Day 25 - 30 Settling in

Day 25 Cerro de Pasco

A big day. One of the toughest with 120km and 2611m of climbing up to the mining centre of Cerro de Pasco. One of the highest cities in the world at 4330m altitude, and also claimed to be the ugliest.

I was enjoying my turn to have a very upset stomach. I optimistically took the truck to lunch, with the expectation to ride to the hotel. 3km into the ride however, I was getting VERY uncomfortable. Ride back to lunch.

I have to admit, the city didn't appeal all that much. It did however have an open pharmacy. It seems you can get anything here without a prescription. Antibiotics, prednisone, you name it.

The hotel was interesting. The bathroom was so small I had to step over the toilet to get in the shower. In the shower there's the tap to turn on the shower, but no handle. The handle was separate, which is fine if you want to screw it on to turn the shower off. Useless to turn it on. I managed to jam one of my tools from the bike into the hollow thread and twist. It's a cold place, the water came out hot, by the time it reached me it was getting rather chilly. The hot water was supplied by an electric shower head. In general most of us are glad to see them, as they provide reliable warm water. Unlike most places.

The night was cold enough for 1 of the 2 trucks to appear to have the diesel thicken in the fuel lines, enough for it not to start. The altitude wouldn't have helped. Diesel engines at this height belch out huge amounts of soot. Petrol engines aren't much better.

Day 26 Tarma

A long day at 141km and 863m of climbing. So once climbing out of Cerro de Pasco, it was reasonably flat.

For whatever reason I was feeling extremely lethargic. Perhaps it was due to the previous 3 days of dealing with being unwell. I was otherwise getting better, just wanted to sleep. Perhaps I hadn't drunk enough water, perhaps the altitude contributed, could also have been the fact that my body was getting tired from the sudden change of activity level over the last month.

So I helped with lunch, and remained with the truck for the day. On the way through the plateau with small villages, we saw this plaza with so much work done to it, it was quite surprising. It felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, but there it was.

Going from Cerro de Pasco, to Tarma which is known as the pearl of the Andes was a totally different experience. Flowers and gardens to be seen on the way in. Nice place.

On arrival at the old style yet comfortable hotel, got a good amount of snoozing in before heading out for dinner.

So we enjoy a rest day in Tarma. Did a little exploring purely hunting for lunch, but otherwise read and slept. Exactly what I needed.

Day 27 Huancayo

I was feeling MUCH better. No sickness, no chest problems, no sore knees or wrists. Wow, how good was this!

A 99km day with 1085m of climbing. Not wanting to push my luck, and to see where I was at, I was in the truck until the first climb to a plateau was done. From there I road across the plataeau at over 4000m altitude, then dropped down to Huancayo, with a small climb in between.

The ride went well, and I enjoyed it.

Huancayo, riding through that city was chaotic. Turned out I was riding with Paul and Babette for the last few km. The taxis and tuk tuks were all over the place going in any direction that didn't make sense. At one stage we went to ride through an intersection only to find all of a sudden traffic started coming at us from the right hand side. I looked to the left to see they had a green light, but then when I looked forward, I couldn't see any red light to stop the traffic going in our direction. They stopped anyhow and let us through.

I was pleasantly surprised at one point where there was this especially steep but short part which I was able to climb without changing gears, but use strength instead. An obvious improvement.

On arrival at the hotel, it was very impressive. It was called colonial style. Think of it like being a huge hunting lodge mixed with a mansion. A fire place on the second floor complete with deer heads on the wall and on old wind up telephone.

All very comfortable, complete with 4 pillows on the beds. Nice.

Day 28 La Esmeralda

Left Huancayo feeling good. 99km and 1085m of climbing.

Morning traffic wasn't as chaotic as the previous afternoon, and the ride was enjoyable.

I'm still relatively slow on the climbs however, so on arrival to lunch, Didier pointed out that it was unlikely I would make it to camp before dark. I may have, or may not have, but it was borderline. Didier knows what he's talking about, so I joined him and a very sick Kevin in the truck. His turn to be unwell. Yolande was with us as well, as she must take care of her back, and there was some unsealed road coming up.

Just before leaving the pleasant lunch spot, which was setup on a bridge over the river, there was this old lady slowly lumbering her way up the hill towards us. She stops beside the bridge and stands there for a moment. Then with a sudden burst of youthful energy ejects a bag of rubbish into the river, then returns to her slow elderly self as she watches her bag float down the river. That burst of energy seemed so out of character I burst out laughing, tears almost coming out of my eyes. Apparently waste management isn't common in the smaller areas. So this town dumps their rubbish in the river, and near other villages we've seen plenty of rubbish on the road side.

The surprises for the day wasn't finished yet.

Our intended campsite apparently was not a good idea according to the police. The area had become a thoroughfare for drug dealers. So we were directed to a compound that used to house an anti-terrorist group of the army, but not now houses workers of the local hydroelectric plant. We were first told to wait outside, as a helicopter was due to pickup some VIP's. Just before sunset we were told it wasn't coming, and to come on in.

Now THIS was a campsite. Our tents went on the grassed soccer field. Soft grass! I placed my tent between the goal posts, I figured I'd score there. Didn't work, but you've got to appreciate the thought? Wait there's more. There was SHOWERS. Toilet too! Our other bushcamps haven't had that. Showers were normally provided by a water bottle or river, and the toilet is wherever you can find out of view. Remember to bury anything that can be stepped in. Nothing worse than being the second person there stumbling in the dark...squish! Or splat, depending on the health of the previous stumbler.

Speaking of health. Aside from the dusty road causing a lot of people to cough, almost everyone was feeling good. A good sign we're getting used to the place. Adrian (Aus) and Kevin were doing it tough still.

Day 29 Mayocc

A very inviting day. 88km, 967m of climbing with almost entirely unsealed road. Some climbs, but trending downhill. Oh hellooooo. My kind of riding. Downhill and offroad.

What a great day. Starting with plenty of downhill. I kept up with the front of the group for the morning, with the group slowly being split up as some get through roadworks, while others have to wait.

The road took plenty of concentration. It was barely 1 vehicle wide. Blind corners, huge drops off the side and sometimes a very soft surface that will cause a person to slide the front tyre if a rider tries to change direction. Throw in the occasional herd of goats, cattle or donkeys on the road and there's a fun day to be had. I'm serious! It was great to truly interact with the place we're riding through.

I'm waiting for the cattle to pass. Looks peaceful right?

Try watching them come towards you when the jostle each other with those horns.

This is an opportunity to get the real taste of Peru. The dust of Peru courtesy of trucks and cars. Don't forget to chew, great for cleaning teeth.

At lunch there was a truck hosing the local streets and the main road to reduce dust. They were also so kind to hose down my bike on the side of the street which had my helmet hanging off the handle bar. Thanks guys. Wet helmet. No big deal.

So after lunch for the next few km I was able to play in mud rather than dust. Now my bike looked how it's supposed to look, mud everywhere. Mud is also great sunscreen.

A great ride, and pleased to have gotten through the day to camp without burning out.

Camp was beside a river. The water was great to swim in and wash the dust and mud off. It also had a full compliment of sandflies (midges) in the air. The air was thick with them. These aren't the boring ones from home that swarm together but don't seem to do much else. These little pests bite. Bring on the insect repellant and cover up as much as possible and hopefully forget about them. Turns out the next morning not everyone was able to forget.

The night was incredibly clear. A million star bushcamp. Stunning. We also had a camp fire for the first time. So it was great to sit with a few others and just stare at the sky, feed the camp fire and talk about whatever. The night was warm, and there was flashes over the horizon. Later that night rain came in. RAIN! This is the dry season, and we're up in the mountains.

Day 30 Ayacucho

First, the aftermath of the midges. Ghily had a bite near her eye, and looked like she'd been in a fight. Some of the girls had bites on their bums, as they don't have the same convenience as us guys where the world is our urinal. Paul and Babette apparently left the mesh open of the tent. I saw their legs, spots all over them. Looked like Paul had even begun to bruise. When there was some exclamations from some of us at breakfast, his only response was he didn't want to talk about it.

So this day had a 78km ride with 1371m of climbing. Over half of it still unpaved.

Still not being all that keen for all that climbing as it takes a long time, I opted to ride from lunch. There was still 450m of climbing to go, but at least I get to the hotel at a reasonable time, and wouldn't make Didier wait at lunch.

I left with Yolande and later caught up by Colin, and Christine (NL) from lunch. Yolande being an especially experienced rider was pointing out I need to lower my cadence (speed that I pedal) on the climbs. With a high cadence and a relatively easy gear (called spinning) I protect my knees and prevent the muscles burning out from using a lot of force, but then risk exhaustion which has happened a few times. So finding the right balance is the key to me becoming a mountain goat I think. That and continuing to lose the cargo (weight). I've lost a significant amount of weight already, even in the past 5 weeks. I'm struggling to keep my bike shorts on when I stand, and I've had to punch a new hole in my belt when I wear jeans, as there's no adjustment small enough. During the climb up to town, Christine pointed out that I had a cloud of midges chasing me which made her chuckle. Until the climb got steeper and she slowed down as well, which she had a cloud of her own. I figure a midge can fly at no more than 12km/h.

The night in Ayacucho was very good. There was a festival on with a live music in the plaza. Quite a few of us found the same restaurant upstairs overlooking the plaza. Ilkka tried alpaca which he recommended. I was more excited by the fact they had milkshakes!

View over the plaza from the restaurant