Town full of Thieves and Cutthroats

View of Barranca from my hotel window.
Also from hotel window.

Why would anyone choose to come here? To save money on hotel costs!

All Peruvian women mountain women wear hats similar to this one.

Mountain town on the way to Barranca.

Note the hat!

I do love horse drawn carts. They were around in Roman times, but still practical.

I guess this glacier tops out at around 15,000 feet. Spectacular!

Caraz to Barranca – 175 miles

We left the mountain village of Caraz to go back to the sea. My long night’s sleep cured all of my aches from yesterday’s endurance test.
The ride today was all mountain passes the first 160 miles. At one point my altimeter read 13,500 feet. That’s high. Mac and I were a little light headed and rather cold. I was wearing a summer jacket and tee shirt. At the highest point in the road I stopped to take photos of the massive glacier-topped mountain that loomed above us. It may have been another 2000 feet to its top.
Barranca is a creepy little city of poor dwellings and dirty streets. One of our group was stopped by a shady cop and relieved of about $100.00. Another guy was at a stop light and a guy tried to grab his camera. We leave early in the morning for our longest riding day yet – 450 miles.