The avid motorcyclists from Touratech Thailand and myself, we have already been on the road now for 9 days, and were busy riding our motorcycles, sightseeing, taking many pictures, shopping, and so much more. The impressions that we have been collecting so far are nothing short of fantastic. And there is yet so much more to come that we are going to discover that we are close to running out of space on our cameras

The last two days, for example, we spent in the jungle of the Amazon with no wifi signal or cell phone signal at all. What an exciting but yet very relaxing time this was!!!

Back in high altitude Cusco again we showered off the humidity of the past days, and some of us are yet going into downtown Cusco to explore the old part of the city.

Feel free to come along with us, and enjoy our tour pictures of our adventure Machu Picchu.

Day 1 - Arequipa to Puerto Inka

This year, Arequipa celebrates its anniversary and therefore there are festivals going on throughout all August. Music and dancing everywhere

The group from Touratech Thailand met in this very nice hotel for our tour start

Our welcome briefing

Already the tour start was promising a joyful time we would spend together.

Peru, on its western side, shows a rather dry and warm climate. The landscape is mostly dominated by the sea, humongous sand dunes and brown rocky mountains. So starting at 2.600 m in Arequipa, we first travelled back down to sea level.

Day 2 - Puerto Inka to Nasca

Our hotel on the beach was more of simple style, but a all the more beautiful location. It is the only building there. But what makes it so interesting are the Inca ruins right around the corner.

Birdwatching is pretty easy here

We continued our journey from Puerto Inca to Nazca along the coast

Vast areas of only sand and emptiness are as impressive to the mind

Pan, our "wild boy"

Some sections of the Pan-American Highway were interrupted by road construction. Waiting for the signal to continue...

Around lunch time we reached our beautiful hotel in Nazca. Some of us changed into casual clothes to take the airplane and fly over the famous Nazca Lines. And some of us decided to take the stair case to take a more "grounded" look at these ancient lines

While everybody chose to join the car, one simply couldn't resist the bike ride

While you get a perfect view of all the Nazca Lines from the airplane, the view from the tower allows you a quite good vista over three of them.

The "hands"

Later in the afternoon we took a guided tour to another part of the Nazca lines and to the pretty interesting aquaeducts. The pre-Inca culture of the Nazcas knew their area very well. They diverted the water from the distant mountains in such a well-engineered way that they could supply the whole valley for agriculture and all other daily needs.

More than 20 of these spirals are spread out in the valley to guarantee the flow of water and the access to the system

Yeah, I know you know cactuses
But please have a look at the white stuff on the cactus. It is a little bug which slowly eats the cactus and by doing so produces a red juice. So the locals "harvest" the insect to make use of the red juice in many ways.

Day 3 - Nasca to Chalhuanca

We continue our way today from Nazca to Chalhuanca, which is half way to Machu Picchu.
Shooting photos is quite important

However, it is at least as important to take many breaks today! We are climbing from sea level to over 4000 m above sea level !!
Taking time to adapt to the change in altitude is most important to avoid headaches or getting dizzy.

But these breaks were very welcome. They simply gave us the opportunity to take more pictures of the fantastic scenery

Touratech Thailand and Edelweiss Bike Travel in joint action

In the Pampas de Galera you find wild Vicuñas and Alpacas roaming around

It probably won't get more local atmosphere in a coffee place on 4.500 m

We're crossing the mountain ranges from west to east. Meaning that also the landscape is changing....

All of a sudden the sandy areas change for more greenery and more trees. And before you know it, you think you have gone back to the Alps

Only from the vast areas and the Alpacas you can tell you are in Peru

And at the end of the day, you're confused again !! Because our hotel looks anything but Peruvian You are tempted to think you are in a small Italian village. The owner of this place seems to have a liking for Italy.

Day 4 - Chalhuanca to Urubamba

On our way to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley near Machu Picchu we cross through even more Alps-like scenery

Shortly before arriving at the hotel we get to this road with super nicely swinging curves. And at the end of it we find a perfect setting for pictures.

There you go - click, click, click ....

Day 5 - Restday in Urubamba (Machu Picchu)

What a beautiful hotel in the Sacred Valley !! It will be our base for the next two nights.

We are going to explore the hidden ancient stronghold of the Incas - Machu Picchu !!

First, the train takes us from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes

From there, a shuttle bus finally takes us up to Machu Picchu on numerous dirt switchbacks

From there we were all huffing and puffing up the hiking trail to see the famous ruins.

And even Mr. Pana, who joins our tour in his wheeled chair in the support car, made his way up the mountain for the picture !! What an achievement! Well done, Pana !!

After all this walking, Chanin and myself found a comfy Inca stone sofa

The ruins without a Llama - this would be like a ship without a sail

Day 6 - Urubamba to Cusco

Today we are leaving the Sacred Valley again towards the city of Cusco. Our next adventure is already waiting for us. We're all looking very much forward to our jungle experience in the Amazon

But first we visit the interesting salt mining area of Moray

And we also learn more about the treatment and processing of the Alpaca wool

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Day 7 & 8 - Excursion into the Amazon

Yeah, yeah, yeah !!! Finally !!! The long waited for excursion into the Amazon is about to start

From the nice temperatures of Cusco (3.400 m) we take the airplane to fly down to Puerto Maldonado (180 m) into a more humid and warm climate.

Down from the mountains...

... around the bend ...

... onto the river Tambopata ...

... and into the jungle...

Who would have thought that a night walk through the jungle could be so interesting and not scary at all

All kinds of animals we saw...

Some of them are more scared of human noises than anything else ...

The next morning meant an early rise for us. The plan was to watch the Macaws at the clay lick.

Watching the birds through the binoculars turned it into a stress free experience

We even met Tarza...uahuahhhhhn...

The most peculiar tree trunk I've ever seen in my life !!

Except maybe this one - it is the "walking tree"

Day 9 - Returning to Cusco

What an extraordinarily beautiful morning...

But it also meant that we would need to leave again back for Cusco to continue our journey

But first things first - sooo delicious this breakfast with fresh Papaya juice :P

Day 10 - Cusco to Puno

Back in Cusco we got all our belongings back together and got ready for the ride to Puno. Oh yes, Peru has quite a bit more to offer to us yet

Lots of colourful scenery again and ...

... the Peruvians also won't miss out on letting you know about their speciality.

Our ride today leads us back up to 4000 meters. But still not yet the highest point in our tour

Day 11 - Puno to Chivay

Puno is located on the Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable sweet water lake in the world. Having arrived late after our yesterday's long riding day, we are being welcomed by another beautiful and sunny day.

We rise early again to see the unique highlight here on the lake - the floating islands and the Uros people who inhabit the islands.

It was quite an interesting experience to step on one of the islands. While they are a little wobbly still, you feel completely safe on the thick layer of sea weed.

Our guide explained very well to us all about these people and their unusual way of life

One of the girls who is busy to produce the embroidery they sell to tourists.

After having returned to the hotel, we got ready to continue our journey towards Chivay, our next destination

More amazing scenery lead us to ...

... the highest point we could possibly reach on our tour - 4.910 m !! Phuuhh... even only taking your motorcycle jacket off makes you huff and puff

Some of us like their bikes nice and shiny ...

Day 12 - Chivay to Arequipa

Even on our last day we still have one of the biggest highlights yet coming up - The Colca Canyon and the majestic flight of the Condors

Not quite as lucky as on other occasions, we saw only very few of the Condors. But still the Canyon has spectacular views to offer.

On the way back one of the volcanoes was "coughing" a bit

It didn't look like it at all at first sight, but this small shop had the probably best sandwich I've ever tasted :P

Misty Volcano of Arequipa is already in sight and soon we will end our fantastic tour of Peru and Machu Picchu back at our base hotel.