Day 984
Lagunas and Vicuñas
Sarah, a fellow touring cyclist who we had met in Huaraz, had warned us about bad weather for this section. Whilst I had been sunbathing at the Inca ruins she and her partner had been battling through torrential rain, wind and snow. So much so, that they had taken a lift in a ‘collectivo’, a minibus to you and me, from Antacolpa to Oyon. We emerged from our night in the village hall to bright sunshine, we set off, praying it would last.
Wow, what a route, stunning blue green water in the lagoons, beautiful landscapes all around, vicunas aimlessly walking along our trail seemingly uninterested in us cyclists. Our plan was to try and get as far up the big climb to Oyon, maybe even get there for the night. Who were we kidding, yes Sarah had made it in a day, but she was on a bus. By mid-afternoon we knew it wouldn't happen and we started looking for a camp spot.
Easier said than done, as we were on a narrow dirt track with sheer cliffs on one side and water on the other. When we reached the base of the mining area with assorted buildings Tom spotted a small road leading past the complex to an abandoned house. We sent Helene off to check it out, the guard at the mine was happy for us to wild camp there, and though the ground was somewhat on a slope the view over the laguna more than compensated.
By the time we had the tents up the sun had disappeared and we quickly made our tea,noodles, veg, peanut butter and a packet of mushroom soup mix. Not a classic but warming all the same. Tom went hiking up yet another hill to get some better photos, Helene and I marvelled at how few clothes Jeff could wear and not freeze. Apparently Jeff wasn't so warm after all. He carries very few clothes and even he was broken by the cold air here. Time for bed!
In the morning, and I know you'll find this hard to believe, but we had yet more climbing to do. I was a broken woman, seriously just how high did this bloody road have to go? Up,up and more up. I could barely breathe, at the top Helene made the mistake of being nice to me and was rewarded with me bursting into tears.
Finally the climb ended and the downhill began. Tom, then Helene, found they no longer had any brake pads left. We adjusted them as best we could. Tom set his mind to kamikaze mode and disappeared down the mountain. To make life just that little bit more challenging we had to cross waterfalls as they flooded the road. Wet socks all round. Finally after many many hours of misery we reached Oyon. Quickly we checked into a hotel, a speedy shower then out for food. Jeff had been searching for a pizza for weeks so when Tom spotted a pizza restaurant we thought our difficult day was at an end, how wrong can you be!
