Peru
A collection of bike touring trips within the Peruvian Andes including Macchu Picchu, the Cordillera Asungate, Punta Olympica and the Peru Great Divide.
Caraz to Ecuador
![Caraz to Ecuador Caraz to Ecuador](https://i0.wp.com/www.mikehowarth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/16287073816_77c19c9fc2_b.jpg?resize=1000%2C768)
The Punta Olympica loop neatly deposits Flo and I in the town of Caraz, the starting point for one of Peru’s most famous treks; the Santa Cruz trek. Swapping dirt roads for trekking trails, we head in to the mountains by foot. Conscious of time and our apparent good fortune of continued blue skies we […]
2014: The Year That Was
![2014: The Year That Was 2014: The Year That Was](https://i0.wp.com/www.mikehowarth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/12730322323_987fe20de7_o-e1453759878139.jpg?resize=1000%2C768)
Presenting my passport to the Ecuadorian border official raises a smile as he leafs through my passport and inspects my Peruvian exit stamp, the inedible red stamp reads “En Exceso de Permeanencia”. In many countries the implications of over staying your visa would result in you being banned from the country, deported or worse. Instead […]
Punta Olympica: Triple Heart Bypassing
![Punta Olympica: Triple Heart Bypassing Punta Olympica: Triple Heart Bypassing](https://i0.wp.com/www.mikehowarth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/15887496365_68c77993a5_b.jpg?resize=1000%2C768)
The Peruvian rainy season provides us with ample rainy days to tick our way through Huaraz’s various restaurants, cafes, street markets, (plentiful) panaderias and of course sampling some exceedingly strong ale courteousy of the Sierra Andina brewery. Just as things start feeling a bit too comfortable to contemplate moving, blue skies and clear views of […]
Huancavellica to Huaraz: El Silencio Continuado
![Huancavellica to Huaraz: El Silencio Continuado Huancavellica to Huaraz: El Silencio Continuado](https://i0.wp.com/www.mikehowarth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/15597702048_1ef48f51fc_b.jpg?resize=1000%2C768)
After 10 days relaxing in Huaraz the weather finally lifts to reveal stunning views of the surrounding Cordeillera Blanca. It seems Peru’s rainy season isn’t conducive to far reaching views. Cloud lingers low down in the valley as we are treated to a series of dull overcast days, and afternoon rain reimisicent of an English […]
Cusco to Huancavellica: Missing Links and El Silencio
![Cusco to Huancavellica: Missing Links and El Silencio Cusco to Huancavellica: Missing Links and El Silencio](https://i0.wp.com/www.mikehowarth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/15766634591_2e5a3c9782_b1.jpg?resize=1000%2C746)
After our riotous arrival in to Cusco following the Ausangate Traverse. We ritefully put our feet up in the historic capital of the Incan Empire. Internet fixes completed and sweet toothes sated Cass and I cook up an equally grand plan to take us north to the large town of Abancay. Navigating our way out […]
La Paz to Cusco: Riding the Rails
![La Paz to Cusco: Riding the Rails La Paz to Cusco: Riding the Rails](https://i0.wp.com/www.mikehowarth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/15241902869_3650550c99_b.jpg?resize=1000%2C768)
What do you do when you become the new owner of a fat bike? You ride tarmac. Perhaps there was a certain amount of inneudo intended when Cass thrusts a 7 percent beer named “Judas” in to my hand the night before we are due to leave La Paz. Whichever way it makes for another […]
Machu Picchu
![Machu Picchu Machu Picchu](https://i0.wp.com/www.mikehowarth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/15322643741_bc7438a477_b.jpg?resize=1000%2C768)
For the moment at least I am fast forwarding you through my journey from the Bolivian Antiplano and onward to the Peruvian Andes. Leaving Cass behind at the road head in the Peruvian town of Tinqui, 130 kilometers outside Cusco I take a bus in to the historic capital of the Incan Empire to meet […]