High above Lima, where the desert coast gives way to the bare, windswept grasslands of the Andean puna, an old stone path crosses the mountains of Huarochirí. This is a segment of the Qhapaq Ñan, the great Inca road network that UNESCO listed in 2014, and it is one of the many trails that linked the Pacific coast with the central highlands. The region has a particular literary fame: a Quechua manuscript from around 1600, known as the Huarochirí Manuscript, records the myths and rituals of the local communities, with stories of mountain gods, floods and the great shrine of Pachacamac on the coast. It is among the few surviving texts that tell the pre-Hispanic stories in their own words.
The landscape here is raw and enormous. At four thousand metres and above, the vegetation is mostly ichu grass and cushion plants, with small glacial lakes, bog and rock. Alpacas and llamas graze beside the road, and the sky can be a deep, thin blue one moment and a wall of cloud the next. The air is cold, the wind is constant, and altitude can cause headaches and breathlessness, especially if you come straight from sea level in Lima.
No settlement of any size sits close by, which says something about the isolation. The main route into this country is the Carretera Central, which climbs from Lima along the Rímac valley, through Chosica and San Mateo, to the Ticlio pass at around 4,800 metres, one of the highest roads in the world. It is a serious road, with heavy lorries, fog, rockfalls and sudden changes of weather, and it needs patience and warm clothing. The best months are from May to October, when the days are dry and clear, though nights are freezing.
Fill the tank in Chosica or San Mateo before climbing, as there is nothing reliable higher up, and carry water, food and extra layers. Sit down at the first opportunity for a cup of coca tea or a hot soup in a roadside cafe; the pause helps your body adjust, and the cooks in these places are used to cold, tired travellers.