Day 463 – 476: Cajamarca to Caraz, Peru

Posted on by Patricia & Dustin

December 28, 2025 – January 10, 2026

  • Day 463 – Cajamarca to San Marcos, Peru – 64km/759m
  • Day 464 – San Marcos to Cajabamba – 58km/1220m
  • Day 465 – Cajabamba to Huamachuco – 54km/1133m
  • Day 466 – Layover @ Huamachuco
  • Day 467 – Huamachuco to Cachicadan – 54km/659m
  • Day 468 – Cachicadan to Angasmarca – 26km/603m
  • Day 469 – Angasmarca to Mollepata – 30km/687m
  • Day 470 – Mollepata to Pallasca – 30km/1238m
  • Day 471 – Pallasca to Chuquicara – 78km/209m
  • Day 472 – Chuquicara to Huallanca – 68km/1212m
  • Day 473 – Layover @ Huallanca
  • Day 474 – Huallanca to Caraz – 40km/1064m
  • Day 475 to 476 – Layover @ Caraz

After we sorted our broken rear hub and had a new wheel built we were no longer stressed so we thoroughly enjoyed our last day in Cajamarca, Peru by chilling in our nice AirBnB, watching Netflix on a big screen, prepping the bikes, and doing some computer work. It was so nice – we didn’t leave the apartment until after 2pm. Right as we were going to sleep we did feel quite the shake – turns out it was a magnitude 6.2 earthquake not too far away.

Chilling in our “cozies” on our last day in Cajamarca, Peru at our AirBnB apartment – finally, with the broken rear hub sorted, we relaxed 🙂
Dustin prepped the bikes for departure and replaced his worn sprocket.
We went out to dinner and had an awesome vegetarian pizza – probably shouldn’t have had that wine as we (cough Patricia) felt it on the next day’s ride. The owner of the restaurant said our Spanish was great (we blushed) – he often has foreigners who come for dinner with no Spanish at all. Possibly these foreigners were business people for the regional mining companies (the 4th largest gold mine in the world is just north of Cajamarca).
On our last night in Cajamarca, right before we went to sleep, there was quite the shake. We both think this might be the strongest one we’ve ever felt…we had several while living in Alaska but not this strong.

It was hard to leave our cozy AirBnB and our neighbors – they’d seen us come and go over several days that they began recognizing us (it’s not hard we were the *only* gringos in our neighborhood) and asking where we were from.

Patricia makes friends with the boutique workers across the street from our AirBnB. Over 5 days they had seen us come and go so much that they were curious so she was telling them (all in Spanish) where we were from and how we’d traveled to Peru. You can also notice in this image air plants growing on the wires – we’ve seen these several places in Latin America, depending on the climate.

Then, after 5 days off the bikes over the Christmas holiday and sorting our broken rear hub, we departed Cajamarca with a newly built rear wheel and rested legs. It was a Sunday so traffic was light leaving town and we had courteous drivers all day. There were a few climbs but nothing too taxing so we enjoyed ride.

Almost ready to roll away from our AirBnB beverages get pushed up the street on a three wheeled bicycle cart.
Quiet streets leaving Cajamarca on a Sunday morning
After our second climb we rode into the village of Matara – we thought this would be a great stop for a sandwich until the midges attacked us!
We stopped in front of this cool sculpture of bread making to eat our sandwiches but quickly realized the midges were eating us so we scarfed down our food and rode on
Riding from Cajamarca to San Marcos was more rolling hills but in the distance we see the sharper peaks of the Andes…we’ll be there in a few days haha.
The host at our hospedaje in San Marcos set out coffee service for us after we returned from lunch – so sweet and appreciated until the midges dive-bombed into our eyes and nibbled our fingers. So we retreated to our windowless but bug free room.

The next day we departed San Marcos and rode to Cajabamba – we climbed out of San Marcos and observed several trucks hauling ore. We assumed this was from the large strip/blast mine we could see in the distance – mining is pretty huge in Peru constituting about 10% of the GDP and 60% of Peru’s exports.

Our accommodation in San Marcos was eclectic in it’s decor…along with about a dozen holographic cat pictures.
In the middle of this image is the mine we could see for most of the day along with all the trucks carrying ore.
That spaghetti noodle of a road was a super fun downhill
Cruising downhill
Some parts of the downhill were blasted out – probably not too hard when blast mining occurs nearby. There is Patricia about to round the switchback.

In the middle of the second (harder) climb we stopped for a Sportade at a local tienda and were invited to sit in the shade with some highway workers. They were quite curious about our trip and one even wanted a picture with our bicycles.

We sat in the shade of a local tienda for a much needed sport-drink break with some highway workers.
This guy wanted pictures with the bicycles and with the gringos 🙂

At the top of the climb we finally made it to Cajabamba and settled into the third accommodation we tried – the first two didn’t answer the door. At the third place we did have to wait for the manager (complete with baby tied to her back) to come and let us into a room. Once we got in we were thrilled to have a huge room with a HOT shower after last night’s luke warm affair.

In Cajabamba we went out to the gringo-iest restaurant – we were delighted to see a vegano (vegan) entree but chuckled when it came with eggs. We’ve been struggling to get as many vegetables as we were used to so when we get the chance to eat vegan or vegetarian we’ll often choose those options hoping for more vegetables. Technically we could cook for ourselves and get lots of veggies but after a day of bicycling neither of us wants to cook!

After dinner in Cajabamba we shared an “Ensalada de frutas con helado” (fruit salad with ice cream) – this photo doesn’t do justice to the amount & variety of fruit. We loved the “shovel” spoons – so our style 🙂

Huamachuco was our next stop and it was going to be New Year’s Eve so we decided to take a rest day. The road surface changed from smooth asphalt to rutted gravel with an insane amount of speed bumps, some official and many made by locals, so our speed slowed considerably. We also shared the route with mining trucks, busses/collectivos, and delivery trucks – we were quite slow and exhausted when we arrived in Huamachuco that a rest day was easily welcomed.

Riding on the pedestrian street out of Cajabamba.
We were stopped for road construction where they were shoveling more dirt into holes – the sign guy was delightful and asked about our trip. In the background a moto is getting towed by a motokar.
We’ve been to a lot of **-abambas but this one trumps them all. All the cyclists and motos take pictures with this sign 🙂
The same style bridge we had seen used temporarily during construction on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, USA, was used as a permanent bridge. Smooth surface, nice high guardrails – we’re delighted!
We’ve seen “cuy” (guinea pig) since Colombia but never quite had the gumption to try it…well when the lunch choices were limited we finally went for it. Verdict: interesting but we’ll be ok if we don’t have it again 🙂
*spoiler alert…we do have cuy again
That hill looks weird – its a strip mine. Huamachuco is a mining town surrounded by several different mines.
Sheep grazing in the median in Huamachuco – we haven’t seen a lawnmower in quite some time.
A crane! Haven’t seen one of these in a looooong time – this one said “Energy China”…not sure if it was connected to all the mining activity or not.
Huamachuco had a lovely (and huge) town square where many people gathered & children played.
Topiary in the Huamachuco town square
Keeping all that topiary in tip top shape required many workers
Grains at the mercado for sale – we like the market because you can ask for exactly how much you need.
Pedestrian street in Huamachuco.
It was New Year’s Eve and all the typical hats, glasses, necklaces were for sale but all in the color yellow which apparently is lucky.
Interestingly, yellow underware is quite lucky to wear on New Year’s and it was for sale all over the market.
Another interesting cultural difference was the New Year’s tradition of grapes – you eat 12 of these on New Year’s Eve for luck each month of the new year. There were carts and wheelbarrows of grapes all over town.
Our exciting New Year’s haha – we went to a cafe and had cappuccino and papaya juice with a piece of cake at 8pm (late for us!)

The next morning when we woke in Huamachuco it was raining…it is the rainy season so what are we to expect? Rain doesn’t necessarily motivate us to get packed up and start pedaling so we dragged our feet and eventually it stopped. We were on the road by about 8am for our mostly gravel ride to Cachicadan. It was New Year’s Day so we were greeted many times with “Feliz ano nuevo” (happy new year) as we pedaled along. Quickly we were off the pavement and on three different gravel roads of varying quality – it seemed to start out OK and then get worse as the day went on with larger stones, sand, ruts and creek crossings.

Leaving Huamachuco near the old town gate
Turning off onto the gravel toward Cachicadan
Stopping to look at yet another mine
Rolling on the good gravel
Several creek crossings…and the rocks were getting larger (harder)

We wanted to try and beat the rain but with poor road conditions we were slow and it started to rain about 13km from our destination. Patricia was ahead of Dustin and was summoned by a nice fellow, celebrating the new year with two friends, offering food & drink – with the skies crying down she decided to take him up on his offer and rolled the bike under the small lean-to where they were gathered. They were so kind offering shelter from the rain, food, and beer (we turned down the beer). One of the fellows whistled up to the house and within minutes a plate of food appeared for us – it was cuy (guinea pig) and potatoes. We enjoyed the food and fellowship as it poured and learned they grew cuy and invited us to see all their animals. We all had a laugh at how in the USA cuy are only “mascotas” (pets) – they told us how in Peru cuy is only “comida” (food).

Saved from a downpour by friends celebrating New Year’s – they invited us under their shelter & offered a special meal of cuy (guinea pig)
We later learned they grew the cuy (guinea pig) right behind where we were sitting. We’ve seen cuy on menus since Colombia but had yet to seen how they were farmed.
Cuy (guinea pig) is grown just like we would be accustomed to chicken.
We think they’ve been celebrating for quite a while when we happened upon them – the music was blaring & they wanted to dance with the “gringa”. We had fully “rugged up” into our rain gear and were headed back on the road.
Even with the clouds and rain the views of the high Peruvian Andes were spectacular.

We rolled into Cachicadan as drenched drowned rats (or maybe guinea pig) and found the first accommodation that was open for a room. Shelter, hot shower, internet, a decent bed – life is good 🙂

With the prediction of 25mm (1 inch) of rain we decided to make a short hop over to Angasmarca, a mere 26km (16 miles) away. Of course we are still in the high Andes so it required climbing to 3450m (11,300 feet) and then dropping down into the town. We had lovely views and good weather for the entire short ride and right after we were settled into our room it started to rain – we were happy with our choice to do a short day. It is the rainy season in Peru so we’re watching the weather carefully.

Hike a bike started early with a super steep climb out of Cachicadan, Peru. Also notice the road drainage grates…treacherous for a bicycle wheel!
We ride really slowly because you never know when you’re going to encounter a 5 foot deep hole in the ground!
Sheep with a valley view
Our lunch stop spot just before Angasmarca, Peru.
Dustin’s riding pants are so stretched out they come to Patricia’s shoulders – might be time for new ones haha.
Dustin relaxes with a book after a day of pedaling…or…caption: this accommodation lacked WiFi 🙂

From Angasmarca we rode to Mollepata, a sleepy town high in the Andes famous for its very windy road. Before we could take this famous road we had to get over a tough all dirt pass to Mollepata – we started early because we were expecting rain in the early afternoon. We took a shortcut right out of town and hoped it would not be closed due to a landslide…once we got passed by a few motos and taxi trucks we were confident the shortcut was the right choice.

Dustin comes around a switchback on our way from Angasmarca to Mollepata, Peru.
Patricia crosses a bridge and holds her breath as she rides over a section lacking foundation.
Andean Stripe Kneed Tarantula spotted along the road – we saw a few of these giants. Dustin wasn’t trying to pet it but rather show its size.
Our ride for the next day as seen as we rode into Mollepata.
Mollepata town square – a sleepy small town where we had to ask at the tienda for accommodation in the only hospedaje…it was super basic but had a HOT shower 🙂

The ride from Mollepata to Pallasca, Peru is world famous for its 57 hairpin turns and treeless vistas which allow for you to see this amazing road. We were excited to be off the dirt and on pavement because the route looked completely paved from all our available resources. Little did we know there were quite a few landslides crossing this route and each plowed over landslide proved to be a challenge to the bicyclist. It took us a mere 40 minutes, with many stops for pictures, to descend to the Tablachaca River and over 4 hours to climb out of the river to the town of Pallasca.

Going down…and seeing what we will have to climb up!
Going down…the river at the bottom can be seen on the left side of this image.
Overall this road was in pretty good shape but having experienced the quickly changing roads of Latin America we took it slow (and made sure our brakes were adjusted before we started)
Quickly down to the river (40 minutes with stops for pictures) and now we start the climb up…
Many sections of the climb had experienced landslides that were re-graded (steep) and required hike-a-bike.
When the going gets tough…we get blowpops! Also you can see the road we came down on the left of this image.
Almost to the top…glad that blowpop lasts a while 🙂
Tried our best to capture both the downhill & uphill of this road in one shot…this was the most insanely curvy road we’d ever seen.
This road is also very dangerous with almost no guardrails & super steep drop offs in addition to landslide risks. This shrine looked like an entire family died just over one year ago 🙁
Finally getting past all of the uphill switchbacks we found a delightful lunch spot for our PB & Js
We got a nice room in Pallasca right on one of the town’s public stairways (it was SUPER hilly) – Dustin is sitting on the stairs picking stones out of our lentils…usually we don’t have this much trouble with lentils but this bag was rocky!
Bikepacking weight weenies gasp! Cooking outside our room in Pallasca – while we’ve enjoyed the food in Peru we are lacking vegetables…its a lot of meat & rice. So we decided to try a hot plate and make lentil & vegetable soups when we can. We already don’t travel light so adding a hot plate was no biggie haha.

Just after 1pm in Pallasca it started raining and the next day was calling for rain again – are you sensing a rain theme here? We’ve learned to just take each day as it comes – we have analyzed each weather app until we were blue in the face and finally came to the conclusion that looking up at the sky was more effective. So each day, as we wake up, we look to the sky to decide what to do. This particular morning the sky was heavy with clouds but it was not raining so we decided to make a go for it.

Riding down to the river from Pallasca (elevation 10,300 feet) we started above the clouds
There were a few steep hike-a-bike sections – with all the rain this also turned into slippery mud
We got a little muddy
Snack stop with a view
Twisting down the mountain to the river
We had to share the (two-way) road with mining truck convoys – you could see them coming for quite a distance since there were no trees. Also you could certainly hear them coming…on blind turns they honked their horns. We would find a wider spot in the road and pull over.
For the most part this road (Peru 100N) was very lightly trafficked…we’re amazed at some of the sizes of vehicles that use this route.

Getting down to the bottom of the mountain led us into a canyon of the Tablachaca River where we rode for 30 miles until the pretty rough town of Chuquicara. This canyon went on and on for miles and was (mostly) paved – we glided on the gradual downriver slope and listened for the honks of approaching vehicles. Warning canyon pictures overload following:

These two images go together because it demonstrates the size immensity of this gorge…in the left hand picture the tunnel exit is visible in the center-upper-right of the photo (basically looks like a black dot). Patricia enters the same tunnel is shown in the right picture.
By the end of the day all our mud had dried – we’re amazing the derailer was still operational. Dustin cleaned up the bikes at our restaurant/room-for-rent with river water.

Our accommodation for the evening was a room rented by a local restaurant (the only hotel in town was apparently closed). This town, Chuquicara, was quite rough but we can do anything for one night…right Patricia? We made do with cat-baths & the toilets shared by the restaurant – no toilet paper provided…we got to buy some from the restaurant. On a plus side we had WiFi – first time in 3 days…although they changed the password in the middle of our stay – maybe we were using too much data?

We met 4 French bicyclists in Chuquicara – it was great to meet other cyclists in the “off-season” for Peru. They camped in the town’s football pitch and were horribly nibbled by the midges. We did get some nibbles but had bug spray we’d been carrying since Alaska that came in handy.

Our next morning we departed early and rode by the football pitch to say goodbye to the Frenchies – they would be behind us but should catch us with their lighter set-ups and more youthful legs…we didn’t see them all day. We had turned and now were riding upriver on the Santa River – it was pretty much a gradual grade for the entire journey but still uphill and therefore harder than our previous day’s coast downriver. The Santa River provided another glorious canyon, many tunnels and wonderful vistas all day.

First, of many (we lost count), tunnels riding up the Santa River gorge.
We bought fruit from this guy – amazingly for such an arid region they had orchards (bananas, mangoes, & guama) irrigated with river water.
Can you find Dustin in this image?
Toque claxon (honk the horn) – these signs were everywhere…especially on blind turns & before tunnels. The horn honking was very helpful except when the noise of the rushing river water overwhelmed the horns.
Housing for mine workers – there were several small scale mines along this day’s route.
Patricia approaches another tunnel – notice on the left of this picture old small-scale mining infrastructure.
Random large rocks from landslides were frequently in the roadway
This bus waited for Dustin to exit the tunnel before entering – so glad we have front and rear flashers, reflective bags, and headlamps to keep us safe in these tunnels.
Just at the perfect time for a break – ice COLD coke & PEPSI for the win 🙂 Yes, Dustin needs a new shirt – it’s already been delivered to the USA!
Patricia prepares for the pass of a motokar being towed by another motokar.
Finally in the Canon del Pato (Duck Canyon) – famous motorcycling and bicycling route. Hopefully it lives up to its expectations because it took a lot of effort to get here!
As seen rolling into Huallanca, Peru.
Finally western style accommodation after a few rough ones…it was so cozy and we were in need of a rest day so we stayed 2 nights.
Huallanca is a small town with limited restaurants but people seemed to be eating on the streets, we hadn’t really seen this before in Peru, starving from the road we quickly joined – it was fried chicken with rice & french fries (note no vegetables, hence the hotplate). The woman on the right is Ana – she asked us what we were looking for and we said “lavendaria” to get our clothes washed…there wasn’t one in town but she said she’d do our laundry. We took her phone number & left her with our clothes – the next day our clothes were washed, dried & folded for 20 soles (about $6).

We took a rest day in Huallanca which was a lot of nothing…perfect for a rest day! We slept in, caught up on the blog, scrolled & surfed our lives away since we hadn’t had decent WiFi in a few days, and did a walkabout through town. We met a police officer who told us we better leave early in the morning to avoid being caught by the tunnel closing at 7am for construction – so we plan to be up early and on the bikes by 6am to make it through the tunnel in time.

We walked up to the “mirador” view with las letras – the town of Huallanca can be seen below with the Santa River running through on the right of the town.
A selfie without helmet, sweat, sunscreen & road grime
Patricia played volleyball and practiced Spanish (and English) with three of the girls from Huallanca (ages 8, 9, & 12). Girl in the pink pants was our hotel owner’s daughter. Volleyball was very popular among girls & women in many of the Peruvian towns we visited.

Canon del Pato (Duck Canyon) was our next ride and we’d been looking forward to this since Cajamarca but honestly compared to the previous three days’ rides we were somewhat let down. Don’t get us wrong, it was still amazing but didn’t live up to our ridiculously high expectations. Yes, there were 35 tunnels in about 7 miles and that was cool but the canyon was pretty much over after a mere 7 miles where we had ridden about 60+ miles of canyon between the Tablachaca the lower Santa Rivers. We were told by the police in town that we wanted to leave very early to avoid the construction traffic – after a 4:30am alarm, we were on the road at 6am to get past the construction. Actually the construction workers were just receiving their assignments for the day when we rode by – they all whistled & cheered for us.

6am start toward Caraz through the Canon del Pato to avoid a construction delay
A large hydroelectric plant was at the end (we were riding up river) of the Canyon del Pato – water from the Santa River is diverted 11km (over 6 miles) through the mountain to power this 150MW plant. This plant was running by 1958. To compare the hydroelectric plant near our cabin in North Carolina, USA (Nantahala owned by Duke Energy) is 43 MW and was put online in 1942.
Construction workers readying for the day cheered & whistled as we pedaled by. We were advised by the local police to go early so we could get past the road-widening project before they started work for the day – great advice!
Getting ready to enter the first of 35 one-lane tunnels – sun is just starting to touch one of the distant peaks since it is before 7am.
To ride through the tunnels safely we ran front & rear flare lights and then used our headlamps as headlights.
Since the tunnels were only one-lane we had to pull over and wait for the tunnel to be clear. Twice we were inside the tunnel when another vehicle came through – we pulled as far to the side as we could and used our lights to make sure we were seen.
On the right of Dustin you can see a series of three tunnels (our of the 35 total tunnels) – this road is pretty amazing!
We thought this would be the largest vehicle to go on this road…we were wrong – later we saw a full sized flat bed trailer come through! Notice on the right of this picture the black hose running down the wall – this was the waterline for the town of Huallanca.
This multi-stage waterfall in Canon del Pato was enormous. Also we found the source of the town’s water pipe – it ran across the canyon from one of the waterfall pools.
Patricia stays as far right as possible haha – it was a super steep drop-off the edge here
Here is the dam on the Santa River holding back water so that it could be diverted 11 km through the mountain to a hydroelectric plant just outside of Huallanca.
On the other side of the dam we could see all the infrastructure required to divert this river water for 11 km
After we passed the dam the river water was almost at road level. Also notice the vehicle coming through the tunnel – the road surface of this particular tunnel was quite dusty making it difficult to see. Of course, this is the one tunnel that we encountered a large mining truck coming at us! We pulled over to the side which was deep powdery dust and shined our lights and held our breath – it all worked out 🙂
Just before the last tunnel we saw this old sign…Duke Energy, our same North Carolina power company, controlled this hydroelectric plant in Peru for over 20 years! With a little research we learned Duke sold off their Latin American holdings in 2016.
Done with our one-lane tunnels and the Canon del Pato we were now in a wide valley that gave us peaks of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. You can see one of these snow-capped peaks in the middle of this image. The Cordillera Blanca is the largest tropical ice-covered mountain range in the world with many peaks over 20,000 feet.

Good thing we had a short riding day planned because after the Canon del Pato we were delayed by three separate construction diversions! Its no surprise there was roadwork as we’ve seen the condition of some of these roads and the challenge of roadbuilding in the Andes. For the first diversion we had to do a 10km (6 mile) detour on tough gravel roads. Then when we thought we were finished with construction we had two more delays. By the end of the three construction diversions we were coated in dust including between our teeth & in our eyes – so happy to get to Caraz and have a fantastic hostel (Hostel Kactus) run by Carmen who took great care of us for three nights.

Construction delay number two (of three) – we waited in the blazing sun for 45 minutes before we could pass this one. There seemed to be no logic in allowing the traffic to pass…the other direction was allowed to go and we continued to wait. The long line of cars behind us became agitated and started honking their horns.
The trucks picking up material kept coming and coming and we weren’t allowed to go…finally with no warning and seeming to be the wrong time our line was allowed to go and we pedaled through thick dust which embedded in our eyes and between our teeth.

We’ve just had a relaxing three days in Caraz, Peru, where we met two other American cyclists – Aliza & Sam, they started in Ecuador and are riding until April. It was fun to speak with them about their trip and to see other cyclists!

Street scene Caraz, Peru

This break in Caraz allowed us to rest and plan our next week or so – we’re hoping to ride through Huascaran National Park over the Cordillera Blanca – the world’s most extensive tropical ice-covered mountain range. This will be some huge climbing over passes higher than we have attempted previously – fingers crossed we can stay dry and see some of the 20,000 foot peaks.

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9 thoughts on “Day 463 – 476: Cajamarca to Caraz, Peru”

  1. If midges are still a problem, they HATE menthol. If you can find biofreeze or any other menthol based roll on, roll it behind your ears, and on your neck, and it will keep them from biting. We do that all the time when camping in late summer in the midwest.

  2. Wow! I’m impressed. I really look forward to receiving your engrossing travel blogs. Combining this bike trip and your extensive work on your cabin the two of you seem to be masters of way more skills than most of us. Bravo.

  4. Love the lady who did your laundry (only $6 !!!) and the construction workers and meeting other bikers. Enjoyed the beautiful scenery – continues to amaze. DID NOT love the midges – made me squirm. Bravo for trying cuy – don’t know if I could do that.

    Glad you are safe – stay that way! Some treacherous roads for sure!

    Jeanette

  5. I am always in awe when reading your blogs. You two are amazing. Wishing you continued safe travels!

  6. Your adventures are overwhelmingly amazing! I’ll have to reread this in order to take it all in! Thank you so much for the details of your travels and the extraordinary pictures. Rita and Bob

  7. You two amaze and frighten me with your adventures. I don’t think I could make myself try cuy.
    Glad you are remaining safe and haven’t been run over in the tunnels. It amazes me how you can climb higher than the clouds and safely return to lower elevations. You always seem to encounter the most delightful people. Praying for your continued safety. Love and happy new year to you.

  8. Your pictures are stunning. I’m always glad to see you smiling! I imagine there are not-smiling days. Stay safe, and know we are all out here cheering you on! Lisa

  9. What a continuing unbelievable adventure, you 2 are simply amazing! Your endurance, strength and love of adventure are inspiring! Praying for your continued health and safety!

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