Not déjà-vu but déjà-fait

We used the morning at the hostel to prep for the days ahead in the mountains. While I was filtering water, Göran and Jacques were repairing our burner which had almost given up the evening before. We reorganized our bags and got ready for the road with two more stops to go to before we started our way back into the mountains: First, Jacques and I decided to buy one more layer of warm clothing to stay warm in the cold mountain evenings and mornings. Because we are far taller than your average Peruvian, beggars couldn’t be choosers and we simply had to take the shirts that fit (best). Thankfully they are quite alright. Our second stop was at the gas station to refill our bottles and an extra reserve bottle for our burner.

I’m not sure if we mentioned this in our first post in which we cycled away from San Mateo (and I’m too cold and lazy to check right now), but on the way from San Mateo to Rio Blanco and further there is a 580 m long tunnel. The Cacray tunnel, as it is called, might be fine when driving a car but as a cyclist it’s both scary and dangerous. Remembering how scary it was the first time around we decided to see if we could get a lift through the tunnel this time. That was easier said than done and after several failed attempts we saw a police car among the oncoming traffic. They stopped to hear us out and while they were not willing to take us, they offered the next best (or even better?) thing: a police escort through the tunnel.

Safely leaving the tunnel and the police behind us, we continued our climb up. It was still hard, but not as strenuous as the first time around. We arrived at our previous campsite within good time, carried our luggage and bikes across the river and set up camp. It was a bit confronting to be back at the place where I had felt so ill only a few days prior, but the beauty of the scenery quickly let me forget. While Jacques had a little nap, he was the one not feeling so great this time, Göran and I went for a small hike before we cooked dinner later that evening and went to bed.