We had just returned to San Mateo from a few days rest in Lima and were gearing up for the last 500km of our trip. To say we had been underwhelmed by the Peru Great Divide thus far would be an understatement, with repetitive passes and climbs that all blurred into one, and nice but not outstanding scenery. For a route that is talked about and revered as much as this one, we were surprised.
We flagged down a taxi to take us the first 20km of the day, up one of the busiest roads in Peru, to avoid getting run over by a truck in a dark tunnel. Much like the previous section, this one started with a climb over a nearly 5000m pass. There was nothing especially memorable about this days riding, or the next few. Writing this five days later, I am struggling to recall any specific details of the riding and need to refer to maps and photos just to jog may memory of where we camped. To put this into perspective, I can recall in vivid detail nearly every single day, the riding, the villages, the people, and where we stayed for the entirety of Bolivia starting nearly 6 months ago. That best sums up the PGD for me from Huancavillica to Oyon (where I write this): unmemorable - the riding, roads, scenery, and towns/villages (except Laraos - that was a nice village).
We ended in the town of Marcopumacocha that first day, where only one of four hospedajes was open, but only after the lady closed her tienda for the night. We passed the time watching the valleyball match in the town plaza, the net appearing to be permanently erected over one of the roads there.
The morning brought more riding, and after consulting my map, I can say we went over a pass before a brief stretch of tarmac, which felt like we flew up it after so long on gravel. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch (a small tin shack really), but were told there was ‘no food left’. After negotiating, she made us some fried bread and instant coffee. Whilst eating this, five truckers came in, and were all served multi-course meals with a choice of options (egg, carne, chiccharon), as we used our own jam to bulk out our food. Whilst paying, I noticed a large pot in the kitchen with plenty of meat in it for serving. I don’t know why she wouldn’t serve us, but fuck that lady.
We camped that evening on a small ridge just after another pass, on a quiet stretch of road. There were multiple herds of vicunas around, something we hadn’t seen for a long time.
We opted the next day to take a detour off the main route, down a parallel valley recommended to us by two South African cyclists we briefly talked to in Cusco. They promised single track and hike a bikes, and we were looking for anything to break up the monotony of the riding and regain some motivation. Yet another unmemorable pass and descent, then we turned off the main PGD route and began climbing a small back road. Almost immediately, the terrain was more interesting and remote feeling, as we crested a ridge and sidled along beside some lagunas beneath craggy mountains.
Dark clouds rolled in and hail began to fall just as we crested the next pass. Thunder boomed just overhead. Being near the top of a barren hillside wasn’t where we wanted to be in this weather, so we found some rocky outcrops to shelter beneath. We waited half an hour and the weather passed by so we took the opportunity to get off the hillside and rode a few kilometres down the valley. Despite there being only a few cows scattered around, there was a tremendous amount of cowshit, and it was a struggle to find a clear area big enough to put the tent. This spot at the head of the valley was the most beautiful spot of the PGD, and it wasn’t even on it. Craggy mountains soared above us, and disappeared into the distance down the valley.
Rain in the evening.
Sunshine in the morning.
The riding the next day was as good as the views as we descended out of the valley. It was a rocky track at the top, unlike the smooth and pristine gravel we had been on most of the time on the PGD. The further down we got, the worse the road got, and we frequently had to push our bikes over rocky landslides, or carry them over boulder fields to get around locked gates across the road. Halfway down we were stopped by a man on a horse, who we think was telling us to watch out for falling rocks. Eventually the track turned into single track as we crossed over multiple broken bridges. We saw a few people in the lower stretches, all on horseback. The finale to the route was a narrow canyon, with sheer rock walls that seemed hundreds of metres tall, as we pushed the bikes over large rocks. This was by far the highlight of the PGD for us so far, but I would not want to do it in reverse, going uphill the entire way.
The view into the canyon we exited as we climbed the next day.
Naturally, we climbed after this, 500m up to the small village of Rapaz, the first since leaving Marcopumacocha 3-4 days prior. We stopped at a tienda for a drink, just as rain started to come in. By now it was 3pm, and so we sought a hospedaje. There was nothing obvious in town, but after a phone call by the tienda owner, an unmarked door was opened to 5 bunk beds. We ate at the only small restaurant open, manned by a girl who can’t have been more than 13 years old. On leaving, multiple men were drinking beers and urinating on the wall outside. This particular sight was one we saw in most towns in Peru, as public urination did not seem to be something to be hidden in an alleyway or dark corner.
Waiting for the hospedaje to open whilst hiding from the rain.
A thousand metres of climbing brought us to the next pass, as we baked in 30+ºc heat. At the top we were greeted by the biggest mine we had seen on the PGD so far, though at only a few hundred metres in size, it paled in comparison to the 20km we had seen around Ananea in the south. We descended almost without stopping to Oyon, the first ‘town’ since San Mateo five days prior, and the last real town before our final stopping point of Huaraz.
Some of the mine.
As I write this, we have about two and a half weeks until we fly back to New Zealand. After the week or so it will take us to ride to Huaraz our time riding in South America will be over. It will be packing bikes in boxes and cleaning outdoors gear for us, having run out of time to do any of the highly recommended routes in that area.
