More climbing than I ever thought possible

From Copacabana on the Bolivian shores of Lake Titicaca we crossed the magical line that separates Bolivia and Peru. All of the sudden we were in a different world. The landscape remained unchanged and the ladies still wore fancy hats and carried their possessions in colourful blankets, but all of the sudden there were motorcycle taxis and towns seemingly everywhere. After the desolateness of the Bolivian plains it was a novelty to end up in a town or city with places to stay and places to eat every night.

The other things that remained the same were freezing cold nights and the suicide electrical showers that can electrocute you if you accidentally touch the metal bit of the tap (Ty found this out the hard way).

Marching band practices were in full swing everywhere we went and more than one sleepless night was encountered due to parties that continued on at full volume until the sun came back up.

In the town of Puno we had our last trout dinner before saying goodbye to Lake Titicaca and climbing up and out of the city.

Final views of Lake Titicaca and the end of our fresh fish meals

After many days of riding the mostly flat Altiplano plains we slowly made our way up a long mountain pass into a heavy headwind. We met another cyclist at the top who was even carrying his guitar with him. As we flew down the other side of the pass the landscape completely changed and all of a sudden there were steep mountain peaks surrounding us as we rode along the bottom of a valley full of farms and small villages.

Ty talking over routes with another cyclist we meet at the top of the pass

Guinea pigs aren't just pets in Peru. The one food we never got a chance to try...

Festival activities continue the next morning after a sleepless night for us

Our route eventually took us to the city of Cusco, our largest city so far in Peru. After navigating the busy traffic and fortunately getting to ride on a cycle pathway for a large portion of the journey into the city we arrived at the awesome hostel that is known amongst the cycle touring community as the place to stay in Cusco. We met a bunch of other cyclists including a French family with three young kids in tow!

Festival season was in full swing in Cusco and the large amount of people plus the large amount of tourists was quite overwhelming. We did however take advantage of the plethora of restaurants serving any kind of food you could possibly want. Once we were tired of the the constant hassle of hawkers and being jostled around the crowded streets we would escape to the quiet courtyard of our hostel.

The old part of Cusco contained lots of interesting buildings, alleyways and cobblestone streets.

After a few days resting up we departed Cusco with Titouan, a French cyclist who had cycled all the way from Ushuaia and is planning on cycling to Alaska.

After escaping the chaos of the city we were excited to see the landscape open back up into fields and trees. This also marked the beginning of some massive climbs and descents through the incredible mountains of Peru.

It is funny how the dogs in each country we visited in South America differed so much. The Chilean dogs were friendly and the Peruvian dogs were aggressive. Multiple times a day we would be chased by packs of dogs barking, growling and getting within inches of our legs or bikes.

One of our daily dog encounters while taking a break

Surrounded by hills that we would soon be climbing up and over

Lunch stop. Every meal in Peru starts with soup

Our first night out of Cusco with camping spots in short supply we spent the night in an abandoned building with quite the view. The only downside being that we provided a very tasty metal for hordes of biting insects. We spent days covered in itchy welts as a result.

We departed early the next morning to tackle our biggest climb of the entire trip. 2000mof elevation separated us from the top of the mountain we needed to get over. All day long we climbed and climbed at a mostly snail's pace. Unfortunately we lost Tito along the way when he decided to stop in a village to eat while we carried on. It was a grueling day that at times felt completely impossible, but with the sun starting to set we finally reached the top. We still had a freezing cold 30km descent to get to the next town, but at least we didn't need to pedal!

Our joy over having completed such a massive climb was short lived as we realized we had several more big climbs coming our way. We followed a pretty river up a steep valley until we reached our next big climb back up to the high altitude plains. It was a nice break to see trees and green vegetation for a few days before heading back up to the desert like high plains.

Back at high altitude in the sparse landscape dotted only occasionally by small villages we had an amazing five days of beautiful riding and free camping along the way.

One of the best places we found to camp was inside of empty animal corrals. The stone walls provided protection from the wind and hid us from the traffic on the nearby highway. We had some delicious meals in tiny roadside restaurants. It was always a surprise as to what we would be eating since you get whatever is being served that day.

It was beautiful scenery all day every day as we climbed and descended the rolling hills. We did over 1000m of climbing every single day, but you tend not to notice when you are surrounded by ever changing interesting hills, rocks and peaks.

We descended once again into a fertile valley before our last big climb on South American soil.

After reaching the top of the final big hill we began a sometimes terrifying 4000m drop in elevation. For over 90km we were going downhill, winding around so many hairpin curves that I lost all sense of orientation. We actually overtook several big trucks which had to crawl along the extremely windy roads. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world as we normally spend every day being passed over and over again.

It was a bit of a shock after almost two months at high altitude to be back almost at sea level. Climbing seemed so much easier and you could feel the thickness of the oxygen rich air. We had now entered the coastal desert region and much warmer temperatures.

After a couple of rest days in Nazca getting reacquainted with hot weather we set off for our final few days cycling through the desert towards Lima. The bleak and mostly flat desert landscape was jarring. Unfortunately the sides of the highway were strewn with neverending garbage which detracted from the beauty. We got to see a few of the famous Nazca lines from a rickety tower before making it to the desert oasis of Huacachina.

In Huacachina we took time off to climb some massive sand dunes before opting to take the bus the remainder of the way into Lima and avoid the ever increasing traffic into the city

Our time in Lima was mainly spent relaxing and getting ready to leave. We found all sorts of delicious food including amazing ceviche to gorge on now that we were back on the coast. We were relieved to have arrived at our final South American destination without being hit by a car. The landscapes we traveled through were stunning, but being honked at incessantly and having vehicles pass us with mere inches to spare at high speed quite regularly had taken its toll on our sanity. Time for new adventures a little closer to home.