February 23, 2017
to Pallasca - 3100m: had to take a ride
“There is a truck coming.” Rachel says. We’ve been hiking with the bikes for 6kms and we’re about 14 km from Pallasca. There is so rarely any traffic a quick decision needs to be made.
We both slept well and after breaking camp and cornflakes for breakfast, we set off. We are at the base of very steep switchbacks so set off walking. Various stretches level off where cycling was possible, but short lived. Just seems to take more energy to get off and on the bikes than to just get into a walking rhythm. The road is steep, narrow with rocks in the middle in most places not allowing a way create your own switchbacks. Occasionally, big rocks have been used on parts where the road washed out.
Slowly we keep going, one slow kilometer after another, pushing the bikes and no traffic. After 6km, we see a truck coming up the winding road and fortunately at a spot where there is room for a truck to stop. We wave them down. They say there is room for “uno” bike and that another truck follows. We load all the gear in the one truck and Rachel rides in this truck. Then, the second truck stops, and the bikes and Patrick go in this one. They seem to be on official business.
Just a couple kilometers past this point, the sides of the mountains green up, a goat herd crosses the road, trees appear and we go through a settlement. Then the road deteriorates and goes down before climbing even steeper up to Pallasca. We go by red tiled mud houses and then around the corner, into the town center and a beautiful Plaza d’Armas. The bikes and gear are unloaded and Patrick makes the rounds checking for accommodation. There are several hospedaje’s on the plaza, the one on the corner, Hotel H** and Restaurant looks best and is open. The lady from the adjacent shop seems to be the owner; she closed up the shop to shows us to a room. It’s down some stairs, so the bikes are unloaded and gear shuttled to the room. A shared bathroom provides a hot shower...oh so nice after the sponge bath last night.
We take the tent to the Plaza to spread out to dry and then have a basic lunch in the restaurant. The afternoon gets very chilly as cold clouds envelope the little town perched on a ridge. We spend most of the afternoon staying warm underneath our sleeping bags and reading. In the evening we make one more outing to buy some supplies for tomorrow and have dinner at the same restaurant.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 6 km (4 miles)
Total: 28,356 km (17,609 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |