Day 43 Eucalyptus Bushcamp to Abancay

A short day, only around 60K but with at last the prospect of getting back onto smooth tarmac roads! First of all we had to climb a bit more before starting another long un-paved descent down to a river. Imagine a ribbon of road made up of a stone base covered with a mixture of loose gravel, grit, stones up to fist size and the famous dust that resembles talcum powder. Add in numerous bends, gentle to tight hairpins, and drape this over the mountain such that you travel about 40K and loose more than about 2000 metres in height. Right now you have the picture you can imagine the prospect of getting down to the river a bit more. Oh, I forgot there is the usual traffic of trucks, including our two, coaches, mini-buses and all sorts of other vehicles. The top of the descent was also misty and a bit cold until we got further down. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the river, but what a journey! I know that with age I have become even more aware of my mortality and so I descend just a bit slower than I used to do, but it was still an real challenge. One guy had a tumble, but escaped with a cut to the chin and a few bruises but was lucky.
After the river we were back on smooth tarmac for the 20K along the river and climb up to the hotel. A short but interesting day and a well earned bonus of a half day off!