Tag: Atacama Desert

Welcome to the Nazca Lines, a World Heritage Site. These incredible geoglyphs are believed to be between 2,200 and 2,500 years old. Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal, Ram Ram Ji! Once again, welcome back to my channel. It’s 2:00 p.m. and I’ve only just woken up. Right now, I’m in Nazca. In the last video, you saw how we made a super-fast ride from Arequipa and finally reached Nazca at around 11:30 p.m. Nazca is a historic town. You could also call it the Nazca Desert. We are now at an elevation of around 570–580 metres above sea level, so breathing feels much easier compared to the high mountains. This beautiful little town is famous for its history. Most of you have probably heard stories about aliens and the mysterious Nazca Lines. Many people have watched documentaries about them as well. This is that very Nazca. Some of you may also have heard legends linking this area to “Patal Lok” because it lies almost on the opposite side of the Earth from India. There is also a famous geoglyph known as the “Trident,” which some people connect with ancient myths and legends. The Nazca Lines are enormous designs etched into the ground. Even today, nobody knows exactly how they were created, why they were made, or what purpose they served. That mystery is what makes Nazca so famous. The Nazca Desert is essentially considered part of the larger Atacama Desert region. Today I’m quite lucky because this area receives almost no rainfall throughout the year—sometimes as little as 20 minutes of rain annually. Yet today there are actually clouds in the sky. Well, whenever I arrive somewhere, the clouds seem to arrive too! Honestly, I was so exhausted when I got here last night that I slept immediately. It is now around 2:30 p.m. and I’ve only just woken up. I haven’t even had any water yet. First, I’ll find something to eat and drink, then I’ll take you around the town. It’s a small place. Calling it a city would be an exaggeration. It’s more like a small town. But despite its size, it is packed with fascinating stories and history. I checked four different restaurants hoping to find some vegetarian food. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much available. I was really hungry, so I decided to visit a supermarket instead, buy some food, cook something at the hostel, and then head out to explore. Look at this dustbin. A collection truck simply lifts the entire container and takes it away. The cleanliness here is impressive, especially considering this is basically a small town. I bought a couple of bananas and some yoghurt. Now I’ll head back to the hostel and eat comfortably. This is Plaza de Armas, the town centre. When I arrived last night, I was in such bad shape that I didn’t even unload the luggage from Dhanu, my bicycle. Everything remained attached to the bike, and I went straight to bed. That’s how exhausted I was. This is my hostel. There’s nobody else here. I seem to be the only guest. Perhaps it’s the off-season. Here’s my room. I simply arrived and collapsed onto the bed. So once again, welcome to Nazca—the city of aliens, if you want to call it that. It’s a small town, but it’s famous worldwide because of its enormous geoglyphs that can only be properly seen from the sky. From Nazca, we’ll continue towards Lima. Lima is around 400 kilometres away, perhaps even slightly less. Today I plan to ride about 150 kilometres. Tomorrow I’ll try to cover another 200 to 250 kilometres. Hopefully, I’ll reach Lima either tomorrow night or the following morning. I’m trying to get there as quickly as possible. As soon as you leave the town, you enter a four-lane highway. The road conditions ahead aren’t great, and honestly, the traffic discipline here is among the worst I’ve seen anywhere. Oh wow! For the first time in all of Peru, I’ve found a petrol station that is clean and has proper restaurants, truck parking, and facilities. It’s impressive. We’ve only just left Nazca, and I have some amazing things to show you. The famous sites are located just outside the town. Look at the Pan-American Highway. This is an international highway, yet some sections are in surprisingly poor condition. I’ve travelled around four kilometres outside the town now. I’ve already seen several petrol stations under construction. I’m not sure why so many are being built here. The town ends here, and now the real adventure begins. Ahead you’ll see some small hills, but these hills hold incredible stories. Friends, we’ve now left Nazca behind. There it is in the distance. The town is nestled at the foot of the Andes Mountains. This entire region is part of the Nazca Desert, which itself is connected to the broader Atacama Desert system. Dhanu and I have now arrived at the Nazca Lines. Look at the traffic here. You can see a green area in the distance. Beyond it is a small airport. This airport operates flights that take tourists over the Nazca Lines. A flight costs roughly 100–150 US dollars and provides an aerial view of the geoglyphs. Look over there. Those are the Nazca Lines. Some of them stretch for 400 to 500 metres or even more. From the ground, it’s difficult to recognise the designs. Only from an aircraft can you truly appreciate the shapes and figures. Up ahead there is a viewing tower. We’ll try to climb it and show you some of the lines from there. The Nazca Lines are recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Look over there. That shape resembles a cat. These geoglyphs were created by removing the dark surface stones and exposing the lighter ground underneath. From above, the designs become visible. There are around 1,300 known figures and geometric designs across the region. Many can only be properly appreciated from the air. Since I’ve already seen them from an […]

The entire city is built from volcanic stone. And this building here dates back to 1820. I came here just to see this place. The air feels so fresh. Hello, Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal, and Ram Ram Ji! Once again, welcome to my channel. On my Pole-to-Pole World Cycling Journey, I am currently in Peru. In front of me, you can see three beautiful mountains. These are volcanic mountains. One is over there, and the other two are on that side. The city we are heading to today is surrounded by these volcanic mountains, and from there, you get stunning views of them. Today’s ride is around 75 kilometres. This was the hostel where I stayed last night. It was built near a toll plaza. I decided to stop here because yesterday the winds were incredibly strong. Cycling against them was almost impossible. For the last 3–4 kilometres, I had to push Dhanu (my bicycle) all the way. There is a rule in this region: after around 11 a.m. or noon, strong winds suddenly begin and continue until about 5 or 6 p.m. After sunset, they gradually calm down. It is now 8:30 a.m., and over the next four and a half hours I will try to cover as much distance as possible. There is a small climb of about 200–300 metres ahead, but after that there is a descent of nearly 2,000 metres. At the moment, we are at an elevation of 4,100 metres above sea level, and we will descend to around 2,400 metres. That means nearly 2,000 metres of elevation loss. Look, there are llamas roaming around here as well. Come on, Dhanu. Let’s begin in the name of God and get the job done. In this region there are thousands of llamas and alpacas. They look tiny from a distance, so the camera cannot capture them properly, but I can see them clearly with my eyes. Some are even standing beside the road. This area is basically a national park, and we are riding right through it. Yesterday I showed you the three volcanic mountains from a distance. Now they look completely different. The mountain with two peaks is over there. This one is Misti, and that one is Pichu Pichu. There are three major mountains here. I will try flying my drone to get a better view from above. I have heard that trekking is also popular here, especially around Misti Volcano. Fortunately, it is not currently active. However, there are active volcanoes in this region, and earthquakes are quite common. The city of Arequipa lies on the other side of these mountains. To reach it, we have to ride about 75 kilometres. In a straight line, it is only around 20–25 kilometres away, but the road loops around before reaching the city. Let’s fly the drone and see what we can capture. There are many llamas around here. I would love to go closer, but entry into that area is prohibited because it is part of the national park. They probably come to the lagoon to drink water. Right now, we are still at 4,100 metres. Soon we will say goodbye to this land of llamas because a massive descent awaits us. We have nearly 2,084 metres of descent ahead over the next 68 kilometres. We have spent almost one and a half to two months at these high altitudes. It has been challenging at times, but also rewarding. We gained a lot of experiences and learned many lessons. Now a completely new experience awaits us. The landscape will soon start looking like the Atacama region again. We will ride through Atacama for another hundred kilometres or so and then head towards Lima. We should be able to move quite quickly. Nazca lies ahead as well, so I will show you that when we get there. The railway line is still running alongside us. This is the old track; the new railway line has been built further away. And there it is—the mountain I was talking about earlier, Pichu Pichu. We have come very close to it now. Below us is a huge valley. We have climbed all the way from down there. Time to enjoy the descent! The winds started as early as 10:30 today, and there is also quite a bit of traffic, so the ride is not as enjoyable as it could be. But just look at the scenery ahead—it is absolutely stunning. Here comes a convoy of trucks. This convoy only has three trucks, though perhaps some are further behind. Look at those snow-capped mountains appearing again in front of us. What an incredible sight! Just look at this view. The valley drops away below us, and in only 13 kilometres we have already descended 500 metres without even realising it. The sky on this side is completely clear. Soon we will enter the Atacama region. There is a huge amount of dust in the atmosphere there. That dust can be quite harsh; it can even cause nosebleeds. Still, we will have to spend another five to ten days in the Atacama region. Wow! What a breathtaking view. Come on, Dhanu! Keep going! These mountains look magnificent. If this were an uphill climb, I would probably be crying. But since it is downhill, I am happily singing. Human beings can be very selfish sometimes! The scenery has completely changed. Earlier I was on the side of the snow-covered mountains; now I am on the other side. What an amazing valley! For the first time in a while, I can see flowers and plants again. There is even a pleasant fragrance in the air. Notice how there was no dust at all on the other side of the mountains. Here, however, the entire region is covered with dust. These are the Andes Mountains. They act as a barrier, preventing the dust from the Atacama Desert from reaching the other side. Beyond the Andes, around 1,000 to 2,000 kilometres further […]

Hello, Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal, Ram Ram ji everyone! Once again, welcome back to my channel. Right now, we are in Peru, in a small city called Puno, where Lake Titicaca is located. In the previous video, you saw our cycle “Dhanno”, and now we are ready to leave. From here, we will head towards Arequipa, which is around 300 km away. For that, I first need to climb uphill and then descend again. Earlier, our plan was to go towards Cusco, but we cancelled it because we would have had to stay at very high elevation for almost 1,000 km, and my health is not allowing me to remain at such high altitude for a long time. So now we are leaving from here and heading towards Arequipa. This was the hostel where I stayed. People here are very helpful. That lady could have gone, but she stayed back just to hold the gate for me. Today, I am not using the front camera because today’s ride is all about climbing with the bicycle. The first 120 km is uphill, and after that, around 170 km is downhill. Look at the sunlight already at 8:00 in the morning. I have climbed around 40–45 km above Puno, and now it has started getting cold. I have reached about 4,300 metres above sea level, and it is already 2:00 PM. The route ahead will mostly remain flat for some distance now. I found this small restaurant, so I stopped here for a while to eat something. This is how coffee is served here. They give coffee extract, and then you add sugar and hot water yourself. There is no milk here. The highway is slightly better here, but overall, roads in Peru are not that great. I already rode 150–200 km earlier too, and honestly, it wasn’t very enjoyable. Most roads are single-lane roads, and I think riding all the way to Lima on such roads is going to be difficult. A river is flowing alongside the road, and I have to keep climbing along it. Snow-covered mountains are visible ahead. Every 2–3 km, there is a signboard on the road. I am also seeing many alpacas around. Here, houses are basic and unfinished, but churches are properly built and beautiful. Look behind me — the church is solid and beautiful, while all the houses nearby are mud houses. Climbing uphill at this altitude is very difficult. The slope is gradual, but riding with so much luggage at high altitude is exhausting. I found a small roadside stop where alpaca meat is sold. Since morning, I have already covered around 70–80 km, and still around 40–45 km are left. Thankfully, the wind is in my favour, so riding feels better, and I am moving quite fast. I bought some basic items, water, and also took a room for the night. I parked the bicycle outside. Now we are at around 4,500 metres above sea level. My condition is getting worse. I can barely speak properly. This is the room they gave me. It is going to be extremely cold here tonight. I am cooking quinoa. I will eat it with milk. I placed the stove on a plate so that the floor does not catch fire. Quinoa looks somewhat like sesame seeds. I also had porridge with me, but I decided to eat quinoa because it feels lighter and might help with breathing. I have already worn double layers of clothes. Tonight, the temperature is expected to go down to -2°C, and the “feels like” temperature may reach -5°C. There is no heater in this room, so I will quickly eat and get inside the blankets. I am not going to work on anything tonight. Good morning, friends! I woke up after sleeping under four blankets. I made some tea. Now let me show you how cold it was — ice has formed outside. It is already 8:00 AM. Today is probably the last day of extreme cold for this journey because right now we are at 4,500 metres above sea level, and within the next 4–5 hours we will descend to around 3,500 metres. From here, Arequipa is around 150 km away. It is a famous historical and volcanic city in Peru. This was my room. It was basically a small roadside hostel. There is a restaurant downstairs and three or four rooms upstairs. Today we will try to reach Arequipa because yesterday we only managed around 110–112 km and my condition became very bad, although we reached before sunset. I have worn gloves, multiple layers, and warm clothes because the temperature right now is 2°C, but later it may rise to 15°C, so I will need to stop and change clothes on the way. Traffic on this highway has suddenly increased over the last 20 km. And just as they say “troubles begin immediately”, I got a puncture right after starting the ride! I had to unload all the luggage and repair it. This road has dangerous traffic. Many trucks carrying explosive materials pass through here in groups of 20–20 vehicles. Whenever they pass, I stop on the side. These roadside areas are mostly truck stops and dhabas. Look at these alpacas. The animals people generally call llamas actually come in three types — llama, alpaca, and another species commonly found in Chile. I will explain their differences later somewhere while resting. The traffic is intense, but interestingly, the alpacas are not scared of the trucks at all. They might get scared of me, but not of huge trucks! There is a waterfall around 1.5 km away, but I decided not to go because the road is unpaved and I have already shown many waterfalls before. Look at this beautiful view. And there — a strange-looking rabbit! This region is famous for mining. Around Puno, there is gold mining, while around Arequipa there is copper mining. That is why so many trucks move on these roads. The […]

It is easy to build these islands here, but very difficult to maintain them. A small watermelon costs ₹27 here. This is one of the biggest lakes. Earlier, houses were built in a different way, but now they are made like this. There is a variety called quinoa. This is their traditional dress. I have never seen so many dental hospitals in one place in my life. Hello, Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal, Ram Ram ji! Once again, welcome to my journey. Today is my third day in Peru. Right now, I am in a small town called Juli. From here, I will go to Puno, which is about 70–80 km away. It is around 9:00 in the morning. It was raining, and everything is wet. Last night, I stayed in a hostel which cost me ₹1500. There is still light rain, but I will leave anyway. I am having some breathing problems, so I might not go towards Cusco. Instead, I will try to go down to a lower altitude because I am finding it difficult to breathe here. Let’s move ahead. Friends, this is the church of Juli. The bell rings here every hour. The town is surrounded by small mountains from all sides, and it looks very beautiful. It is called the cultural tourist capital of Lupaca. In every city here, there is a small park in the centre, and they maintain it very well. Even yesterday evening and now in the morning, security guards are standing here. Some tourists from Brazil are here. I am able to cycle, but I cannot speak properly because I get breathless while talking. I have been in this region for more than a month now, but still facing this issue. Maybe my body cannot handle this altitude. Anyway, I will now leave for Puno. There are chances of rain again. This is a small town. Look at the stadium—very well built. The roads are good, but you can see poverty as houses are basic. Still, the government has done a good job with infrastructure. Now I have left the city. Puno is 70 km away. The road along the lake is good. They have also removed encroachments here. I have covered about 25–30 km. I am just eating bananas and apples because I don’t feel very hungry. I don’t even feel like cooking. Slowly, I will reach. The weather is getting worse. I think I will reach by 2–3 PM because the road is mostly flat. I am riding fast now. There is no shoulder on the highway, but the wind is in my favour. I hope I reach before it rains again. I have entered Puno at 2:00 PM. I covered 75 km in 5 hours. If the road is flat and the wind is supportive, it becomes easy. The city is quite big. We will go inside the city and then towards the lake. Welcome to Puno! This is the first big city I have seen in Peru. The whole city has election banners everywhere. This is the police headquarters, and that side is the army area because the lake acts like a border. Half of Lake Titicaca is in Bolivia and half in Peru. This is a cemetery, similar to the one I showed earlier. Now I am in Puno. Yesterday, I went to an Indian restaurant run by a man named Salim bhai from Pakistan. This was my hostel. Now I will explore the city and show you Lake Titicaca. This is Salim bhai. He helped me and dropped me at the place where I can get boat tours. He told me to try quinoa. So now I am eating quinoa. It is similar to bathua or rajgira. It is a type of seed. They boil it for a long time and eat it for breakfast. It is very healthy—100 grams of quinoa contains about 12–14 grams of protein. People eat it with bread. It makes a light and healthy breakfast. Look at this Bajaj auto—it is very well designed here compared to India. Now I have reached Lake Titicaca. Salim bhai dropped me here. From here, I will take a boat. Lake Titicaca is very famous. I will explain its history later while sitting in the boat. The boatman was asking for 40 soles for two people. Since I was alone, I asked him to take me alone, and he agreed. Be careful here, as some people charge up to 100 soles. Thanks to Salim bhai, I got a better deal. Now we will go to the lake. Wow, this is amazing! Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. Usually, these boats carry 8 people, but I am going alone. There are different types of islands here. Some are spiritual islands, especially on the Bolivia side. People believe their sun god originated from there. Now we are going to another island called the Uros Islands. These are floating islands. People have built them using reeds and wood. Let’s go and see how people live there and learn about their culture. The boatman waited for some time hoping more people would come, but finally, he started the ride with just me. There are many ducks swimming in the lake. Now we are reaching the islands. There are small islands everywhere. We are moving between them. Welcome to Lake Titicaca! Now we have reached the floating islands. The ground is moving slightly. To stop the island from drifting, they have fixed it with long wooden poles underneath. These are floating houses built here. Everything is made from this material. She is asking me to sit here. They have turned this into a business. She is speaking a bit of Spanish.“Where are you from?”“I am from India.”“What is your name?”“Raj.”“My name is Ana.”“Nice to meet you, Ana.”“Welcome.”“Thank you.” She is explaining that there are about 20 islands here. On this particular island, around five families live, making a total of about 20 people. Look […]

Welcome to Peru. This is the map of Peru. This is the currency used here, brother. The houses here are also not built like the houses we usually see in India. Earlier, parades used to take place here just like they do in India Alright friends, this is the last village of Bolivia. This place is called San Pedro de Tiquina. Friends, for the first time we got to see the view of Lake Titicaca. Now we have reached Juli. Hello, greetings, Sat Sri Akal, Ram-Ram everyone. Welcome once again to my channel. Right now, we are in the 133rd hour of the Pole to Pole journey inside Bolivia. At the moment it is 7:00 in the morning and we are leaving the capital city of Bolivia, La Paz. From here, the border of the next country, Peru, is about 90–100 kilometres away. It’s now 7:05 AM and we have started early because it’s very important for me to reach the border today. This is my last day here, so I need to cover these 90–100 kilometres in a single day. Slowly we are leaving from here. I stayed in this hostel for about 10–15 days. Once we cross the border, we will see what happens next. One thing I couldn’t understand: even at 4000 metres above sea level, eucalyptus trees are growing and standing green everywhere. Friends, for the first time we got a proper view of Lake Titicaca. This lake will stay with us for the next 200–300 kilometres of the journey. Now we have reached here where the ferry operates. They are not allowing me to take my bicycle directly on the ferry, so I placed my bicycle in a bus. The bus will cross with the bicycle, and I will go separately with my bag. I had requested the bus driver earlier. We have to cross the lake somewhere in the middle. It’s quite a different experience. There are two or three small boats here that work like ferries. Vehicles go on one ferry while people go on another boat. The boat has just been placed here. From here, the border is still about 30–40 kilometres away. We will travel in the same bus that is carrying my bicycle. Many vehicles are waiting here. Now we are going towards our bus. This place is called San Pedro de Tiquina. Our bus has also arrived. The place ahead near the border is called Copacabana. Actually, our bus is another one coming from behind. My bicycle is kept inside the bus at the back. Luckily, I managed to find a seat. So friends, we have reached Copacabana. From here the border is just about 10 kilometres away. The bus dropped me here, and I have arranged my luggage again. I’ll have some tea or coffee because I am still feeling breathless. We are still around 4000 metres above sea level. I am currently in Copacabana. The border of Peru is just 10 kilometres away from here. Many tours start from here to explore Lake Titicaca, especially on the Bolivian side. On the Peruvian side there are fewer tours. There are many small islands in the lake, and tours go to those islands. The tribes here first came and settled on those islands. I will tell that story later. For now, let’s drink some coffee. It’s already 2:00 PM, and today is my last day here. I must cross the border today. I will ride the 10 kilometres first and explore the tours later because there is a steep climb ahead. Taking the bus earlier helped a lot because once we crossed the lake, there was a very dangerous 15-kilometre climb followed by a 15-kilometre descent. If I had tried to cycle it, it would have been difficult and I might have reached late, after the border closed. My coffee has arrived along with something to eat. They say it is 100% Bolivian coffee. I told them I don’t care which coffee it is, I just want to drink it. I also took some food because I haven’t eaten anything since morning. Strangely, at this altitude you don’t feel very hungry. Now I have left Copacabana. This town is full of hotels and tourists everywhere. This statue here represents their Sun God. It is related to the story of their first king, which I will tell later. For the first time, I have seen an airport so close to a border. Only 4–5 kilometres remain before the border and there is a small airport here with a short runway. Here we are — the last village of Bolivia. The village is called Kasani. The border is just one kilometre from here. Finally, we reached the border. The Bolivian officials stamped my passport very easily. Now we will cross the Bolivian side and move to the Peruvian side. Earlier, parades used to take place here like in India, but not anymore. And here we are entering Peru. Friends, welcome to Peru. I and my bicycle have now reached the 134th country of my journey. My world cycling journey has completed 10 years and I have already covered about 141,000 kilometres. I didn’t even realise when these ten years passed. It is only because of your love and blessings that I have been able to continue this journey. Right now, this border is at an altitude of about 3700 metres. The last border I crossed between Chile and Bolivia was at 4600 metres. Peru is a very tourist-friendly country. And the moment you enter a South American country, you always see football. Just 400 metres before the border on the Bolivian side, people were playing football, and here on the Peruvian side they are also playing. We still have to complete immigration, which is a little ahead. Playing football above 4000 metres is a big thing, which is why the ground here is quite small. This is the map of Peru. We will travel towards Nazca, then through the desert, […]