Huancayo and Ayacucho

Much much to catch up on! A good few strong days walk over a couple of biiiig hills and down in to a huge flat bottomed valley sporting boulivards of eucalitus trees and green irrigated fields brought me to the city of Huancayo, my half way point in time and physically on the route too. I had arranged to Couch Surf with someone there for a couple of days before heading on, but I got on rather well with my host and ended up staying 11 days - the limit I calculated that would still allow me to complete my trip by foot.

I really enjoyed wandering around a chill city in the evenings wiht company and snacking on sweet treats from street vedors, it was very nostalgic of London, and great to have a frind. My time passed making biscuits and wandering in to the city and sittign my little rivers in the sun and relaxing, but my day came to move on and calculated 6 days to the city of Ayacucho, given I would had a couple of hills and the rest was straight down a valley. I was wrong.

The two hills were ok, and lasted a bit longer than I though, but they dropped me from about 3500m down to 2300m, the lowest I have been on the whole trip, and in to a massive v shaped valled with the Rio Mantario at its centre. There was no path, just one gravel road that wound (and I mean wound) its way excrutiating slowly down the very curvy bank. One minute walking west, the next east as i headed south, sort of. I spent 3 days doing 30km on each to get out of valley, but it was an intereasting place in its self. There where, then the vast steep sides permited, small farms growing a wonderful range of beutifully named tropical fruite, including avocardo and bananas and mango and papaya! I love the feel of those tropical trees and the climate they are in, my first experience here with that, and one night i camped amoungst Chirimoya (sp?) trees uinder the stars by a river on the land of a small family. Very beautiful.

The valley exited not in to more tropical forest, but in to dry dry dry desolate dessert, with every variety to leathally spikey plants mother nature has produced. And it was, on my 8th day, a days walk from Ayacucho, descending a steep loose path one to one of these wonderfully defended plants, I fell. With the weight of a 20kg backpack and unfortunatly aided by gravity. I retrieved an impaled hand and plucking spines lodged in to my palm, rapidly realised that a quick exit was necessary by other transport means and to get to Ayacucho as quickly as possible. This I did and sought the hospital as it felt like I still had a point grating down my ligament in my palm. The hospital was usless and I left with out tretment or useful diagnosis of the pains to find a private practice.

I was instructed after repeted journeys to the pay desk and after being prodded to wait a day to see how my body reacted. And it didn´t, which is very good news because it means i don´t have wood stuck in me. I have had 3 days here now and found some other travelers to spend time with and enjoy the company of, but today I must move on, 4 or so days and I start my final 9 or 10 day trek in to Machu Picchu, im really excited for this section because the route descends in to could forest and i really miss trees - there arent too many up here. And of course Machu Picchu signifies the end of my trek here, and the start of another section of my journey in Chile. The next blog will be from Cusco I expect, and I will have finished! x