Thursday 3rd April 2025 Pisca to Cuzco
Went for a evening meal in the same place that we had lunch, nice place with an extended menu so did not need to eat the same stuff, though the dishes do come out a bit randomly, Bingo’s starter cam out after he had finished his main but hey ho.

Discussed what we are going to do tomorrow, ride the 20 odd miles to Cusco, mainly up hill, visit the animal sanctuary and three Inca sites, namely Tambomachay, Puka Pukara and Saqsaywaman (sounds more Geordie then Inca), seemed a reasonable plan, but I am still struggling with the altitude, so will see what occurs, nothing can go wrong.

All up with the larks, ready and waiting for the breakfast to open, Ringo goes down first, the place is like the ” Marie Celeste”, so we pack up and move out, bound to be a cafe open in the town. Nice found a little cafe that served coffee, very strong coffee I might add, with a bakery next door, Ringo into the bakery gets a croissant and chocolate pastries for each of us, good lad, he did not know they were threes days old! but we all ate them, got to fuel the legs and lungs.

Just before 8 we set off, like I said earlier, I was a bit nervous, done loads of climbing never bothered me before, just been struggling to get enough oxygen in my lungs. So off we go, just get your cadence and rhythm right and pedal, first little bend, two dogs yapping and barking, Ringo videoing them! then Bingo goes past one of then takes a likening to his calf, i can hear him shouting and cursing at the dammed thing, then my turn to go past, ended up with both dogs tugging on my socks, lucky for me the are baggy and elasticated, so they just chewed them! Bingo ended up with a nasty bite on his calf, blood streaming down his leg. Tough lad just kept turning the pedals and carried on in a nonchalant manner, me I was still screaming about my socks!

Was quite pleased as I was feeling the best I have felt since being at altitude, maybe I just needed a bit more time to adjust, felt good climbing again which is a relief.

We soon hit the animal sanctuary, Ringo was waiting for me, Bingo was already on the operating table, with a young Austrian vet administering the first aid, excellent treatment, Bingo ensured her he was fully inoculated against Rabies and Tetanus. What a lovely place to visit, great people who cared about the animals, with the aim to reintroduce as many animals back into the wild as possible. Spent a good couple of hours being shown around looking at the Condors, Spectacle Bears, Mountain Lion (Puma), loads of parrots and Geese, we all really enjoyed the sanctuary and the hospitably they afforded us, brilliant.

Left the sanctuary with a buzz in the pedals, just 8 miles of climbing left, on we go, all of us feeling good, even Bingo with his bandaged calf, tell he is not a Rugby Back, soon hit the top of the climb, had a bit of a rest, then a French couple arrived form the other direction on touring bikes, had a lovely chat with them, they have been travelling around South America for six months and due to fly home to Grenoble from Colombia in August, so we may see them again, the girls name is Charlotte, can’t remember the guys name, but a nice bloke.

Now it was a slight descent onto the Inca sites, all of them were amazing, in awe of the work that they put in, perfectly aligned stones, with no mortar just perfect joints, astonishing they achieved all this without a wheel, thoroughly enjoyed the three sites. Just as we finished the last site, possibly the best Saqsaywaman, the heavens opened, so ended up cycling down the big descent into Cusco with the rain hammering down, Ringo showed his class, came around a tight corner, spotted a bar with a happy hour, he was straight in there, good lad. Had a beer, with a lovely view over the ancient city, sorted out an hotel only a mile away, brilliant, nice result, rain had stopped so just a gentle roll into town and the Hotel Marqueses, in the quaint cobblestone area of the city.

Nice day all around, good being a Tourist for once.