May
18th,
2018
VERY
hot and sunny, no cloud. Will this sweltering weather ever stop!
Out
and up, a cycle through the town and then a very long push. Is this
all I ever do? Why did I choose to go over The Andes? What was I
expecting? they are mountains, big and high mountains! Mile after
mile and then sweet delight, the road descends for mile after mile.
Such a strange cycling tour when I seem to spend my time either
pushing because the gradient is too steep for me to be able to cycle
my heavy bike or plummeting where I don;t need to pedal.
After
an attempt at getting a coffee at a roadside cafe, unsuccessfully but
I did enjoy the company of two woman with a playful little girl, who
loved hide and seek. One problem, there was only one place to hide,
behind a support post. I found out what pedalling was like for the
next ten miles or so as the road went through villages and along a
brook valley before once more, a steep climb began than ended in a
very long, dirty, plastic-strewn road ascending into the city of
Ayacucho. A group of late teenage lads join me and walk with me along
the road, chatting about football and travels, Peru etc. I don't
notice at first but a lady, who I had seen with a group of ladies
digging a trench with large shovels, they make ladies tough here, is
pushing my bike uphill from behind. Turning around and seeing why the
pushing had got easier we laugh together and I thank her by giving
her a bottle of juice. One of the lads wants to try to cycle to the
bike up the hill. “Be my guest,” I gesture. He soon falls off
having not gone a metre. As we walk together I show them the state of
my boots. The sole has completely come off one and the cardboard I
placed inside to give some semblance of comfort can be seen.
Into
the city itself I find a hostel and find that I have to carry
everything, bike and all, up three floors to my dingy room at the
back. The girl on the desk is too serious to find the funny side in
all of this.
Off
to explore the city, the Plaza is similar in design to Cusco's but
not as large. Obviously very Spanish with archway walkways and
geometric flower beds surrounding a large statue in the middle. There
are mature trees with flowers and Rufous-collared Sparrows and eared
Doves. A large church at the east side of the square is closed. I
need to search for some shoes and find some shoe shops adjacent to
the market a couple of blocks away from the square. Immediately I
encounter what is going to be a problem. Shoe sizes available here
are nowhere near my shoe size! Their largest is 42. I need at least a
46. I should have realised this before but hindsight is a wonderful
thing. I buy the largest they have got and throw away my broken down
wreck of boots.
Green
Year list : 196 birds average new birds to list per day : 4.08
birds
Distance
walked : 35.06 miles
elevation
: up 4,206 feet, down 3,861 feet
altitude
: 9,021 feet
No comments:
Post a Comment