July 8, 2017
Another day, another Don Bosco Church and wonderful generousity from the 16-year old caretaker, Anna.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Llocchi, Ancash, Peru
Destination: Cajatambo, Ancash, Peru
27.3 km, 9.2 km/h average speed, 36.5 km/h maximum speed, 2:57 time on the bike
925 meters gained, 119 meters elevation descend, 3418 meters maximum elevation
Route Description:
The day starts on the same good quality gravel road on the PE1N. The town of Llochi is a short 3 km from where we slept. The town has a small store. You continue through town on the same road which is in great shape. You can’t get much closer to a paved road than this. The route is a steady climb on long switchbacks with a good grade for 21 km. Then the route is mostly downhill to town. Cajatambo has many stores, restaurants and hotels.
Accommodations:
There are numerous hotels in Cajatambo. The tall blue hotel is 50 soles per night for two with private bath, hot shower and wifi. We also looked at a hospedeje which was 7 soles per person per bed. We ended up staying at Motto Grosso church after our wonderful experience in Ticllos.
What happened…
Andrew writes: Just as we were finishing our morning cuppa’joe, Philip and Nici showed up. Philip had come down with either dehydration or sunstroke yesterday and they had camped a few KM behind us near Baños. And so we cycled the 2km into Llocchi (Yo-Chi) and sat and enjoyed a Coca-Cola/Inca Cola together. Our plan was to continue on towards Cajatambo, and they were going to try and find a place to rest in this two-horse town. And so, with a freshly charged Add-E battery, Amanda and I set out on the 15km climb. With our electric motors aiding us, it didn’t take long, but it wasn’t easy either. There were a few steep sections, and the climb was steady. Our batteries died just as we reached the high point for the day and thus we were able to descend into town under our own power. I checked out a few places to stay and then remembered that there was a Motto Grosso mission here. And so it was that 16-year old Anna welcomed us into the church as Padre Claudio was away in Italy. She has been taking care of everything for the past two months, but possesses remarkable maturity for her age, and took our arrival all in stride including making us a wonderful dinner even though she doesn’t eat after lunch. We felt so grateful and thankful for her generousity.
Amanda writes: After we had some pop with Nici and Philip in the little village of Llocchi we headed up the next pass. The road again was in incredibly great shape! I think some paved roads are harder to ride than this wonderful gravel road. We knew Cajatambo was a bigger town and maybe that fuelled our enthusiasm for reaching the town. The potential for a bed and hot shower was very enticing. We stopped for lunch after reaching the top of the pass and could see into the next valley. Switchbacks on every surrounding mountain and then across the valley a road that had been completely wiped out by a landslide; a big landslide! As we were eating the slide fell even some more and we managed to catch it on camera. I would guess the mountain is still incredibly unstable and that they are in no rush to get there and try and repair it. I wonder how many homes something like that impacts. Some people must be cut off from things in a big way. Having said that I also know there are trails along all these mountains so while they may not be able to reach anything by car, they could probably still find a trail somewhere to walk.
We headed into town and checked out a few places and then ended up staying at the church again. Our last experience was so great in Ticllos and Anna was gracious in welcoming us in and so we settled into our room for at least two nights.
The aerial view of our ride: