There are many street sellers. It’s new years eve and it is the tradition that you wear something yellow. The street sellers adapt very quickly. If it is sunny they sell jewellery and sun glasses. If it wet out come the ponchos and umbrellas.

A lot of towns have a statue overlooking the town. This is the christo blanca of Cuzco.

A lot of the streets are narrow and not designed for cars. No mototaxis are allowed in Cuzco as they are considered too down market

Even the steps zigzag.

Checking the text message

Just because there is a green man doesn’t mean it is safe to cross. The cars don’t give way to pedestrians.

Not sure who this is but he’s on the cathedral.

The weather has not been brilliant but for my trip to the Inca rope bridge it was sunny. Not very warm on the bike because we are travelling at 12000ft. I took a friend who was either sitting with her arms out like an aeroplane, taking her rucksack off and rummaging about in it or sleeping. Even though I had a native speaker with me we managed to get lost. We arrived at the town where I was sure we turned off. It was Sunday market day and the town was very busy. There was no obvious turn off so we asked. We were then told to go to next town. I could see from odometer that we had gone too far so we asked a policeman who sent us back to the previous town. Back there we asked another policeman who directed us to a dirt track. It was very busy with lorries and people. Patricia kept asking people who assured us we were going the right way. This track led us to a muddy field full of goats, llama, sheep, horses lorries and people. We battled our way through as by this time I had spotted the road snaking up the hill.
Eventually we got to the road leading down to the gorge where the bridge is built.

Single track with hairpin bends. We met a couple of lorries but at a place we were able to pass.

This bridge is one of the last remaining Inca bridges. It is made purely from grass. This was one way the Incas used to get about. This particular bridge is replaced every year by all the local villagers who each make a section and come together to construct the bridge.

Patricia was swinging about and dancing. I wasn’t!

It is not a busy spot and it was warm and peaceful sitting there having lunch.
Unfortunately we still had to twist and turn our way back to Cuzco. It was a four hours ride each way so it was a long day.
We arrived back at the town with the market and still could not use the main road so went back through the muddy field. This time there was just mud.
Arriving back into Cuzco we went to meet more friends. Patricia and I ended up with the friends in a taxi and us trying to keep up with it in the dark where everyone else but me knew where they were going. There was a beautiful electrical storm which gave way to a full on thunderstorm later at night.

Christmas starts at midnight on the 24 th. Unlike Scotland many businesses were still open at 8 or 9 pm. Not just food stores. Electrical shops were still open. The big mall was open.

El Nino should have been at the forefront of the tableau but he was getting his leg stuck back on!

I didn’t go on the bike but had my jacket on as its not that warm.
A countdown was done on the radio and then champagne was drunk, everybody hugged and greeted each other with feliz navidad. Then the Christmas meal of chicken and all the trimmings hot chocolate and panettone was eaten. After the meal a small ceremony praising the El Nino which is the baby Jesus and giving thanks for him and his care over the past year.  After that presents are handed out with more champagne etc.
Even though it is 2.30 am I was able to go out into the street and within a few minutes get a taxi back to my hotel. And this is out in the suberbs. Very few people own cars but the streets are full of taxis even at that time of the morning.
Daybreak brought more rain but it brightened up.

There are various different groups who dance around the main square. Each group has a manger with the baby Jesus at the front. The dancing is very energetic and takes about 15 minutes for each group to go round the square.
By afternoon the square is full of tourists and most of the shops and restaurants are open

This was supposed to be a nice short ride into Cuzco. After an hour twisting and turning and climbing I decided to check the altimeter. My phone wasn’t with me. I realised I had left it on the bed. I had been trying to be really careful about checking the rooms before I left. Nothing for it but to return. At that point another motorcycle stopped. The chap was a German who had started in Alaska and was going to Buenos Aires. We chatted for a while and agreed to meet in Norton’s in Cuzco at night.

Number 1046! There were still many more.

The hills here are not so high and dramatic as further north. There is much more agriculture.

More small towns that seem only connected by small rough tracks.
Just as I got in reach of Cuzco the heavens opened. The main road into Cuzco was all dug up as there has been a lot more houses built. The water was just running down the road and there was mud everywhere. I battled my way through the cobbled streets to my friends furniture shop. The rain stopped and I was able to deliver the precious cargo of a bottle of whisky that I had carried with me from Scotland.

I think the bike is a bit big for Patricia.
This is coming up to Christmas and there is a lot happens in Cuzco.
One of the main attractions is the Santurantikuy market held in the main square. This has gone on for over 500 yrs and it is when most of the villagers from miles around come to Cuzco to sell their products. They all sleep under the covered arches which surround the main square. It was difficult to get a good picture without being obvious.

There are hundreds of people. Last night was heavy rain and cold.

This morning it is still wet and the people sit about waiting for folk to buy stuff I would take to the skip. It’s a different culture and has a lot to do with pachamama and their traditions.

The children queue for food handouts. The last ticket number I saw was 1023. There is more than one queue.
Eventually the rain stops and the crowds come out. There are many craft stall of all descriptions.

Street performers

Bands playing.
Navidad is here and its a completely different ball game. You eat your Christmas meal at 12 midnight on 24 then and then open presents etc. It’s going to be a long night.

Well it chucked it down most of the night but was fairish to start so I didn’t put on my full waterproof onesie. I asked for directions from the hostel and they pointed me in the opposite direction than I thought. So I asked at the filling station. Same way. Off I went down this muddy pothole road. I asked a taxi driver. Yes this was the correct road. There were other vehicles on the road so it must go somewhere. On the map I had to pass the airport and turn left. I was climbing all the time. I never saw the airport. So again just to be sure I asked some workmen. Still getting the same answer. By this time I was on tar with yellow lines down the middle so it was a main road. I had been too optimistic about not needing my wetsuit so I stopped at the side of the road and put it on

This had just not long happened. I’m glad I wasn’t passing at the time. For all anyone knew there could be a car under there.

A diversion was set up. I didn’t look at the other end. It was longer and steeper to get out but I managed. The car behind got bogged down and had to get pulled out by a 4×4 .

Coming round a hairpin bend to discover this is not good. Either that or the you find a car on your side of the road avoiding the rubble. I had passed this but all along the road this is happening. This new road has only been made in the last two years so I suppose a lot of the rock is still loose. Previously it had only been single track gravel road which I assume would have taken about three days to do. Maybe more. I passed two cyclists today. One going my way and the other going the opposite way. They were well weighed down with their panniers. I was taking anything from one to three hours to climb up through the bends. They must have had to camp halfway up.

Just some views into the valley.

It’s not as clear as I had hoped but there is a town in the middle of the picture. That is were I was heading. It doesn’t seem that far away but according to the odometer I still had 25 miles to go. By the time I had zigzagged down the hill gone up a valley and round the back of another hill the odometer was correct. As the crow flies or a condor neither of which I have seen, the distances between places is not that great. However getting from a to b takes a lot of time.

If this is meant to be a condor it might be the only one I see.

The Christmas tree is not much better lit up.

It’s a fact of life here that travelling on the roads is dangerous. There are many of these shrines all along the roads. There are signs up saying  “respetar el derecho a la vida”. Respect the right to life. I’m not sure many drivers here pay any heed. My journey here is nearly over. I am cutting it a bit short due to the weather and I’m sore. My shoulders are stiff. My hands are numb. As for my backside!
Tomorrow I head for Cuzco where you can’t walk ten yards without being offered a massage. £5 for half an hour.

I had hoped that I would get to Cuzco without getting wet but it has rained heavily over night. This morning wasn’t too bad but before long I could see clouds over the hills

Nothing for it but to keep going. The road was good for the first few miles but it wasn’t long before it was single track.

The road followed the river down the valley and the rain continued.

There were water splashes to go through. This is one of the smaller ones.

Signs to obey. That one says no overtaking.

Artics to watch out for. As a lot of the corners are blind you are constantly scanning the mountain side ahead watching for any thing coming.

Wet metal floored bridges to cross. I’m not sure that is wide enough for a lorry.

Then I came on this brand new road. It lasted most of the way but with some diversions.

These are bits where the road builders can’t decide where the new road should go so they just send you off down the old track.
It seemed that I was never reaching Ayacucho and I was glad that most of it was on good tar. I did reach there about four o clock. The city is nearly all built on a hill. The roads are full of potholes. O and the slopes are about 45degrees. Narrow streets all one way going in the opposite direction from what I wanted. I did find a hostel with a garage but they were few and far between. At least I had plenty hill start practice. Even in first gear engine breaking wasn’t enough going down.

A more basic Peruvian shower. You need the light on so it must work off the lighting circuit. I think the loose wire to the right is the earth wire. The circuit breaker is just beyond the shower. It worked fine. Just don’t put your arms up

A restless night in Tarma. There are a lot of semi feral dogs in Peru. Tarma has the most I have ever seen. They were extremely vocal through the night with various fighting going on.There are so many places beginning huanc that you have to be very careful about the ending. It could make life very difficult. If I had been asking for directions today I could have been sent the totally wrong direction if I got the ending wrong.

Many more of these to climb back to

That’s quite a bit short of where I was yesterday but I forgot the phone will show altitude.

Random ploughing of the Altiplano. Note the rubbish at the side of the road. There is a lot of that.

Today was not a long day travel as I had to get my money sorted. Huancayo is a large city so I hope it will be possible.

Random village square

Long straight roads in the valley

Christmas is taken seriously here and there is always a nativity tableau in the main square.

Two different photos of the differences of a large Peruvian city

Inside the big shopping mall where Christmas carols are being played. A lot of top names have stores including adidas radio shack and Starbucks. The hypermarket in the complex is bigger than crieff rd tesco but just looks the same. Everything from fruit and veg to televisions are sold.
I saw one trolley laden with toys.

Outside where there are all kinds of music and stall holders shouting their wares. I doubt many of these people will ever go inside the mall. One big thing missing here is the mototaxi. It’s now small cars as taxis.

I am now in Huancayo and have been able to get dollars. It wasn’t so easy getting them changed. In the real tourist areas there are money changers in the street. Could not find any.

Here it’s folk dressed as Santa Claus.

I asked for a cafe con leche and an americano desuanyo (spanish for breakfast.)

What I expected was a coffee with milk and an american breakfast. Basically scrambled eggs and a couple of rolls. I got the coffee with milk and then a black coffee. Bit more explaining and it was sorted.

The world’s second highest railway runs up the valley. It was the highest until the Chinese built one higher. Just as I moved off from taking a picture a train came out the tunnel.

I tried another photo further up and it disappeared behind a hill.
This road is full of big lorries and cars. There are no emissions control here so it was probably not the healthiest run I could have had.

The higher I went the colder it became so I had to get my big jacket out. This just meant that a lot of the lorries I had passed passed me again. Even more thick smoke to go through.
I was heading to the nature reserve at Junin but when I got there it was raining and I couldn’t see very much. By this time I had my big waterproof all in one on as I was cold.
On the way I had to pass through Oroya.

It is the most polluted town in the world due to all the mining activities in the area. I didn’t stay there. The government is trying to get the mining companies to clean things up but at present the company is saying that they will need to lay people off to find the money. There is a lot of unrest in the area.

Passed this rather interesting village square. There are hardly any houses here but they obviously have money to spend. Not sure if this is Christmas decorations or if it’s like that all year.

Heading down to Tarma. I didn’t realise that it was 5000 ft lower but more bends to go down. Looking at all the surrounding hills there will be a lot more to do to get out.

Bit of an issue here as the only machine that would give dollars was broken. Another went through all the process then told me it couldn’t give me money. No idea what day of the week so checked and found it was Saturday. Just enough soles for a meal. I had to resort to taking soles out on my credit card. £20. Probably going to cost as much in interest.

As in a lot of Peru the poorer houses are just stuck onto the hillside. Even a small tremor would bring them crashing down.

So I decided to return to Huacho. Good run back and into hotel by 5.30

This is the sort of standard complete with ensuite. Usually for around £8/ night. Breakfast will probably be couple of pounds extra.

The view from the window is not always great.
This morning was very overcast but I set off for Lima. Google maps wanted me to go up the gravel road. I managed to get it to show me another route through Lima. Straight in stay on the panamerican highway bear left onto ave environmental and keep going straight. Easy. It wasn’t far before I ran into banks of fog. Stopped to put my jacket on and set off. It stayed like that to Lima. I was in and out of fog all the way. For most of the year Lima is overcast. It makes it look dirty with a lot of dust. It took me four hours to get through as it was chock a block. There were lots of scooters and small bikes weaving through sometimes having to paddle between cars leaning away from door mirrors. It wasn’t often that I was able to move much faster than the flow of traffic due to the size of the bike and the panniers.
I keep looking at the overhead gantry for any clue as to were I was. Although I was to go to the left the slip road was on the right so I got myself over and kept going. I passed a slip road that had no names on it that I recognised but as soon as I went under the flyover I knew that would probably have been the one. How to turn? A few miles down the road was another toll booth. I went through the bike lane and saw two motorcycle police. I stopped and explained and showed them the map. No problem. One officer who I think was senior told the other to lead me back. He set off to cross four lanes of traffic down to a break in the barriers. I was thinking surely not. We then crossed into another four lanes of traffic coming the opposite way. Anyway it seemed to work and I was taken back to the correct slip road. My stop start riding was not over as I still had a lot of small towns to go through before climbing into the mountains
The road climbs from Lima to La Oroya.

Lima is at sea level. La Oroya is15000 ft roughly. The mist had turned into full blown rain so I decided to stop. I was intending to stop but now it became a real point. I saw one place but didn’t like the look of. There was then a big restaurant with a hotel above it. This was at 10000 ft so gives a wee time to acclimatise. The lorries are hardly ever out of first or second gear. At one hairpin bend an artic was stuck because someone had tried to get passed at the same time.

Reckon the bike was safe.

Being off the tourist routes means you don’t meet any tourists. However today I went to see the sacred city of Caral.

Here I met an Austrian family. I felt a little ashamed as he was translating Spanish into German for his family and into English for me. He had been working at the Austrian embassy for three years so maybe had to be good with languages.

Never really thought how stupid I looked in the middle of the desert dressed like that.
This site is the oldest known civilisation known in the Americas and dates back 5000 yrs and covers an area of 66 hectares. I would have thought that there must have been more water about then as why build it in the middle of the desert? There are many signs of  religious activities and work is still ongoing to work out more. It is interesting that this site predates the pyramids in Egypt but every thing was built in a pyramid form.

I passed along a very fertile valley to get here. These are hops, there was also fields of chiles, strawberry, sugarcane, asparagus.
I retraced my way to Huacho. From there a road climbed back into the mountains. It was partly paved and the rest was gravel. I was going to Churin the site of ancient mineral baths. After an hour on gravel I came to this.

It’s three o’clock and the road is closed until five. At first I thought she meant 5 minutes. When I asked again she  said no five o’clock. I weighed up my opinions. Sit there for two hours and have at least another hour or so on gravel roads and then tomorrow at least four hours on gravel or turn back two hours to where i stayed last night. I don’t like gravel roads. The bike is too tall and heavy. If I go back the only other option is to go through Lima which is a city of about 9 million people most of whom are in their cars or on buses, with lorries delivering everything they need and take the main route up into the mountains? Do I make the right decision?