Today we headed to the east again to Cajamarca in the mountains famous for its natural hot springs and ancient aquaducts running through the mountains. The road is actually paved and in fairly good condition. Part way across this mountainous terrain a dam forms a large lake which makes for a lovely view with panoramic mountain backdrop. This is ...

Thursday May 17th Cumbe Mayo We paid 20 sol each for tour to Cumbe Mayo with 'In God We Trust' tours, on Plaza de Armas, and our English-speaking guide was Nino. Cumbe Mayo is a Don't Miss, and our choice of tour company could not have worked out better. Nino was excellent. The combi climbs the hills for 20km, to a point less than 10km from Caja...

Wednesday May 16th 2007, sites near Cajamarca After a good breakfast of eggs, bread, coffee and pineapple juice (5 sol for the two of us) in the spotlessly clean market, we found the bus to Otuzco and clambered up the hill to Ventanillas de Otuzco. These are funeral niches carved into the rocky hillside, a pre-Incan cemetery. Very interesting, a...

Today was a strange day, I chose to join a tour of Granja Porcón an evangelist settlement overlooked by God Loves you billboards. I got the impression most the inhabitants didn´t get out much and after trying to get a photo with one of the loom workers, I realized maybe the white devil wasn´t welcome (maybe she smelt the sin on me). Anyhow they ...

For the first time on this trip I purposefully head away from the beach to see something else inland, I am excited. The bus ride is the best yet - big, adjustable seats, aircon and free drinks and snacks! I certainly got some strange looks and had plenty of questions from the locals at the bus station in Chiclayo regarding my huge boardbag. I qu...

after seeing the aqueduct at cumbe mayo this morning, we went to otuzco to see the pre-incan funerary niches carved into the rockface there. the cemetary was more impressive than the aqueduct: it was 337 (there are more, but they´ve been destroyed or grown over by plants) niches in a rock wall that used to have ceramic or rock covers. when peopl...

From Wikipeia: ¨Cumbe Mayo is located about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the Peruvian city of Cajamarca, at an elevation of approximately 11,000 feet (3,300 meters). The location is best known for the ruins of a Pre-Columbian aqueduct stretching approximately five miles in length. The aqueduct collected water from the Atlantic watershed and red...