On our second day in Peru and we were warned that the road was very poor "but still surfaced". It was worse than poor with a number of Devio's (diversions) most of them short on the gravel.
Until we came to a long section of road being replaced, with no obvious deviation signs. We tried a few roads out to the west and eventually found one that required a deviation of about a kilometre west, then north for three and east back to the main road. It was all gravel. And VERY dusty. To avoid risks with other riders I had chosen to go at my own pace at the rear which is rather enjoyable. The only challenge was that the dust was so heavy that I could neither see the road or the riders ahead. I had to trust that when JC could not see me, he would stop and indicate the direction that he wanted to go. We did a few U-turns but I was able to follow comfortably. Once we came back onto the road, we were fine.
Buying petrol here is much easier than in Bolivia with credit cards accepted in most places and no taxes for gringos. In the main, I can run a full day without a fill-up at over 500 km per tank, but the others are at their end at about 290 km, depending on how they ride.
Coming into the wonderful town of Arequipa, we took a semi-circular route around the hills to avoid the worst of the traffic and arrived at the first class Wyndam Hotel.
I loved Arequipa. It is probably my favourite town on the whole trip, having been created by the Spanish in 1540, and the first major buildings built around a magnificent square in about 1570. We marvelled at the two-story arches and the huge Cathedral, then went to dinner at Indigo - fine food for the two of us.
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