December 27, 2010
Ayacucho.
The place where I had camped wasn't particularly hidden, but locals drove by and none showed any interest. They could perhaps see that I was just a cyclist camping for the night in the gateway. Though just after sitting down to drink tea for breakfast, a gaucho came galloping along on horseback. With a turn of the head he saw me and pulled the horse to a sudden stop, swinging it around, then stepping a few lengths towards me.
His speech was rapid and angry. It was hard to follow what he was saying but the gist of it was, he didn't like me camping there and intimated that I should leave as soon as possible, before he swung the horse round again and rode off.
It was a foggy morning. A morning that a flashing light would be nice or at lease a fluorescent reflector vest. I had neither but the traffic was light and driven accordingly to visibility which was no more than 200m. As the morning progressed however and the fog lifted, I straight away see fields of Sunflowers reminding me of the South of France.
The next town, Ayacucho, would mark the end of a 160km monotonous stretch without services and according to my calculations it was 60km from where I'd camped. At 62km on the computer, I came to a roundabout with Ayacucho in big letters in the middle. By then, I felt so thirsty and sore from sitting in the saddle that I would need to stop soon. Here I should have turned left but I don't know what happen, as I thought I should cycle straight on. It was a couple of kilometres before I realised my mistake when I saw no sign of a town ahead. I had to double back to the roundabout and now turn right, where it was still 7km to Ayacucho. And by now I was really wilting in the sun.
After arriving in town tired and just wanting to get in out of the sun, I had to ride around and ask a few people where there was a restaurant as I was hungry too. Presently as I write, I'm just after finishing lunch of lamb with egg and chips. Now as I remember when I asked one man in the street the directions here, he asked, "what you from", as I began to ride away.
Having sat in the air-conditioned restaurant so long I had forgotten that it felt like an oven out in the street when I left. I cycled quickly around the block to where I'd previously seen a supermercado and found a place in the shade to leave the bike while I's inside. Inside, to my dismay all the big bottles of water and soft drinks had been sold out, so I'd to settle for a 500ml bottle of Coke and a 500ml can of beer which I rolled inside my sleeping mat to keep cool.
I stop at a petrol-station on the way out off town and there is the usual interest shown in me and the bike as I fill my water bottles. A man gives me instructions for the road to Tandil when I said I's going in that direction. "Continue on Route 30 for 7km to the junction of Route 74, there turn right" he said.
By the time I'd turn onto Route 74, I was already thinking of the cold beer rolled inside my sleeping mat, but there wasn't any place with shade where I could stop. It was only however, 4km to a big roundabout junction with Route 29, the road in which I'd cycle South on from Buenos Aires and wrongly continued on earlier before arriving in Ayacucho, here there were lots of trees.
There was also a dedicated rest area, so here I stopped and sat down under a tree. I had a look around and saw that it was not such a bad place to camp too, as there was long grass amongst the trees with which to shield a tent.
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Although it was only 3.45, the more I sat the less I felt like starting again. I had already done 100km which include that cycling I done in the wrong direction. It was 64km more to Tandil which could wait till the cool of tomorrow morning.
Today's ride: 101 km (63 miles)
Total: 7,500 km (4,658 miles)
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