At around 3,800 metres above sea level the air on the Altiplano is thin enough to make lacing your boots feel like exercise, and Desaguadero is a place where you should take everything at half speed. The town sits on the border between Peru and Bolivia at the southern end of Lake Titicaca, where the Desaguadero river drains the lake toward the south. The segment of old road near Titijoni is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road network listed by UNESCO in 2014, which ran along the shores of Titicaca on its way between Cusco and the southern provinces.
Desaguadero itself is famous mainly as a border crossing and market town, crowded, noisy and full of trade, with vendors, minibuses and trucks squeezing through narrow streets on market days. Crossing between countries here can be slow and paperwork-heavy, so have your documents ready and patience in good supply. The Inca trace, by contrast, lies out in the quiet country beyond town, a line across fields and grassland among adobe farmsteads and grazing llamas and sheep.
The riding on the Altiplano is about altitude, wind and light rather than corners. Roads are long and straight across the plateau, with the lake glittering in the distance and the snow-capped Cordillera Real rising on the Bolivian side. The surface on main routes is mostly paved but can have potholes, speed bumps in villages and wandering animals. Afternoon wind can be strong and cold, nights freeze for much of the year, and the sun at this height burns exposed skin in minutes. Your engine will feel down on power, and so will you.
Desaguadero has fuel, food and basic lodging, though quality varies, and Yunguyo and Puno on the Peruvian side offer more choice. Across the border, the ancient site of Tiwanaku lies about thirty-six kilometres away, one of the great pre-Inca centres of the Andes, and well worth the detour if your papers allow it.
This is Aymara country, with a strong culture of markets, festivals and traditional dress, and a deep relationship with the lake. Drink plenty of water, eat something warm, perhaps trout from Titicaca, and take a moment by the old road to feel how big and how high this land really is.