19/09/2013 Stage 28

2013-09-20 clck on date to see photo's day off

19/09/2012 Stage 28 Ahuayno – Andahuaylas + day off

2013-09-19click on date to see more photo's

Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details Part 1 on the bike
Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details Part 2 by taxi
Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details Part 3 on the bike

Marjet trying to hide from the mozzies in her sleeping bag liner 

We ended yesterday by eating out in the road construction workers canteen where we bumped into Miguel again who had previously helped us when we were in Chumbes. This time we spent much more time chatting and discovered that he is a real goldmine of information regarding the distances ,heights and road surface types we were likely to encounter on our way to Cusco which is where he lives . Additionally he gave us great advice about what to visit whilst in Cusco .A real star We're obviously going to need more in Cusco than anticipated.

We set off from Ahuayno intending to reach Chincheros after 800 m of climbing and if feeling OK we might push on an extra 400m to Uripa . The usual breakfast of two fried eggs was found in Chincheros where the locals were very keen for us to stay and not to go to Uripa which they described as being commercial and full of thieves .Nice We pushed onto Uripa and arrived at 12.30. It has to be said that Uripa didn't have a lot going for it but the next stop would be Andahuaylas ,84 km further and with a 1000m climb .There wasn't enough time in the day to tag this on so we found the perfect compromise by paying a taxi driver £9to take us 22km 45 minutes uphill to the beginning of the plateau . There then followed a beautiful rolling plateau with llamas in abundance and a huge decent into the valley in which Andahuaylas lies .

Approaching Andahuaylas we passed several kms of road surface blocked by boulders and stones and on getting into the outskirts of town we were stopped by a friendly Spanish lady who warned us not to go into town as there was lots of broken glass and another protest with many shops closed. Having survived Quito and Huanuco we felt confident to push on and found some evidence of broken glass but nothing too concerning .

A quick search found a good hotel with wifi and it even had a Polleria [ chicken and chips shop ] next door with a supermarket on the other side. Success .

We were undecided about the next few days and decided to stay in Andahuaylas to sort out what we were going to do but on waking up late we realised we had already decided to carry on heading for Abancay which might involve a nights wild camping [ although we suspect there may be a small village with a hospedaje despite there being nothing on the map or even Google maps] .It was too late to set off by this stage so we elected for a day of sightseeing in the markets and town centre. The markets are always a big draw because they are so colourful and there is often good food to be found at bargain prices.