Adventure Machu Picchu - ACP2602
Our first riding day! Out of Arequipa first, well done riders! Because of the landslides at the coast the last couple or weeks we had to reroute a little bit. Through the fog over the last mountain barrier towards the sea, then we follow the beautiful shore North, reaching the lovely Puerto Inca beach just when it got dark. A long beautiful day!!
Firstly the gravel road back to the famous Panamarica then we ride further North until the fossil museo in the middle of the desert. Interesting place and unbelievable how the earth must have been a 5 Million years ago. After to Nasca to see the geoglyphics from the plane...what an experience!
From 600m to 4,000m in 80km – spectacular! And real curves, great to ride! In a small hut, we get coca tea, which is good for our altitude adjustment. Vicuñas and alpacas to the right and left of the road across the high plateau. We are in the Pampa Galeras National Park, the colors are different. Later a few huts, then it goes up to 4,500m, wow! And the weather is good to us. At a lagoon, another coca tea before we start the descent. Curves, curves, curves, and then we head up over 4,000m again with our motorcycles. After that, a great ride through the Pachamarca Valley until we reach Chalhuanca. What a day!
The landscape changes, it is green, eucalyptus trees (not native) line the streets, different types of rock, very diverse. And endless mountain passes, up and down, the roads have good grip, the trucks are the spice in the soup, great fun. The main road towards Ollantaytambo is full of potholes and landslides, and even around Ollantaytambo it's only dirt roads when we arrive at our beautiful hotel in the dark. Everyone is in a good mood despite today's effort, a super day of driving with lots of impressions!
Today it's getting touristy, but still beautiful! We are becoming more and more people on this earth, and Machu Picchu is visited by 1.5 million people per year, so everything has to be accompanied and managed.And as written, our one-and-a-half-hour drive through the Urubamba Valley along the Inca Trail was nevertheless great. The rock walls become steeper and steeper and the vegetation more and more jungle-like. Spectacular, just like our view of the former Inca city at 2,400m between the 3,000m high mountains. Many theories from scholars, but there is no written record of this advanced civilization. Incredible, just as there is supposedly said to have been no money and no trade. A very interesting day, and tomorrow back on the motorcycle!
Today it's only 100km to Cusco and just one 'small' pass until we land at 3,400 meters—peanuts for our drivers! Passing by the hotel, we head straight to Sacsayhuamán, another sacred Inca site with a view over Cusco. We take a guide for the interesting tour, past works of art weighing tons... one of the stones built into the three-story wall, which fits so perfectly that not even a pin fits into the joints, weighs 120 tons!In the afternoon, all our guests explore Cusco along different paths, a fascinating city full of life!
An early start gets us well out of Cusco. A good 100 km through agricultural areas cultivated over generations follow; many houses are still built of mud brick, and people work the fields with their bare hands. A coffee stop, and then we drive up the Abra de Raya Pass at 4,335 meters—the colors become more intense, as does the play of clouds in the sky. In Pukara, we visit a small museum; it is unimaginable that people in ancient times settled in this harsh environment at almost 4,000 meters. Black rain clouds alternate with sunshine as we drive through chaotic Juliaca, and then continue over the highlands to Puno on Lake Titicaca at 3,800 meters, where we will spend the night. What a day!
This morning, we are visiting the Uros people on their floating reed islands made of totora on Lake Titicaca. We hop into the boat for our family visit on one of the 120 islands. The Uros valued their freedom even back in Inca times and would retreat onto the lake with their islands whenever danger approached.We continue our journey on the motorcycles, riding up onto the Altiplano, and the weather is on our side. It is unbelievable where people manage to live. We bypass roadworks by going off-road, saving ourselves a 1.5-hour total road closure. We keep climbing higher and higher up to 4,910 meters—Patapampa, the highest pass of our tour. A spectacular volcanic landscape surrounds us, and it is biting cold. We ride down toward Chivay in endless curves. A great day!
Our last riding day, gone so fast again... but before we head to Arequipa and climb yesterday’s pass with its beautiful curves above 4,900 meters once more, we want to see the condors! The road along the Colca Canyon is beautiful, and the views are breathtaking. And the majesties of the skies are already circling as we arrive at Cruz del Cóndor. Wow, the elegance with which these giant birds glide past us just a few meters away! A fantastic experience. A free ride back with plenty of photo stops before we screw our way back up to 4,900 meters. Great weather at the top of the pass, and we spend some time there in the solitude, looking at the 6,000-meter volcanoes all around us. The route takes us back across the Altiplano, with vicuñas, alpacas, guanacos, and flamingos right next to the road... Then we prepare for our final descent into Arequipa. Once in the city, it’s the usual chaos, and we arrive happy at our starting hotel. A superb tour full of unforgettable experiences comes to an end. A huge thank you to Sylvana and Peter, Dave, Michael, and Guido for an amazing time!!