Ups and Downs between Abancay and Cuzco

We seem to be developing a routine in cycling at the moment, 1000m plus climbs followed by huge wrist aching descents as you spend an hour or so hauling on the brakes as you come to another

Abancay to Curahuasi

We had a steep climb out of our rest stop of Abancay. The road wound upwards and oh so slowly we crawled our way upwards. Some 30km later, almost at the top of the pass we could look back down the valley and still see the town we'd left first thing this morning. Then as we neared the summit, we passed into the rain cloud. Abancay passed from view.

A sweeping downhill doubled our mileage for the day in the space of a rather breezy and cold hour. We reached the small town of Curahuasi just before dark. Our digs, Hostal San Sebastian, was fairly basic but set around a beautifully maintained courtyard. The hostal's owner was very helpful, even breaking out a plastic sheet to cover the bikes during the night.

The next day our aim was Limatambo. In a reverse of the previous day, we had a continuation of yesterday's downhill for 9 miles or so to the river valley. Then a climb up. The road was somewhat broken up in places and we had yet another thorn based puncture. Arrgghhh!!

Limatambo's accommodation options were on the limited side. We found a lovely rustic looking villa, just outside of town, that offered rooms to let, but couldn't raise the owner to even take a look. So back into town and a night in the basic hostel in the centre.

Final day into Cuzco meant another pass to be cleared at a height of 3700m, from a starting point of 1900m. A 6.30am start and we reached the top just after midday. I think we both deserve a rest day when we reach Cuzco. We're also going to take the train over to Machu Picchu rather than ride. How lazy are we??? 

 

Nazca to Abancay

This the big test for me following my less than heroic succumbing to the effects of altitude when in Tibet. The climb up from the desert that hugs the Pacific coast of Peru to the Andean altiplano. Nazca sits at an altitude of around 500m, but heading east inland you climb to well over 4000m over the course of 56 miles.

The world's highest sand dune... over 2000m

We rolled out of Nazca at just after 7am and quickly managed to miss the signpost for the turning we needed to take, courtesy of a large truck parked across it. It was only as we rushed past the air field still on the Pan American highway that we realised our mistake, which incurred us a 4 mile detour. Not a great start to the day with a monster climb ahead. The good news was that the traffic died off dramatically once off the main North South route. Consisting mainly of the occasional lumbering truck, slightly faster moving pickup and still faster motorcycles.

The climbing was steady. Den's knee played up for most of the day and kept her planted in the saddle for long periods. The landscape was unrelentingly dry desert scrub. A few low shrubs dotted with the occasional cactus. A handful of forlorn houses passed every now and then, but from the moment the road start to climb we saw not a single person outside of their vehicles. Only towards the end of the day did we find a shop to replenish our fast depleting supply of water. We'd started the day with 14 litres on our bikes, enough for 2 days we hoped, but by 4pm on this first day we were already down to 6 litres left. We stopped after 36 miles at an altitude of 2600. Exhausted we hauled our bikes off the road, over a low ridge to some flat ground that looked to have been excavated in readiness for an as yet unused landfill site. We cooked up pasta as the sun set over the mountains we'd spent the day climbing.

The next morning we broke camp and started back at the climb early. Initially more of the same desert scrub, but then as we reached the high plateau, the landscape changed and the earth sprouted grassy tufts for as far as the eye could see, streams gurgled their way out of the ground and animals were visible amongst the vegetation. We'd reached the pampas. We followed the road across the high grasslands for most of the afternoon before we reached our reward for all our previous climbing exertions. A 15km 1000m decent into the town of Lucanas. We crashed into the first hostel we came to in the town. Too pooped to hunt out dinner.

We had a proper sit down breakfast at a restaurant before we continued the following morning. The friendly locals came to chat to us. It's a shame about our poor Spanish, but they were genuinely interested in our journey. You know when this happens that you've left the clutches of the gringo trail behind.

We only had a short ride to the town of Pequio, where we planned to take a couple of days off the bikes to acclimatise a bit more, as the following days would mean us camping at over 4000m for probably two nights. The first 9 miles were all up hill. We saw a few bands of roving motorcycle tourists sweep past on their way to Cuzco. Which made me very jealous at the thought of being able to climb even the steepest climb on a wave of torque. Nearing the top, and probably looking a little worse for the climb, I noticed a pick up slow behind me. I turned to be confronted by a film crew pointing not one but two video cameras at me. How very disconcerting. They did an impromptu interview about our trip and then explained they were filming the trip of one of the groups of motorcyclists that had previously gone past. How Charlie and Ewan is that? Not only do you get a support vehicle tailing you, but also your own camera crew. I think we must be under prepared.

Pequio was one of those places that grows on you the longer that you are there. We had a few days to adjust to the altitude, but when we first rolled into town I wasn't holding out much hope of enjoying my time there. But mooching around the town centre the following day, I was quickly drawn to the lovely town square and the rest of the clean well cared for town that spilled away down the hillside. 

The first day on the road to Abancay was again about acclimatisation. We only actually cycled 11 miles, but we climbed up to 3700 metres. Found a gulley blocked from view of the road by a dry stone wall, and settled in for the afternoon reading and watching the trucks lumber on the road. Put the tent up just before dusk and had a cosy night just the two of us an a handful of cows.

The next day we climbed steadily, we were heading back up to the 4000m plus plateau and I felt a lot better prepared than I had been in Tibet. We climbed fairly constantly all day, only covering 35 miles or so and we got as far as the village of Negromayo when we spotted another cycle tourist heading just off the road. We gave chase down a grave track, and caught up for a chat. Robert (from Germany) asked if we wanted to share his campsite, and we agreed.

The wind had got up and was bitterly cold by the time we pitched the tent and cooked up supper. We piled rocks around the edge of the tent to cut down on the draft and put on every stitch of clothing we had in our panniers to keep us warm. Wonderfully we had another night of restful sleep. In the morning, when we woke, the frozen condensation was defrosted rapidly by the sun coming over the horizon and dripped on us as we tried to catch a final few winks. Time to get up then!

Waving by to Bob we crossed a series of undulations across the top of the plateau before a huge 1000+ downhill rush into Chalhuanca. It was a long 70 miles, and very tough going until we got to the downhill bit. Even then the wind caught us out and on some sections was so strong that we had to battle against it in order to make progress.

Chalhuanca was another delightfully well kept town. Most notable, my getting to eat some meat for once, as often Den and I share food. I had chicken and chips. Mmmm!!! Yum!

Final day to Abancay was the big day in terms of mileage. 79 miles on the map, with the final 7 being uphill into town. The road followed a river valley downhill from Chalhuanca, and the first 40 miles were dealt with quickly by 11am. Then the wind started to blow again. It's not difficult to over exaggerate the demoralising effects cycling into a strong headwind can have on you once you've been at it for a few hours. At one point a local cyclist heading uphill in the opposite direction flew past us, courtesy of the wind. I was very jealous. At least for most of the final climb that wind was giving us a boost. Shame it was a bit late, and we were both knackered by then. We rode into Abancay just after dark with 75 miles on the cycle computer. Had a quick bite to eat and then crashed in the towns nicest hotel beds.

Hop, Skip and a Jump from India to Peru

Three long haul flights have taken us via the UK to Peru. Along the way we have dropped off the tandem and picked up my Surly Long Haul Trucker. This was due to Den suffering on the back with heat exhaustion in the heat and hills. As South America has both we decided on a change of transportation. Den on the flight out was therefore bike-less and our shopping in Lima consisted of running around bike shops. Eventually, one was found for exacting demands, she wanted one that fitted....I ask you! So bike bought, pimped by me and we were ready for the off. Oh, except running round looking for all the essentials like fuel for the stove, food, water containers and spares for Dens bike so our three days in Lima were pretty fully.

07.11.10 (Lima to Chilca, 36miles)

We had been told by various people that drivers in Peru and Lima especially were erratic at best, so with this in mind we woke early and headed off around 7am, by sheer luck it was a Sunday and the traffic was fairly light for Lima. We were staying in a suburb called Barranco which was south of the main centre and fairly easy to exit the city from. (For anyone following this route it was as follows: took Pedro do Osma all the way to the end, including all the name changes until it met Huaylas, which has a name change to something to do with defence, but helpfully has the old name written real small underneath. Follow this for miles until eventually you come to Panamerican sur, which is the main south route, bikes can go on the nice wide well maintained hard shoulder. Simple!)

So with the city behind us we pushed on, Den had to adjust her saddle several times as it was too low, higher and higher it went until her knees stopped hurting but she felt safe, 8 months of not having to worry about steering, braking or pretty much anything has made her a cautious, which in Lima traffic is a good thing.
 Den's New Bike

So our first night on our tour of SA was spent in a small town called Chilca, we stopped at the first hostel we saw called Leo's, which was pretty basic and had black bathroom ware and lime green walls, interesting was the word. This was were it all started to get expensive when the Samsung gave up the ghost.... funny noises and nada, Computer kerput. There was nothing to be done in Chilca except go to an internet cafe and see what samsung says. So one very smelly Internet shop I would not like to say cafe as it was basically a room fully of typically smelly teenage boys playing computer games or Play Stations, grim, we stayed long enough to know we were in computer trouble. Thus ends our first day.

08.11.10 (Chilca to San Vincente de Cañete, 50.5miles)

So the road south from Lima cuts through a desert, great, with great big sand dunes that the panamerican highway goes up and down, up and down, up and down so I think you get the picture, when we arrived in Cañete as the locals call it Den was ready for a lie down. We were helped to find a hotel by a Brazilian guy who is taking 5 years to cycle from Alaska to the tip of Argentina, he had gone for the local look of no panniers but Chinese laundry bags strapped high on the back rack, he could leave his bike in the square and walk us to the hotel down several side streets, we could not walk 10 meters from our bikes!!! So once we were settled in we went in search of our friendly cyclist to buy him a drink for helping us, but all we saw was him riding a round the streets, hopefully we may meet up with him again.

Through the power of text and helpful parents back in the UK we had a number to call for Samsung repairs, so after chatting to them came we to the conclusion that we were not going to get our computer fixed whilst traveling via them. This was slightly worrying as we have come to rely on it quite a lot and having seen the inside of the average internet place here we do not want to spend too much time in them!! Decisions have to be made..... but not to day.

09.11.10 (San Vincente de Cañete to San Clemente, 53.07miles)

Our continued ride south followed the pattern of yesterday, up, down, up, down, however today like the last part of yesterday we were on the old highway with periods of access to the new highway which is being built, this was great as we could nip on the the new tarmac and ride with out too much concern for the 18 wheel trucks speeding past just a few feet away.

We had decided to head for San Clemente a small town near the turn off to Pisco. We took the decision not to go to Pisco (it was a 12 mile detour) where was a massive earthquake there in 2007 and the colonial architecture from which half it's fame derived had been mostly destroyed. The other half came from the drink Pisco Sour. Apparently in Pisco the word on the street is that mass corruption has kept the relief money from the people who really need it. Neither did we want to go on the Paracas trip (Den has done it before and I am happy not to go). Sometimes, I am such a rubbish tourist. So San Clemente it was.

Our hotel was clean and looked fairly new. Don't remember the name, but it was a big white building perched on the hill overlooking the Pan American Highway. A couple of kms north of the Pisco turnoff. There was a delightfully helpful owner for whom nothing was too much trouble. If you ever stay there be sure to check out channel 55 on the TV.... the only English language channel available, but a lot more exciting than CNN, I can't say any more here. We walked around the town while shopping a bit later on. There are a fair few new buildings around after the earthquake, however there are more tumbled down and makeshift homes than new builds! Had dinner in a local restaurant, which hosted a great game of “chicken”. The local stray dogs would come in and edge towards the kitchen very slowly, until the cook would notice their presence and send them running with the closest kitchen implement to hand. Not very hygienic but great entertainment when placing small wagers.

10.11.10 (San Clemente to Ica, 48miles)

getting up this morning was hard.... the bed was not that comfy but what with the last effects of jet lag still clinging on and the cycling after a month off the bike we were tired. Luckily, the ride to Ica was not so bad, the up and down eased to flat or a gentle incline, so the riding was easier but the hard shoulder was narrower and in not so good repair. We arrived in Ica around lunchtime and ended up getting off and pushing as the traffic was the worst we have seen in Peru. We eventually found a place to stay after the lonely planet sent us to a building site!

Decision time, what to do with the computer??? choices, get in mended via Samsung in Peru, not an option as they could take up to 5 weeks!! get a new hard drive fitted in Ica, not a good idea as it may not be the hard drive that is only our diagnosis, also all the software would be lost, so that leaves us with the third option of sending the Samsung home and looking around for a new computer. We had talked about not having a computer but really we have decided that we like having one for the photos, the blog and keeping in contact in general. As we think all three are really important and would fall by the wayside if we had to spend too long in the internet places over here we decided to look around for a new computer.

Bingo, after starting in the smaller computer workshop time places we eventually met a really helpful shopkeeper who took us to a shop that sold small notebook computers, after several more shops like these (found with out help!) we found a good priced one and bought it. Ica is known for theft so they had us set up the basics in store so it was password protected when we took it out. Which was great for security but not so good for the set up. It is in Spanish!! After spending hours on the internet researching it, the options of how to get the language into English, were to upgrade the software to Ultimate at a cost of $250 or so, (nearly the price of the computer!!!), learn Spanish quickly or install a different operating system. We went for the latter. Frankly though it's ridiculous. Message for Microsoft. People sometimes buy computers outside of their home country, perhaps in a country where the local language is not spoken by them. To then ask them to pay the same again on top of the cost of the computer to upgrade to a version of windows that can be made to run in say, English, is ridiculous. Anyhow, our friend Manuel, from the computer shop installed us a copy of Ubuntu, which replaces windows and is free and as far as I can tell so far is just as good. So there!!

Ica itself has a delightful town square and lots of lovely eateries where we whiled away our rest day. We also paid a visit to the regional museum, which houses a collection of shrunken heads and a scale model of the Nazca lines in the lot around the back.

From Ica we had a long 65 mile cycle to the next town of any size south. Palpa. The last 2/3rds of the ride took us across very arid desolate desert. We climbed slowly throughout the baking heat of the afternoon. And were rewarded nearly at the very end with a flying decent into the town of Rio Grande. More good fortune on arrival in Palpa. Another reasonably priced nice hotel.

Just a note on all these hotels we've been staying in. When I first thought of this trip, I had visions of camping out most nights under the stars. Hotels are for wimps, I thought. Real travellers rough it. Well, when tthe reality is that for about five pounds each you can have a hot shower, wash your clothes and have a meal that someone else cooks. Yes, we could spend less, but at home if you live rough and try to spend less than a dollar a day, people will call you a tramp. And they'd be right, you would be. The only downside with our approach is that you do have to concede you fall down the hierarchy of hardcore travellers by not living like a bum. I should explain. In the same way that backpackers look down on package tourists, and over-landers in turn look down on backpackers. Hardcore cycle tourists will look down on us as being soft..... and well that's fine with me. On that note we came across a chap who was walking from La Paz to Lima, dressed all in white with a big white flag held above his head on two poles extending upwards from his bergen. We would have stopped to talk, but he was blatantly mad. Regardless, he went straight to the top of my hardcore travellers list.

Palpa to Nazca.

What should have been a comfortably short cycle was given a bit of edge by the raging headwind that blunted our progress for most of the day. Stopped off to look over some of the Nazca lines from the observation tower by the side of the highway. Then cruised into town. Staying at the Hotel Oro Viejo. Bit on the pricey side, but very tranquil walled gardens to relax in and gird our strength for the testing road to Cuzco and beyond. 
View from the Nazca Lines observation tower and some other photos...