Just before I left Nazca I asked Richard where the road to Cuzco was. It was just as well I did as I would have set off in completely the wrong direction.

As I headed east the road immediately started to climb, following the contours as it twisted and turned upwards. It got warmer as I got higher.

In Peru it is always seems to be colder at sea level than it is a few thousand feet higher up. I believe this is due to the cold Humbolt current which carries cold Antartic waters north towards the equator.

It was like riding across the moon there was so little vegetation and so much bare rock.

I have an thermometer on my bike and therefore knew that from only sixteen in Nazca it peaked at twenty three degrees at about three thousand feet.

Unfortunately, that was as warm as it got. From then on it just went lower and lower as I went higher and higher. It only stopped at six degrees when I reached the altiplano.

So far on this trip every time I've gone over a pass the road has descended again shortly afterwards. Not today. I kept hoping I'd crest the last rise and see the road start to descend but it never happened.

The altiplano was 150km across and ranged between 4,100m and 4,500m. there was also a really strong wind that made it feel far colder.

This sheer joy of finally descending towards Abancay is hard to describe.