Day 182 – Cusco, PE to Puno, PE

Day 182 – Cusco, PE to Puno, PE      02/19/11      Mileage: 244

After running some last minute errands, I gassed up the KLR and headed south for Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. With my late start I was more than likely going to be riding the last stretch in the dark, but the road was paved the entire way and hopefully I could make up some time. Well, you know that wasn’t going to happen and in the back of my mind I knew it too. It’s just impossible to go any kind of distance down here compared to what is possible in the US in a day…where 500+ miles, even on a KLR, is easy to do. There were some stretches of high plains where the road was arrow straight and I could open it up. But soon, the ever present rain started and I had to back off the pace a bit. With the cold and rain, I just wasn’t compelled to take many pictures, in fact I didn’t take any. All told I had to roll the last 2 hours in the dark and rain…a calculated risk for sure. After a few attempts, I finally found a room with secure parking at the Hotel Arequipa. Tomorrow, it’s on to Bolivia, country number 14…

Token picture: I warm little pizza joint with an authentic brick oven….nothing washes away 240 cold, wet miles like hot pizza and cold beer…   😉