The Expedition 65 Experience

Today our destination is Cusco,Peru which is both a Spanish colonial city, and a World Heritage venue. Today we’ll see how you do with “altitude” as we’ll make our first high crossing in the Andes. We’ll crest 15,500 feet as we head into Cusco. Cusco is an amazing city full of history and the ancient culture of the Incas. Distance to Cusco - 480 km.

Cusco is a world heritage site with a great mix of Inca history, architecture and culture woven into the fabric of daily life.. Walk along alleyways of amazing stonework from the year 1100 – shop for hand made gifts in a myriad of boutiques … or have a pizza on the square.

Today is a early day as we have to catch the train to Machu Pichu early. It’s a long day, but Machu Pichu is ranked in the top three places in the world to visit and it’s a “must see”. Known as the “lost city” of the Incas’s and built in the 1450’s and abandoned one hundred years later Machu Pichu is awe-inspiring.

We’ll head south today with the goal of getting to Puno on the shores of Lake Titcaca. L. T. is the highest navigable body of water in the world with steamships plying her waters that were shipped in pieces from around the world only to be assembled on the shores of the lake. Length of day - 250 miles

In the morning we’ll take a brief sightseeing jaunt by boat to see the Uros people of the floating islands. Its really pretty extraordinary to see homes build on bundles of reeds floating in the middle of a lake, but that’s exactly how it is. The Uros people moved onto the lake as the Inca empire expanded 550 years ago and have learned how to adapt to life on the water. It’s a totally cool experience to see how they live today with a mix of old culture and new technologies like solar lighting. After we visit the Uros, we’ll head for Bolivia and our home for the night in Copacabana. We’ll only be riding for about 90 miles, but the border crossing will take some time so you’ll need your patience this afternoon.

You’ll start your day today with a lovely ride with constant views of Lake Titicaca, and eventually we come to the most bizarre ferry boats you’ll ever see. nothing but old hunks of lumber strapped together and powered by 60 horse outboard motors these rickety barges carry buses, trucks and of course our motorcycles across a narrow isthmus of turbulent waters. Its actually a wonderful cross between ingenuity and necessity and makes a great photo. After the ferry we have a relatively short run into the capital city of La Paz, Bolivia.

You’ve read about it for years… You’ve seen it on TV… and today you get to ride Bolivia’s infamous “Camino de la Muerte” or Highway of death. This road truly has the potential to live up to its name, although its mostly a one way road now, and there are no trucks or buses anymore. Precipitous cliffs and the chance to ride through actual waterfalls make this day one you’ll remember for the rest of your life. Its truly an epic ride

The photo for the cover of our new book about Expedition 65 was taken on the Uyuni Salt Flats… one of the most remarkable places on earth and we’re going to have a great opportunity to explore and ride this amazing place. We’ll leave La Paz early and head for the west side of the solar de Uyuni with the goal of reaching an amazing hostal at the edge of the salt.. Hostal Dona Lupe is a small “hostal” of which the buildings are made of salt. Dona Lupe is a funky family owned place in the absolute middle of no where – but it’s super cool at the same time.

Today when we leave Dona Lupe’s we’ll have a 70 mile ride across the salt to the town of Uyuni. Its surreal to ride for over an hour in a straight line with nothing in view except the vastness of the salt flat. Slowly the hills near Uyuni will begin to appear on the horizon and eventually we’ll hit the pavement near the edge of town and head to a car wash to get the salt off of our bikes. After Uyuni we’ll have a run to the Argentina where the village of La Quiaca actually straddles the border between Bolivia and Argentina. Length of day – 450 K.

As we leave the border this morning we’ll be heading down into a wonderful area of Argentina on what is known as the “mother road” or Ruta 40. Much like route 66 in the US is known as the mother road ruta 40 was the first highway that went North/South in Argentina. Much of it is still unpaved as it was when it was first constructed but it goes through an up and coming wine region … so the section we’ll ride today is now known as the “Ruta del vino” and our home for the night will be a lovely winery … and yes we’ll have the chance to sample some of our host’s delicious wine as we’ll have dinner among the vineyards this evening. Length of day 500km

From Cafayate we head north on Ruta 40 over the infamous Paso Abra el Acay – which at an altitude of 16,250 feet makes it the highest point on our entire trip. At this altitude you have to rest for a moment from the effort of simply “getting on your bike”. (not quite☺ ) but from 16,ooo feet the view is amazing and you truly feel as though you’re on top of the world. Todays ride is not too long and we’ll arrive at the dusty and gritty mining town of San Antonio de los Cobres. Length of day - 296km

Our last day on the road takes us once again on Ruta 40 toward Chile and the awesome Paso de Jama. We’ll have about a 3 hour ride in the dirt and we’ll hit the pavement just below the Chilean border and we’ll enter Chile at the top of the Andes around 13,400 feet elevation. The run “down” the Andes to the resort village of San Pedro de Atacama is nothing short of glorius. An 8000 foot elevation drop makes it seem as though you’re in free fall – and the town of San Pedro is one of the coolest places we visit on the trip and a perfect “ending point’ for our amazing adventure.

Today you have choices… You can take a flight back to Santiago and head for home or perhaps you’ll decide to stay in San pedro for a few days and soak up the Chilean sun and relax. The choice is yours!