Paul needed to buy some transmission fluid in town this morning (the steering box is leaking again!) which gave us the chance to have a look around the markets where they were making the local straw hats and finely crocheted multi coloured blankets for sale at what in the UK we would consider silly prices.  Two months work to make one blanket nets the maker an income of the equivalent of $40 (or about £28) per month.

Back on the road the rocky hillsides on the way to Cajamarca reminded us of the hills of Wales as the rocks poked out through the green of the hills.  The traditional hats of the indigenous peoples here were tall like the traditional Welsh hats, only pale straw in colour rather than black.

Rising up and down through the mountains of the Andes still we have enjoyed yet more glorious views.  However we were keen to find somewhere to camp before dark as our headlights have made the decision not to work properly.  We have sidelights and main beam but nothing in between.  Unfortunately the first garage we stopped at and asked to camp said no and there was nowhere alongside the mountainous roads that were possible to camp.  We tucked ourselves in behind a small truck that meant it didn’t matter that our lights were being temperamental until we reached a friendlier garage just outside the town of Chilete.

Hardly surprising in the cloud forest we woke to rain this morning.  We feel as if we have been living in the rain for ever.  Well, actually, we have seen a lot of rain since we were first delighted with the tropical rainstorms of Belize.  But that was 9 months ago.  We’d like some sunshine now.

long and winding road

Back on the winding mountain road we dropped down towards the small town of Balsas on the Rio Maranon where we stopped for lunch.  There is much more evidence of husbandry farming here, with cattle, sheep … and yet more donkeys.

Leaving Balsas we were told the road to Celendine was good.  The term is relative.  The dirt road was wider and less muddy, but still a dirt track.

We opted to stay in a hostel tonight so we could get internet access and catch up on emails, something we have not been able to do since we left La Casa Verde in Banos a week ago.

our faithful companion poses among the ruins at Kuelap

It’s probably fair to say that we both have mixed feelings about ruins and we were not sure we particularly wanted to traipse round some ancient archaeological park.  We’d seen the pyramids at Teotihuhan and Mayan ruins in Mexico, and then the grave guards at San Agustin in Colombia.  Were we ready for some more?  The guidebook suggested the ruins at Kuelap are matched in grandeur only by the more famous Machu Pichu, and we were already at Kuelap, so we paid our 30 Peruvian soles (about £3) and set off up the 2.5 km of steps leading to the ruins.  We were a little surprised at first when a healthy looking small dog joined us, keeping up with us and hanging back to wait for us as we walked.

Eventually we reached the ruins themselves and were glad we had made the effort.  The ruins date from pre-Incan times, around AD900-1100.  Inside the walls the remains of hundreds of houses can clearly still be seen, their walls standing two or three feet high in most places, with their storage areas still clearly visible.  The dog that had followed us was distracted by another dog (a bitch) for a while and went off and explored his own interests from time to time but always came back to us, until, after a couple of hours we headed back down to the car park where he finally returned to his ‘owners’.   We decided the hike had been worth it and the ruins more interesting than we had expected.

Back at the car, we packed away our tent and headed off to Leylebamba and then followed the narrow winding road towards Balsas.  As darkness fell we were still a long way from Balsas but found a large flat piece of ground to the side of the road where we set up camp for the night.

We had been driving through lush vegetation amongst the mountainous cloud forests again as we wound round the mountain roads.  We anticipated good scenery when we woke in the morning.