We have had a tough few days on the bike. The highlight of this stretch has undoubtedly been cycling the dirt Pastoruri “Highway” through the Huascaran National Park. My goodness – cycling at altitude is TOUGH (and cold, especially when cycling through a hail storm!) We climbed to a height of 4870m – the highest pass that we have tackled so far on this trip.
Here is an overview of our journey from Huaraz to Huancayo, Peru. It is detailed for our own records, so feel free to skip ahead to the photos!
Saturday 10th October: Huaraz to First campsite along the Pastoruri Highway
We left Huaraz around 9am and basically climbed steadily all day on an easy gradient. We made a little detour into the lovely town of Recuay, where we had lunch at a seafood restaurant. Then it was back on the bikes, heading to the turn off to the Pastoruri Highway. After 43kms we reached the turn off, which is very well sign posted, and after letting some air out of our tyres, we hit the dirt!
Google Maps lists this dirt road as the “Carretera a Pastoruri”, which translates to the “Pastoruri Highway”; but it is more a dirt road than a highway in the traditional sense. The road is quite rocky, but in very good shape, and would have been no trouble if not for the fact that we were cycling above 4000m!
As we continued to climb, my breathing became more laboured and I needed to stop frequently to let my heart rate slow down. By the time we reached 4100m, I had a slight stomach ache, so we decided to call it a day, although we hadn’t made it as far as we would have liked. Having just hiked the Santa Cruz Trek, we were surprised by how quickly we had lost our acclimatization to the altitude. Hopefully, it will return equally quickly!
We found a secluded campsite beside a little laguna and made a yummy veggie curry for dinner.
We were very surprised by the amount of traffic on the road – almost all tour buses. None of the blogs that we had read had mentioned traffic and we had expected to have the road pretty much to ourselves. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like that for most of our first 2 days on the Pastoruri Highway. Of course, we did cycle it on a weekend; perhaps the road is quieter during the week.
Lovely church at Recuay
The main plaza at Recuay
The main plaza at Recuay
La Gruta, Recuay
Mine on the way to the Pastoruri Highway
Market day in one of the villages on the way to the Pastoruri Highway
Advertisement for the Pastoruri area!
Yeah – we reached the start of the Pastoruri Highway!
Jo on the way to the Pastoruri Highway
The turn off to the Pastoruri Highway
Welcome to Pastoruri!
The locals were back burning when we started climbing on the Pastoruri Highway
The locals were back burning when we started climbing on the Pastoruri Highway
Cycling the beautiful Pastoruri “Highway”
Cycling the beautiful Pastoruri “Highway”
Our campsite on the first night along the Pastoruri Highway
Sunset at our first campsite along the Pastoruri Highway
Sunday 11th October: First campsite along the Pastoruri Highway to Second campsite along the Pastoruri Highway
Having slept surprisingly well at our campsite at 4100m, we were up early and on the road by 8am. We crossed into the Huascaran National Park around 9am and after registering at the control centre, we were the first people into the park. Luckily our national park pass from hiking the Santa Cruz Trek was still valid.
This stretch of the Pastoruri Highway is incredibly beautiful and consequently, very touristy. Similar to the previous day, there were a huge number of tour buses passing us on the dusty road on their way to deposit tourists at the foot of the Pastoruri Glacier.
We passed the bubbling Agua Gasificada (mineral water) and then a few kilometers further, we reached the beautiful Ojo de Agua de Pumashimi, a stunning lagoon. At both locations there were locals with animals/children dressed up for photographs. Normally, we don’t like this sort of thing, but we couldn’t resist taking some photos with two fabulously decked out alpacas!
Further along the road we passed some fascinating rock paintings and also some groups of endangered “Puya Raimondii” (also known as the Queen of the Andes), the largest species of bromeliad in the world. It was wonderful to see these beautiful plants and we were lucky to see a number of flowering ones, which given that they only flower once in their lifetime and that it takes between 40 -100 years to produce one flower – it was pretty special!
I found the cycling to be incredibly tough on this day. Although the gradient was generally pretty mild, I was puffing and panting and my heart rate was racing crazily and I had to stop almost every 500m to let it calm down. As a result, David nicknamed me “Hufflepuff”! Although David cycled the entire climb, I alternated cycling with walking, as I found pushing my bike to be less exhausting, and more efficient, at times.
By the time we reached the turn off to the Pastoruri Glacier it was 4pm and I was utterly exhausted. We could see the glacier (which is shrinking at a rapid rate) in the distance, but decided to press onto the top of the pass and give it a miss (there will be more glaciers for us to see in Patagonia!).
We reached the top of the first pass around 4.20pm and after snapping a few pics, we descended into the next valley. The road was less maintained on this side of the pass and we had the feeling that we had finally gotten off the beaten track – we didn’t see a single vehicle for the remainder of our ride along the Pastoruri “Highway”.
The beautiful weather that we had enjoyed all day quickly turned and we soon found ourselves cycling in a light hail storm. We stopped to fill up our water bottles at a glacier waterfall and then started looking for a campsite. We didn’t have to cycle too far before we found a wonderfully remote and secluded campsite in a little valley above the road. Unfortunately, at this moment the hail started bucketing down! We didn’t have time to set up our tent, so we draped our tarpaulin over our bikes and huddled underneath waiting for it to subside. The hail storm was short lived, but intense; within 10 minutes the grass around us was covered in a layer of pea sized hail stones. When it finally stopped (for all of 10 min or so), we quickly set up our tent and dived inside before the hail started again.
It was freezing in the tent and neither of us wanted to get out and cook in the hail storm, so dinner that night consisted of nuts, biscuits and chocolate. Not very healthy or nutritious … but yummy!
Later that night, the hail storm turned into snow, covering our tent and surroundings with a chilly white blanket. 
Jo taking a break from cycling along the Pastoruri Highway
Jo taking a break from cycling along the Pastoruri Highway
Welcome to the Huascaran National Park!
Stunning views along the Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”
Stunning views along the Pastoruri “Highway”
Agua Gasificada
Agua Gasificada
We came across these cute alpacas shortly after entering the park!
Three little alpacas!
David and the alpaca
Jo and the alpacas!
Cute little lamb!
Cycling the beautiful Pastoruri “Highway”
Endangered Puja de Raymondii (also known as the “Queen of the Andes”) with flower stalks
Endangered Puja de Raymondii (also known as the “Queen of the Andes”) with flower stalks
Endangered Puja de Raymondii (also known as the “Queen of the Andes”) with flower stalks
The gorgrous “Ojo de agua de Pumapashimin”
The gorgrous “Ojo de agua de Pumapashimin”
The gorgrous “Ojo de agua de Pumapashimin”
A flowering Puja de Raymondii
Endangered Puja de Raymondii (also known as the “Queen of the Andes”) with flower stalks
Cattle crossing!
Cycling the beautiful dirt Pastoruri “Highway”
Jo and the Puya Raimondii
Cycling the beautiful dirt Pastoruri “Highway”
Stunning views along the Pastoruri “Highway”
Cycling the beautiful Pastoruri “Highway”
Cycling the beautiful Pastoruri “Highway”
Switchbacks – one of the steeper uphill sections on the Pastoruri “Highway”
Switchbacks – one of the steeper uphill sections on the Pastoruri “Highway”
Switchbacks – one of the steeper uphill sections on the Pastoruri “Highway”
Rock paintings along the Pastoruri “Highway”
Rock paintings along the Pastoruri “Highway”
Cute local girl and lamb
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
David cycling along the Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling along the Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling along the Pastoruri “Highway”
Yeah – we made it to the turn off to the Pastoruri Glacier … we’re almost at the top of the first pass!
The shrinking Pastoruri Glacier
Woo hoo! We made it to the top of the first pass!
Stormy views before the hail storm began …
We got caught in a hail storm – it hurts!
Yep – its definitely hail!
David cycling through the hail storm desperately looking for a campsite
Pretty alpine laguna seen through the hail!
We took shelter from the hail storm under our tarpaulin!
Hail stones!
We took shelter from the hail storm under our tarpaulin!
Our second campsite (around 4700m) covered in hail – it was freezing!
Our second campsite (around 4700m) covered in hail – it was freezing!
Monday 12th October: Second campsite along the Pastoruri Highway to Huallanca
This was a fantastic day of cycling – definitely my favourite along the Pastoruri Highway. We had jaw dropping views of snowy glaciated mountains, alpine lagunas, pastel coloured mountains and wonderful rock formations. Best of all, there was no traffic!
We had camped at around 4700m – the highest that either of us had ever camped (at Laguna 69 we camped at 4600m and on Mount Kilimanjaro, our final camp was at 4640m). David suffered from altitude sickness all night, with a bad headache and stomach ache. But, thankfully, he was feeling much better in the morning. I, on the other hand, felt reasonably ok overnight, but when I woke up in the morning I was greeted with a killer headache. We knew we needed to descend as soon as possible; however, we still needed to descend a little further into the valley and then climb up to our second pass at 4870m – the highest that either of us had ever cycled. Thankfully, once we were both out in the fresh air (which is VERY fresh at 4700m!), we felt much better.
I made better progress on this day – I guess I was slowly starting to acclimatize to the altitude. Nevertheless, our progress was still slow considering that we only had to climb 334m to the top of the second pass at 4870m. We made it to the top around 11.30am (yippee!) and then it was downhill all the way to Huallanca; firstly on dirt for the remainder of the Pastoruri Highway and then on a lovely stretch of pavement after we turned onto Highway 3N. It was so much fun and after all of our hard work making our way along the Pastoruri Highway, it felt very much deserved!
We found a nice-ish hostal in Huallanca and celebrated our completion of the Pastoruri Highway!
Jo leaving our 2nd campsite – it was very chilly!
David cycling away from our 2nd campsite – it was remote and secluded just the way we like it!
David cycling away from our 2nd campsite – it was remote and secluded just the way we like it!
David cycling away from our 2nd campsite – it was remote and secluded just the way we like it!
7.51am … 5 degrees at 4674m!
David cycling the dirt Pastoruri “Highway”
Hmmm … a red river?!
Jo cycling the Pastoruri “Highway” – it was freezing cold!
David cycling the dirt Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling the dirt Pastoruri “Highway”
Horses grazing along the Pastoruri Highway
Horses grazing along the Pastoruri Highway
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
David cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Jo cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”
David cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”
Cycling the beautiful Pastoruri “Highway” – on this day we had the road completely to ourselves!
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
We are almost at the top of the second pass here at 4870m – we had stunning views of the Cordillera Blancas and very thin air!
We are almost at the top of the second pass here at 4870m – we had stunning views of the Cordillera Blancas and very thin air!
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Proof – we reached 4870m!!
We had some magic views of alpine lagunas!
The second pass at 4870m!
The second pass at 4870m!
We had some magic views of alpine lagunas!
Finally descending along the Pastoruri Highway
Jo descending along the Pastoruri Highway
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Stunning views along the Pastoruri Highway
Leaving the Pastoruni Highway, we turned onto Highway 3N and enjoyed a lovely paved downhill!
Leaving the Pastoruni Highway, we turned onto Highway 3N and enjoyed a lovely paved downhill!
On the way to Huallanca, we passed the Huanzala Mine
On the way to Huallanca, we passed the Huanzala Mine
Bull fighting ring in Huallanca
Tuesday 13th October: Huallanca to Huanuco
This was a relatively short day on the bike due to bad weather. Although the day started out fine, by lunchtime a storm had developed. We couldn’t find a hotel or anywhere suitable to camp (as we were cycling along a steepish mountain road), so when a shared taxi to Huanuco passed us, we decided to take it.
The downhill to La Union in the morning was quite nice, although the dogs were some of the worst that we had encountered on our trip – aggressive is an understatement! However the remainder of the way to Huanuco wasn’t that nice and there were a lot of crazy drivers on the road (including our colectivo driver, who clearly thought he was driving a race car!), so we weren’t too disappointed to have missed out on cycling this stretch. In total, we paid 60 soles for the shared taxi ride (30 soles per person).
We got a room for 40 soles at the Hotel Imperial (what a name … there was nothing “imperial” about our room, which came complete with cockroaches!). The following morning, we changed hotels and ended up with a lovely room at Hostal Huanuco, which is set in a beautiful old colonial building.
Lovely shrine near Huallanca
On the way to Huanuco
Church near La Union
Church in Huanuco
14th-16th October: Rest days in Huanca for David’s birthday!
After a few tough days at altitude, we were in need of a break and as it was David’s birthday on the 15th October, we decided to spend a few days in Huanuco. It certainly isn’t the prettiest city, but it was nice to just chill and hang out. We went shopping at the Plaza Real and enjoyed the novelty of the food court and shopping in a real supermarket (most towns in Peru don’t have them). We also used the time to plan our route through to Cusco. We had been planning to tackle Andes by Bike’s Peruvian Great Divide, but the rainy season appears to be upon us, so we have decided to stick to the pavement and leave the dirt for Bolivia.
Trying something a bit different … Quinoa beer! Pretty good actually
David’s birthday spread – red wine, Serrano Ham, Gouda Cheese and spicy olives!
Saturday 17th October: Huanuco to Huariaca
From Huanuco, we started a very LONG 110km climb up to Cerro de Pasco along Highway 3N. As this is a major route to Lima, there was a LOT of traffic on the road, mainly big trucks and buses as most people don’t own their own car in Peru; but thankfully there was a shoulder and the traffic was generally pretty good.
The scenery wasn’t exactly spectacular, but we’re probably a bit spoilt after the Cordillera Blancas! The highway followed the River Huallaga for much of the day and continually passed through small towns. Small towns mean dogs and unfortunately for us, they were terrible on this day. One of our cycling buddies (Andre) recently got bitten, so we are being extra careful around the dogs. At every village we scanned the area, waiting for dogs to run out at us. With such a lot of traffic on the highway, I really don’t understand why the dogs aren’t tied up for their own protection, as well as ours. 
The climb was too much for one day, so we decided to break it up over two days, with a stop in Huariaca, which has numerous hotel (although most were full) and restaurant options. We found a room at Hotel Los Andes for 30 soles (USD9), with the smallest double bed that I have ever seen! Unfortunately, we discovered later that there was no water in the hotel that night(!), not even cold water, so we had to make do with a wet wipe shower!
Aggressive dogs!!! Not wrong!!
On the way to Cerro de Pasco
The town of Huariaca
Outside our hotel in Huariaca
Our hotel in Huariaca
Sunday 18th October: Huariaca to Colquijirca
This was a tough day of climbing – steeper than the day before – with quite a bit above 4000m. As the road was paved, I found the climb easier than cycling the Pastoruri “Highway”, but I still struggled with the thin air above 4000m.
The scenery was similar to the day before; we passed through numerous little towns (all decked out with purple and white decorations and with marching bands – there must have been a festival of some sort going on) and a big mine at Chicrin, and of course, there were LOTS of aggressive dogs!
As I was gasping for breath mid-afternoon, we came across a little shop selling fresh cheese and coffee. We pulled in for a break, but as it was freezing at that altitude, we didn’t stay long.
Around 4pm, we finally made it to the turn off to Cerro de Pasco. The mining town of Cerro de Pasco is apparently pretty grim, with the reputation for being one of the most polluted places on earth. Given that it was pretty late in the day, we decided to give it a miss and cycled onto Colquijirca, another bleak mining town.
There was one additional hill to climb after the turn off to Cerro de Pasco and then we finally reached the top of the 110km climb! Yeah – what a relief! It was the longest single climb that I had ever done!
We knew from other blogs that cyclists have stayed in the town of Colquijirca. But, we couldn’t find it listed on our Garmin or on our phone app maps.me. They only showed the town of “Chaupimarca”. Later we found out that the “online” maps were wrong (they probably use the same open street maps source) and that Chaupimarca is actually Colquijirca!
We reached Chaupimarca/Colquijirca around 4.30pm and were hoping to come across a hotel on the main highway, but we discovered later that they are all hidden in the town centre. We cycled on for another 10kms or so to the town of Vicco, where a taxi driver assured us there were two hostals. The locals in Vicco were extremely helpful and gave us directions for the hostals, but they were both closed. We waited around for a while in the cold, while someone tried to contact the manager of one of the hostals, but by 6.15pm it was dark, we still didn’t have anywhere to stay for the night and we were COLD.
I didn’t want to cycle in the dark because of the crazy dogs in the area, so we decided to try to find a taxi/colectivo which could drop us in the next town with a hostal. Fortunately, David managed to hail a passing pickup truck, and although it wasn’t an official taxi, the owner agreed to take us to the next town with a hostal. We thought he would take us in the direction of La Oroya, but instead he took us back to Colquijirca, which we had cycled past earlier that afternoon! Unfortunately, the hostal that he took us to was also closed …, but a friendly local showed us 3 other hostals and in the end, we found one that was open. It was a bit of a shocker – with the worst mattress ever, but by this time, it was getting late, we were very cold and we didn’t have any other option. We paid 20 soles for a tiny room, with a tiny double bed, with a dodgy mattress and a shared bathroom. There was no wifi, but thankfully, the water was hot!
Finding a restaurant open at 8pm for dinner in Colquijirica was the next challenge. But, thankfully, another friendly local found us one! Colquijirica may not be the prettiest place, but the locals couldn’t have been friendlier if they tried!
Lucky us … only 4 aggressive dogs this time!
Street musicians on the way to Cerro de Pasco
Street musicians on the way to Cerro de Pasco
Meat drying – “Peru style”
On our way to Cerro de Pasco
It must be washing day!
On our way to Cerro de Pasco
We are suckers for good advertising! Cheese, bread and cheese, milk and coffee!
We are suckers for good advertising! Cheese, bread and cheese, milk and coffee!
Cow crossing!
We are suckers for good advertising! Yum – fresh cheese!
Jo on the climb towards Cerro de Pasco
Yeah – we reached the turn off to Cerro de Pasco!!!
Monday 19th October: Colquijirca to Huancayo
After two big days of climbing, I was feeling a bit tired on the bike, so thankfully the terrain was mainly undulating from Colquijirca to Junin. The scenery wasn’t particularly special today, although at times we caught glimpses of Lake Junin (the largest lake entirely in Peru) in the distance.
We passed through a couple of little towns; Carhuamayo, which was inundated with identical little shops all selling “Special Maca Smoothies” (we stopped at the first shop for a smoothie and a coffee, not realizing that the town was full of such shops) and Huayre, which has a bizarre “Park of Maca”, with a giant purple maca root as the centerpiece. Clearly maca is a big deal in this part of Peru. The maca root is used for its apparent medicinal properties and I have since discovered that it is only grown in high altitude areas of the Peruvian Andes. Obviously this is why it has a park dedicated to it in Huayre!
The weather was pretty gloomy all day, threatening to rain at various times, and when we finally arrived in Junin around 1pm, rain drops started to fall. David noticed that there was a bus leaving shortly for Huancayo, so we decided to take it. The scenery hadn’t been particularly nice since leaving Huanuco (although, it did improve after La Oroya), and we are conscious of needing to get to La Paz, Bolivia soon, as the rainy season is starting and we want to be able to cycle both the Salar de Uyuni and the Laguna Route.
Huancayo is the biggest city that we have been to so far in Peru. The city has a nice Plaza de la Constitution, but isn’t otherwise that attractive and we haven’t seen any other tourists here. We got a very nice double room at the Hotel Confort (I wonder if they meant “Comfort”?) near the plaza for 40 soles and after much negotiating, the manager allowed us to put our bikes in the room (which is always a priority for us). We plan to have a rest day here to update our blog, before pushing on towards Cusco.
Our very average hotel in Colquijirca
Our very average hotel in Colquijirca
Our very average hotel in Colquijirca
On our way to Junin
On our way to Junin
Llamas on our way to Junin
Sheep on our way to Junin
On our way to Junin
Old woman on our way to Junin
Coffee stop at Janet’s
Coffee stop at Janet’s
Interesting sign about the importance of Lake Junin
Views of Lake Junin in the distance
Views of Lake Junin in the distance
The bizzare Park of Maca, Huayre
The bizzare Park of Maca, Huayre
Views on the way to Junin
Views on the way to Junin
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