May 16, 2026
This morning started off frustrating. I had figured out how to get myself to Cabanaconde, including times things ran. I just assumed leaving Cabanaconde would be the reverse. After all, it’s not like every colectivo that arrives there gets crushed into a little cube, surely some go back the way they came. But, I had no idea of timescales.
I checked out of my hotel at 830 and waited in the plaza. 915 a colectivo showed up, and a large group of French people materialized completely out of nowhere and piled in before the thing even came to a stop. Filled it up completely, no room for me. Jerks.
Next colectivo showed up at 1015. This time I was ready for it, and the first one there before it even stopped. However, I was the ONLY damn person there right then, and colectivos don’t go until they’re full or every seat is paid for. I sure as hell wasn’t paying for 12 seats at $4 a seat. So we waited.
30 minutes later there were 6 of us, and I guess the driver got tired of waiting so we left.
My plan had been to visit this viewpoint halfway between Cabanaconde and Chivay where you can watch Andean condors soaring around looking for food. But they more or less are finished doing that by 1030, and we didn’t get there until 1130, so that was a bust. I’ve still never seen a condor.
4 years of French and I don’t remember most of it, but I do remember profanities. So I was definitely muttering cusses in French for a while. Seriously. I had been waiting alone in the plaza and suddenly poof there were 12 of them climbing into the colectivo right in front of me. They suck.
Anyway, made it to Chivay at noon
Checked into my hotel, and then decided to cross the river and visit some Incan ruins. (Need to upload pictures and expand)
I definitely am being impacted by the altitude. I’m at 12,000 feet above sea level here. While I’m not dragging as much as I was at these altitudes in the Himalayas I am having to slow my roll some and I’ve definitely been doing some panting.
I’m also feeling the intensity of the UV here. Not on my skin. No sunburn. But my eyes, very much. I bought prescription sunglasses for my Himalayan trip. Never actually wore them there. Brought them to Peru last year, and again didn’t wear them. I’ve absolutely been wearing them now.
Kind of curious if that’s a “this place” issue, or a side effect of the yellow fever vaccine I got. Who knows.
Anyway, in the plaza they have a map of all the attractions in the area.
So many of those places seem interesting to me and I want to go to them. Sadly, transportation options do not exist. Hell. There isn’t so much as a place to rent a bike here. There used to be, but the business relocated to Lima during the pandemic.
So, there’s a need that can be filled here. A place that rents bikes, e-bikes, maybe quads, motorcycles, scooters, and cars. Feeling entrepreneurial, I did a little digging.
It’s a bad picture, but this place is 3 blocks from the plaza de armas, and is for sale for $26,000. Used to be an auto mechanic place, has an interior courtyard with enough space for multiple vehicles, plus two small buildings, one of which can serve as a residence and the other as an office. Foreigners can buy property and start businesses in Peru. If I wipe my retirement accounts I can buy the property, a few bicycles, fix the place up, and have a few months of surviving money. But to really scale up I’d need a parter who can bring in additional capital. Anyone interested in doing a probably stupid high risk possibly zero reward business venture with me??
