OK, it wasn't a major excursion, being only around 50 miles from where I was staying, but in that 50 miles I was climbing 2600 metres (almost 8600 feet) and was the first test for me and the Demolition round hairpins too (with knobbly dirt tyres on tarmac!).
This is what most of coastal Peru looks like (and this was taken on the Pan-American Highway that links Alaska to Buenos Aires in Argentina) -
miles and miles of almost featureless sand!
However once we started climbing the foothills of the Andes countryside got much more interesting.
The hillsides were terraced and much more agriculture was taking place.
Rivers actually had water in them - as opposed to the dry riverbeds along the coast that mostly only carried water during the rains
just to show I was actually riding there!
This waterfall was just at the side of the road -
... and the scenery was stunning
The road I had come along running through this valley
And then carried on up into the clouds!
Otuzco is a beautiful little place, it is a religious centre with an annual festival in December - Virgen de la Puerta - and many pilgrims walk the 50 miles from Trujillo as a show of faith.
The cathedral in Otuzco
... and the Religious Museum attached.
One of the steep narrow streets in the town
My first view of Llamas, though these were dressed up for photo opportunities with the visitors (not many around that day!) to the town!
The weather started closing in (it rains a lot in the Andes!) so I decided to head for home, but took the hairpins with a little more caution on the downward journey once the light rain started falling (it also got pretty cold and I wished I had taken a heavier jacket!).
I did stop on the way down for another picture of the grey conditions.
I was very impressed with Oli, despite the noisy knobbly tyres - which made more noise than the engine! I had bought the bike primarily to get me off-road to go fishing along the Peruvian coastline, but based on this trip decided that we would start venturing much further afield!