Cusco, Day 45, 400km

Easy ride to Cusco through the mountains with some hot springs (aqua calientes) at 4000m. On the way I noticed that Peru has probably the highest amount of gas stations per person in the world. Honestly, I don’t know why but they are everywhere. In the outskirts of bigger cities there are 30 – 40 (!) next to each other and sometimes even of the same brand. Really strange. The good thing is we can have higher octane fuel again. 90 and 95 RON is quite common here an occasianally you also get 97 RON. When we got into Cusco the landscape changed again from desert with litte vegetation to jungle and red soil. We noticed that the driving style of the Peruanians is by far the most aggresive we had on our trip yet. Daniel even got ramed when he tried to squezze into a gap. Luckily nothing more happened.

Cusco, Day 46, Rest day

Visited the beautiful old town. Very organized, clean, could be in Europe. Many restaurants, shops and hotels of all price ranges. It is the most touristy city in Peru. We tried to find out the best way for us to get to Machu Pichu. There are many different options as the place is so remote and cannot be reached by car. In the end we just bought the entrance ticket and decided to ride by motobike as close as possible to Machu Pichu. Hidroelectrica is the last village that can be reached by dirt road. It is not even a real village. A train station and a hydro power plant from which it got its name is everything there.

Hidroelectrica, Day 47, 210km

Daniel and I left Cusco. Thomas stayed in the hostel for a couple of more days because he was sick but we planned to meet again in 3 days in Ayacucho on our way to Lima. The road was pretty good but a large section through a valley had been closed for roadworks. We did the ususal, drive through the roadworks as we couldn’t bother to do a big detour through the mountains. After a few kilometers we got stopped by a worker. She said we can’t pass because of stone fall and had to wait half an hour. We watched the workers digging stones out of the mountain very high up. Not sure if they were secured on a rope or not. When we rode on, after a few kilometers of bad road we got to Ollantaytambo. It has also ruines and is another tourist village because everybody on the way to Machu Pichu will come past it. We had lunch there and continued. In Santa Maria we left the asphalt and took the dirt road up to Hidroelectrica. 35 km narrow, twisty and very step drops on the side.

Machu Pichu, Day 48, Visiting the ruines

Left early in the morning and took the train from Hidroelectrica to Aqua Calientes. I still felt a bit weak and didn’t want to walk the 10k along the railways with Daniel. Aqua Calientes is a very small village on the foot of Machu Pichu and mega touristy. There were long queues on the buses that drive you up to Machu Pichu. We wondered how the buses got here because there are no roads to here. It is right in the jungle. They must have flew them in by helicopter or train I guess after they have built the serpentine road up to the ruines. The alternative to get up is a very steep foot path. Steep steps and a altitude difference of almost 700m. When we got to the top we showed our tickets and walked in. After a few meters you get the exact view like on the postcards. It is breathtaking! Yes there a far to many tourists and everything that has something to do with it is expensive. However, I have travelled quite a bit in my life but this is definitely a must see. It is unbelievable how they have built this place at the time with the basic tools they had. It is so remote, even today, 35km of a tiny dirt road, 10km train line to the jungle. And when you get to Aqua Calientes Machu Pichu sits 700m high on a steep rock and cannot be seen from down in the valley. No wonder that they have just discovered this truly spectacular place just over 100 years ago. In the evening we went to Santa Teresa, 10km from Hidroelectrica and finished the perfect day chilling in some nice hot springs at 40degC.