For Peru, you have all the wrong information:

(1) Nazca is mostly hype. Yes it's an amazing concept... and WHY they did it does boggle the mind but you will leave feeling: "Is that all there is?" The town? A bit of a let-down there too. The only real reason to go to Nazca is to say you've been there.
(2) Huancachina? Okay, after you've been traveling days on end down the boring desert which the Panam follows, Huancachina is a bit of novelty... but it will cost you an arm and a leg to stay there..
(3) Cuzco and Machu Picchu... DEFINITELY go there. I think the best time to go there is Jan-Feb because everything is so green and there are less tourists, but NOT the time to try to get there by motorcycle! The ride from Nazca over the Puquillo pass will kill you that time of year! In fact, stay out of the central Andes (Peru Bolivia) Dec to March unless you are willing to travel VERY short distances each day, and not travel some days. Freezing rain and hail at 15,000 ft is not something to mess with! (Been there, done that...IN Peru for many years).

Because of the time you are starting, start in the south and travel north. Forget the Panamericana and go up thru the center of Bolivia and Peru. From Cuzco keep going up the center. Later April, May, June the weather will be great! 70 degrees and sunny every day (until about 3 pm when the wind picks up and it starts getting colder). Go Cuzco-Andahuaylas-Ayacucho-Huancayo-Huanuco-Huaraz-Canyon del Pato, Huamachuco, Cajamarca-Chachapoyas (Gocta waterfalls and Fortress of Kuelap which rivals Machu Picchu)-Jaen and north into Ecuador to Banos-Cuenca-Quito.

50% of that is gravel and you will only see other vehicles every 20 min. the views are to die for and the room and board cheap and the people friendly. You will get NONE of that (but you will get dangerous traffic and corrupt cops) if you stick to the !@#$%^&* PANAM!



Toby

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January or February would be the best season.
Valle de la Luna, winter, if not, you are going to boil lol

What he said, but a detour to Caral might be cool. I really enjoyed looking around there, and it is one of the fewplaces on Earth where Civilization started without outside influence.

I didn't run into any corrupt cops in South America, but did hear stories from other riders. I kept going up and down, switching up my scenery. Costs off the PanAm were definitely lower.

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Just for counterpoint to #2: I liked Nazca and the surrounding area, and I liked the high altitude riding in December and January, including the very fun road from Nazca to Cuzco and many others. There were bits of hail plus one set of snow squalls, but for the most part things went just fine....and I'm not particularly rugged. I rode long days and never skipped a day due to weather. No electric grips or clothing, either.

Just another data point. Ride your own ride.

Mark

South. You want to go south from where you are.
I say take the trip as it comes. Nothing stops the fun more than looking at your map and say "I need to be here in x days"
But take a look as some of this Top Eleven Mysterious Mysteries of the Pre-Columbian Americas That We Decided to Cram Into One Article....Page 54
6 Must See Ruins of South America

I went from Tucuman, to Salta around the west side, then up to Jujuy. From there I went west on a good, but sparcely traveled road up over 5,000+ meters, where my carbureted bike ran poorly and it got quite cold.
The officials did customs and immigration for at Paso de Jama, Argentina, but I remember having to go all the way to San Pedro de Atacama, before there was any officials to do immigration and customs to enter Chile. There were busloads of people doing the same thing there.
The next major town was Calama in Chile.
In reverse, this looks like what tht Dakar Rally wil do.
I think you are right in that I went through on 27 in Chile.
My plan is to go to Calama where I start enquiring about the border crossing and do the same in San Pedro de Atacama. I'll put on heavier clothes as I froze last time, but I now have a FI bike, so I don't expect that this engine will run as bad as before. I also don't remember an excess of grifos, so I may carry
more extra gas addition to the extra liter that I always carry.

I don't see the B357 road that you mention.

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