Ollantaytambo to Ayacucho

We called it a road block.
  Emma was overcome with tiredness and literally slept all night, the following day and night again.  Maybe it was Altitude, we´re not sure but ... we were forced to take a rest day.

Wednesday morning, we took a punt that Emma would be okay to ride the 60km to Izucuchasa.  Now we had real road blocks!

 The locals were protesting about the monopoly the Cuzco transport company has over tourist transport and had closed the roads using huge rocks and stones.  It was a bit scary but they were peaceful and didn´t stop us walking our bikes around the roadblocks.  We bought delicious pears from a local lady who was picking them and were welcomed by other local ladies working in the fields.  In Urubamba we were relieved to be leaving the main road and heading up over a big climb to Izucuchasa.

 Even though we weren´t completely done with roadblocks, there were no people manning them.  They had simply dumped rocks or dirt across the road.  It was during this climb that Emma began to suffer, and we wondered if we had made the right decision to leave.  We pushed on and Emma gritted it out.

 We were relieved to arrive at Izucuchasa after just 60km of riding at about 2pm.  We promptly booked into a hostel and relaxed after a great hot shower.  We decided to play it safe and cooked up one of our dehy meals from NZ - Pumpkin and Kumara mash  mmmmh.

When we rode out of Izucuchasa it must have been Animal moving day!  So many Cows, sheep, pigs were being chased or lead up the road - usually by a woman dressed in her bowler hat, 4 layers of skirt and woolen tights.

There were many cream cans on the side of the road awaiting collection and signs for Cheese, milk and yogurt for sale.  None of which tempted us as they sat out in the hot sun.

We felt it get warmer as we dropped down to 1800m into the tropical valley.

 Mango, Papaya, Oranges, Avocados and other fruit we were not familiar with all thrived.  We rode through an incredible canyon beside a river.  Cacti lined the sides of the road and we realised that even if there had been a nice quiet stretch of land to camp, we could never risk it due to the amount of thorns and cacti all over the place.

On the ride up to Carahuasi, road workers were clearing the road sides with weedeaters. Unfortunately for us the thorny bushes they were clearing were getting thrown all over the road. Emma noticed a slow leak and promptly saw a huge thorn stuck into her front tire.  Bummer - her first puncture.  We quickly repaired it and rode more carefully up the many switchbacks and into Carahuasi.  We didn´t quite make 100km today but were happy with 99.

After checking into a basic hostel we had an amazing hot shower with lots of pressure.  We ventured into the small village and used our experience at playing Pictionary to purchase some Worm Pills - Giardia Pills.  We knew that something was up with Emma´s tummy and had to try something.

We were certainly not tempted by what was in the garage below!!!

Our next day started with a small descent before an all-day climb up to 4000m.

As we started the climb we were chased down by a bunch of school kids doing their cross country race.  They ran alongside us, holding onto our panniers - it was a bit wobbly and quite an effort to pull them along but they were so full of life and energy it was too much fun. We were all laughing and all working hard to get up the hill.

As we have said before... you haven´t seen hills until you´ve been to Peru!  Well... those kids had to run along the main road straight up a hill.  No flat or downhill sections, just a gradual climb up, up, up.

As we rode into the finish line, with awaiting Teachers and Parents, we also recieved Cheers or encouragement and congratulation.  It was a great experience.  

As Graeme Chambers said - You don´t get to experience that if you´re travelling by bus!!!

We finally hit the summit and sheltered in a small hut as a hail storm passed.

 We zoomed down the road to Abancay and checked into Hotel Killer (great name)... releived to be off the busy city streets. 77km today.
That night we discovered a very good Pastry shop that we went back to twice!  We just couldn´t resist having some nice morning tea the next day as well as a yummy dessert!

The road out of Abancay was kind before we turned right over the bridge and headed up up up!

 It was a cold drizzly morning and we were very excited when two cyclists came flying downhill towards us.  They were wet and freezing.  They stopped and we exchanged stories for almost 45mins.

Colourful lupin

The slow climb that wove it´s way in and out of valley´s and over rolling farmland.

We got very Óver´the locals yelling Gringo at us today.  There was the occasional wave and smile but today more than others the locals really got to us.  We have read that saying Gringo is not necessarily mean anything bad - but the tone of voice makes a big difference. 

Emma was still not 100% - just lacking energy she normally has plenty of.  We found some Iron suppliments in Andahuaylas after our 88km ride and hoped for a quick recovery.

Quinoa drying against a house

Typical small farm

Emma riding through animals on the move.  Note it is always a Lady with the animals

The colourful hillsides of Peru

Two weeks until we meet Susan and Richard in Huaraz!!  We were right on track with our progress - with the help of a Blog from some other cyclists who had done our route.

We rode 86km to Chincheros where a nice chatty man encouraged us to his hostel and even shared a beer with us.

Today had been quite eventful.  After a big climb up to 4256m the hail started.  It got very cold very quickly and we stopped to pile on some layers.  The descents are always cold but in this weather we were both frozen to the bone.  We stopped to put on our beanies before continuing further down the other side of the pass.  After several uncomfortable km´s, we were out of the bad weather and we stopped in a small area of sun.  Debbie was as white as a ghost and said she didn´t feel well - about to faint.  After she got off her bike and put on yet more layers of clothing, she sarted to warm up.

Horses in the Puna - 4000m

Another day of climbing for us after a 25km downhill.  We passed lots of villages selling fruit and heaps of different cacti growing on the roadsides.  We had quite a few agro dogs chase us but nothing a squirt from the water bottle didn´t fix.

We arrived in Ocros at 1pm just before yet another big hail storm.  We checked into the only hostel!  A small white concrete room with no windows.  After an afternoon nap, we realised the hostel (and restaurant) owner had closed up shop and gone out.  We were trapped inside!  We finally found a back door but couldn´t both go out as we had no key to get inside again!  Debbie waited on the doorstep and Emma ventured down the street to find a shop.  We cooked our rice and veges in our prison cell and had an early night.

We left Ocros at 6am after seeing a HUGE spider on the wall.  It was good to be leaving the Prison - but it had served us well.  We climbed and climbed but it was a really nice gradient.  We enjoyed having no villages or people almost all day.  It was so peaceful and quiet.  We got up to 4150m and stayed high in the Pampas for several hours.  

Emma´s bottom bracket spat the dummy and she creeked and groaned pretty badly despite our attempts to tighten it.

After 100km we dropped down and arrived in Ayachucho.  It was a busy city but it had a very nice town plaza.... and we found a street with 4 bike shops on it!  

It was a bit nerve wracking to watch, but the young bike mechanic hammered and unscrewed the bottom bracket open.  Ball bearings bounced across the floor and his facial expressions did not give us confidence.  Finally after over an hour, we had a whole new crank installed for 250soles (125NZD) and a smooth running bike - Huge sigh of releif!!!!

We enjoyed Pizza for dinner and walked around the city afterwards.  The many churches and old buildings were really quite beautiful and the atmosphere much more welcoming and relaxed to other Peruvian cities so far.