Flying through Lima, I tried something new this time. Instead of taking the first available flight to Cusco, I booked a hotel at the Wyndham airport, with the idea that I’d get a solid seven hours of sleep. As it was, my flight was super delayed out of Dallas and I didn’t get the experience I was hoping for with the sleep! But, having that booking made sure I didn’t miss my connecting flight, which has its own benefits!  In the turn of events, I actually got travel insurance for this trip, trying out World Nomads.  It will be interesting to see if they cover my hotel!

And now, I’m enjoying a Peruvian Asian fusion meal – sushi, fancy cocktails, and these lovely fried rice extravaganza‘s.  Peru is known for its food, and I figured I would start with something foodie and delicious!

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After a very windy and long drive up the backside, the trail started in grassy animal trails – kind of choose-your-own adventure, but definitely a trail to follow.  After a bit, it popped out onto the ridge for a series of freeride drops – no trail, lots of features, ride what looked fun!  These super fun ‘bumps’ were connected by short climbs or at times traverse sections that rode more like a pump track than anything.  It’s as if they were made for bikes!  This style of terrain goes on for awhile and is super fun riding!

At one point, my buddy exclaimed that we should have used this place as a warm-up, at which point I reminded him not to underestimate Peru . . . and I was right!  After about 6500′ of super fun (though still plenty taxing) terrain, the last 1500′ are steep, loose, rocky technical riding that definitely was a challenge!  Tech riding like this is always difficult, and especially after a long day of riding in the sun!  All’s well that ends well, and we made it through just fine . . .

The closest town to the ride is Chincha, where we stayed the night before after riding Olleros.  I recommend staying local the night before as it’s a very very long day trip from Lima – as it was, the day was long by starting in Chincha and returning to Lima.

Apparently this trail was ‘discovered’ by some 70-year-old guys who likes bikes and likes exploring – what a find!  It’s so random and rad, but I have no idea how anyone would ever think to ride here!  That said, I highly highly highly recommend you do!  So unreal and fun.

This is, however, one of the most exposed rides we did . . . almost all the trails have a road that intersects them so the truck is avialble if needed.  Chavin does not – it’s truly remote for a long time and an injury here would be something to contend with for sure.

Peruvian version of game trails . . .

It started off so tame . . .

These traverse sections were so fun to ride!

The views didn’t suck! Big country . . .

Riding big ridgelines is so cool!

Of course the spicy section comes at the end when your legs are already spent!

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Ride 1 – Santa Maria

This ride was 100% Peru – steep, loose, narrow.  Winding through the trees, this ride had a lot of momentum management and driving with the handlebars!!!  I kind of loved it, in part because it was different than the other type of tech riding we’d done.  My partner was less stoked on it.  But variety is the spice of life!!!!

Here we go . . . cool to see city views from the start!

This is a fairly typical section, though the photo doesn’t do justice to the steepness, looseness, or narrowness! It was spicy

After riding in the sacred valley for a week, with only highways paved, it was funny to drop out into a neighborhood!

Ride 2 – Huanacaure

Our second ride was a much bigger and longer one . . . it started with a hike-a-bike up to ruins, at which point a trail magically emerged!  While we were there, the trail was under major construction so was in transition from Peru tech to ‘Inca Trail’ highway – apparently it’s being constructed to help develop trekking tourism.

That said, once we got below the constructed (and active construction), the trail transitioned back to the Peru tech we’d become accustomed to!  The unimproved sections were super fun to ride, complete with a super steep descent literally into town.

We hiked to the high point and the ride descended off the backside

Ruins under repair to support the trekking route also being constructed. Super cool way to start the ride!

Vestiges of trail construction/improvement – never seen it done like this outside Peru!

The ‘Inca Trail’ highway section

Back to tech!

Final steep section into town

Overall, we finished this section of the trip on a high note, and enjoyed some celebratory beers and town time exploring Cusco!  Riding with Peru Biking did not disappoint!

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Ride 1 – Inca Cárcel 2:

While this ride was cool, I kinda rode the struggle bus on it!  There was more climbing than I thought and lots of traversing.  Some choose-your-Own-adventure … less obvious trail than I’d anticipated.  Nice endo over small water bar with a drop … some rocky sections with turns – didn’t clear as many as hoped … more traverse and climbing than anticipated.  Put my foot down and re-rolled my ankle from yesterday

Ride 2: El Brujo 

Riding El Brujo is definitely one of the classic Cusco rides.  It’s a bit cross country at the beginning along a grassy ridge, and then goes through rocky sections and rideable switchbacks.  Then comes flowier sections of rocks and grass sections interspersed … some ‘off road’ through fields and a final drop section to the road.  The trail doesn’t t descend all the way to valley due to the city encroaching in!  All the same, a rad ride, some cool countryside, a different view of Cusco, and a highlight of the day for sure!

Ride 3: Inca Cárcel 1 

This ride was Peru ‘flow’ – mostly downhill with minor pedal at end – fun rocky sections including big staircase – rode all.  Very fun trail.  It’s one that you could definitely ride a lot harder and faster if you knew it – felt a lot like a resort-style trail and is clearly heavily ridden and maintained by locals.  There are actual berms and jumps built, and probably felt like the most mountain bike specific trail that we rode on the whole trip (perhaps with the exception of Moro Solar in Lima).

Here’s the irony: it rode so fast I don’t have pics!  I’m not sure we really even stopped!

Ride 4: Balcon del Diablo to Main Square

This final ride of the day was a super fun ride to end with . . . it was Peru flow, and needed Peru skills of line choices.  But by this point, we’d had plenty of practice with that skill so it was awesome!  The ride was open up top, then a traverse section, and then a super cool descent into forest.  There was a sharp left hander at the bottom of a steep section (that I missed), and then out to some steep steps with a turn (rode them all!).  The ride pops out of the forest right at the guest house, which is only a block from the main square – so cool!  

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This trail was more a cross country ride than a DH even though there was a net elevation loss of nearly 4000 ft!  It started off in the rolling valleys (pedaling!) and then transitioned to riding through fields.  The trail passes through the Willoc village, famous for weaving, which is super cool.  Finally, it pops out near the Pumamarka ruins and riding through less famous (not even sure they’re named) ruins for a fun techy finish.  Overall a pretty exhausting ride, which is why we only did one ride this day!  

To mix things up, we stayed in Ollantaytambo this night, and zipped out to Macchu Picchu the next day, because that’s how rest days in Peru are spent!

The famous waving town of Willoc

we came down the valley behind Bryan – so cool!

Just before a spicy tech section – it’s possible to ride around, but we climbed up to it and I’m glad we did!

Peru . . . where bike trails go through ancient village ruins.

Does it get any cooler?!?! Ruins everywhere – these ones pretty well preserved.

Sometimes too much tech . . .

The spicy section came down from the plateau on that ridgeline – that’s where the town/ruins were.

We earned our beer on this one!

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Ride 1: Huchuy Qosco to Lamay

While many hike up to these ruins, we took a very switchback-y road from Calca and rode into them from above.  It was super cool to have ruins this extensive in the middle of our bike trail!  After gazing on them for a bit, we undertook more switchbacks in a very narrow canyon (for a bike trail) than I would have previously considered possible for a mountain bike trail.  There goes Peru redefining possible again.  

The trail actually switchbacked down this ‘chute’ – I’ve never seen anything like it from a bike!

The trail is visible in this photo, including the chute!

Ride 2: Lamay higher start

From there we crossed the valley for another great ride in Lamay.  Perhaps of all the towns in the Sacred Valley, Lamay has the best variety of trails – all so fun!  

Ride 3: Lamay opposite side

Our third ride started from a side valley above Lamay and rode back to town.  It had super great views, especially of the ride we’d finished Day 1 with!  

Ride 4: Huchuy Qosco down to Calca

This ride was spicy and fun til the very end, working its way down a ravine back to Calca and the Rio Urumbamba.  There was one tech section that was as gnarly as any we’d encountered and surely a walk, as well as plenty of trailwide obstructions to control wildlife that made for interesting bike management.  I struggled a bit on this trail in part due to it being the 4th ride on an already big day!  It was super nice to ride all the way back home though, and another fabulous and kind of unbelievable day of riding.   

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Ride 1: Inca Avalanche 

This ride follows a DH course formally known as Mega Avalanche and now known as Inca Avalanche.  Starting at 14,400′ the trail follows an old Inca Road for approximately 5000′ of descent.

For us, it was raining pretty good at the top!  Inca trail, then into some more singletrack with rocky techy sections.  Eventually it runs along the road (cutting switchbacks) so it’s a matter of piecing together really fun sections all the way down to Ollantaytambo.  It felt shorter than 5000’ as a result of being chopped up I think.  With the rain, we took it fairly slowly due to all the wet rocks!  Overall a fun ride

Ride 2: Pumamarca ruins to Ollyantaytambo

Pumamarca – Built on a steep Andean hillside overlooking the intersection of the Patacancha and Yuracmayo rivers, these lesser-visited ruins were once a ceremonial center for the Wari people, becoming a fortress for the later Inca civilization. Pumamarca also holds important historical significance as one of the few places where the Spaniards suffered a military defeat against the Incas. 

This ride started traverse-y and it kinda stayed that way, with fun rocks and flow to keep things interesting.  It wasn’t a huge descent (maybe only 1500?!?).  Some tight rock sections that caused a bit of ankle bash for me, and riding through a stream rather than over the rock bridge which resulted in a proper bath!  Just when I thought I couldn’t get more wet!

The drive up was pretty stunning!

And riding back down was stunning too!

This trail was harder for me to find flow – I don’t love tech without vertical! Others had more fun than I did, I think!

The last section was fun, fast, and flowy!

Ride 3: Chinchero DH

This one was my favorite of the day . . . fun farmland section up top with road-like sections, grass, tight turns, eroded features, and just overall fun.  Then a flowy section to the hillside where the down started!  This had character of the end of “Lord of the Keys” but was more rideable and had less of a water rut down the middle!  Fun rock sections, spicy turns, and really engaging and fun riding . . . in stunning scenery!

Looking back over at Lord of the Keys from day 3

At some point riding through rad stuff like this just gets normal . . .

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Ride 1: ‘Lord of the Keys’

Lord of the Keys is one of the epic rides of the Sacred Valley.  Descending over 5000′ in 10 miles, the ride travels through multiple ecosystems, a huge variety of trail quality (from super flowy, to super tech, and everything in between!), and through amazing scenery down a huge mountain and valley.  It’s so unreal, and a classic example of what makes riding in Peru unlike anywhere else I’ve ever ridden.  I had no idea this kind of stuff existed!

The ride starts with a bit of  ‘Choose your own adventure’ through the grass or super sketch road descent.  Transitioning through a grassy traverse (narrow, fun, super rideable with just enough rocks to keep it interesting), the trail then goes through a super tight chute as it transitions to a steep section with lots of tight turns that is super fun and totally rideable.  This steep downhill section was super fun and really different character than what we’d ridden so far.  The trail then spices it up with an off-camber section, then a grassy crossing to a ride out around a corner (shale features – totally rideable) to a proper chute with a left at the bottom.  I rode ahead of the guide at this point (since I’d stopped to take pictures earlier) and figured I was off route when I saw the feature, but then the Chileans came bombing through and it was indeed the trail!  I kinda pinballed down – feet on the pedals but both knees hit the sides – and then from there is was more tight turns and fun techy stuff.  Then a climbing traverse around to the final DH section.  This section was super loose and super turny but totally rideable.  On 2 corners, I got sucked into the drainage rut and laid it over but otherwise I was stoked on how I rode it.  The final bottom section stayed spicy to town and I was pretty stoked on the ride!  I definitely tried hard and rode a lot of features I might typically be scared to try and for that I was satisfied and content.  

Overall, Lord of the Keys was super challenging and super fun – not for the faint of heart, and a true classic ride!

View from the start . . . The ride traverses out the ridge to the low point in the distance and then down the drainage to the valley floor below – so incredible!

Near the beginning, in the grassy section – the ride heads out to the col on the ridge, then makes the turn downhill to descend down the valley and around the mountain at the end of the ridge we’re on! Amazing ride.

Scott making his way to the spicy left turn! Grass riding was fun

The fun downhill section as we took the downhill left off the ridge – spicy and fun!

The funky off-camber section as we transition from the steep flowy section to the chute!

The ride makes it down this ravine, ultimately using both sides!

Headed out around the corner – shale sections to keep it spicy!

The Chileans headed down the chute feature!

And the final descent! Hard to see in this pic, but there was a deep ravine in the middle of the trail from water draining that created a very challenging feature to ride around!

Classic Peru finish to a ride!

Ride 2: Racchy 3 – ‘curves for days’

This ride might be one of my favorites because it was just the right level of challenging . . . there were like 1000 switchbacks, with varying degrees of difficulty, and I had a blast practicing my steep exposed tight turning technique.  Little did I know, this is a skill that comes in quite handy for all rides in Peru (and has changed my riding since I’ve been home!).

The second ride was going to be in the same valley, but Bryan read the energy right that the last section of the first ride wasn’t universally loved so he chose another trail.  This one was 1000 switchbacks – curves for days!  It was super techy and tight and slidey but mostly rideable since I was still in the mood to try things.  I got twisted up in my bike on one corner and on other properly fell, a fall that I hit a rock straight in my chest which made me very very glad for chest armor!  Overall a super fun ride and at the bottom I felt pretty tired – my arms and legs and my hand hurt from landing with it out.  

Classic Andean view to start

Definitely a downhill-style trail!

Down, down, and down! Trail ends on the valley floor . . .

This turn was harder than it looks! A classic feature of Peru riding, and this ride especially.

Ride 3: local Calca enduro/DH

After 2 great rides, Bryan our guide offered a 3rd and we were all for it!  Due to foreboding clouds in the zone we were riding, we came back to Calca (where we were staying) to ride a local trail, again starting from a football pitch at the end of a road. 

This trail was a lot shorter but no less engaging – well, maybe a little less, and yet it still demanded full attention, had some sharp corners, loose downhill sections, and lots of turns.  It was really fun and a great way to end the day.  There were some cactus hazards too since we were lower – I definitely had to pull a few thorns out!  A nice spin back to town and we call it a day.  

The town start of this ride was super cool – the kiddos were so fun!

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Day 4: Wadi Rum – sunrise hike, jeep tour, Um Froth, Burdah Bridge, camel ride to ‘sunset spot’

The next day, we awoke for sunrise and walked to a cool overlook from Martian Camp.  I sat with a journal and watched a crazy camel walk in circles while Robb scoured some rocks (as Robb does).  It was totally worthwile.

Journaling at our chosen sunrise spot

We made it back to the Bedouin camp for a good breakfast and then caught our 4×4 tour at 8:30.  A note of caution: we booked the 4×4 through the camp, and didn’t verify the driver would speak English. He didn’t. He was lovely, but it was a bit frustrating to be without a map, without guidance, without internet to google it, etc.  As it was, we found a map on the ground by some amazing stroke of luck, listened to English speaking guides at the stops, and I spoke just enough Arabic to ask what things were.  

Robb scaling near the petroglyphs

Um Froth (mother’s bridge) is legitimately cool.  It’s super near the ‘parking spot,’ but at 15m high (with a perfect place to do headstands and splits for photos) with a doable path to the top for those with reasonable skill/courage, super fun. 

Typical antics . . . and our trusty desert vehicle in the background

Um Froth (mother’s bridge)

It was Burdah Bridge on Jabal Burdah that really pulled us in though!  It’s a 35m high bridge, about 500m up the mountain. It wasn’t in our ‘plan’ to go hike it, but when we laid eyes on it, Robb and I knew we had to.  It took some very creative communication with our Arabic-speaking guide, but with some combo of 1) my Arabic, 2) Google translate, and 3) a bilingual guide that came during our ‘chat’, we managed to convince him to take us to the base and trust us to find our way up. 

Burdah Bridge from afar – pic doesn’t do it justice – it looked soooo cool!

The route is well marked with cairns, arrows, and footsteps so a guide isn’t needed if your’e confident on rock. That said, it’s not a bad idea to have one for safety/direction if you don’t love the adventure of figuring things out on your own (which we kinda do). The round trip only took a few hours, and the views of Wadi Rum were astounding.  

On the lower flanks of the hike

The hike goes through super cool and scrambly terrain . . .

No shortage of adventure!

Approaching the ‘crux move’ before the final steps to the arch! It was definitely 5th class.

This Burdah Bridge hike was definitely the highlight of Wadi Rum for us, and it took the pressure off ‘seeing it all’ by seeing perhaps the coolest part, and getting great perspective.

Antics as always

From there, we enjoyed the drive back to the Martian Camp and then decided to do a camel ride to the ‘sunset spot’ for sunset . . . because, why not?

Appropriately named ‘sunset spot’

We then walked back to the Martian camp at dusk (hour ride, hour walk, totally great balance of sitting/moving and great to be out at final light watching the colors change on the rocks).  One more good dinner and great bonfire and it was off to sleep. 

More antics . . .

Stunning light for the walk back to camp

Really, it’s hard to do Wadi Rum justice, and we had fabulous day exploring it.  The place is worth a dedicated trip to explore for a few weeks, but if you’re on a time budget, it’s totally possible to have a rad experience in a short amount of time!

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Day 3: Petra, Wadi Rum arrival

We awoke early the next day, had an easy walk from our Petra Palace Hotel,  and entered Petra just after its 6am opening.  We were among the first down the Siq so got a lot of pictures of the very cool canyon walls with no people in them, and then rounded the last corner to see an iconic camel in front of the Treasury . . . and no people!  It was totally worth the early arrival! We hiked up some stairs to the right and up to a viewpoint slightly above, managing to do so out of sight of the locals who were yelling at anyone that went on trails/overlooks unguided.  This was a bit annoying, but it is what it is.  

classic first Treasury view

Our ‘illegal’ high viewing perch

From there, we walked through the Street of Facades and over to The Theater.  Both are rad, and The Theater is super rad. It’s carved from one piece of stone, by all accounts repurposed from a temple.  Positioned to bring the greatest number of tombs into view, the Theater could hold 8500 people. Although Roman in design with similar architectural patterns to enhance superior acoustics, the temple is carved out instead of built and thus classic Nabataen.  

street of facades – such a cool entry!

I LOVED the Theater . . . so so cool!

From there, we walked over to the tombs which continued to blow our minds.  Really, the rock alone is so cool that it would make Petra compelling on it’s own . . . just a bonus there are incredible structures carved into it.  There really aren’t words to capture just how amazing it is. 

We continued on around the backside and found more stairs that took us to an overlook of the main city (another ‘best view in the world’) and then on to an overlook of the Treasury.  While you’re only allowed in the tea shop (view access) if you buy tea, we were also able to find a rock to sneak a private view from and chill for a bit. Again, a bit overdone, but the view is so cool and the Treasury so unique that I’d call it worthwhile.  And the stair cases themselves are pretty cool rock. And buns of steel never hurt anyone

As we descended, we went over to the Byzantine church to see yet another mosaic (still cool) and some well preserved pillars/statues. 

We also went by the Temple of the Winged Lion  which was pretty cool, and then onto Qasar Al-Bint and The Great Temple. Both were super cool, and the sheer size of Qasar Al-Bint was helpful to imagine the scale of the whole city when in its full built state.

Qasr Al Bint

The Great Temple

The Great Temple

The Great Temple

From the temple, we walked up Wadi Farasa, passed the Garden Temple and up to the High Place of Sacrifice.

Heading up Wadi Farasa

The Garden Temple

The High Place of Sacrifice . . . designed to let the goat blood drain appropriately

We then descended back to the Street of Facades . . . more stairs, more cool carvings, and a super cool view of the Petra center from the High Place of Sacrifice.  The hike is really worth it for yet another stunning view. And more cool things carved out of really cool rock.

Cool view from up there

The hike down to Street of Facades

Arriving back in ‘town’

Overall, we spent 9 hours walking around and covered nearly 15 miles!  We saw A LOT and loved every second of it. Perhaps it would have been better with a guide to learn everything about everything, but I really liked our style of covering so much ground and seeing so much.  We also spent a lot of time away from crowds by virtue of venturing further out. If your’e fit, I definitely recommend this approach. Also, we were sated by the time we’d hiked in from Little Petra, done Petra-by-Night, and spent the full day in the city.  As I walked by the Treasury the last time, I paused and took a few more pictures. I contemplated how one can ‘just leave’ a spot as incredible as this one, and then realized it’s one by taking a step away, and continuing to walk. In life, in Petra, in all things . . . I’ve been practicing appreciating the moment and being able to move on without wanting more from it.  At some point you can’t do everything, see every carving, learn every detail – and so there’s a balance and I’m satisfied with the one we struck. 

We left Petra at sunset and drove to Wadi Rum where we made the pickup and to the Bedouin camp (Martian Camp) by dinner.  Again, totally worth it to spend the evening under the stars and by a lovely campfire after a day in zany Petra.  

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