May 18, 2017
Another short day to avoid an afternoon shower.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Cachicadan, Cajarmarca, Peru
Destination: Angasmarca, Cajamarca, Peru
27.60 km trip, 3:12 time, 32.8 km/h maximum speed, 8.5 km/h average speed
661 meters climbed, 682 meters descended, highest elevation 3463 meters
Route Description:
You leave the town and ride up the road and there is almost a second part of town where the hot springs are. We read on another blog there is a hotel in this section. The road is not paved but not in bad shape at all. After about 14.5 km you top out at 3461 meters. There is a small town here called Santa Cruz de Chuca. After this town you descend for about 12 kilometres to 2892 meters into Angasmarca. There is actually quite a large store here, one of the biggest we’ve seen since Jaen.
Accommodations:
We saw at least 3 hotels/hospedejes here. We chose Hospedaje Ihoswil and it came with a private bath and hot water for 25 soles for 2 people. There are a couple of restaurants and stores in this town too.
What happened…
Andrew writes: So I tend to lead a pretty stress-free life, but I have added stress into my life by trying to continue to teach English while we ride. This morning we were up early because I had a 0630 class and we needed to get up high to find decent internet. Maybe I should rethink this whole thing because for the second time this week I wasn’t able to make it happen. That being said, there were 4 other times where I was. High-speed mobile internet here in Peru is everywhere, and cheap. About $2/day for unlimited use…and we’ve used as much as 20GB in a day before.
We took it easy though and it was a beautiful ride, high up in them Andes. We pulled into Angasmarca around lunch-time and again decided to call it a day. It seems to rain every afternoon, so we don’t want to risk getting caught out in a downpour again. (note: it didn’t end up raining and we could’ve gone to the next town, oh well.) Not a lot happening in Angasmarca, and maybe the only notable thing was that at night they bring all of these huge mining trucks and equipment (diggers, bulldozers) down the mountain and park them in front of their houses.
Amanda writes: This day was pretty uneventful which suits me just fine. The cycling wasn’t too hard and the landscape continues to amaze me with its grand mountains. Lots of gringo calls and kids enjoying practicing their English with us today. They always seem to giggle after they say an English word and then they really get a kick out of it when the gringo responds in English. We met a man today on the road who was very religious and took the time to bless us with his powerful faith. He made me think of my brother and how much strength and joy he gained from finding a community with the Church. While I’m not particularly religious, when I have a devout religious person share their blessings with me I am left with a good feeling.