To Cuzco

Up at the crack of dawn to beat the hot sun, we headed toward the mountains and cooler weather. It was going to be a very long day – approximately 7 hours to Cusco. The map indicated four mountain passes at over 12,000 feet and Cusco is at over 11,000 feet. Sure hope we can breathe. Time to start chewing Coca leaves to ward off altitude sickness.

We didn’t quite get the start we’d hoped for, but 8:30 wasn’t all that bad. We probably won’t make Cusco, but should make Abancay. Starting at 2,000 feet above sea level and 25 degrees we are looking forward to the cooler air in the mountains. Almost immediately we start climbing. We continue climbing and climbing, twist, climb, twist, climb. I’m beginning to think we’ll never reach the top.
After about 100 Km’s of going up we reach the summit at around 14,000 feet. I can still breathe, but damn it’s getting cold. Four degrees and dropping, and what’s this… it’s starting to sprinkle. That’s OK, we’ll be going down soon. Wrong. Unlike the mountain passes we are used to riding, we are on a high plateau that seems to go on for ever. Traveling along the GPS shows our average speed to be 37.7 kph due to the 100 kms of twisties at the beginning.

Speed is better now and we stay between 12,000 and 16,000 feet. However the rain has turned to snow, the temperature is now 1 degree and a strong wind is blowing. Passing through several villages there is no relief. They consist of a few mud block homes and nothing more.

Finally after another couple hundred kms thru blowing snow we start dropping… rapidly. The temperature starts to rise and the snow turns to light rain. The plan has now changed to one of reaching the first village that has a room.


Here's a picture for you, Annette! You seem to be very popular down here. Your name appears on many buildings in this area. What government office are you running for again??



Shangri-La it isn’t, but we find a hostel in Chalhuanca (still at 9,500 feet) that has 24 hour hot water. What more could one ask for at 40 Soles (US $13.50) per night. We’ll take it!! It’s amazing how being fussy about a room takes on less importance when the need is great. We did manage to score the Matrimonial “suite”.

And there is a nice secure area out back in which to store the motorcycles.


Corinne decides to forego supper and hit the sack; I go for a walk to grab a snack and check out the Internet café I saw near the hostel. 10 minutes of waiting for the Shaw log-in page, I give up and go back to the hotel for much needed sleep. No blogging tonight. There is going to be a flood of posts when we finally reach Cusco and better accommodations/facilities… I hope.