Motorcycling Around Peru’s Cordillera Blanca

Day 1

Paula arrived late the night before and we spent the evening catching up and walking around the city, just happy to see each other again.

We were renting the biggest bike this company had, a Honda XRE 300. We would be riding some rough roads at high altitudes (up to 4700m), and with the weight of two people, we needed the extra space and power. I was a bit anxious, as it was bigger than any other moto I’d driven before, but I knew I would get accustomed to it.

We left Caraz for our first destination, Laguna Paron. It was one of the few lakes that we could drive directly to, so it seemed like a great and easy start.

We arrived to a massive crowd, with music and dancing. Somehow, we had managed to arrive on the anniversay of the laguna. I’m not exactly sure how a laguna can have an anniversary, but it was a lot of fun and I was down for it.

The traditional clothes for women are simple but very colorful. My favorite part is the fancy hats. There seem to be two common styles, the beige colored one and then the colorful and tall ones.

The music and partying was a bit fun and distracting, but the real reason we were here was to get a good first look at Cordillera Blanca, which translates to White Mountain Range.

The mountain peaks were spectacular, beautifully covered in snow. We hiked up to a viewpoint to get a good look a better look at the Nevados (mountains with snow on them) surrounding us.

We came down from the hike to find that the party had not slowed down. Now everyone was gathered around the beach, dancing to the music while lifting these baskets of flowers and crops. A small few took the baskets, which seemed to be offerings, on a boat so they could throw the offerings into the lake.

We were so captivated by the celebration that hours had gone by. I wanted us to enjoy this magical experience, but I also had to keep us a bit on schedule. I had a pretty ambitious trip planned, nearly 850km, so we would have to drive a decent distance each day. I thought that wouldn’t be a problem at all, but that would turn out to be much harder than I had expected.

We hopped back on the bike and continued. As beautiful as the Cordillera Blanca was, the route I had planned would take us away from now, through some canyons, to the other side of the Cordillera.

We had passed a house with a bunch of baby piggies and without thinking I stopped so we could see them. They were very hesitant at first but slowly got closer so I could pet them. They enjoyed nibbling on my fingers for some reason.

The route took us through Cañon Del Pato, which curiously means Duck Canyon. There were no ducks but there was a deep and dramatic canyon, with countless tunnels. It was quite a drastic change from the glaciated peaks we were just at, to now a dry and desolate canyon.

It was already getting quite late and we were nowhere near where I had originally planned. Ultimately, it was no problem, I’m almost always changing and adapting the plans as I go. The last thing I wanted to do was rush us and spend too much time on the motorcycle when this trip was more about exploring and being together.

As the sun was setting we pulled into a tiny tiny mountain town. I didn’t want us to be riding late, so we asked around for a hospedaje. A kinda local walked us over to a building where a lovely old lady and her daughter were cooking some picarones, a delicious Peruvian dessert made of fried dough with a sweet sugary sauce. The women welcomed us with a warm plate of picarones and an even warmer smile. Above their store, were a few rooms that we could sleep in. After a lovely conversation and another plate of picarones later, Paula and I left to walk around and look for some dinner.

Day 2

In the morning we said goodbye to the lovely ladies, who told us that we only needed to pay them 10 soles for the room, or roughly $2.50. They liked us a lot and gave us a kind discount for the room.

Our first day was wonderful, nearly perfect. Everything was wonderful, with stunning views and lovely people. Paula was used to a slightly different way of traveling, a bit more planned out and rigid. I was trying to show her my method, which usually involved a lot of unknowns, and figuring it out as I go. She thoroughly enjoyed the first day and she told me she was happy to hold on and follow me anywhere.

Today was going to be a bit more time riding on the moto, pretty much as far as we could go. We were heading around to the other side of Cordillera Blanca, through some small roads and towns in the mountains.

The towns were tranquil. We would usually stop in the center and walk around for a few minutes, to explore the town but mostly to give out butts a break. I found it very confusing, this motorcycle had a big cushioned seat but somehow it was much less comfortable than my tiny and hard bicycle saddle.

These roads were narrow and on the edges of cliffs. It was exciting and also a touch scary being able to look down to a certain death. It was about now that I started to realize we were going nowhere as fast as I had thought. Even though we were on a moto, we still were only going about 25km an hour. The roads here were some of the roughest and bumpiest roads I’d ridden in Peru and made for slow going. I was starting to readjust the route for the trip as I was beginning to doubt we would have enough time for the entire circuit. Instead of rushing around in a long route, we could slow down and spend more time in the Cordillera Blanca, which was arguably the most beautiful part anyway.

We continued riding with breaks every hour or two. The route took us up to around 4300m to some landscape that was reminiscent of what I had biked through just a few days before.

We came over a pass and had a grand view of the snowy peaks of Cordillera Blanca. We were now heading back towards them and would soon be riding in the middle of them.

Nearly 6 hours of riding later, we were both getting pretty exhausted from being on the bike. There was nothing around us and we had no choice but to continue to a large town where we knew a hot shower and a hot meal would be.

We came over the last pass for the day to another, but closer view of some of the jagged peaks of Cordillera Blanca. The sun was starting to set but we still had about an hour left. Thankfully, the road had improved a ton and we could make some good speed.

We pushed through the cold and darkness and made it to the city where we ate a massive plate of chifa, Chinese food. There is a lot of Chinese food here in Peru and I eat it very frequently because it is cheap and yummy.

Day 3

After the extremely long day on the moto yesterday, we both agreed we would enjoy shorter days with more time off the moto to relax and explore. Today we would go about 100km and stay at a hotel on the road that goes right through Cordillera Blanca, as we were going to spend the next two days hiking in the mountains.

We rode through more mountain roads and mountain towns. Our route for the day kept changing as locals would direct us towards better routes.

We were inching our way closer back to the Cordillera Blanca. In hindsight, I did regret a bit the route I chose as it took us far away from these mountains for a day, but it was necessary to ride through Cañon Del Pato. At least we were almost back.

We stopped in the town of Yanama before starting the road into the middle of the Cordillera. We ate at a restaurant for the common Peruvian lunch, a menu. Usually, you have a choice between a few entrees and they always come with a soup and a drink. They are delicious and very filling, and cost about 8 soles ($2.15).

We drove up the valley towards the pass and now we were very close to the Nevados again. We wouldn’t see much today, as we were stopping soon, but the little glances we had at them filled us with excitement for tomorrow.

At a small farm turned hotel in the valley, we stopped for the night. The owners, Carlos and Magaly, were great hosts and cooked us massive meals as we sat and talked the night away.

Day 4

This was the day I was most excited about. I had seen some photos and videos of the pass ahead so I knew what to expect, but nothing would compare to seeing it in person.

As we got higher, the views and mountains became more dramatic.

We took our time going through here, stopping to take in the views, and to take many photos.

The mountain Chopicalqui peaking through the top.

As we drove over the pass and into the view of the other side we gasped out loud. The view was one of the best views I had ever seen. Countless snow-capped mountains surround us from all sides. Seeing all of the switchbacks going back and forth down into the valley was impressive also. I was slightly upset, as part of me wanted to ride up this route on my bicycle, but also not at the same time as it was more fun on a moto with Paula. I would have plenty more passes in the future.

We made our way slowly down the endless switchbacks towards the valley. We had a short day riding, only about 30km, so we could spend most of the day hiking.

We parked the moto and grabbed our backpacks to start our way up to the refugio. It was about a 4km hike with 800m of climbing, all while being over 4000m.

After two and a half hours, the refugio finally came into view. It was a welcome sight as we were getting tired and cold.

We fought the cold to take some photos before giving up and retreating to the warmth and comfort of the refugio for the night. As warm and cozy as it was, it was tough to sleep. The dorm room had about 20 people in it and most of them were waking up and packing in the middle of the night to climb some of the nearby mountains.

Day 5

Around 6am I took a look out of the window to a cloudless sky as the early morning sun was beginning to light up the tips of the mountains. I grabbed Paula and we got dressed and hurried outside.

I’ve stayed at many mountain refugios around the world and this is always my favorite part. To be so close and high in the mountains with the comfort of a warm refugio behind you is a real treat.

Speaking of the comfortable and warm refugio, it was time to go back to it.

The sunrise was lovely, but we could enjoy the rest of it from inside the refugio with a cup of coffee.

We let the sun warm up the outside air before starting the hike to Laguna 69.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather this morning. Every peak was looking sharp and colossal with the bright blue sky behind it.

Huascarán Sur (center) is the largest mountain in Peru, sitting at 6768m (22,200ft). It’s not the prettiest to look at, but it is enormous.

We hiked for a few hours until we climbed up a short pass and out of seemingly nowhere, Chakrarahu appeared. I had to look nearly straight up to see the top of it.

After a little bit more hiking, Laguana 69 came into view with its crisp, blue water. Laguna 69 is the most popular hike in the region, so it was packed with people already. Large crowds of people can ruin the most beautiful of places for me, so we didn’t stick around long.

The hike back was downhill and fast. Hungry was starting to set in which helped keep us at a brisk pace.

By the end of the hike, we were looking forward to being back on the motorcycle to give our legs a break. We needed to ride back up the pass because we had left a bunch of things at the hotel to make the hike easier.

Obviously it was hard to resist stopping at the top again for some photos.

After hiking all morning and afternoon, I had another ambitious ride planned. There was a town, Chacas, that many people had recommended me to visit. It was just far away and it was already late in the day. We decided to go for it anyway and I drove as fast (and safe) as I could to get there.

I was about to give up when it was starting to get dark and we still had 30km left, until by some stroke of luck we turned on the road towards Chacas and it was the rare and elusive pavement. This entire trip so far had been almost entirely on some of the roughest gravel roads, so this pavement felt like a gift from heaven. With newfound confidence, we decided to go for it and head to Chacas.

Day 6

In the morning we got a better view of Chacas and it really was quite a pretty town. We didn’t stay around too long as it was our last day on the moto and we needed to return to Caraz, but not after going through another pass through the middle of Cordillera Blanca.

It turned out that the entire ride today would be on smooth pavement, a perfect way to end our trip. After all the gravel, it felt great to be able to drive fast and take corners with confidence.

The top of this pass, Punta Olympica, was nice but very different from the last one. This one being a main highway and paved road meant it was much busier and crowded, and we all know how I feel about crowds. Nevertheless, it was still beautiful and worth stopping to enjoy the views for a while.

We road down and back to Caraz, where we returned the moto but thankfully we still had two more nights together before Paula had to return to Colombia. We hopped on a collectivo to Huaraz, a larger and more popular town. It is an international hub for climbers and hikers who come here to explore Cordillera Blanca.

We spent our free day walking around the city and eating the good food that comes with large touristy cities. Including a fantastic Italian meal of pizza, pasta, and wine, our favorites.

The next day, it was time to say goodbye. It was quite sad as we had no clue when we would see each other again. It’s hard for both of us as we have grown close and we love spending time together, but due to reasons that are pretty much exclusively my choice (I have no job, I have no house, and I live on a bicycle), it’s hard to spend more time together. As happy as she makes me, I have an irresistible urge to keep moving and traveling on my bicycle. I’m just glad she somewhat understands me, however hard it may be for her.

Thanks For Reading

For the first time in what feels like ages, the blog is up to date. I’m writing this still from Huaraz where I will be continuing soon on my bicycle, following the Peru Great Divide. The route that inspired me many years ago to start this trip. I am beyond ready and excited to see what the road has in store for me.

Thank you all for reading and following along. It means a lot to me to have people read my stories.