Cheap-ass, Motherfucking, Piece-of-Shit, Chinese Innertubes

This last week, I learned that rain at 10,000 may be unpleasant but rain at 13,000 feet is downright hellish. It freezing cold and usually mixed with hail. Yesterday, I had had my share of rain and was very happy to find a building that was under construction where I could pitch my tent. Having a roof is a luxury which I don't always have on the road. It was nice to let all of my gear dry.
I had formerly had a high opinion of Peruvian roads. That was before I did extensive riding in the mountains of Peru. The roadway I rode on today was under construction, to put it politely. There were long stretches where the road was nothing more than a mud pit. Fortunately, I was wearing all of my rain gear as a precaution from my unpleasant day yesterday. I managed to become completely covered in mud which happens more often than one might think.
While descending, I couldn't help but think, "At least I'm not climbing this road." Sure enough, I met another cycle-tourist going the other direction. She was Ani from Switzerland, the first solo female cyclist I have met thus far. Girl power, bitches! I warned her about the lovely road conditions that lay ahead and we parted ways.
Neither the Chinese or Indians seem to know anything about making innertubes. The Indian innertubes that I have used almost always have a bulge somewhere which drives me fucking crazy. While annoying, the Indian innertubes, function, at least. The Chinese innertubes don't have the bulge but they have an even more annoying problem. They slowly leak air and when you try to pump them up, the valve snaps in half. I had this happen to two different innertubes within days. As I had used up all of my cheap Chinese innertubes, I actually had to jump on one of the colectivos with my bicycle and all my gear.
The first few colectivos didn't stop. It seems that they didn't want to carry my bicycle which is unusual since I have seen hog-tied sheep riding on the top of them. As I had descended into the desert, this was a somewhat worrisome development. Finally, one of them stopped for me and we were off to the coastal city of Barranca, Peru where I am now.
By some Christmas miracle, I managed to find some new innertubes. I got them at the bike shop right across from the collectivo station. They are shraeder valve innertubes, not that cheap Chinese presti-valve bullshit. Tomorrow, I am going to start heading the next 200 kilometers to Lima where I have a friend waiting for me and I should be able to find a replacement for my ailing rear rim. Hopefully, Santa will give me a shitload of weed this year instead of the diarrhea I got last Christmas.