ABANCAY,a busy hub of commerce for all the surrounding mountain communities, is built on the gently slopping side of a mountain. It isn't noted for anything much of cultural interest but our hotel - The Hotel de Turistas - is another decidedly pleasant place to rest up and enjoy traditional service. At 2,300 mts here it's doubtful you'll suffer from any effect of altitude but in any case you will be better adapted by next morning to climb the 30 km of winding road up from Abancay on the route to Cuzco. At the top of this section we could run into a cold wet mist. The remaining part of the day's ride runs through a variety of landscapes - mountain villages, along a semi tropical valley beside the Apurimac River and finally along the long chilly plain leading into CUZCO. As you approach built-up areas during the afternoon here be aware there may be swarms of children walking home from school along beside the road. They are used to some traffic but nevertheless take care.

CUZCO
Cuzco looks good even when it's raining, which it will most likely not be doing when you arrive.
Things are somewhat more expensive here. You'll see lots of non Peruvians - some of them live here and have businesses associated with tourism. One can't really rush through here there's so much to see.
Cuzco is a gem and the surrounding lands are studded with the evidence of sophisticated ancient cultures. If you have visited Peru before you will most likely have spent some days here and if this is your first visit you probably will have read about The Sacred Valley, Sacsayhuaman and Machu Picchu - perhaps the best known archaeological site in the Americas. An attempt to describe these wonders to you here therefore is probably not really called for.
We spend four nights at our centrally located hotel. This will enable us to be able to explore around town - as guided or unguided as you would care it to be, one day riding a circuit which will include PISAC, CHINCHERO, The URUBAMBA Valley, OLLANTAYTAMBO and SACSAYHUAMAN just out of town , and one day taking the train to see MACHU PICCHU. This of course leaves us evenings to participate in the lively night-life scene in Cuzco as well.
You'll probably meet other foreign bike enthusiasts somewhere in town too. There's a bar, owned by an American, called ' Norton Rats'. (see dozens of photos of British bikes up on the wall. Owner currently has a BMW and a Norton Commando I believe). So enjoy yourselves in Cuzco and you'll get a day or two's rest from the hardship of riding out there on the prairie (someone's gotta do it ).
Looking at the map ready for our journey from Cuzco and heading out towards Lake Titicaca it may seem like an ambitious day's travel. We seldom climb or meet a winding road however and the first half of the route takes us through green fertile valley lands. Don't take the Paucatambo turn off half an hour out of Cuzco or you'll end up in the jungle! Just on from there you'll see a tile making village. Everything laid out in various stages of production right beside the road - quite interesting. As the day goes on the scenery becomes bleaker. Towns such as Ayaviri appear quite grim in fact. You're now into altiplano lands proper. Stick to the asphalt road and you won't get lost.

PUNO
Let us get up early ...(groan ?).. and take a pedal taxi down to the dock. If the sensation of sitting in a chair pushed through freezing air does not appeal you can of course rely on a black coffee to wake you up and take a regular taxi. At the dock there will be several boats for boarding with such destinations as Isla Taquile, Isla Amantani and the floating islands of The Uros.
The latter comprises of a group of around forty floating reed islands half an hour out from Puno.
It is so unusual to walk on these floating 'mats', several feet thick, and see virtually everything built from tortora reeds that a visit is a must do. It is possible to continue by boat to Taquile Island. There lives a quiet community of Quechua Indians that have adapted to a lifestyle more similar to that of The Aymara Indian. Unmarried women speak only in whispers. There is no electricity or running water here and although you can stay on the island we would take the boat back to Puno arriving somewhere around 6 pm.
A couple of Pisco Sours, a quick demonstration that your digital photos are actually better than those of your buddy/mate's and you'll probably be ready for a stroll along Pizza Promenade (actually called Jiron Lima) between Puno's main Plaza and Parque Pino. At first sight it looks as if all you can get here is pizza and beer. In fact there is other fare and several places here have a warm and distinctive atmosphere. Most of the nightlife is in this area. There are penas and pub-like bars. It can be freezing in town before nightfall so you'll be glad we've checked into a good hotel.

Leaving Puno we double back the few kilometres to Juliaca town and make a turn off west in the general direction of Arequipa - Peru's second largest city. 50 km or so before the city however we leave the paved road for a dusty track heading for Chivay and The Colca River Canyon. This is a route that alternates between good and poor surfaces - asphalt, sandy, gravel etc. We climb up at one point to 4,900 mts and from this highest point you can see Chivay town some 1,500 mts below. Chivay is where most people stay in order to visit The Colca Canyon but we continue on for an hour to CABANACONDE , the last town before the road wanders away from the Colca River. The welcoming Kuntur Wassi Hotel makes an excellent base from which to explore the area. Land is farmed right up to the edge of the canyon at Cabanaconde. It is a mile drop down to the Colca River. Short-sighted clients should not get drunk on a moonless night here !
With a bit of luck we should sight condors soaring over the canyon in an area known as El Cruz de los Condores some 6 km out from Cabanaconde.

AREQUIPA
It is here that you culture hungry guests can again gather sustenance. The places of interest are well promoted and virtually all in the centre of the city. Our hotel garden might well be a good place to plan a cultural blitz - although come to think of it considering that the beautiful flowering gardens here are scattered with slung hammocks , easy chairs and that there's a neat little swimming pool across the way everything could be put on hold for quite a while. OK let's say you don't want everything presented on a plate - you like to wander about as will takes you. Fine - this is a good wander place. When you are eventually out in the street out from the hotel grounds you will find that the city is - white. Arequipa The White City. Just about all the buildings have been built from white volcanic sillar - a durable but easily carvable stone mined from nearby quarries. Heading generally down hill you'll probably come into one corner of the Plaza de Armas in a quarter of an hour or so. Enter the Cathedral there, it occupies one whole side of the Plaza. The 'Lonely Planet' guide for Peru is probably carried by one of us so beforehand try and read their intriguing story about 'El Monasterio Misterioso', referring to the Santa Catalina Monastery, up from the Cathedral on Santa Catalina's third block. Once an independent community within a city where 500 nuns lived now only 20 occupy a small section of the monastery. A tour is best as you'll miss nothing and get the history told in English or most other languages. The art museum shows many styles of Peruvian art. It's all very photogenic, the streets, the tiny plazas, fountains and gardens. If you enjoy the experience you might like to accompany me to La Casa Del Moral - built for Spanish nobility around 1730, this old house contains colonial furniture, Cuzcena school paintings and a library which has many many old maps. Very interesting!
Leaving Arequipa city, for a while we run alongside the railway track that leads to Mollendo on the coast. Even linking up with the Panamericana Highway again traffic will remain pretty thin.
After passing Camana, where a tidal wave wiped out the beachside community structure after an earthquake in 2001, the road begins to follow the contours of the dunes coming down to the sea. It's quite precarious in places and the highway may be partially blocked by sand slips here and there. This whole section of the coast is sparsely populated.

We spend the night right beside the ocean at the one horse town of CHALA. Home to fishermen it may surprise that a reasonable hotel is situated here but the probable answer is that distances between towns are great along the southern desert highway.
Next day we continue north along the coastal highway to PARACAS. Famous for the great variety of wildlife that live along this part of the coast a large area here has been given National Park status. Vehicles are permitted entry into the Wildlife Reserve however and during just one afternoon you should sight at least flamingo's, inca terns , boobies, humbolt penguins and colonies of sea lions.

For another chance to see pelicans, a host of other local sea birds, many sea lions and probably dolphins take an excursion boat out from Paracas to the Ballestas Islands. It is not permitted to land on the islands but boats ride the swell and idling the outboard motor, boatmen skilfully bring us right up close to colonies of wailing sea lions and cliffside birds.
We spend a second night at a holiday chalet style Posada. There is maid and waitress service or one can self cater (good place to have a near end of hols party !) The small grounds include a swimming pool.

Your last night on this visit to Peru will be spent at another hotel beside the Pacific just south of Lima. You'll leave your motorcycles here and we'll take you over the next day to catch your international flight back home.
So long and come back again - there's more waiting for you over just beyond.