Since Google maps had positioned me off the beaten track, I asked some of the peasants for directions. Strangely enough they were still sitting coca chewing in front of their houses - not only during daytime, but also at night. After all their advice brought me back on track again! Yet the path was steep, it was late and my bed in Cajamarca was calling. This was the setting which led me into a miscalculation. When I spotted the mud hole ahead I figured, the onl...

Distant goal: Cajamarca, where I had a hotel booked for two nights. As impressive as those mountain road were, there wasn't really progress to make on these winding roads with unexpected street bumps and long roadwork sections. - I was planning on a late arrival already; plus I missed the right, more direct turnoff to Chota. So I climbed all the way up to Cutervo.

Finally! Arrival in this condor aerie In the clouds. - In was easy, out not so much. I circled for half an hour and yet I didn't find the exit. I even started asking passerby's, ending up even more confused. Eventually I stopped at the gendarmerie for directions. Here they told me that it would be two hours to Chota and then another four to Cajamarca. Well, you better hurry then, traveler. But it was getting dark, with approaching fog from the pacific, that limit...

In the cordillera negra, above the clouds. I drove through sections of fog with not much visibility. Road conditions getting rough now.

Fertile plains: Peru is famous for it almost 2000 bird species.