After some pretty bad luck over the past couple of weeks, our route from Huancayo to Ayacucho went pretty much without a hitch.
The road quality wasn’t great but we made good time riding along a canyon cut by a bright green river, dodging piles of fallen debris and trying not to fall into the dam below.
We must have descended a considerable distance as we were soon sweating in our many layers, an experience we have now become used to. I’ve learnt now that with the distance that we cover in a day, plus the dramatic landscapes of Peru, it is pretty much impossible to be a comfortable temperature for the entire day!
The heat remained as our surroundings became increasingly dry, until we were riding through what felt like a desert - surrounded by mounds of grey-beige rock, leafless, scraggy trees and cacti. By this point the ride was becoming a little bit unpleasant, not helped by the fact we were both pretty exhausted and keen to get to a place with a few more tourist-amenities, where we could recharge. Riding without a back brake was also making the ride extra tiring for Tom, so when a five centimetre long hornet flew into the tiny gap between his helmet and jacket and stung him three times, it’s no surprise that it didn’t go down too well.
Nevertheless an hour or so later we arrived in Ayacucho, one of the more pleasant towns that we’ve visited so far in Peru. It had a wonderful central square and we spent a day off the bike mainly sitting on the sunny balcony of a gorgeous café, sampling various hot and cold beverages and a lot of cake.
It felt like we had been heading for Cusco for weeks (in a way we had), and we were finally only a few hundred kilometres away. So full of baked goods and with a couple of good night’s rest in us we head off, with an expected two nights more before we reached Cusco.
Despite the single-lane, windy, country road out of the small city we made excellent time, and for once actually made it further than anticipated. We reached Abancay in the late afternoon having covered 383km, leaving us less than two hundred to do to get to Cusco the next day. I can’t tell you much about Abancay because our stay involved our hotel room and a nice little restaurant down the road, but it was a perfectly fine place to stop for the night and not too difficult to get out of in the morning!
Our final push to Cusco was simple and beautiful. Hugging the mountain sides we swerved our way towards the tourist haven, eventually meandering our way through the narrow cobbled streets and the hectic traffic of the centre.
As we pulled into the courtyard of our hostel we couldn’t quite believe we’d made it. Over the last few days it had become in our minds like a sort of Mecca; a glowing haven that offered western comforts, comfy beds, laundry and other travellers to chat to.
It delivered all of things things, and within 24 hours we already felt rejuvenated. However we had plenty of time to enjoy here, as we had a new brake plate being sent out, plus a new kick start spring, that we expected to arrive in a week or so.
So we packed away our bike stuff into the hostel storage and set about being regular backpackers for a while. Cusco itself is gorgeous, full of history and charming old architecture, with a towering church around every corner.
We visited the Artesan market and spent lots of money on silly Peruvian things to remember our trip by, and sat in the Plaza de Armas, taking in the hustle and bustle and marvelling at all the tourists - it had been a long while since we had seen any fellow iphone-wielding, hiking-boot wearing, backpack-lugging friends!
After inquiring at the post office as to how long a package may take from England, and getting the answer of 15-25 days, we realised we should probably book an activity as it was unlikely that we'd see either package for at least another week. Of course we couldn't come to Peru without seeing Machu Piccu so without further ado we booked a four-day adventure-packed excursion to keep us busy. More on that next time!