Resting up in Huancayo - Sth American holidays

Whilst some may laugh and others will stand back and applaud our decision, either way, I've got to say that spending the last few days in the one city / hotel was probably one of the best things I could have done. I mean it's allowed me to throw off, hopefully now for the duration of my trip, the shackles of my cold (though I'm still coughing) and to also recharge my batteries.

One of the problems that I think we have all encountered, not that some people will necessarily admit it, is waning energy levels as time has gone on. Life on the road can be draining.... Making sure your bags are packed the night before, that you've organised the appropriate clothing for the day ahead, that you hit the floor running in the morning, pack your sleeping bag, sleep mat, tent (if we've been camping) and so on, scoff your breakfast down, get your bike ready for the activities that are to follow and that's all before you've even mounted your bike or ridden a single kilometre. 

Me. I just don't have the desire to push things to the limit in the same way. I am after all on a holiday and to do all of the above day after day can get to be a tad like hard work at times, particularly when it can involve cold weather, dodgy stomachs and so on.... 

As a consequence, whilst the majority of the group rode from Huancayo here to Ayacucho and had to bush camp both nights, myself and my three colleagues (Carmen, Julia & Dave) remained in the luxurious hotel ironically called Hotel Turismo and recuperated from our travels so far. Well the crew from Bike Dreams did say it was likely to be the best hotel we'd stay in during our journey and as a result we all just decided to make the most of it.

Only time will tell if there is somewhere more lavish or enticing to remain for a couple of days, as time goes on! 

Whilst Julia and myself in particular ventured out from time to time, to undertake our obligatory "city / village tour" and visited the Basilica Catedral de Huancayo, which is hardly the most beautiful, charming or exotic of cathedrals. Then again the town only has a population of some 500,000 people or thereabouts. 

The local market however was exciting, huge and selling all manner of stuff, from clothes, basic electrical goods, food to gardening tools and the like. That said, we did also come across a modern shopping center which ended up being not all that dissimilar to a Westfield Mall. It was interesting because of the range / nature of the shops, but comparison it was just so BLAH such that neither of us could cope with it for long.... 

What was enjoyable / impressive though was the number of great and cheap restaurants. One could dine like a king here, quite easily and whilst I suspect my waistline can cope with what I managed to devour at the moment, it's only because of the number of kilometres, we'll be riding over the course of the next three months..... 

So how did we catch up with our colleagues I hear you ask.... 

Well, Carmen negotiated with the hotel concierge to see if they could find a driver who'd take us to Ayacucho and they put us in touch with a young chap with a four wheel drive who was prepared to drive us......

He was very interesting, friendly and entrepreneurial young chap. During the several hour long journey, on some very treacherous roads, with blind corners, with steep mountainous embankments on one side and sheer vertical cliff drops on the other, which prompted him to toot the horn (as is apparently custom in the area, given the nature of the roads / traffic) when approaching blind corners, we learnt that he'd borrowed (with his family's assistance) as much money as he could, so as to buy the car. His aim / business goal was to ferry equipment, workers & management to some of the remote mining sites in the area. 

As I say, very entrepreneurial / brave young lad! 

Given the time on the road, we were pleased to discover that he had a rather extensive collection of 70s & 80s hits burnt onto a hard drive, enabling him to play some fantastic music which we all knew and capable of singing along too!

As a result, after several hours on the road, we all had sore throats & grumbling stomachs which prompted us to ask for a pit stop for a drink and a bite to eat. We ensured that he joined us and made sure as to cover the cost of his lunch, I mean he'd been such a great companion / driver and it's not like it was going to cost us a fortune.... 

Of course when we got to Ayacucho, only to discover that he was going to return home that night, we offered to pay for a night's accommodation for him, I mean none of us liked the idea of him driving home tired... When we refused we relented by giving him a tip and telling him to be safe and to pull over to rest if necessary.....