10/6/2013 Sth of La Aroya to Huancayo
D95, T4.49/5.5, Av19.42, Max44, Tot15339, 5275
Got warmer all the way
Waking up at 0500 to a clear but very cold morning. Breakfast was made before daylight.
The tent was packed up, still with a frost frozen on it.
This would have to be the earliest start yet. As Huancayo is a decent size city, i.e.300,000+ arriving early was important.
My thoughts were also on having a rest in the city.
Basically, the ride was 95km gently downhill.
My highest gear was used just cruising along. As altitude slowly decreased so did my clothing. It was so nice to have free legs again without wearing long johns. They and long pants really sap you.
The trip was fairly uneventful, still following the river.
As the land flattened, cropping increased, artichokes, wheat and potatoes were a few crops present.
Urbanization slowly increased closer to the city. As it invariably does.
Arriving at about 12 noon, a stop was made at the first sliced watermelon cart.
Two slices were had and an orange juice.
Once in town a tour through the markets was taken during the search for an ideal lodging.
About an hour and more melon with pineapple later, the perfect spot was found.
Ground floor, net in the room, proper hot water, modern and walking distance to the Plaza de Armas.
If ever here I would not hesitate in recommending the Mercury suites and hostal. About $15/night
mercuryhmsuites@hotmail.com
Once settled in, my realisation of just how worn out I am hit me. Basically my health has been less than perfect for almost a month.
It is time to rest up. Increasing the Amoxil to a 5 day plan after advice from my sister, hopefully will rid me of this cold.
The road through to Cuzco is all about up and back down again, only to climb back up.
It will be cold, and south of here there are road works so Devin has informed me.
It is no place for a middle age guy in less than good health on a bicycle.
Weighing myself today, tipped the scales to 60kg, weight loss to date has been close to 20 kgs since leaving home in December.
So if you are serious about losing weight, grab a push bike and head for Peru for a month or two!!
Time here will literally be spent resting, eating, seeing a few sights and waiting till I feel 100% again.
Really since leaving Manta in Ecuador it has been many, many miles of hills, sweat, cold and full on exertion.
The bod is telling me to back off, that call is being heeded.
Here is an excerpt from LP there’s no point in me trying to describe it with copy and paste about.
POP 323,050 / ELEV 3244M The central altiplano’s megametropolis, bustling Huancayo mixes its modern facade with a strong underlying sense of tradition. For many travelers this self-confident, cosmopolitan city will be their first experience of the Peruvian highlands – it stands within a lush, visually arresting valley on an exciting overland mountain route to Cuzco – and while its charms are less obvious than those of other Andean locales, Huancayo does not disappoint. Some of Peru’s finest dining outside of Lima and Cuzco lies within the teeming streets, yet once you’ve sipped your espresso and sampled the region’s renowned cuisine in well-appointed restaurants, prepare yourself for Peru’s most interesting handicrafts – sold in the markets here and in the valley beyond – and vibrant and varied fiestas that take place almost daily. There are, too, opportunities to learn Spanish or Quechua, to master musical instruments or to dabble in Andean cooking. For the adventurous, the dusty nearby hills hide weird rock formations and spectacular lakes while further afield, Andes trekking, extreme mountain biking and jungle tramping await. To top it all, Huancayo is the terminus for two of Peru’s (and South America’s) best railway journeys, including the world’s second-highest railway over the Andes to/ from Lima.
Planet, Lonely; Carolyn McCarthy; Carolina A Miranda; Kevin Raub; Brendan Sainsbury; Luke Waterson (2013-03-01). Lonely Planet Peru (Travel Guide) (Kindle Locations 11406-11416). Lonely Planet Publications. Kindle Edition.
It is hard to belief I have almost been in Peru for 2months.
Well having been here in Huancayo for 5 days, initially arriving feeling pretty ordinary, suffering a cold and chronic diarrhoea. All is now good.
In this time, I had a stool sample taken and was found to be harbouring microscopic parasites. They were the cause of the runs. Though no eggs or cysts were found.
The doctor put me on on Flagyll. It soon sorted this out. I bought a spare supply incase it happens again.
He said these organisms are everywhere, on fruit, in water and most food in general.
Even the Peruanos suffer from it.
It took only two hours from giving a sample to getting the results, excellent service.
Some antihemorroidal ointment was also applied to ease some inflammation caused by using so much toilet paper! Bike seats and irritable arses don’t mix!!
A while ago, a tooth that had a decent size filling in it broke apart. It was decided to get a dentist to look at this. He ground it down to a point where a crown could glued to it.
A crown , a good job I might add and a clean cost me $112.
Evidently implants here are about $200-400, these prices can be found in these cities less frequented by gringos.
The first couple of days were spent getting over these afflictions. My weight was at 60kg. The last 3 days have been spent eating in bulk.
Huancayo has some great restaurants especially Chinese. These are very busy places, so one could assume the food was fresh.
Three big meals were devoured each day for the last few days.
Consequently, I have put on over a kg a day, and leave for Cuzco tomorrow weighing 65kg.
People with scales were very common on the streets, 20 centimos would give an accurate weight, scales were very hard to find in the states, even in pharmacies.
Most days were spent just wandering about in the markets, visiting the supermarket, brushing up on a bit of Spanish and sleeping.
Lots of skyping was done to New Zealand and Australia.
It has been so good to have been able to take this break here in this city with almost all services.
Just observing things Peru is truly a land of dogs, they are everywhere when you stop to look for them.
They know their business, pulling bags apart looking for food, just hanging, often sleeping during the day. Their waste keeps one alert whilst walking on the streets.
The German cyclist we met awhile back said he would not ride Peru again, because of the dogs harassing him on the road.
To date almost every dog passed will chase you and bark, often trying to bite the panniers.
The distance they will chase you is almost always a perfect measurement of their owners property frontage.
I have had no problems with them, rarely making eye contact, nor speeding up, they soon lose interest.
D95, T4.49/5.5, Av19.42, Max44, Tot15339, 5275
Got warmer all the way
Waking up at 0500 to a clear but very cold morning. Breakfast was made before daylight.
The tent was packed up, still with a frost frozen on it.
This would have to be the earliest start yet. As Huancayo is a decent size city, i.e.300,000+ arriving early was important.
My thoughts were also on having a rest in the city.
Basically, the ride was 95km gently downhill.
My highest gear was used just cruising along. As altitude slowly decreased so did my clothing. It was so nice to have free legs again without wearing long johns. They and long pants really sap you.
The trip was fairly uneventful, still following the river.
As the land flattened, cropping increased, artichokes, wheat and potatoes were a few crops present.
Urbanization slowly increased closer to the city. As it invariably does.
Arriving at about 12 noon, a stop was made at the first sliced watermelon cart.
Two slices were had and an orange juice.
Once in town a tour through the markets was taken during the search for an ideal lodging.
About an hour and more melon with pineapple later, the perfect spot was found.
Ground floor, net in the room, proper hot water, modern and walking distance to the Plaza de Armas.
If ever here I would not hesitate in recommending the Mercury suites and hostal. About $15/night
mercuryhmsuites@hotmail.com
Once settled in, my realisation of just how worn out I am hit me. Basically my health has been less than perfect for almost a month.
It is time to rest up. Increasing the Amoxil to a 5 day plan after advice from my sister, hopefully will rid me of this cold.
The road through to Cuzco is all about up and back down again, only to climb back up.
It will be cold, and south of here there are road works so Devin has informed me.
It is no place for a middle age guy in less than good health on a bicycle.
Weighing myself today, tipped the scales to 60kg, weight loss to date has been close to 20 kgs since leaving home in December.
So if you are serious about losing weight, grab a push bike and head for Peru for a month or two!!
Time here will literally be spent resting, eating, seeing a few sights and waiting till I feel 100% again.
Really since leaving Manta in Ecuador it has been many, many miles of hills, sweat, cold and full on exertion.
The bod is telling me to back off, that call is being heeded.
Here is an excerpt from LP there’s no point in me trying to describe it with copy and paste about.
POP 323,050 / ELEV 3244M The central altiplano’s megametropolis, bustling Huancayo mixes its modern facade with a strong underlying sense of tradition. For many travelers this self-confident, cosmopolitan city will be their first experience of the Peruvian highlands – it stands within a lush, visually arresting valley on an exciting overland mountain route to Cuzco – and while its charms are less obvious than those of other Andean locales, Huancayo does not disappoint. Some of Peru’s finest dining outside of Lima and Cuzco lies within the teeming streets, yet once you’ve sipped your espresso and sampled the region’s renowned cuisine in well-appointed restaurants, prepare yourself for Peru’s most interesting handicrafts – sold in the markets here and in the valley beyond – and vibrant and varied fiestas that take place almost daily. There are, too, opportunities to learn Spanish or Quechua, to master musical instruments or to dabble in Andean cooking. For the adventurous, the dusty nearby hills hide weird rock formations and spectacular lakes while further afield, Andes trekking, extreme mountain biking and jungle tramping await. To top it all, Huancayo is the terminus for two of Peru’s (and South America’s) best railway journeys, including the world’s second-highest railway over the Andes to/ from Lima.
Planet, Lonely; Carolyn McCarthy; Carolina A Miranda; Kevin Raub; Brendan Sainsbury; Luke Waterson (2013-03-01). Lonely Planet Peru (Travel Guide) (Kindle Locations 11406-11416). Lonely Planet Publications. Kindle Edition.
It is hard to belief I have almost been in Peru for 2months.
Well having been here in Huancayo for 5 days, initially arriving feeling pretty ordinary, suffering a cold and chronic diarrhoea. All is now good.
In this time, I had a stool sample taken and was found to be harbouring microscopic parasites. They were the cause of the runs. Though no eggs or cysts were found.
The doctor put me on on Flagyll. It soon sorted this out. I bought a spare supply incase it happens again.
He said these organisms are everywhere, on fruit, in water and most food in general.
Even the Peruanos suffer from it.
It took only two hours from giving a sample to getting the results, excellent service.
Some antihemorroidal ointment was also applied to ease some inflammation caused by using so much toilet paper! Bike seats and irritable arses don’t mix!!
A while ago, a tooth that had a decent size filling in it broke apart. It was decided to get a dentist to look at this. He ground it down to a point where a crown could glued to it.
A crown , a good job I might add and a clean cost me $112.
Evidently implants here are about $200-400, these prices can be found in these cities less frequented by gringos.
The first couple of days were spent getting over these afflictions. My weight was at 60kg. The last 3 days have been spent eating in bulk.
Huancayo has some great restaurants especially Chinese. These are very busy places, so one could assume the food was fresh.
Three big meals were devoured each day for the last few days.
Consequently, I have put on over a kg a day, and leave for Cuzco tomorrow weighing 65kg.
People with scales were very common on the streets, 20 centimos would give an accurate weight, scales were very hard to find in the states, even in pharmacies.
Most days were spent just wandering about in the markets, visiting the supermarket, brushing up on a bit of Spanish and sleeping.
Lots of skyping was done to New Zealand and Australia.
It has been so good to have been able to take this break here in this city with almost all services.
Just observing things Peru is truly a land of dogs, they are everywhere when you stop to look for them.
They know their business, pulling bags apart looking for food, just hanging, often sleeping during the day. Their waste keeps one alert whilst walking on the streets.
The German cyclist we met awhile back said he would not ride Peru again, because of the dogs harassing him on the road.
To date almost every dog passed will chase you and bark, often trying to bite the panniers.
The distance they will chase you is almost always a perfect measurement of their owners property frontage.
I have had no problems with them, rarely making eye contact, nor speeding up, they soon lose interest.
What a brew!! This was sold for people wanting to keep a sound mind. I'm not sure about the stomach though.
drinks were made from these to try and kick the cold.
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Chooks offered their all for food.
the ever present papa (potato)
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