Today we finally (kinda) made it to Ventanillas De Combayo! On day 254 we attempted to make it here after visiting the more touristy Ventanillas De Otuzco, but were thwarted by some wrong information and directions. Todays adventure started off very much the same way, but we were determined to make it there this time.
After a bit of a run around we finally got somewhat accurate directions and not long after we were jammed into a “combi” with 21 other people, several sacks of potatoes, a box of live chickens, some buckets of feed, groceries and a wooden coffee table. This “combi” was not much bigger than my old nissan vannette so to say we were squished in like sardines would be an understatement. To make things worse I was stuck between Sir Twitch-a-lot and an old sleepy head without an inch of room to move, oh and there was also two metal bars sticking into my spine. To make things even more exciting the road was in terrible condition with giant potholes and natural speed bumps and the driver thought he was a nascar driver, getting the van skidding sideways around the dirt corners atop numerous cliffs.
We were relying on our Combi driver to let us know when we had finally reached the Ventanillas because we had little to no vision of the outside world beyond out sardine can, but unfortunately he forgot to tell us. He only realised a few KM past the Ventanillas, so he dropped us on the side of a hill and pointed us down a faint llama path. After following the path around some hillsides and coming to multiple dead ends we finally made our way back down to the road via some farms and farmers who were staring at us and probably wondering where the hell we had come from.
Anyway, we finally made it to the bottom of the massive complex of Ventanillas, but with limited time until the last bus back to town, we were unable to climb up for a closer look. We eventually waved down another Combi heading back to town, although this one was empty thankfully.
Back in town we finished off the day with a relaxing afternoon at Banos de Inca which is the largest, oldest and best thermal baths in Peru and is also one of the 7 wonders of Peru. Tonight we take the night bus to Trujillo! Oh night bus, please no surprises this time…
