After a month off we were keen to get pedalling again, but our keenness soon waned when we realised just how much fitness we had lost. From Potosi we had to negotiate 200km of ups and downs as we crossed the Eastern valleys on the way up to the Altiplano. After 5 hours on our first day Gary ´bonked´, the cycling equivalent of hitting the wall - describing it as the second lowest moment of the trip after the winds of Tierra del Fuego. The solution was simple- a mound of pasta, 11 hours sleep and 1000 calories worth of porridge for breakfast- by no means unusual for us. The next day we made it on to the flats of the Bolivian Altiplano, which stretches all the way to Peru at a height of about 3800m. At this altitude the nights can get pretty cold and we had to sleep with our watter bottles at our feet to prevent them from freezing. As soon as the sun comes up in the morning the temperature rockets and in the space of a few minutes we go from wearing all our layers to just shorts and tshirts. Although the scenery looks barren the ground is fertile enough to grow some crops, particularly potatoes which means that the route was reasonably populated and we passed through many small villages, each containing a few mud brick houses, a derelict church and a football pitch.

La Paz is an ugly city in a dramatic location. It was built in the bottom of a canyon where the climate is slightly warmer and where it is protected from the winds that sweep across the flat lands above. The city has expanded massively in the last few years and now spreads over the top of the canyon into a separate city called El Alto. 20 years ago there was nothing more than farm land here but now El Alto is a bustling, dirty and very poor city of about 900,000. Because of the rapid rise in numbers many people do not have electricity or running water and it is difficult to spot a finished building. Oxfam and others are running programmes here to try and get people legally recognised as residents and thus give them access to services and education. At the bottom of the canyon, the rich end of La Paz is a completely different world. There are supermarkets, designer boutiques and car dealerships all with western price tags. We opted to stay some where in between, mainly to avoid too much of a climb back out of the city.

After a couple of days off in La Paz we set off again to Titicaca along a road we had travelled before by bus. Despite this it was still interesting and it confirmed to me that you see so much and get a better feel for a place when you´re ambling through at 20kmph on a bike. That night we got to the town of Tiquina where we put the bikes on a barge and crossed the small straight that separates the smaller and larger parts of Titicaca. It was getting dark by the time we made it to the other side so we found ourselves a basic ´alojamiento´ in town. Basic in Bolivia really does mean basic- bare live wires hanging from the ceiling, a dead mouse on the stairs and our very own en suite potty! For 70p though you can´t complain. In the morning we discovered that the old man who run the place had forgotten about us and padlocked us into the house. Luckily Gary was able to attract the attention of a passing local by hanging out of a window and the old man was summoned with the key but no apology!

Sometimes borders bring about sudden cultural and economic shifts, but we struggled to spot many differences between Peru and Bolivia. We had been told that the Peruvians were unfriendly and untrustworthy due to the numbers of tourists that come here but we have found them, if anything, to be more open than the Bolivians. Puno was the first major city we came to and we took another day off here in order to get a boat out to the floating islands of Uros. These islands are made out of layers of reeds and were originally built so that the people could live in peace away from the warring Quechua and Aymara people on the mainland. Nowadays they are still inhabited but most of their livelihood comes from the tourist trade. Nevertheless it was still impressive to see the islands which even have a school, a petrol station and a church.

From Puno we left the shores of Titicaca for the last time and passed through the bustling city of Juliaca which was a cacophony of pedal and motor rickshaws which we managed to negotiate our way through without injury. From there it was more bleak Altiplano up to the Abra de la Raya pass, which at 4300m is the highest point of our trip. We had been cycling at around 4000m for the last 2 weeks so we thought that a 300m climb wouldn´t have been too tough but unfortunately there was a energy sapping wind blowing from the west that really made it tough work. The views from the top were well worth it and there was even a load of rich tourist at the top, most of whom gave us a wide berth as we sat huddled behind a wall hungrily devouring our lunch of bread and cheese. I would like to think they kept their distance because they just thought we were mad to be cycling in the conditions but maybe it was because we had been wearing the same clothes of 6 days.

Unlike the border, the pass gave us a huge change of scenery as we descended into the green and fertile ´Sacred valley´ that eventually winds all the way to Machu Picchu. It was harvest time and everybody was in the fields, harvesting, threshing and drying the grain by hand. They all stopped from this back breaking work to smile, wave or just shout gringo at us. Due to the wind hampering progress we left ourselves a 140km day to get to Cusco. In the back of our minds we knew we could make it with a bit of effort and if the wind didn´t pick up too much. We have obviously got our fitness back because we managed to do our first 3 hour stretch in the morning without any breaks, which meant that we managed to get to Cusco by the evening. Gary was doubly happy to be here because ever since Potosi some nasty cracks have been developing in his rear wheel; and it could have gone at any point- hence the photo of him kissing it in the central square. Cusco is an incredible city with some beautiful churches built upon Inca foundations. It is also very touristy with it´s fair share of 5 star hotels, jewellery shops and Irish pubs. The plan is to stay here for a few days and see Machu Picchu. Unfortunately since I was last here tourist numbers have really swelled and so to do the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu one has to book in advance. We therefore have no choice but to take the train and bus to the site. Hopefully this time around I will be able to see more than 10 metres in front of my face.

As the more observant among you may have noticed, due to our change of route we are not going to be able to make it to the Caribbean by cycling alone. Therefore the plan is to get a bus straight through to Quito (62 hours!) and cycle north from there. If we had a bit more time we would much rather cycle the whole route but we always said plans might change and I underestimated how much poor roads and wind in Patagonia would slow us down. We have also heard many bad things about the north of Peru and many good things about Columbia- a country few people visit but those that do always seem to come away with a good impression.