The company that I am cycling with offers clients the opportunity to do just a section of the tour between Rio and Quito. The section between Cusco and Lima is called ‘The Gringo Trail’ and a new rider joined us for that section...

Today we are continuing on our most difficult stretch of biking that ends in Nazca. We left Cuarhuasi this morning, which is where we stayed last night. Last night I went to a bar in Cuarhuasi which was fun - they played a lot of Johnny Cash. We left town and started a three hour (35 km) climb which was tough but still nice...

Getting to Cusco and climbing to the top of the city and feeling the reward of my hard work was an emotionally exhilarating experience. Sipping a beer at the top of the city, I reflected on the 3 day ride from Puno, the scenery that I can´t even describe and the formidable challenges...

Today we finally arrived in Cusco. I was on the road by sunrise and it has become clear that the earlier you get moving, the less heat and wind you have to endure. The downside of leaving early is that if you ride fast like I was this morning you can arrive at the lunch stop before most people are getting to work...

140 kilometres didn't come out of my legs as fast as they usually do. When I woke up I was still feeling yesterday’s ride. Half the group has gone ahead to Cusco to recover from various ailments, mostly stomach related. I shared a room with the bus driver, Alfonso (one of my favourite people on the trip)...

An interesting ride today. From Puno we travelled along the three south to a town called Ayaviri roughly 145km away. Climbing out of Puno, I got a flat right at the beginning. Luckily, I was able to patch it and move on fairly quickly. The morning was all flat riding on fairly good pavement and I even got a boost from drafting behind what could only be described as the Batmobile...

The youth hostel I am staying at in Puno is on the outskirts of the city right near the highway. Last night I took a taxi into the city and ate at one of those really touristy restaurants in Puno called Gourmet Andean Cuisine. Saturday night walking around Puno, all you see are...

Today I had a long ride from Copacabana to the town of Puno. I ate breakfast today with a random guy from Germany who had been traveling in South America for a while and was staying in my hostel. He told me about getting robbed in Venezuela which seems to be the country that requires the highest degree of caution...

On Wednesday we left La Paz and the morning was certainly eventful. First thing in the morning, I encountered one of the scams that is mentioned in my guidebook: I saw a huge bag of money on the street. My guidebook says that if you pick it up, someone will accuse you of stealing and try to have you arrested. Some guy next to me said to me, “look at that huge bag of money,” but I just kept walking and everything was fine...

When I was biking across Canada with Daniel we had a game called "you know you've been on the road for a while when..." One that stuck with me was that you know you've been on the road for a while when you can anticipate the steepness of an upcoming climb based on the smell. Before we had turned the corner and could see the hill, we already know the steepness based on the smell of burnt rubber from the previous truck to go down the hill. The stronger the smell, the steeper the hill...