don't even know the proper words.

Well, we got the drone back. It only took me about 30 minutes to find it, so.

So there's, like, the start button, and then you kind of pull the handle back to get it started. I've just been going all the way back like full sin to start it, and it's just like.

He just pulled it back just the slightest, like, not even half an inch.

Started.

No problem. I think I've been the problem. Better late than never, I guess.

Little traffic jam this morning.

Oh, shoot. You'd think I'd have the hang of that by now.

Can't believe it. After two days on gravel road, we finally found pavement. Wow, this feels so luxurious.

Oh, the kids are so cute.

Three people on one motorcycle. Hola, Unaquino. Chocolate. Gracias.

Gracias.

Life is good. We have ice cream. We're on paved roads. I'm feeling optimistic right now that we're gonna make it. This morning, I was convinced we were trying to do the impossible.

We kind of embraced the last two hours a little too much because it ended up taking us three. So instead of stopping for a proper lunch, we're having ice cream and Doritos.

All right, so we're currently in the town of Eurepa. And we've decided let's not even set a goal for tonight. We're just gonna drive as far as we can. And if we don't set a goal, we can't fail.

If you look at a map right now at how far we've come and how far we still have to go, it doesn't even feel like we've left. Like, I could have walked to where we are. Right. Also, both of our ice creams together. Seven soles.

All right, back on the bike.

Look at that city.

Oh, scary.

Are they fine? This is 400 kilometers.

Llamas. Oh, my gosh, there's even babies. Oh, my gosh. We have arrived in llama town. Look at us. There's like a thousand.

I'm honestly not sure how it gets better. The kilometers are ticking away. We're on top of the Andes. There's a herd of alpaca behind us. It's sunny. Oh, today is so good.

We are not in the mountains anymore. I'm in a little bit of, like.

Culture shock right now.

Cheers. Okay, so mileage wise, today has been our biggest day yet. And it is only 4:32, which means we still have two hours of daylight. We've made it to Andalias, and we have stopped for a coffee. Now we have a very important decision to make. The question is, do we stop here, find a hotel before it gets dark, or do we press on through what looks like an incoming rainstorm and most likely end up driving in the dark just like we have every night? The problem is, according to Google Maps, there are no hotels for 150km. So once we start, there's no turning back. And there's a chance we'll be driving until midnight. But we know if we stop now, then that's just that much more mileage that we have to do for the last two and a half days?

Wow.

I hate to complain, but this is the smallest night.

All right, so we're taking a risk. We decided to stay put for the night. Honestly, I just started feeling terrible again. I've got the sweats and I. Yeah, I did not want to be stuck in the rain in the dark between two towns. But that means that we have to do almost 300 kilometers of driving tomorrow. It sounds impossible, and it probably is, but the plan is to get up at 6am and be heading out. I don't know. We're close to not finishing at this point.

To be fair, we haven't left earlier than 9:30 this whole time.

And tomorrow will be our first day doing all highway driving, so it is possible I'm just not in a good place right now.

Yeah, you need to go to bed. Wow. I just had my first hot shower of the whole trip. And we just had the most delicious quinoa for dinner. I'm feeling so refreshed. Nate and I did end up getting two separate rooms. Just wanted him to have the best night's sleep possible. But since I'm alone, I just wanted to take this opportunity just to say how much I admire Nate. Like I don't say it enough, but he constantly blows me away with his determination, his good attitude. With his determination, his good attitude, his strength. I am perfectly healthy right now, and I literally almost didn't make it yesterday. I cannot fathom what it must be like to do what we're doing right now while being sick. And he has not complained a single time. I'm just proud of him. I love him so much. I hope he gets better also. I think we've hit a new low. We got coffees to go, and in the morning, I'm gonna have room temperature coffee from the night before.

That's where we are right now.

All right. We got some good sleep last night. We have 12 hours until the sun sets. Let's see if we can do 300 km.

So far, so good.

Come on.

I know how to solve this problem.

Getting up at 5am was so worth it. This early morning drive was beautiful. The sun was shining, there was hardly any traffic, and we made amazing time. 300km all the way to Cusco. Just kidding. This is the monkey run. Nothing went as planned. Let me tell you what really happened about 30 minutes into the drive this morning. It got to the point where I could have run faster than my bike was moving. So we pulled over to check it out. We tightened some things, we loosened some things, we tweaked the chain, we cleaned the filter.

Most manly thing I've ever done.

But somehow I think we just made it worse. We've been feeling really behind schedule and worried about making it to the finish line in time. Plus, with Nate still being sick, I was so hopeful we'd get to Cusco today. This sucks. I'm just mad. It's already 8 o'. Clock. This is supposed to be our big day. We're 30 minutes outside of town. It's looking like we're gonna have to go back.

Let's go back up there real quick.

I was emotional for lots of reasons, but I really just felt like it was my fault. We weren't gonna make it Next, we went on a hunt for oil, thinking maybe that would help because mine was low.

Is that oil?

Yeah.

Yay. Hopefully that fixes it. But it didn't. After what felt like an eternity, we finally made it 150km to the next big town where we could see a mechanic. Thankfully, a nice man met us on the street and literally used his bare hands to adjust some things on our bike. Thirty seconds later, he claimed my motorcycle was fixed. Well, that's not good. Supposed to look like that finally snapped.

Well, if you missed the first episode. I spent the majority of training day building those baskets on the back of our bikes, and I was pretty proud that they had held up this long. But I finally broke off in traffic, and by some miracle, my backpack did not fall out.

How did our bikes survive the mountains, but they can't survive city paved roads?

The mistake we made today was setting expectations that we were going to do a lot of driving. It's almost comical at this point, honestly. Like, what else could we. I'm not even gonna say it, but we did find a really nice guy who has now cut all my hack job off, and now he is actually going to solder a piece of metal onto the rack to hold the basket. So surely that will get my backpack to the end of this journey. If I had to go out on a limb, I'm going to say we're not going to make 300km today.

I really respect this guy. He's not cutting any corners. He's been working on this for a very long time, and it looks really nice. I want to get mine done, but one, I feel kind of bad because this is probably not what he enjoys doing. And also, we got to get on the road. We're just going to hope mine stays.

Look at this beauty. I'm not sure how the people at the Monkey Run are going to feel about me permanently affixing a rack to the back of their bike, but it's on there now. To the end of this journey. If I had to go out on a limb, I'm going to say we're not going to make 300km today.

I really respect this guy. He's not cutting any corners. He's been working on this for a very long time, and it looks really nice. I want to get mine done, but one, I feel kind of bad because this is probably not what he enjoys doing. And also, we gotta get on the run. We have $300 deposits on both of these. I think when we pull up to the finish line, we're just gonna say, keep it. Just don't even look at it. Just keep it. We're just gonna hope mine stays.

Look at this beauty. I'm not sure how the people at the monkey run are gonna feel about me permanently affixing a rack to the back of their bike, but it's on there now.

We had $300 deposits on both of these. I think when we pull up to the finish line, we're just going to say, keep it. Just don't even look at it. Just keep it.

We asked how much and he said nada wasn't going to charge us. We've been here for an hour. He's worked on both of our bikes. Of course, we gave him money, but the fact that he said no, I love this place.

Okay, we got about four hours of sunlight left, and we're just going to make it as far as we can with no expectations. I'm not even going to look for hotels on google maps.

We asked how much, and he said nada wasn't going to charge us. We've been here for an hour. He's worked on both of our bikes. Of course we gave him money, but the fact that he said no, I love this place.

Okay, we got about four hours of sunlight left, and we're just going to make it as far as we can with no expectations. I'm not even going to look for hotels on google maps. We're just going to drive until it gets dark. Let's do this.

That mechanic was really good at building a rack but not so good at fixing bikes. We're just going to drive until it gets dark. Let's do this.

That mechanic was really good at building a rack but not so good at fixing bikes. Kara's bike might be going slower than it was this morning. I literally think I can run uphill faster than it's going.

It's ridiculous.

Karen's bike might be going slower than it was this morning. I literally think I can run uphill faster than it's going.

It's ridiculous.

In moto. Gracias.

All right.

We're gonna get the idea of mechanic. One last shot before it gets dark. Honestly not feeling hopeful.

Yeah. Here we go.

Got it.

That is.

All right.

We're going to get fighting mechanic. One last shot before it gets dark. Honestly not feeling hopefully.