Day 3 (Huancayo to Ayacucho) "Going Home"
Many memories of my childhood took place in today's destination (Ayacucho), but it seemed like we would never get there. The
moral of the story is that maps (even Peru's Dept. of Transp. maps) are only rough suggestions of what MIGHT be out there!
Part of the crew made a wrong turn right off at the first "Y" (which as it turned out would have been a better route altho it was wrong..), but they quickly corrected it and headed back the other way. After 10 ft of the "right route", the pavement ran out and it quickly turned into a rocky 30 degree sloped "path". Actually it was wide enough in some plces for two vehicles to pass. Up on top at 14,200 ft the guys running ahead took a wrong turn. David (pix), on his Honda CRF450X, in trying to catch Van went wide in a rocky corner at a very high speed. The moto wen
t over the side while David slid and scaped along on the rocks, barely stopping near the edge. The armor mostly saved his arm and shoulder, so with only rough abrasions, some scrapes, and a ripped jersey, he went looking for his moto. It had come to rest nestled in some boulders not far over the edge. By that time, Van had realized his mistake and headed back in time to help David retrieve the moto. All well, they came back to where the rest of us waited.
A few km later we came across a Peruvian soldier in comando gear by the "road" in the middle of nowhere. Seems his pick-up had broken down and he had been waiting 3 days now for help from his division ( which gives you an idea how remote these roads are!). He did get us on the right path and quickly we
dropped down to the town of Pampas. It was on this part that we were introduced to the "polvora tramposa" a thick talcom-powder like dust 6 inches deep with small rocks burried in it. Just what you want to find in a sharp down-hill corner with a thousand ft drop over the side (guard rails are only for paved roads in Peru)!
In Pampas (pix at statue), the police gave us new directions: "the road 
to the dam you are looking for is right over that mountain, you can't miss it!" Well if we called the last road a "path", this one was a short-cut thru peoples back yards! In places it was not wide enough for the saddlebags to get thru! But boy was it scenic! Craig and I stopped often just to admire the countryside below and smell the menthol from the eucalyptus leaves brought to us on the breeze...
If we thot we had seen steep down hills, it was just beginning! Before
long (yet now out of breath from the exertion) we were at river level on the other side at the hydro-electr
ic dam. A quick rest (as the trigger-happy guards at the entrance were getting nervous at our presence) and off for another 3 hours of dusty road following the river and up into Huanta. The water looked wonderful, but no time to stop.
In Huanta, we visited some old friends, and then tooled on down (on some very rough asphault) 25 km into Ayacucho. We thot this days adventure was over, but when we got to the plaza we found it blocked off and a general stike in 
process (pix)! Some were VERY upset that we were interupting their strike in the plaza. We only had one strategy on finding a place to stay: "Go to the plaza de armas and ask". Anyway, we sort of became the local entertainment for a while. But we made alot of friends, Luke saw the town where I grew up, and we finally found our hotel...
NEXT DAY: day4ayacuchotoandahuayla.htm
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