1.5.2008 (Cusco):
Yes, we are already in Peru! Just after we crossed over to Peru, on the shores of the Titicaca lake, the scenery became greener. Tarmo has finally grass under his paws again! His limping has finally stopped, probably more to do with the more damper landscape than the varous strange potions we got from the vets (one for horses against bat bites, one for cows against sore udders).
We spent a few days in Cusco, from where Jochen and I separately had a look at Machu Picchu. Dogs aren´t allowed on to the site, so we split up.
Needless to say the site is absolutely amazing! Situated on a hilltop, surrounded by deep valleys it is a magical place.
Cusco itself is quite interesting, too.
But the road from Cusco to the coast is a whole different story. We are now in the middle of the Andes, trying to cross them. This means cycling up to 4.000 meters, down to 2.600 meters and back up to 4.000 meters. All within two days! And it looks as if it will continue like this. Since the landscape is so beautiful, we don´t mind the "little" extra legwork. Even if it means 65km uphill...is there anywhere else a road that goes continuously uphill for over 60km???
But again, the landscape is terrific! Deep, very deep valleys, high mountains around us, snowpeaks in the distance.
Finally we are really in the Andes!
11.5.2008 (Puquio):
Greetings from the mid of the Andes!
The passes turned out to be a bit higher than we thought, and the landscape more beautiful than we could have had imagined!
As we both caught a cold from somewhere, the first few days were pretty strenguous. Here a brief overview: From 3.900 meters down to 1.650 meters, back up to 3.900 meters, back down to 2.400 meters, back up to 4.300 meters.
Well, with the last pass we had a little help. Coincidently on the very day my cold was the worst and I would not have been able to cycle up the pass, a truck driver came up to us and asked us, if we wanted a lift up the pass. It would be far too hard for cyclists. If fate hits you that hard, you do not say no! So we threw our bikes with Tarmo in the box on the back of the carrier and had a comfortable 20km ride uphill. And man, was it steep!
Then we had 100km of only "soft" up and downs, as we cycled across a plateau. Now we are back down at approx 2.400 meters and are spending a day off in the town here. The last pass lies ahead of us, the highest and steepest. And then we will be rolling downhill for 140km and down 3.500meters altitude to Nazca, passing the highest sanddune of the world. Yesterday we where wearing all the warm clothes we had, cycling through a snowstorm, and in a few days we will be hitting desert sun!
29.5.2008 (Cerro Azul):
The ride down the Andes was amazing, 3.500 meters of altitude in one day! The edges of the Andes look weird from the top, like overdimensional toes or sanddunes.
We spent a few days in Nazca, looking around and soaking in all the information on the Nazca lines that were there. In the end we had seen so many models of the lines, seen two videos, heard all the explanations on them that we werent interested in seeing them from the air anymore. The explanations from the 70s (alien landing strips), have been exchanged for more viable theories of ceremonial walkways.
We then spent a few days in a small oasis surrounded by high sanddunes and had fun running down these in high jumps. We also tried sandboarding, but that was less fun.
Now we are in a small surfer village without surfers, high waves, sun and other tourists. It is very quiet to say the least!
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