I write this report from Abancay - a pleasant if somewhat dusty town in the centre of Peru.

To get here I have driven about 1200km on a mixture of roads - dirt, tarmac and transgender.

The bike, after a faltering start, has performed well , if somewhat wheezily, at altitude. The accommodation has been good, the weather varied and the food mostly edible.

But back to the start

I travelled by bus from Lima to Huanaco - 11 hours - no stopping and intermittent air conditioning. The bus was full and after 100km so was the toilet. The drivers drove like they had stolen the bus and gave no quarter.

Met up with Toby and Jaime of Around the Block adventures. They said the bike would be ready Saturday as they needed Friday to fit the parts I had bought.

Took off on Saturday in the company of a couple of USA riders on Honda Tornados. The combined age of the three of us was 210 years. It was like activity day on a senior’s cruise. However, 10 minutes into the ride my rear brake seized so it was peel off time and back to the workshop.

We fitted different discs and callipers to resolve the problem - eventually pillaging a new set of components from a brand new bike.

Next day I rode 330km solo to Concepion through rain, sun, wind, sleet and climbing to over 4200 metres . The road was mainly dirt through high plain with little villages cringing into the side of mountains. I dodged llamas, pigs, cows, horses , donkeys, drunk locals and gave up counting the number of dogs that wanted to use my bike to end it all. A tip here: Ginger coated dogs seem to be the worst offenders. If you see one raise your alert level to DEFCON 5.

I was little affected by the altitude as I had spent two weeks in NZ skiing before leaving for Peru. However, I took the precaution of sipping water steadily from my camelbak.

However, parking my bike at the hotel I managed to bend the stand making it useless. We fixed it the next day by welding some reinforcing iron to the straightened pedal ( Cost was $3)

The next few days saw me ride from Concepion to Ayacucho. I missed a turn and went through Pampas and picked up a dirt road which gave a wonderful, if rather long ride to Ayacucho. I can recommend the Hotel Sevillas on Jinor Libertad. Only drawback is you have to bounce up the kerb, ride through the courtyard and park in the foyer. The restaurant next door serves a good smoothie

Then it was onto Andahuaylas. The town has nothing to commend it but the hotel Mansion has good garaging and nice rooms.

From there it was a pleasant 150km ride through low cloud and a landslide to Abancay. The Hotel de Turistas has an air of decayed elegance and a little pricey at soles 100 - but there is little else in the town.

Some initial impressions:

After the brake hiccup , the bike has been good. Starts first time with no choke but you have to keep the revs up in town which puts a toll on the clutch. Fuel consumption is around 100km/gallon giving a range of 350km.

Some of the roads here are wonderful. Hairpins up to 4000m then hairpins down. But some of them especially in town leave a lot to be desired.

The so called professional drivers have been chosen for their career due to the fact they were the most hyperactive child in the school.

Tomorrow head for Ollantaytambo , then up the so called back road to Machu Picchu.

Ride safe