Limatambo – Abancay

The second part of the way from Ollantaytambo to Abancay was harder. From Limatambo I first went further down – to 1800m. At this altitude it was much more tropical – banana and papaya trees, and it was much hotter. But I didn't stay much at this low altitude. Immediately after the bridge over the Rio Apurimac I again began to climb for several hours, stopping a few times to drink a lemonade.

In the end I couldn't see the river below – very much below. I left the valley, and arrived to Curahuasi, at an altitude of 2600m, where I spent the night. I arrived early, so I first had lunch, and then took a shower and rested for most of the afternoon. I was too tired to walk the 3km to a viewpoint, but I did have a walk through the village.

The next day I left very early – at about 7am – for the rest of the climb up to 4000m.

I climbed and climbed for almost six hours, until I arrived to the summit of the pass, and to a beautiful view of the valley of Abancay.

I had a short break and ate some biscuits, and then I began the descend – almost two hours downhill up to an altitude of more or less 2500m. I looked for accommodation in Abancay (Hostal El Dorado – with a nice green courtyard), took a shower and rested. In the evening I went for dinner and had a vegetarian pizza.

Today I didn't do much. I went to the tourist information (not very obvious – there is an office in the building of the municipality near the Plaza de Armas, but it doesn't say anything about “information” or “tourism”) to ask about accommodation between Abancay and Chalhuanca, and they told me that there is some in some villages. And they gave me a map of the region of Abancay, but it has little information.

I also went to the central market, and for lunch I went to a restaurant and had some stuffed avocado (interesting).