26/6/2013 near the summit to Puente Pachachaca
D100, T8/9, Av16, Max49, tot15988, 5924
Lovely day, cold up top, very mild in the valley.
Peering outside about 0530, a light frost was present, the tent was dry, a gentle but fresh breeze chilled things further.
Packing up all inside the tent before exiting it. This I always do.
Never in a hurry in the morning, coffee and porridge were enjoyed along with bread and bananas.
Another farmer came down for a yarn, he was interested in my raincoat. I had pleasure in telling him it was a very cheap one. Though effective.
This part of Peru must be a major flight path, there were jets flying over very high every 10 minutes, it was soon worked out where to look for plane, which was quite some way ahead of the sound.
It made me think, in reality, this is about as close as I will ever get to Australia for some time. Just looking at these planes with an ever so temporary bunch of people bought together, all of them hoping the same thing, that the number of take off and landings in their little cacoon will always be an even number.
They have made the world a small place.
It was 10km to the summit, a clothing change was made. It was a nice run for awhile. Though when reaching Kishuara, the gravel started.
The descent on this gravel was 60km. It was the kind of road where you could get a bit of speed, but had to be so cautious of getting out of control when encountering potholes.
For 4 hours off the seat, concentrating, was unbelievably tiring. The brake pads took a beating.
If anything was going to fail on the panniers or racks it was to be today. The bike was airborne at times when hitting a bump that went unseen.
The bottom hook on the panniers undid a couple of times, other than that all went well.
It got warmer all the way down as usual.
People were harvesting potatoes, moving stock, just sitting about, waiting for buses, knitting, cooking and just taking in the scene.
Some paddocks had dozens of people within them harvesting the potatoes. Always on the road below a traditionally dressed woman was cooking food over a fire for the workers.
Roadworks were in full swing down lower. Conveys of new Volvo 4 axle dump trucks were hauling gravel up from the Pachachaca River below.
Water was collected from a clean stream .Though Abancay could be seen all afternoon it was miles away with a climb into town once the bridge was crossed.
No point busting my guts to get there just to have to pay someone to stay in their motel.
Once over the bridge at the bottom of the descent, a camp site was looked for on the Lima road, it was all gravel and excavation, turning back and heading to Abancay, a service station with a restaurant was spotted.
Dinner was had here, they said I could camp out the back.
Little did I know it was a yard where guys worked all night unloading copper ore in bags.
Many of them came over for a yarn .It was so nice and mild down here.
My tent was even set up under a roof of a shelter from the rain for the workers.
My planning has been so to minimise camping on the tops too much. Halfway up is ok.
That night at the gravel pit was just too cold.
Cuzco is now 6 hours away in a car.
D100, T8/9, Av16, Max49, tot15988, 5924
Lovely day, cold up top, very mild in the valley.
Peering outside about 0530, a light frost was present, the tent was dry, a gentle but fresh breeze chilled things further.
Packing up all inside the tent before exiting it. This I always do.
Never in a hurry in the morning, coffee and porridge were enjoyed along with bread and bananas.
Another farmer came down for a yarn, he was interested in my raincoat. I had pleasure in telling him it was a very cheap one. Though effective.
This part of Peru must be a major flight path, there were jets flying over very high every 10 minutes, it was soon worked out where to look for plane, which was quite some way ahead of the sound.
It made me think, in reality, this is about as close as I will ever get to Australia for some time. Just looking at these planes with an ever so temporary bunch of people bought together, all of them hoping the same thing, that the number of take off and landings in their little cacoon will always be an even number.
They have made the world a small place.
It was 10km to the summit, a clothing change was made. It was a nice run for awhile. Though when reaching Kishuara, the gravel started.
The descent on this gravel was 60km. It was the kind of road where you could get a bit of speed, but had to be so cautious of getting out of control when encountering potholes.
For 4 hours off the seat, concentrating, was unbelievably tiring. The brake pads took a beating.
If anything was going to fail on the panniers or racks it was to be today. The bike was airborne at times when hitting a bump that went unseen.
The bottom hook on the panniers undid a couple of times, other than that all went well.
It got warmer all the way down as usual.
People were harvesting potatoes, moving stock, just sitting about, waiting for buses, knitting, cooking and just taking in the scene.
Some paddocks had dozens of people within them harvesting the potatoes. Always on the road below a traditionally dressed woman was cooking food over a fire for the workers.
Roadworks were in full swing down lower. Conveys of new Volvo 4 axle dump trucks were hauling gravel up from the Pachachaca River below.
Water was collected from a clean stream .Though Abancay could be seen all afternoon it was miles away with a climb into town once the bridge was crossed.
No point busting my guts to get there just to have to pay someone to stay in their motel.
Once over the bridge at the bottom of the descent, a camp site was looked for on the Lima road, it was all gravel and excavation, turning back and heading to Abancay, a service station with a restaurant was spotted.
Dinner was had here, they said I could camp out the back.
Little did I know it was a yard where guys worked all night unloading copper ore in bags.
Many of them came over for a yarn .It was so nice and mild down here.
My tent was even set up under a roof of a shelter from the rain for the workers.
My planning has been so to minimise camping on the tops too much. Halfway up is ok.
That night at the gravel pit was just too cold.
Cuzco is now 6 hours away in a car.
Los Andes con muchas nevar.
Pics like this always, allow for the imagination to wander.
Perfect camping spot, no dew problems under here. These bags of copper ore were unloaded in the middle of the night.
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Abancay in the distance, 60km downhill on gravel, then 18km uphill was between me and the city.
Another Peruano serpent of a road lay ahead
Lush river valley of the Pachachaca River
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