August 12, 2018 – August 15, 2018

We started mid afternoon on a 296 kilometre drive that Google Maps estimated would take us 6 hours and 41 minutes.  We knew we would not make it all the way, but we wanted to get some kilometres under our belts.  The maps showed the road as a main highway in Peru, so while we knew it would be slow going in the mountains, we were not concerned with road conditions.  What we ended up on was one of the most beautiful drives of our trip so far, but also one of the most stressful.

Here’s a dash cam clip.  This narrow, winding road, carved out of the side of the mountain, continued for hours.  There was not a lot of traffic on the road, but when we did meet oncoming it was usually a bus or a 5 ton truck.  When we could see the road ahead for any substantial distance, I would watch for oncoming as Derek maneuvered the curves immediately ahead, and if we saw another vehicle approaching we would immediately start looking for a bit of shoulder to pull over on.  (Once you hit play, a little gear symbol will appear in the lower right hand corner…you can use this to speed up the video if you want to).

We stopped for the night at Callo Callo pass and camped in a gravel quarry at 11,746 feet.  The views were incredible, and we were able to tuck in beside a rock wall to cut the wind.

The view the next morning. We would be driving to the bottom and eventually over the mountains at the horizon.

We both woke in the middle of the night with headaches due to arriving at elevation too quickly, me worse than Derek.

We continued our drive the next morning, making our way to Cajamarca.  The road continued to provide both amazing views and challenges, and the constant lookout for on coming traffic was tiring.

The town of Balsas sits in the centre of the lush green oasis below.

We reached the town of Celendin, and suddenly the road widened.  Was there really four lanes of traffic in this small town?  “If the rest of the the drive is like this”, I said, “it’ll be a breeze!” and immediately a tuktuk turned right in front of Derek and he had to brake and swerve in order to avoid hitting it….so much for relaxing.

As we neared Cajamarca we saw more and more women wearing these huge, tall woven hats.  The weave of the hats is incredibly fine.  Later Derek chatted with a road side vendor as we bought oranges from her, he complimented her “sombrero”, and she corrected him, smiling, calling it her “parasol” (which direct translates as “for the sun”).

The road however was much wider from then on and we arrived in Cajamarca later that day. We held up for a couple of days at the Eco Rural Peru, an overlanding campsite with good wifi, hot showers, water to wash the truck, a washing machine, and good shopping nearby.  We were pleased to meet up again with travellers we had first met in Piura, Peru.  By the time we were ready to leave, we were clean, the truck was clean, and we had a stack of sweet smelling, folded laundry.  It’s nice getting a fresh start!

This former convent, now residence, was across the street from our campsite.  Beautiful building, nice VWs.  I was hoping to get a shot of it without the red SUV, but it didn’t happen.