(July 10 – written by Nancy) (posted on 14/7 due to being off the grid for the last 4 days) We woke to cold temperatures this morning.  It’s hard to get out from under the covers when the air temperature in the room is almost as cold as outside.  I lingered as long as I … Continue reading A day on the dirt – Huamachuco to Cachicadan (58k/17,270k, +2800ft)

(July 9 – written by Dave) First an update on dinner last night.  We bought a pile of shredded veggies and a chicken flavour package at the market and made soup.  It turned out to be quite tasty.  It is hard to beat the price at .80 Soles or about .25 US cents.  We used … Continue reading More up and some dirt – Cajabamba to Huamachuco (56k/17,213k, +4000ft)

(July 8 – written by Dave) We had a nice restful night in San Marco - the hotel seemed busy but it was really quiet.  The only problem for me was someone making coffee at 5AM and the smell waking me up.  I didn’t get up and find the source but life could be worse … Continue reading Bunch riding – San Marco to Cajabamba (61k/17,156k, +4000ft)

(July 7 – written by Dave) (posted on July 8) Today starts with last night and a fun dinner with bike packers Hanna, Mark and Richard, plus we met another cyclist from France named Natalie.  It was Mark’s birthday so we celebrated at a nice fish restaurant.  We left after dinner as we were riding … Continue reading More cycling friends – Cajamarca to San Marco (64k/17,095k, +4800ft)

(July 5-6 – written by Dave) We’ve had a couple nice days off here in Cajamarca.  It’s a nice little city, 200,000 people, or the 13th largest in Peru.  More on what we’ve been up to later but first I have to start with the amazing “end of the Inca” story.  I always wondered what … Continue reading End of the Inca and other tales from Cajamarca

(July 4 – written by Nancy) Happy 4th of July to our friends and family in the US!  Have an extra hot dog, some macaroni salad and a piece of pie for us.  Instead of hanging out with family and eating the time-honored foods of the holiday we instead had another longish day today, over … Continue reading Happy Independence Day – Celendín to Cajamarca (105k/17,031k, +4800ft)

(July 3 – written by Dave) The town of Celendín is home to roughly 25,000 people.  It would appear that about 25% of them regularly wear traditional straw hats that the town is famous for.  The hats are made locally, woven from toquilla straw, the same that is used in Ecuador to make “Panama hats”.  … Continue reading Celendín – Hats, corn and a festival

(July 1 – written by Dave) (posted on July 2) We made it over Calla Calla Pass today.  And what a pass it was.  The going up was not as hard as we thought it might be but it went on forever, or rather, it went on for 29k.  There were no downhill bits, just … Continue reading Calla Calla Pass – Leymebamba to Balsas (92k/16,868k, +4800ft)

(June 30 – written by Dave) We rode the last of the Utcubamaba River today.  We’ve been riding uphill beside it for more than three days now.  It started so wide that building a bridge across it was very difficult.  By the end of the day today, it looked like you could almost walk across … Continue reading Last of the Utcubamba River –Nuevo Tingo to Leymebamba (52k/16,777k, +2000ft)