If nothing else, cycling polarizes the animal world for you. Pigs fall into the ‘good’ category: nothing flusters them, not even passing cyclists. If only all the dumb dogs in Peru would morph into friendly porcines…

Frame bags filled, we’re ready for the climb above Recuay. Plenty of healthy calories packed into this Kola and Sublimes combo.

The Negra’s looking lush at this time of year. The Blanca? Enveloped.

The Peruvian zigzag leads us to the top.

…and we’ve just the odd mine 4×4 for company.

Moody skies too…

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You know you’ve become a Peru veteran when you cease to find pass names like this side-splittingly funny.

We negotiate the mine scarring near the pass, then descend through the clouds to Aija.

The standard Peruvian shop. Soft drinks, potatoes, gas and urea. Get it all here.

The tatties will probably be ready before the washing is dry. This is March, after all.

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Now this was fun. Donkey leading cow on a rope up the street. But they’re not heading the way their owner wants them to, so a helpful motorcyclist sprints after them and herds them back. Unfortunately the donkey decides to go right of his moto, and the cow left… A couple of dogs in audience too, for a change.

Some sheep enjoy the gloom. All very Scottish.

Our plans were thrown up in the air on day 3 when the road we’d planned on taking turned out to go through the Barrick gold mine. Entry by written request only. Surprising that the world’s biggest gold mining company can’t find anyone literate enough to cobble together a better warning sentence than this…

Time for a route change. Not until we’d read all the entertaining signs and chatted to the security guard though. He had lots of great tales about battles with local campesinos who aren’t too happy at having had their water supply polluted by the mine activities.

Our descent to the valley floor brought back memories of the Himalaya. This is classic Nepal, post-monsoon.