Andahuaylas - a little more than a layover

Erik: The small city of Andahuaylas is about halfway from Ayacucho to Cusco – an 11 hour bus ride over some of the bumpiest, most winding dirt road we'd yet experienced. It was impossible to read because of the constant jolts, but we were on a big, comfy bus this time, with reclining seats and even a bathroom aboard, which made up for some of the discomfort. (Though using the facilities during the bumpy, swerving ride was nearly impossible.) Again, the ride was incredibly beautiful, traversing many high mountain passes, and we passed several Inca ruins along the way. By now, though, we'd seen so much of this dramatic landscape that we no longer were wowed by the incredible views. Normally these longer rides will stop about halfway at some tiny eatery, but ours didn't, and we were very thankful that we'd thought to purchase empanadas and bananas for the ride. After 7 hours, we did have a quick stop in a tiny town where we could stretch our legs, and we were treated to a parade of school children in traditional clothing from all parts of peru. I've no idea what the parade was celebrating, but the kids loved the fact that we were watching and smiling and they screamed “hola, gringo!” and hammed it up for our cameras.

We arrived in Andahuaylas after 11 bumpy hours. It was early evening, and we were lucky to find a decent hotel just a couple of blocks from the bus station. After a mediocre roast chicken dinner, we retired and slept like babies...

Andahuaylas is a non-descript, mid-sized town. It's nestled in a verdant farming valley, and it was nice to see some green after all the dusty brown hill towns we'd been in. We spent one morning taking a trip to a nearby lake town and the ruins on hill above. Described as the “mini-machu picchu,” Sondor was very beautiful, perched high on a hilltop with incredibly scenic valleys far below. We were also the only visitors that day. There was a man who made us pay a small entrance fee and sign the visitor log book. In the book I noticed that the previous visitors had been there several days before. What did this man do all day? There were no offices nor anything modern at all there – just the ruins. What a strange life he must lead, wandering around the ruins, waiting for days for people to turn up...

We found a couple of fun places to eat – one snack shop specializing in burgers and “anticuchos” - cow hearts on a stick. We had both. The hearts were a little chewy, but good. We also found a little pizzeria – the only place open at 5pm before our night bus to Cusco. Lucky for us, as the pizza was both cheap and delicious – a nice treat before another 11 hour, bumpy ride.

Talor: That bumpy ride to Andahuaylas was CA-RAZY!! Ten hours going bumpity-bump seemed absolutely endless... can't read, can't sleep, can't do anything, but look out the window at the scenery, which was gorgeous, but after a few hours, seemed no big deal. Being so high up on the big bus, couldn't really see the narrow dirt mountain road we were traversing on so all you saw was how far you would fall if it ran off the road. And as it made hairpin turn after hairpin turn, my heart stopped more than once. When we arrived, all I could think was, “Thank God!” because it felt soooo good to be on non-moving ground. Said never again, but several days later, we were boarding another for Cuzco... OY!

To see Andahuaylas... http://picasaweb.google.com/erikandtalor/AndahuaylasPeru#