Cycle2Cusco

After visiting Machu Picchu and a long busride to Nazca (15 hrs single trip) to view the Nazca lines it is time to go home again.

I stopped cycling because of the fog and dangerous traffic and hitchhiked to Puno at the Titicaca lake. No one was interested to help this old man until a very kind family stopped. The seat had only 10 cm free space left but they offered it to me and with a few bibles lying around it was clear that what they preach is also what they do ( look at the text above NISSAN ). Today when I wanted to restart my cycling I had to stop every few hundred meters to take a deep breath and realized I would never make it to Cusco. So the cycling ended at the height of 3700 meters. And now I will go visiting Machu Picchu and some other sights but by bus mainly.

The last few days I have spent in iquique. Descending a 10 % downhill with only the front brake was not pleasant at all. So my first goal was getting a new brake. It is a nice clean city, not because people are clean but a lot of other people are cleaning up the mess. A regrettable determination all over the world, clean countries have no other inhabitants they only have a bigger army of cleaners.
Tonight I will fly to Arequipa in Peru to continue the cycling because crossing the border over land is not allowed.

Calama - Maria Elena. 107 km, 877 Hm
Maria Elena - almost Victoria 178 km, 457 Hm
Almost Victoria - Pozo monte 84 km, 258 Hm

3 days desert is not giving spectacular images, but day two to Victoria was unforeseen. I hoped to reach Victoria in 1 day but the sidewind is so strong that it is difficult to make speed but most of all dangerous due to the interaction with trucks. So 25 km before Victoria I was completely empty and decided to sleep next to the road. At midnight a car from Ruta 5 control stopped and when they asked me if everything is ok, I only answered wit Maria Elena the city where I started and he ran to his car to get some snacks and a bottle of coke. So tomorrow I will cycle to Iquique and there try to book a flight to Arequipa because border crossings over land between Chili and Peru are impossible due to covid.

Today we visited El Tatio geysers at 4300 m above sea level. It is impressive how boiling water escapes from the surface. In our way back home we stopped for taking some foto’s from flamingos.

After an unusual breakfast “Sachertorte”, and some arrangements for the excursion tomorrow I cycled with Heidy in the valley of the devil. Most other valleys are closed due to internal troubles between locals. As if the devil was here to throw a spanner in the works, Heidy did not remember the code correctly so we had to break the lock. Glad I had my tools with me. Those who wonder why I went cycling with somebody else … Fabienne told me that she would not come to San Pedro de Atacama and that she will cycle alone.

San Pedro de Atacama
After two hours bus through the desert I arrive in San Pedro. Fabienne will follow tomorrow, she wanted to chill a little bit longer in calama. I washed some of my clothes went for lunch to the small city and had a nice icecream in the evening. People here are still excited fir the new year to start but in the end it is just another next day. Cheers and a happy 2022.