Bike trip Abancay - Andahuaylas

The last days have been rough and demanding, with many ups and downs (in more than one way). Especially yesterday was immensly difficult and I had the feeling I would drop dead if there was another hill/mountain after the one I was struggling with. There was another one. And another one. And another one. Surprisingly I`m still alive. Conclusion: There is always more you can take.

We biked yesterday from 0930 until 1800. From our (wonderful) camp spot we saw the road going down into a valley, along the valley and then zigzagging up the mountain opposite. Shouldn`t be a big problem; we thought. Going down would be fast, the valley easy to bike, the zigzag a small challenge. Andahuaylas we`re coming, get the ice cream ready.

Alone biking down took us over an hour, the road was the worst so far and demanded strong concentration. The valley took us by surprise: It was steeper up than expected and the stones on the road were so lose that we hardly moved forward, merely slid around. The sun was burning down on us and some kids from the village biked luckily behind us, watching us. That`s when you feel weak. Conclusion two: Things can look very different from further away.

At 1500 we finally reached the top of the mountain and measured the airline to our previous camp spot. 3,6 kilometers!! That is nothing.

But we were over the mountain, Andahuaylas wouldn`t be far away, I expected it around every curve. We biked down 15 minutes, then stretched out in the sun to savour our tomatoes, peanuts and oreo cookies. Conclusion three: Don`t be happy too soon.

We biked on, still downwards (the road was no better yet) when we noticed dark clouds coming up, accompanied by loud growling. A storm getting closer, out of nowhere. We biked faster, got to a small village, up the hill, people looking, children shouting "gringo", out of the village, next village, up the hill, people looking, children shouting "gringo", out of the village, next village, up the hill, people looking, children shouting "gringo"... Never ending story? That`s how it was, that`s how it felt (but I got a hug from a woman while pushing my bike up a very steep part, that was nice). In the end it started raining and we had to give up reaching Andahuaylas because it was getting dark. We crawled up a field (3 cm of dirt stuck to our shoes and tyres) and set up our tent for the first time without light.

Does that all sound terrible? It is not (even if it may seem so at that point). I will never forget that day, the struggling, the emotions. And can you imagine how wonderful it was to reach Andahuaylas today after 40 more minutes of biking, the joy of a hot bath and food?
Simple things appear much more valueable.