Exploring Peru & Bolivia Along the Ancient Inca Trail

Riding the Inca Trail Across Peru and Bolivia

There are ideas we have in mind. We live in the real world, we interact with people like we are entirely here, but we are not. Only half of our soul is here, talking and living, the other half is lost in the dreams and ideas. I started thinking about Peru and the Inca trail. My mind was there, I had to go.


A BIT OF HISTORY

Cusco was considered as the belly button of the world by the Incas, in the legend this is the place where the first humans settled the Inca empire. They were sent by Inti, the God of the Gods, the sun himself. These two first humans were coming from Titicaca lake, walking and walking in search of the perfect land, a fertile land. Every trail and settlement lead to Cusco on the Inca Trail. The Inca empire was superior and they could conqueer the countries known today as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile thanks to their advanced technologies such as communication.

The Inca trails they build help them to be stronger, but in the 15th century, the Incas started to face invaders coming from Spain.




A BIT OF A PLAN

I wanted to explore some Inca Trail on my bike and ended doing the last walk of the Inca. The one Manco Inca took with his people to save them. Legend says the Incas still live in the Amazon, pretty impressive when we know that Tupac Amaru was the last Inca king and died in 1572. From the city of Cusco to Ollantaytambo to Vilcabamba, the network of Inca trail was really impressive, I reached some remote communities where there is no comfort such as electricity. The people live from the fields and cattle, lamas, alpacas, horses, sheep, cows and more. The meetings and the lessons are fascinating, this is the true reason for travelling.

This trip was a blast, I had tonnes of fun and discovery but it never went like planned. The rain has been a terrible partner in my 45-day trip, forcing me to make choices. But that's also the beauty of the trip, a combination of time, mountains and dreams.

I was lucky to explore many Inca trails from Cusco to get to the Sacred Valley, from there I could ride more and cross some valleys. The trails I found were really good to ride, with strong local life and beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, I was not able to take my camera with me during the trip, because of the rain so I only had a waterproof phone and action camera with me. This is frustrating but this was a reality. Trying to stay warm and dry was hard enough, filming in those conditions was just too hard.

From the Sacred Valley I went back to the Cusco region for another chapter as I reached the Salkantay mountain. From Sorai Pampa starts the Salkantay trek which crosses a pass to the north and eventually to Macchu Picchu. Sorai Pampa is just a nice place with campsites and hotels, it's green and peaceful with Humantay lake and Mollepata village for some riding. Really liked to discover the area and watch the Salkantay mountain whose peak is at 6271 meters, raw and strong with glaciers and seracs. This incredible moment contrasted with the poor quality of the trail on the next day, after the pass at 4630 meters probably the Huayracmachay pass.

I left the classic trek to go further north, my goal was to reach the Amazon following the IncaTrail to Vilcabamba. As I was navigating in the mountains, the rain came back and made those endless climbs harder. After two days of big rides I finally reached Vilcabamba, the place was incredible to visit but at the village I have heard that the trail I was planning to do was closed. With floods and landslides, it was dangerous to try to make it… so I decided to get back on the bike and go south hoping for a better weather. Coming back to the Sacred Valley I dropped into the Inca Avalanche Trail to get to Ollantaytambo. This famous trail is spectacular, starting at 4300 in Abra Malaga for a 1500 meters drop.







The riding was mind-blowing too, from some part at 5000 meter high around the glaciers down to the valleys with horses and little houses it was just unique and awesome.

The storm caught me badly in the afternoon, I rode hard to find a village and a crappy hotel for the night. Because of this really crappy place and the storm I had to cancel the rest of my exploration in Ausangate. Hard call.

I finally reach Sicuani and jumped in a minibus for some bus hopping experience with the locals! From a bus to another, from loading and unloading the bike on the roof of the minibus, I eventually got to Copacabana in Bolivia. The weather was looking good, I was hoping for the best and rode towards the Royal Range. I reached Sorata on some awesome trails, this village is the perfect place for trekking. The views in Sorata's area are breathtaking, with huge mountains, glaciers and forest. I rode a few trails and had a blast. When I decided to follow the dirt roads to the east the storm was back, strong and dangerous. Definitely not the good time to hang out in the mountains!

With some help, I finally reached Tuni, a place deep in the range, surrounded by lakes and summits. I arrived at the refuge before the night, the snow was near and it was cold. The guard was here for maintenance, he could open the place helping me for the night but he had to go back to civilization. An old lady, looking after llamas, prepared me a dinner but the next morning she said she couldn't do more. Actually, the road was closed so she had not enough food for me! The trails were covered with snow on this cold morning. I waited one entire day and tried to go through the mountains when I discover that the hole in my tire was getting too big. Bad sign for the rest of my trip. Without spares, I couldn't take the risk of riding the trails, so I decided to get back to La Paz on the road.








BOLIVIA











An ugly and chaotic city built in a hole, in the middle of the mountains, holding pollution and clouds. This was the beginning of the end. After all those days in the rain and all the events I was losing it. So I decided to get back to Cusco with the night bus.

In Cusco I found a really cool rhythm for the last days, painting and writing in the rainy day and biking in the nice days, I enjoyed the rides around Cusco and Sacred Valley with my local friend Roberto. He is a guide, we met three years ago in Cusco and got along well. Roberto loves the mountains, pedalling and wild trails just like me! I was really lucky to share many days with him so we could go and explore.

If you are looking for adventurous experience in Peru you are looking for him! At www.perubiking.com




Well after the last exploration session it was time to get back home in France. I knew this trip could have gone better, especially with the weather, but I was feeling blessed for the meeting and the experience in this fabulous country. Peru is a rich country where the history is mixed with the present, where the culture is old and evolving with the people. It's a fascinating life, and to witness it in a bike trip is just a blessing.

Gracias Peru

Tito

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