After a couple of days of riding through the windy desert, I was ready for a break. The guy I stayed with in Trujillo suggested I take a the scenic route to Lima around through the mountains instead of along the coast. That sounded better to me so I turned off the coastal highway and started to wind up into the mountains. The road I took into the mountains followed a narrow, jagged, rocky canyon. The road was rough, with lots of rockslides covering the road in places. The road was cut directly into the rock face, so it was a steep drop off the side into the canyon below. There were also dozens of tunnels cut through the rocks. The rock walls stretched hundreds of feet up above and below. It was a difficult but very pretty ride. At one point I reached a bridge over the river that I figured was completely impassable. However, a man working there came over and told me he would help me cross. He arranged some of the rotting boards and we slowly pushed my bike across, me trying not to look down through the massive gaps. I made it across and thanked him and was on my way again.

The terrifying bridge crossing was worth it though because once up into the mountains, I was rewarded with some of the most incredible views I’ve seen yet on this trip. Twisty mountain roads lead up to dozens of bright blue alpine lakes and snow capped mountains. There are rivers and streams and canyons and the valleys are full of farms and cute little towns with Quechua people selling cheese and honey and handmade goods. The scenery here was unreal and hard to describe other than it looked directly out of a Studio Ghibli movie. It was definitely worth taking the detour through the mountains.