Ayacucho to Huanuco, via Huancayo: The road didn’t get any straighter!
The ride from Ayacucho continued to be utterly beyond superlatives. Great views, people, riding and weather. Riding during the dry season helps a lot. Occasionally I came across road construction and a barrier, usually manned by a bored bloke with a flag. If he reconned the wait was going to be more than 10 minutes (once, one of them claimed it'd be 5 hours), it was a case of up yours jeune matey, I'll just ignore you. 100% of the time there was no reason to stop and usually for every bloke who was working (at most one or two) 9 were standing around scratching their butts or engaging in other non constructive pastimes. So, don't stop, and if necessary invoke the "no fumar espanol" defense.
Being substantially culturally, and especially where religion is concerned, dyslexic (Disculpe, muy bad!) I had to Google Image what might be happening in these 2 pictures and the best I can come up with is that these people are celebrating Pentecost. I was riding through a town whose name I sadly don't recall following the "shortest distance" on my GPS and in a side street came across this merry crowd. They also seemed happy to see me too.
Meeting these guys made my day. Taking the route less travelled sometimes springs the biggest surprises. In the middle of it all is Chlym.
What views! Including a lady working hard in the field
Easy gravel
I just rode across those mountains and up those switchbacks
You're that gringo bloke my grandmother told me about....
2001: Holding a llama while the herder re-ties its luggage. One night me and Marcel, my Dutch mate, were wild camping. The next morning this young chap with 3 or 4 luggage carrying llamas wanders by and asks if we can hold them, while he re-ties the dislodged luggage. A great way to start the day
I had heard they can be aggressive and like spitting, hence I'm relieved he's looking the other way
Would I prefer to be where I am now in a northern English city with negative temperatures and a 8 inch snow Met Office warning or here? You take a guess...
2001: More Llamas. I'm wearing my rainsuit, so I'm guessing, despite the sunny weather it will have been bloody cold/ my bike jacket wasn't too warm.
Only hardy people live up here
2001: Too fast around a corner, so I dropped the bike before going off the edge. 10 minutes later a bus appeared and a couple of passengers helped me pick the bike up and reverse back onto the road...
How this hotel dog in Huancayo didn't get dog-napped, I have no idea! Pannier size and extremely cute.
A couple more 2001 pictures:
2001: Marcel meeting Serge Girard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Girard on his Lima to Rio run. An average of more than 2 marathons every day for 70 days! Up, Over and Down the Andes! Check the link for all the achievements! Super-human and seemed like a nice bloke too. He complained that the CDs belonging to his backup crew we're getting repetitive
2001: The Peruvian wheelbarrow race Olympic team? Unfortunately many of my slides were destroyed during their development, so they look a bit naff