Puquio
Neither of us was feeling 100% when we woke this morning. Again, we didn’t have the best night’s sleep. Our bed was covered with a bedcover and 3 Peruvian blankets. Thick, hard and heavy. We removed 2 and were plenty warm enough. It does get very cold up here in the mountains, though.
Our mood was not helped by a lack of hot water. The hotel owner assured me last night there was hot water. Dennis got in the shower and it was stone cold. I couldn’t face the thought on an already cold morning.
For breakfast we decided to forgo our usual English Breakfast for coca tea. A remedy here for the affects of altitude sickness. Wondering if the way we felt was being influenced by our elevation. A bit over 3500 metres.
The day had dawned beautifully sunny. The town looked quite attractive in the morning sunlight. Arriving last night, as it was getting dark and raining, it had appeared a miserable place. We had to look around town to find a Claro shop to recharge my phone, as we were out of data again. This didn’t take long and we headed out of town bound for Abancay.
Climbing Again
Unlike the barren, arid mountains of yesterday, today’s scenery was more attractive. Rocky Mountains and more vegetation. Many cactus and hardy plants. We were still climbing though.
As we ascended the scenery became less green. More tussock grasses. Road signs were telling us to drive carefully because of animals. The only animals we could see though were cows and I wanted to see llamas and vicuñas.
We continued to climb and did eventually see some vicuñas. Dennis said he’d never heard of vicuñas, they must be guanaco. The internet shows us they are vicuñas 🙂 I tried to photograph them. It was difficult to see them in advance as they are so camouflaged by the tussock grass.
It’s also difficult to take shots when driving with “Stirling Moss” (For younger readers he was a famous U.K. racing driver). Dennis does not like slowing down and my photography from a moving vehicle is rubbish.
Later we saw huge herds of domesticated alpacas and llamas. Sometimes having to shoo them off the road. We eventually climbed to over 4500 metres. In the distance we started to see snow covered peaks. At our highest point there was snow on the roadside. The wide open space and feeling of remoteness with stunning vistas was quite magnificent.
Starting to descend a bit we found a flat parking space for some lunch. More coca tea and some chicken noodle soup. I thought it would be appropriate as it had been a chilly 11 degrees in Puquio when we left.
Shortly after lunch we descended into a steep sided valley beside a river. We followed this river virtually all the way to Abancay along valleys through the mountains. It meant we could make much better progress not constantly climbing or spiralling down through hairpins. The river meandered through the valleys so it was by no means a straight road and we crossed bridges to the opposite bank several times. Being lower it was also warmer, up to 24 degrees.
Abancay
About 10 kms outside of Abancay we left the river and climbed up to a very hilly town. A diversion took us off the main road along a rough track for 3 or 4 kms. We came into the outskirts of a very uninviting looking place. It is a large, sprawling, busy, scruffy town.
On the way to our hotel we stopped to buy some fruit. Bananas, a papaya and strawberries. In the small hamlets coming through the mountains we saw no shops selling fruit. It was quite a climb up through hilly, busy streets to our hotel. It is the usual sort of thing. About 2 stars. Clean sheets, wifi and a huge enclosed garage.
It was about 4pm when we arrived. After a rest we returned to Poki in the garage to cook dinner. The lady hotel manager came to see what we were doing and was fascinated by our on board kitchen and with what we were cooking for dinner. For desert we had fruit and yogurt. The bananas I had bought earlier, which are sort of short and plump, although very ripe looking, we’re not. Dennis thinks they must be plantains! We’ll have to wait and see if they get riper and sweeter.
Tomorrow we should reach Cusco. It has been quite a long haul. After our Nasca experience which I booked online didn’t turn out so well, I’m reluctant to book tickets for Machu Pichu. There seem to be all sorts of ways to get there and tickets for entry to various parts of the site. Everything I read says you need to book well in advance, so I hope we’ll still manage to see it.
Views: 12