Cusco to La Paz, Bolivia

Just before getting on the train to head up to Machu Picchu I met up with Matze totally unexpected, and great to have the company again. That night we got onto a train in route to Agua Caliente(the town at the base of Machu Picchu), the train drove 28 kilometer through the ¨Sacred Valley¨, 80 dollars later. The town of Agua Calliente is a very touristy town, its sole purpose is to milk the tourists. I wanted really bad not to go to Machu Picchu since mode to get there was as deviant as a tramp in church(Tourists pay 80 dollars locals pay 30 soles(10 dollars)).

After I got over the 80 dollar train ride and the 40 dollar entrance fee to the park Machu Picchu was really worth it. The moutains that huddled in on Machu Picchu are very attractive. I had a hard time only spending 9 hours there. Machu Picchu is a place that is poplular for a good reason. Its beauty is spectacular, there are few places I have visited that I would compare to Machu Picchu. I took alot of good photos of this place(It would be really hard not to), but i cant find a computor fast enough to upload them. Frustrating as a one legged man in a.... yeah its no good.



Back on the road from Cusco to Puno was a really great ride and I would recommend it to anyone. The roads are flat for the majority and the mountains and little pueblos(villages) are really sweet. Though at one point the road gradually slopes upward to 4,600 meter to an elevation that actually made my nose bleed. Everyday it was hard to see the sun go down. I have said that places are amazing and I really mean it, but this road I want to say was a good as good. Cusco to Puno I would walk that stretch.

Photo- My nose bleed in the altiplano

Puno was something else, I pulled into Puno(the largest town on Lake Titicaca) at 4 on my birthday after the worst rain and hail storm I have ever seen. The town of Puno was not much to see, the islands made of reed on Lake Titicaca were really amazing but were played out by the locals begging and trying to sell souvenirs. It made a good thing bad.

After Puno we rode the shore of Lake Titicaca for some 200 kilometers before entering the farout land of Bolivia. It seems everytime I cross the boarder of a new country the terrain changes drasticly, Bolivia was no acception. The roads in Bolivia have been really really great. The weather is like something out of Hollywood, Its in the 80´s and sunny, then in 30 seconds its 40 and hailing. Its hard to be equipted for everything, I find myslef putting on and taking of my rain gear 8 times per day.


We camped just outside of La Paz, Bolivia last night in ruins of an old clay farm house. The night was starry and cool, Matze and I exchanged stories that were lived at home for christmas. Suddenly I saw a flashlight across the field from us, I quickly turned off my headlamp trying to stay low-key. As I did this the flashlight turned off, we waited for what seemed like about an hour. I was really freaked out being in a new country, especially one that sounds as crazy as its name, Bolivia. We got into our tents at 8, and tried to write down the adventures for the day so we could remeber them when we are washed up. Lights started flashing, and the thunder shook, the night from hell was about to begin. I started to get really worried about the tripod that was holding my tent up, feeling that it would make a great conductor for a bolt of lightning. I got up and took the tripod 50 feet away to ease the tension. I woke up with it feeling like I had soiled my entire tent during the coarse of the night. Then opened my tent to feel the 35 degree air rush in and overtake the stench of a sleezy biker. My tent had lost its waterproofing and I did´nt notice till it was vital. While pulling my sleeping bag out of my tent I saw the 2 inches of water my tent housed. Everything I needed to keep dry was now wet, and to make things interesting the air outside created frost on the pompa bushes. I tried my best to not throw a temper tantrum while shoving my wet gear back into my bag. Then took back to the road to create some body heat.

Bienvenidos a Bolivia, this country is going to be good.

Cusco

Photos from Lima to Cusco

Before I returned to Peru a freinds aunt gave me a bunch of hats to give to the indigenous people in the mountains. It felt good to give out hats when people asked for money. I think I had an extra 5 Lbs. of hats when I got into the mountains of peru, it took 2 days to get rid of them. The photo of the lone girl on the top row is wearing a hat I wore when i was 10.

Disfruta vida

Lima to Cuzco

Nothing feels better than being wet and cold riding a bike through the pompas at 12,000 feet. Said goodbye to the desert and pushed up into a mountain range that everyone I had talked to told me it was simply not passible on a bike. The 1st climb into the mountains out of Nasca, Peru put me above the clouds to an area of altiplano 40 kilometers in length. The road then desended into a super surreal valley. The road descended 5000 feet into a lush valley of farm fields and rivers clear as those in Canada. Upon arriving at the valley floor the road immediatly climbed to 10,000 feet then descended to the pueblo of Puquio. As I dropped into town I was invited in for a tea at a little restaraunt on the main street of this small village. At this point it was 7 at night and I had been on my bike for a little over13 hours. The owner of the restaraunt treated me to dinner than let me stay there for the night. In return I peeled about 100 potatoes for him and folded napkins, it felt great to make an even trade. In the morning as I peddaled out of town a drunk offered me a shot of pisco, it might have been 5:30 am. After taking a shot of pisco I took back to the road ahead which would climb to 15,000 feet in a distence of 80 kilometers. My lungs began to burn from the elevation around noon and my water depleted an hour before I could find a river to pump some water from. Just above me in the moutains were snow-rimmed peaks. The road went on at this elevation for a little over a 100 miles then switchbacked down into the valley of Challahuanca. I camped 20 Kilometers before town behind a big rock to not be seen from the road. The road rolled up and down for the next 300 kilometers and two days of biking. This place deserves another visit, southern peru is really something to see.
hope all is well

Quinn-