All the lady cyclists plus Annelot, leaving Andahuaylas Peru

I’m sending along a photo of our lady cyclists along with Annelot, our doctor, which I took this am before all cyclists left for a big day in the mountains.  Ellen, our cook, had already left for the market to do her shopping for tonight’s bush camp at around 4000 meters.  On the advice of Annelot, I am not part of the group today or the next two but have opted to try another bus ride instead.  While I have recovered my appetite  for the most part, things I eat are still not getting properly processed.  She saw no point in going to 4000 meters as I would not tend to heal at that altitude – wants me to give it another day or so before consuming any antibiotics.

Enough of those details.  I leave at 8pm on the bus to Cusco. They say 8-9 hours.  Knute, a fun loving Norwegian, is coming along too.  He has cycled every K as I had before this ailment.  Knute is not sick but is getting tired of biking up and down the mountains and would rather spend extra time in Cusco relaxing and enjoying the city.  We are on a vacation after all.  The bus leaves at 4am and again at 8pm.  The original idea was to leave early and have the daylight to enjoy the sights along the way.  Knute walked down to the terminal with me this am to show me which bus line he had booked on.  There we discovered that since tomorrow am is Sunday, there will be no 4 am departure.  Sometimes, things just work  out in life.  Had Knute not  accompanied me he would not have discovered  this small, but important change of events.  Pretty lonely sitting at the terminal at 33am waiting for a non-existing bus departure.  I would have purchased the 8pm ticket thinking the 4 was full.  As it is we are both leaving tonight.

There has been an all night alarm that rings outside our hotel each night beginning around 2 or so.  I’ve been asking all of our cyclists to eat more chicken but there it was again last night.  Roosters.  Crowing.  Way Too Dsmn Early.  And of course the constant sound of dogs that come with the territory.   And I think that somebody down here must have bought my nephews motorcycle and reinstalled its original muffler system before the cops said anything.  They, too, must get up early.

Well, so do I then.  At least I lay there wondering if I shouldn’t just join in with a few sounds of my own.

You know,, I just heard that damn rooster again.  It’s just a little past noon.  I’m going to ask Knute if he wants to go out for pollo for lunch.

I know that Cusco will be a great place to relax and heal up.  Lucho has told me several times  how beautiful the city is and also described how the older building are constructed with a particular type of stone foundation  that words off earthquakes when  newer buildings succumb.  I will be staying with long-time friend JR, who is joining the group at Cusco for the remainder of the trip.  He arrived there early with his wife so he could get acclimated to the elevation.  She has now returned to Anchorage.  The hostel we are staying in is right next to the Plaza de Armas (the main square) so that will be beneficial too.

Perhaps I’ll get busy enough so you won’t have to see my name in your inbox everyday.