Chapter II
My First UFOsSaturday morning I awoke to the peaceful, quiet
beauty of an Andean sunrise. There was not one cloud in
the bright blue sky. The only place in the world where I
remember ever seeing a sky like that was in Greece some
years ago. I got out of bed to the sound of the flowing
river and singing birds. A gentle, caressing breezf'
completed the perfection of that moment.
The day promised to be a good one to ride around the
Andes Mountains on Richard's motorcycle. I felt relaxed
and refreshed without a trace of yesterday's ills. Ap
parently my whole system had already become accli
mated to the extremely high altitude.
I dressed quickly and hurried down to the bathhouse. I
was lucky to find an open pool, because Saturday was the
day many people come here to take their mineral bath. I
stayed in the water about half an hour before realizing
my appetite had returned. I went back to the hotel for a
hearty and delicious breakfast. Then I got on the bike
and drove around the mountains and valleys without a
thought of the big city. No traffic lights, pollution, speed
signs or traffic anywhere. For the first time I was able to
open up the throttle on the four-cylinder Honda. The
only sounds I heard were those produced by the echo of
this powerful bike racing full blast.
I was thoroughly enjoying myself. Suddenly I realized
I was approaching the top of the Lima-Huancayo drive,
about forty kilometers from where I had seen the UFO
contact sign yesterday. I wanted to see it again, and I had
the gear to protect me from the cold now. When I got to
the sign I stopped, got off the bike, lit my pipe and read
both sides of the sign more carefully.
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