Posted from Abancay, Apurimac, Peru.
Arrival in Abancay marks the turning point of my trip. From now on I shall be cycling south until I reach Arequipa, from which I am heading even more south to Tacna and , eventually, to Arica. As already mentioned in my previous post I will be cycling on smaller roads now, across tall mountains and desolate stretches of Peruvian Andes. I can already anticipate what is about to come. The road between Cusco and Abancay was meant to be a warm-up but it already was hard work. First I had to ascend from Cusco onto 3,800 m.a.s.l. after which the road plummeted into a deep canyon down to 1,800 m.a.s.l. from which I had to ascend up to 4,000 metres before descending down to 3,000. Peruvian Andes are a real roller-coaster. In the next 14 days to come I will need to ascend more than 11,000 vertical metres and cycle above 4,5000 m.a.s.l. I hope my legs and lungs can withstand the exertion. So far I have felt strong – much stronger than I did in Argentina. Let the last adventure on this trip begin so when it’s done I can feel that the time I am about to spend on a beach on the Chilean Pacific coast is well deserved :)
Cusquenian Inca Emblem
Getting down from Altiplano
Lower altitude mountains
The canyon
Down at below 2,000 m.a.s.l.
On the way back up again
Getting out of the canyon
Slow ascent
Flowers
Fields
Hills
Back at 4,000 m.a.s.l.
Descent into Abancay
In a dinky hotel in Abancay
