Day 80/164: Puno to Juli – 83km

Climbing 175 meters, down 300.

It was cold coming out of the hotel, and had a maze of streets to negotiate through. Even though it was only 6:30am there was lots of traffic already. Once we got clear of Puno we had great views of the lake. It stretched out to the horizon, and was hard to believe that we are at 3,800 meters above sea level.

I am ok on the flat, but am still having problems with asthma and altitude on hills. My lungs have decided to add to the problem by producing lots of mucous. I am pleased that this week is going to be a relatively light riding week. 83 kilometres and not much climbing is just what I need at the moment. I rode with Shirley and Dan for about 20 kilometres but then stopped at some ruins.

All of a sudden my gear shifter on the left stopped working, so now I have small and large cog on the left and large only on the right. Not so easy for getting up hills! I managed ok for about 30 kilometres with an up gradient that was not steep, but had to get off half way up a hill in the town. It was either get off or fall off! Thankfully this was the last town before going downhill to camp.

We are camping at 3,750 metres, by the beach, thankfully not a dust camp. There is grass to pitch the tent on. Given that we were only biking 83 kilometres (although the climbing was at least double the 175 meters planned) I got to camp at midday. I cleaned my bike ready for bike clinic at 3pm, put up my tent, and dozed for a couple of hours in my tent.

View of beach camp

Thankfully the problem with my bike is just a snapped gear cable, so I have a new one on, and the bike is ready to go again tomorrow.

Next I went to the medic clinic to discuss my asthma and altitude sickness etc. I am going to go off the altitude sickness pills as the effect wears off the longer you take them and they have side effects. When I am in La Paz I am going to go to a medical clinic, and get an asthma management plan. My asthma is starting to settle, but we are going to be going higher up in altitude again, so I need to be better prepared. I think I was lucky this time.

Dinner was hamburgers with buns, salad, and gherkins. It was warm here during the day, but the night was cold. I had both sleeping bag inners, my hat, long john top and bottom, socks and jacket and I was still cold! I will need to sort this in Lapaz, as I have been warned that Bolivia is going to be cold.

Camping on the shores of Lake Titicaca (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

Our campsite tonight (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

The sun sets on our camp (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

Day 78/164: Ayaviri to Puno – 142km

Climbing 1,000 meters – down 1,380

It was quite cold in the morning so well dressed to start. I am still suffering from altitude, asthma and wind/sun chaffed lips. To start off with I had my silk balaclava over my mouth to protect my lips but also to stop the cold air which aggravates my asthma. Thankfully to start there was no steep climb, just a gradual up with some rolling hills. It is frustrating to be going up the last bit of the hills in granny gear (the easiest gear) and still huffing and puffing like a steam train.

Lunch was half way at 71 kilometres, and on the menu was toasted sandwiches that Adrian (TDA) was cooking in a fry pan. I am liking the change in food with a new chef. As usual a collection of hopeful local dogs were watching the proceedings with great interest. They will be lucky today as we are going into a rest day tomorrow and everything that is opened is thrown out. Plus Adrian is as soft with dogs as me.

Adrian cooks us fried sandwiches for lunch (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

Lunch spot today (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

After lunch we had to go through a town called Juliaca, we were told it was busy and there were road works. It was insane! The roundabout was being reconstructed but it was still being used by the traffic. No one was following the road rules and no one (apart from most truckies) gave any thought to the rights of cyclists. Of course we had to get across lanes of traffic, it was chaos. Then we had approximately 5 kilometres of a main road under reconstruction, also with huge pot holes, gravel, dirt, and traffic coming at you from all directions. It was a relief to get to the other side of it.

Then long straights with a slight up gradient and a headwind. The last 10 kilometres there was a 7 kilometre uphill which I found hard going. Then 3 kilometres down a steep gradient into Puno.

The roads are under construction in Puno (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

Puno is as much as a tourist spot as Cusco. Once again lots of white faces and street vendors. We are staying at a hotel called the Intiqa Hotel. It is owned by an Indian tribe. Nice shower and a bath in the room and the hotel does laundry :D.

Puno is a tourist spot because of Lake Titicaca: 280 meters deep at 3,800 meters altitude, it is the highest navigable lake in the world. It is famous for its floating islands. There are hundreds of them. The islands are made of reeds woven together and the islands can last a hundred years. Some Peruvians live on them all year round and fish for a living. Generally these are the islands a while from the shore. There is a hotel on one of the floating Islands and on other islands you can go for a day trip and have lunch in a family’s home. Others are show pieces for tourists. Lake Titicaca shares a border with Peru and Bolivia.

Lake Titicaca from Puno (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

There are numerous restaurants close to the hotel. I went to one that had a blazing Pizza oven. Not because I felt like Pizza but because it looked warm and inviting. It gets really cold here as soon as the sun goes down. I had the restaurant speciality smoke trout, it was not as good as the NZ trout but was ok.

Back to the hotel where they had bought hot water bottles round for everyone’s bed. Was very cosy hopping into a bed that had a hot water bottle in it. Reminded me of being a child.

Lake Titicaca (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

Day 76/164: Cusco to San Pedro – 158km

Climbing 1,900 meters – down 1,775

I had lots of weird dreams about riding and did not sleep that well. It poured during the night and I was dreading the morning. Thankfully at about 4am the rain stopped. It would have been a misery riding all day in the rain.

Max (TDA) said the first 5 kilometres were up, then a 30 kilometre downhill. Not sure what he used for his calculations but it was about 10 kilometres up. It was cold and quite steep and I walked pretty much all of the first 5 kilometres. I was breathless due to the altitude and asthma. Thankfully I got to the top then quite a steep descent. It was really cold. I stopped and put all of my warm clothing on.

View from the lunch bus this morning (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

The view from lunch today (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

The rest of the day was rolling hills, with a couple of short climbs. It was a long day riding, it was 5pm by the time I got to camp, so about 10 1/2 hours riding. I couldn’t push myself because of the asthma so going up any hills is pretty slow. We are staying in a field at the back of a restaurant.

About two hours before the end of the ride I was coming into a town and three boys ran out from a bridge and grabbed my bike and pannier and demanded money. They would not let it go. They were aged about 8 to 9. In the end I got off my bike. There may be a language barrier but they got the message that I was not giving them money and to bug off. It was pretty scary though, and I was pleased they weren’t any older. If they had have been, I would probably have given them money. It’s the first time in South America that children have been anything but friendly.

I got to camp and set up my tent, and was just in time for the riders meeting and dinner. We have a new chef for a month called April, as the usual chef Mark has a month off. The dinner was chicken pasta and fresh salad.

I am starting to realize that I have not taken being asthmatic seriously enough. The problem is generally it is so well controlled that most people don’t even know I have asthma. I can go a year or two without using the reliever at all. Unfortunately I did not factor in what happens when it is not well controlled, which is occasionally as a result of a viral illness. So I have no peak flow and no steroid medication with me. I have doubled my dose of preventer, and am carrying my reliever in my pocket when riding. Today I have used it about 7 times. As well as being breathless I am also coughing and bringing up phlegm. All in all not ideal. I spoke to Erin the medic to check it was what I thought: my airways bring over excited as a result of either (or both) asthma and altitude.

We are going to be at altitude for a while still – probably at least a month – so hopefully it will settle down.

Tomorrow we are going to be climbing back over 4,500 meters again in the morning. Given that I am sure the altitude is what is driving the asthma I am considering not doing the climb and taking the lunch truck to lunch. Disappointing to be back in the truck but I am realizing that I need to take my asthma a bit more seriously.

Love the terrain around here (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

Lovely evening light (Photo and caption credit: Sue’s blog)

Day 75/164: Rest Day Three in Cusco

I am having problems with the wifi, no doubt it is over loaded by all the riders. I was not able to log on much of the day. When I could, I could only get a connection in the hotel lobby and could not get Skype to connect at all. It is most frustrating when there are limited days you have access to wifi and then it does not work.

I am still having problems with breathing related to altitude and asthma, and my lip does not appear to healing quickly. I had quite a lazy day today catching up on the blog, as I had got a bit behind. At most of camps lately there have been only picnic chairs and no lighting. With quite long days I am not getting anything done on the blog before dinner, and then it is dark and cold so I am not inclined to do any in my tent.

I went to the bike shop that the mechanic Luiz said sells shimano bike parts. I have been having trouble with my left pedal with my foot suddenly shooting out for no reason, which could cause a nasty mishap. I have new pedals on my bike.

Apart from that I repackaged my bags, read a book, and not much else. I went back to the same restaurant for dinner as the first night here “The Incantra” and had a really nice pasta dish with anchovies, olives, fresh tomatoes sauce, and parmesan. It could have done with a bit of heat but otherwise delicious. The pasta was fresh, and I had a nice green salad, and a glass of red wine.

I am trying not to think about tomorrow: 158 kilometres at altitude, with 1,900 meters of climbing. Yesterday 30 kilometres was added to what was a 128 kilometre ride with less climbing, to take us on a dog leg through a sacred valley (called The Sacred Valley) and miss the traffic. We have a number of unwell riders with one or more of the following: gastro, chest infection, altitude issues, asthma. There is concern that we are being pushed too hard.

Editor’s note: I asked Mum if TDA have done this ride before and had so many people quit / sick etc, and she said that the last South American trip was much shorter and went the other way, and did not cover as many countries.

Town gate in Cusco

Old Church in Cusco

Day 72/164: Limatambo to Cusco – 76km

1,500 meters climbing, 950 down.

During the night it poured, and that small omission I made yesterday with clipping the tent? Well, the whole floor of the tent got soaked along with most of my gear 😦 😦 :(. Thankfully not my electronics as they were safely in my bag, but I use a packing cell of clothes as a pillow, so I am not sure if I will have anything to wear in Cusco!

I wrapped everything that was wet in black plastic bags, and will deal with it in Cusco!  I said goodbye at breakfast to those who are leaving, in case I don’t get to see them again.

I set off from camp thinking to myself “Only 76 kilometres standing between me and three rest days!”. The first five kilometres was pretty tough as the gradient was quite steep, thankfully it improved. I caught up with Michelle at about 10 kilometres and rode with her. Luckily there were some parts of the hill that were pretty reasonable riding.

A view of Limatambo and yesterday’s valley that we pedalled up (Photo and caption credit: Laura and Greg’s blog)

I had thought the main hill was 20 kilometres, we passed Sue and she thought it was 15 kilometres, which would have been great as we were nearly at 15 kilometres. We were all wrong: it was actually 25 kilometres.

Finally we got to the top and Michelle yells out “Yay!”. I try to yell as well but I don’t have any spare breathe, oops my asthma is worse than I thought. I used the reliever a couple of times, and then it was downhill to lunch.

The lunch truck party, playing oldies on the stereo (Photo and caption credit: Laura and Greg’s blog)

After lunch I rode with Michelle and Tony, only 36 kilometres to go! There was a bit of a headwind and some more hills but the thought of getting to the hotel and a warm shower kept us going.

Up the hill for the final climb and down on the other side. Our first view of the main part of Cusco. The red earth, tile roofs and brown bricks make for a drab scene (Photo and caption credit: Laura and Greg’s blog)

At 8 kilometres out, we were on the outskirts of town, it was dirty rubbish bags, mangy dogs, mud, buses, taxi vans, pot holes, gravel and a steep gradient. Once we got to the city, getting to the hotel was chaos –  the traffic was everywhere.

Trying to manage the traffic, and look out for flags and potholes was very challenging. I was lucky there were three of us navigating, as I would have got lost if I had been on my own. Finally we got to the hotel, to my amazement in one piece.

Getting through Cusco to our hotel was a bit of a challenge. Lots of turns combined with steep, rough cobbled streets made it exciting. One of the streets had a vegetable market. It made for lots of dodging bodies and produce (Photo and caption credit: Laura and Greg’s blog)

Nearing the hotel. Here’s the Mercado San Pedro (Market) (Photo and caption credit: Laura and Greg’s blog)

We are staying at Hotel Garcilaso in Cusco for three days 🙂 🙂 :).The hotel is old but situated right in the middle of the tourist hub. The staff are very helpful and friendly. Like a number of the riders I am not in the best shape, I think it’s a case of being exhausted. I have a burnt and bleeding lip, pressure areas on the butt, gastro, asthma, altitude breathlessness, and an annoying cough, plus my neck has frozen on the left side. I think the three day’s rest has come just in time.

Grant – the rider I was concerned about the other day – went to a private clinic and is on penicillin injections for a chest infection. Other riders have a mixture of problems.

I got changed, got some water etc. I had dinner with Tony and Michelle at a nice restaurant (the name escapes me) to celebrate them having finished the section, and completed all of it! I am also feeling pretty pleased to have completed all of it. I had filet mignon, fettucine, fresh salad, and a glass of red wine. Then back to the hotel to bed.

Yay, no 5am start tomorrow or the next two days.

 

We made it! Park the bikes, unload and shower, and it’s off down the street for some grub. This is the Plaza San Francisco (Photo and caption credit: Laura and Greg’s blog)