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???
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