day 224 - day off

la paz - day off
good bike shops seem to be a well hidden secret in town, but i found one!
(www.gravitybolivia.com check with carlos the workshop manager workshop@gravitybolivia.com thanx gustavo for taking care of my bike, i hope it lasts long!)
checking out the bizar witches market....

day 223 - day off

la paz - day off
helping out a little at the chuquiago internet cafe and meeting with some other cycle-tourists. (holger from germany, stuart & anita from australia, oldy from brazil and ariel from the usa) sharing some thoughts / ideas / informations / tipps / maps.....

day 222 - km 14904

huatajata - la paz
87,58km 524 alti meter
some more rolling hills before the road drops down from the 4100m high el alto to the main city la paz at about 3600m.

day 221 - km 14817

copacabana - huatajata
67,01km 824 alti meter
nice views of the lake titicaca and a intersting end of the day at the hostal of a reef boat builder.

day 220 - km 14750

chucuito - copacabana (bolivia)
118,80km 604 alti meter
surprisingly no problems / costs at the boarder (just have in mind that.... the boarder is only open from 8am-6pm, the immigration office opens at 8.30am and there is also a change of the timezones, if you don´t ask for it they might give you only a 30day permit instead of the maximum 90days) then rolling into the very touristy copacabana.

day 219 - km 14631

calapuja - chucuito
96,65km 455 alti meter
some more highland riding and the from far away visible smog cloud over juliaca.

day 218 - km 14534

santa rosa - calapuja
115,74km 323 alti meter
another freezing cold night up at the alti plano. nice ride on the highland with surprisingly some sights of pink flamingos.

day 217 - km 14418

checapute - abra la raya - santa rosa
115,07km 1140 alti meter
i had the choice between making a short day and camping at the bano del inca or a long day.... the climb was decent and it was kind of early, so i rode to santa rosa (and stayed in a hostal as it was freezing cold up there). some nice highlands and views of the peru rail train.

day 216 - km 14303

cuzco - checapute
96,12km 829 alti meter
after a late start and the dirty suburbs of cuzco finaly on a nice road along the river. in the night i was surprised by the night cargo train on the other side of the river, as i was wondering about the strange noise....

day 215 - day off

cuzco - day off
just hanging out and wondering.....

day 214 - km 14207

km902 - cuzco
68,53km 888 alti meter
the last hills to cuzco, which is so different from the peru i have seen so far!?

day 213 - km 14139

cachora - km902
85,74km 1510 alti meter
back on paved roads winding up to the last pass before cuzco.

day 212 - hiking day 3

playa rosalina (rio apurimac) - cachora
aprox. 22km 1800 alti meter down and 300 alti meter up in about 6 hours
the long climb up back to cachora where i could rest my feet and my back....

day 211 - hiking day 2

marampata - choquequirao - playa rosalina (rio apurimac)
aprox. 22km 600 alti meter down and 2000 alti meter up in about 6 hours
checking out the ruins of choquequirao which are amazingly nice and big as they are still at the beginning of being uncoverd. (and almost peaceful to walk around as there are not many tourists)

day 210 - hiking day 1

cachora - marampata
aprox. 30km 2000 alti meter down and 2000 alti meter up in about 9 hours!?
if i ever had walking muscles they are long gone on a 7 month bike trip.
i tried to get out of the zancudo-valley and do some off the climb in the late afternoon instead of the brutal midday heat. so i ended up with a long hiking day and sore muscles. (the equipment i used is not really built for backpacking at all! one of my trailer bags, one of the front paniers and my running shoes!?)

day 209 - km 14053

abancay - cachora
58,67km 1557 alti meter
after the long climb up to 4000 meter i decided to do a little hiking detour and road down to cachora. (cachora is just a little village of farmers and hiking guides, no big shops for rentals..... so i have to use what i got with me!?)

day 208 - day off

abancay - day off
... and probably sleeping all day after updating the blog all night!?

day 207 - km 13994

kishuara - abancay
80,41km 788 alti meter
again a freezing cold night and the almost 2000m drop was on rough garvel gravel/sand road, but there was it! the paved road! ;-) so i didn´t mind to much the 500m climb to abancay @ 40° C.

day 206 - km 13914

andahuaylas - kishuara
61,57km 1442 alti meter
there are "allready" some road construction on this stretch (the narrow dirt roads gets paved.... someday...) one of those truck drivers got a little impatient and tried to pass another truck... this roads are just not wide enough for 2 trucks and a cyclist, so i ended up in the sandy ditch.

day 205 - km 13852

chincheros - andahuaylas
87.36km 1523 alti meter
on more long climb up to 4261m but less hard / cold then the last one.
but the rollercoaster goes on....

day 204 - km 13765

el tocto pass highcamp @4100m - chincheros
95.06km 1075 alti meter
from the freezing cold mountain highlands of the alpacas to the hot valley of the zancudos.

day 203 - km 13670

ayacucho - el tocto pass highcamp @4100m
78.67km 1745m
almost 9h riding, climbing up to 4300m on gravel roads, where i rode into a snow/hail storm and a freezing cold camp.

day 202 - day off

ayacucho - day off
cleaning the bike, walking around the town with it's churches, plazas, markets....
and getting ready for some more rollercoaster gravel/dirt roads towards cusco.

day 201 - km 13587

rio mantara - ayacucho
86.91km 1471 alti meter
a long hard day on the road (38km on gravel, 49km on pavement) with lots of zancudos (some sort of mosquitos or stiching flies), but amazing scenery!

day 200 - km 13500

rio mantaro (20km after mariscal caseres)- rio mantara (8km before mayoc)
78.98km 860 alti meter
scenic ride along the canyon but hard work on these gravel roads. (at least my setup seems to be made for this roads, i just carry still to much stuff with me).the nice camp at the river offered not only a opportunity to wash some of the dust off. the people from the other side off the river sent a kid with some fruits to us!? not the last guest at our camp that evening, a hand size tarantula also came by and took shelter under some rocks close to my tent.

day 199 - km 13421

huancayo - rio mantaro (20km after mariscal caseres)
99.78km 1084alti meter
nice paved mountain pass at 3900m and then down to izcuchara where the gravel roads makes cycling harder.

day 198 - km 13321

chacapalpa - huancayo
88.14km 314 alti meter
nice ride along the rio mantaro. (the road on the west side of the river has a nice sholder and passes some little villages with restaurants...). 2 worlds collide at the big shopping mall of huancayo!?

day 197 - km 13233

tambo del sol - chacapalpa
131.56km 546 alti meter
from the highlands along down the canyon of the rio mantaro.

day 196 - km 13101

chicrin - tambo del sol
66.54km 1192 alti meter
nice ride up to cerro del pasco (as i could get a hold on one of the slow trucks).
amazing views of the lago de junin and the highlands at 4100m, passing some bizar mining villages.

day 195 - km 13035

huanuco - chicrin
76.85km 1435 alti meter
nice sunday riding day along the river.

day 194 - day off

huanuco - day off
what a change from the slow and quiet mountain villages to the crazy tuk-tuk loaded, car honking town of huanuco. after the dusty roads its time to clean the bike a little and tighten the screws after the rocky downhills. some more chinese-food to get energy for the next part of the peruvian-rollercoaster.