Inca Treasures in the High Andes (Peru)

Twelve nights and around 1,300 miles across Peru on a Royal Enfield, from Arequipa to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, and by review count it is the operator’s flagship South American trip.

Arequipa opens it, a colonial city at 2,300 metres built in white volcanic stone on the edge of the altiplano. Colca Canyon follows through the vicuna zone and the Pampa de Toccra over the Abra Patapampa at 4,910 metres, the highest point of the route, to a canyon that is the second deepest in the world and where condors ride the morning thermals.

Espinar comes next on Andean meadow tracks with a detour to the pre-Columbian ruins at Kanamarka, then Cuzco on a winding 4,000 metre road past alpaca farms and mountain lakes, down the Vilcanota valley with breakfast at Urcos market. A rest day covers the old Inca capital: the San Blas quarter, the Qorikancha sun temple and the Plaza de Armas.

Ollantaytambo follows in the Sacred Valley by way of the Maras salt pans and the agricultural terraces at Moray, and the train runs from there through Aguas Calientes for a guided visit to Machu Picchu itself. Quince Mil comes next on the descent towards the Amazon, through Pisac and along the Urubamba on the Interoceanic Highway, then Macusani across highland pampas at 3,700 metres, and Llachon on Titicaca, the largest lake in South America and, at 3,800 metres, high enough that the light on it is unlike anything at sea level. Bike rental is included and the price is quoted per person. Peru asks a lot of a rider in twelve nights, with the altitude, the distances and the state of some of the surfaces, which is why this one tends to be chosen by people who have already done one of the operator’s easier trips.