ayacucho

Partying Peruvian Style, Sleeping in a Mud Hut and Arriving in Cusco

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Ayacucho: one of my favourites

In general travelling solo suits me but after about 10 days with little more in the way of conversation than the standard gringo cyclist questionnaire…

“Where are you going?”
“Where are you from?”
“You’re travelling alone?”
“Don’t you get scared?”
“Don’t you get tired?”
“How much does your bike cost?”
“Why don’t you attach a motor to that thing?”
“What do you think of (insert country here)?”

…I was craving something more substantial. And so I ended up Couchsurfing at Misa’s place in Ayacucho. Misa was inquisitive and friendly and I immediately felt comfortable in his house as I sat drinking tea and chatting with him and his sweet elderly mother, who constantly nagged him about everything. “Misa….MIIISSSAAA!”

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The Highest City in the World and the Worst Hotel Rooms in Existence

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Due to bus schedules I ended up spending an afternoon in Lima picking up some bike stuff, watching Cars 3 in Spanish, and eating my first ever Cinnabon. Very exciting.

Cerro de Pasco is a fascinating place. It lays claim to be the highest city in the world at 4310 metres  (although this is highly disputed), is the poorest city in Peru and has a bloody great polymetal mine slap bang in the middle of it that’s as deep as the Empire State Building is tall. Apparently the mining company even has the rights to destroy the historical centre in order to expand. It is also very cold. When the bus pulled in at 6.00am all the Peruvians were layering up in preparation for an Arctic expedition and there was me in just a shirt. Not fun.

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