Peru | 2025 | January

Spent three days in Pucallpa getting delivery on the bikes. Day one we arrived and had a  meet and greet with the other riders and mechanics. We asked about skid plates and the local welder built custom plates for 200 Sol ($54) per bike. Day two we added parts and luggage we had brought from home and spent half a day at the Peruvian DMV.  Day three we took the bikes for a 71 km shakeout ride in the dirt and moved from the Hostel to the Hotel.

Day 4 we had a 100 km oil change on the bikes and paid an additional 678 Sol ($182) for additional work. Not totally sure what this charge was covering? Then we started our ride south along 18C for 200 km. This was our first experience with a Peruvian highway and we learned to expect part of the road to be missing every few km. In Constitucion we found a beautiful brand new hotel and we were the only guests! 

Daily 163 km | Total 434 km

Daily 188 km | Total 622 km  

Daily 247 km | Total 869 km  

Daily 272 km | Total 1141 km

Daily 128 km | Total 1269 km

Daily 0 km | Total 1269 km

Daily 144 km | Total 1413 km

Great morning flight over the Nazca Lines. Although it was hot and the plane flies a hard banking figure eight over many figures so take your dramamine. I grabbed some GoPro video and especially wanted to capture the Hummingbird for Dianna but it is pretty hard to see so I’ll include a canned image. 

Then a three hour ride between Nazca and Chala on the PE-1S to the Pacific Ocean. We were worried about the late start and the heat but just about as soon as we cleared the city a 50 mile an hour cool sea breeze took care of the heat issue. Our little XRE 300 Hondas are great bikes but can only do about 50 mph uphill or against a good wind.

Found a hotel with a nice view in Chala with dinner and drinks on the Portico.

Daily 225 km | Total 1810 km

Day 14 we rode about 238 km with 111 km of them in the dirt. The ride started on two lane paved PE-1S leaving Camana and turned to dirt when we hit PE-109. PE-109 is well maintained but after about 111 km of washboards and deep dust corners we were happy to see the 1.5 line paved road we have grown to love in Peru and the desert give way to a greener landscape.

Day 15 we took a beautiful 65 km ride along PE-109 Colca Canyon. One of the deepest canyons in the world and took time to stop at a few of the attractions including the  Condor Viewpoint “Mirador Cruz del Cóndor”. No luck spotting a condor but we did find a fantastic hot springs lodge at the end of the ride. Colca Lodge Spa & Hot Springs was about triple our nightly room budget at $200 and was worth every penny. 

Day 16 we completed our longest ride and highest ride so far at 311 km and 16,000 feet elevation. Taking a route through the national park  Reserva Nacional de Salinas y Aguada Blanca. The first half of the ride was amazing coming out of Colca Canyon and into the park. The second half of the ride was a long cold bumpy two lane highway to Puno. We are meeting two other motorcyclists in Puno who also used Around the Block Moto Adventures to purchase their motorcycles. We are planning to get our paperwork together and attempt to cross the Bolivian border at Desaguadero on Friday February 07.

Spent a couple days in Puno and finally the entire Bolivian Four Team received some sort of bike ownership paperwork. Although between the four of us we have three different types of ownership papers. Seems a little strange but we will see how things go at the border. Everyone added additional fuel capacity because obtaining fuel in Bolivia is said to be difficult. This left the bikes looking pretty legit! 

Day 19 we waited in Puno for word that it would be a good day to try the border crossing. Only to find out that Saturday the 8th would be a better opportunity. We already had the bikes packed and had checked out of our hotels so we decided to stage a little closer to the border in  Desaguadero. Nice ride along Lake Titicaca on one of the best paved roads we have experienced in Peru. 

Day 20 we did our best to get across the border between Peru and Bolivia. We missed the border office we needed to leave Peru and ended up at the Bolivian office without the papers to exit Peru. We had some fun going against traffic splitting lanes between Semi trucks to get back to the Peruvian border office. Immigration was happy to let us cross the border but not with our bikes. Clemens, a German in our group who speaks fluent Spanish, attempted every story to get us across the border. Including one in which Miichaela, another member of our group, was his mother and this was her last chance to ride Bolivia. Back to Puno…