Déjà vu

I’m in Cajamarca in the north of Peru but it seems as if I am back where I was a year ago dealing with that really rather nasty chest infection. Whether it left me permanently more susceptible or never really went away I don’t know. I was chesty a lot in the winter, my doc shrugged his shoulders and said “there’s a lot of it about”. I was also really chesty through spring into summer. Doc shrugged his shoulders and said “well the pollen count is really high so it’s probably irritating your asthma”. It didn’t seem to inhibit my riding ability so being a stubborn sod I figured that’s what it was and some clear, mountain air would sort me out. seems I was wrong. My confidence in my ability ride the 4000-5000m passes ahead of me is diminishing rapidly as my lungs fill with crap so now trying to collect my thoughts and figure out what’s next. I’ll try and stay here until the end of the week, see if things improve, and give me time to collect my thoughts and make some plans. I could fly down to northern and central Argentina where the air is thick and the living is easy.. it’s wet season in Central America so probably not much dirt riding to enjoy but I have friends staying in Costa Rica until August… I could go there and hang out on the beach, and then maybe fly up to visit friends in Montreal.. or something else entirely. I really haven’t got a clue at the moment. Whaddya reckon people of the internet?

In the meantime here are a few snaps of Cajamarca. It’s a nice town sitting at about 2800m. Very few tourists. Good cafes, good markets, friendly people.

Cajamarca
Cajamarca
This area is much wetter than further south.. the countryside is generally green rather than brown so the markets are stuffed with produce.
Cajamarca
Cajamarca
Cajamarca
Cajamarca
Cajamarca
Cajamarca

12 thoughts on “Déjà vu

  • So sorry to read this Mike. Give it a little while and see if your body adjusts to the altitude a bit better then hopefully you can carry on and do your planned journey. (Perhaps riding the higher passes at a more sedate speed than you would have done before. )

    • hey, yeah.. it’s not the altitude so to speak, it’s the infection.. it will never go away if I head upwards, there’s no way to take things easy at 5000m. we’ll see!

  • What a pity Mike. All you can do is lay low and hope you shake it off. Such a pretty place which does yer mother no good at all. Keep us posted and look after yourself!

  • That must be bloody frustrating… you could go for your masters in Spanish :-) And a stop-over in the Netherlands is of course always an option. And if you need any help in Cajamarca stop by at Hollanda ice cream shop. The dutch owner Pim’s a great bloke.

    • heyyy, great to hear from you. Yeah it’s a bit annoying… I’m losing the will to do much at all, ha! I am still jetlagged which doesn’t help. I’m wondering if i still have the bug from last year and it’s just been lingering and now jetlag, aeroplane cabin air, the smog in Lima etc have given it a chance to come to the fore again. I probably need to find a new doc…
      I’ll go check out the icecream shop, I fancy some decent icecream, thanks for the tip :-) I hope you’re well and enjoying life.

  • That sucks! You may try and kill that bastard bug with lots of ice cream. It probably won’t work, but at least you will have a good time while your body fights it. Take it easy, wait a while to see how it goes. Good luck!

    • haha, i think it will have to be icecream rather than beer… cajamarca doesn’t have tourist things like terraces on which to drink beer in the sun while watching the world go by… I decided to sit tight at least until Friday..

  • I think your brain and your body is telling you it’s time to chill and not wear your body out with too much exercise! Please take it easy, at least for a little while xxxx

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