Copacabana, Bolivia to Cusco, Peru

After a few relaxing days spent in Copacabana it was time again to head north this time across the border and into Peru. With no problems being stamped out of Bolivia and stamped into Peru I was off on my way to Puno. My biggest concern was the weather and sure enough within a hour or so I was riding in some heavy rain and thunder and lightning storms. I weighed up the options but decided to carry on riding and about an hour later the rain stopped...thank god as by this stage I was very cold and wet! The rest of the ride went well and I arrived in Puno at a decent hour as Peru is one hour behind Bolivia. The next day I was feeling like crap due to the wet weather riding the day before so I decided to have another day in Puno just chilling out and trying to recover as the next few days were going to be hard ones. I also booked a Inca Trail hiking tour to see the famous Machu Picchu ruins just outside of my destination city of Cusco. The next two days were spent riding in some amazing high altitude valley landscapes dotted with tiny villages and friendly locals. At the end of the first day I rolled into a smallish town called Ayaviri with about a 2km ride into the main plaza. All of the locals were just steering, laughing, waving and yelling out to me! I guess they don't see many gringos on bicycles rolling into town but it felt great and I was waving and yelling stuff back all the way to the central plaza, I guess that was my 15 minutes of fame!!! That night though must have been one of the coldest nights I've spent and going out for dinner I had nearly all the clothes I owed on. The half a chicken I ate for dinner certainly helped me get over the hunger and some of the cold as well! The following day was a hard one as I still wasn't feeling 100% and it involved mostly climbing for the first half of the day over the Aban La Raya pass at 4335m above sea level. Luckily the riding was stunning and the second half of the day involved a lot of downhill!! That afternoon I stopped in a town called Sicuani just as the thunder and lightning was rolling back in. After another uneventful night it was back in the saddle and heading directly for Cusco. With about 140km ahead of me I was ready to get it over with and relax for a few days in the touristy town before doing the Inca trail. The riding was again superb with deep valleys dotted with more small rural villages and the odd Inca ruin thrown in for good measure. I got within about 20kms of Cusco when these local kids on bikes decided to join me for a race!! I was knacked but gave them a run for their money. After about 5kms I let them catch up and I rode the remainder of the way into town with one of them. By this stage I was really tired and had to have a few stops which the kid thought was hilarious. After some cokes and cookies we finished the final few kms into town. The next few days will be spent relaxing in town before I head out on the Inca Trail which I'm certainly looking forward to. 4 days/3 nights of hiking on the Inca Trail to the Machu Picchu ruins should be a great way to rest and recover from the last few days riding. I think I'm going to need all the rest I can get as I hear the road to Lima is a little up and down!!!

Riding Stats
> 27th Feb - 145km
> 29th Feb - 141km
> 1st March - 112km
> 2nd March - 143km