WorldCitizen: Lima to Ayacucho

the endless climb

After talking with several people and gathering info from other bike travelers I decided to follow the inland mountainous route instead of going south along the coast. I figured it would be more interesting to go through the smaller less visited places along the foothills of the central Andes than to go along the Pan American highway. First step: get out of Lima. I opted not to ride the highway and found a collectivo (shared taxi) that would take me to Chosica, about 35km outside of central Lima. From there I got on a bus to Matucana, another 30km or so. I was glad that I didn't ride through the gauntlet of inner city traffic. This bike trip for me is about quality riding instead of quantity. I will be putting myself and bike on motorized vehicles when the roads prove to be less than ideal. Once I was out of the city I began a gradual climb up the long and winding valley, after about 40km I found my self in San Mateo. I do not have a functioning bike computer so I don't know the exact distances traveled on my bike, just following a simple road map at the moment. The next day was physically very difficult, looking at the map it seemed that the next considerable town was about 50-60km away, what I didn't realize was that it would be a steep climb almost the entire way topping out at more than 15,800 feet. I underestimated how much the altitude would affect me and I guess I should of done more research on the route because the climb seemed endless, just when I thought I was approaching the summit, another set of switchbacks would reveal themselves around the next bend. Finally making it up and over the pass and winding down the other side to La Oroya where I found a hostel for the night. The next day would take me along the plains following a river to the town of Jauja and spent the evening walking around a surprisingly busy market. Then I carried on to the large town Huancayo and found the bus station after asking directions to countless people with my nonexistent spanish . I decided to bus this section of road between Huancayo and Ayacucho. From here the road starts climbing again on unpaved road and it had been raining so the road was quite muddy. I took the night bus and arrived in Ayacucho early the next morning. I knew nothing about Ayacucho before arriving but later found out that it is one of the most well loved towns in Southern Peru. Famous for it's baroque churches, original churches from Spanish colonial times still stand. It is said that there are more than 1,000 churches in this mid-sized town, seemingly one for every block. These churches are old and unique, charged with centuries of prayer and blessing from the devout people.
Liking the vibe here I decided to spend a couple days without travel and get to know the place a bit. Next I will take a day bus on the high mountain dirt road to Andahuaylas and from there will get back on the iron horse and ride to the famed city of Cusco.