When The Rest Days Become Annoying

We had (vegetarian!) lunch at a street stall the next morning. It was very tasty even though (or maybe because?) it was pretty much only carbs. However, a bit later I unfortunately started feeling nauseous again. So much so, that each little bump in the street almost made me throw up and after only 4 km I was absolutely tired and exhausted. It was clear that once again I was going to be the one to put the brakes on the progress because in this condition I was not going to be able to do 40 km. Not that keen on staying in Santa Rosa and time pressing for us to reach the Bolivian border, we decided to split up: Jacques would continue cycling to Ayaviri whereas Göran would stay with me and try to hitch a ride for us. This was a very strenuous and time-consuming job and I was incredibly thankful to him for his efforts and support. Eventually we managed to find a person who, for a fair fee, was willing to bring us and our bikes to the city, where we had agreed to meet with Jacques at a hostal we found in, you guessed it, iOverlander. During our ride we spotted Jacques and quickly took a picture of him through the car window.

Ayaviri was a surprisingly charming city. It was big enough to have everything you need but small enough to be relatively calm and clean. Upon arrival in the early noon, I took a nap and Göran ventured out to explore the city and surrounding hills (they are mountains at 3900 m or higher, but on the Altiplano they look more like large rolling hills rather than mountain peaks). In the afternoon Jacques arrived and we had very simple but warm and filling dinner at a nearby restaurant before going to bed.

The next morning I still wasn’t feeling well although I had only had a light soup for dinner the evening prior. Therefore, I decided to stay in bed and rest longer while the men went to the local market to buy a breakfast smoothie and go to the restaurant for a breakfast meal. Unfortunately, I was still weak and unwell so the decision was made that Göran and I would stay in Ayaviri so I could rest a bit more and Jacques would cycle on to Juliaca where we would meet up once again. I went to the city centre, where there is a very beautiful church, together with Göran to get some fresh air and sunlight. After 10 min I was tired and went back to our room to nap and in the afternoon we did the laundry. Although I needed the rest and appreciated that it was possible, I was starting to get tired of those rest days. At least if they were a result of my health and meant that I couldn’t see or do much. After my nap I finally started to feel a bit better and thought that I could eat something so we had dinner at a street stall in the evening (very tasty but once again pretty much only carbs) and went to bed. Unfortunately during the night I got cramps and became nauseous again. So much for hoping I was better.