In the high valleys of Huánuco, north of Lima and east of the great white wall of the Cordillera Blanca, an Inca road crosses a landscape of stone-walled fields and thatched farms. The Qhapaq Ñan ran north from Cusco to Quito by way of an inland route, and one of its major administrative centres was Huánuco Pampa, a vast planned town on a plateau at about 3,700 metres, with a great plaza, storehouses and barracks, where the emperor's officials gathered tribute and fed travelling armies. Segments of the road around Llata, in the Huamalíes province, connect with that old network.
Llata sits in the Marañón basin, in a countryside of steep valleys, potato fields and eucalyptus, with peaks above and canyons below. The Marañón, one of the main sources of the Amazon, has cut a deep slot through the Andes here, and the roads that approach it drop thousands of metres in a few hours. This is a quiet part of Peru, with few tourists and warm hospitality, and farmers selling cheese and potatoes at small markets.
The riding is demanding. The roads in Huánuco are a mix of paved highway and rough track, with narrow bends over sheer drops, and rain turns the surface to mud quickly. The dry season from May to September is the time to go. Daytime can be warm, but nights at altitude are near freezing, and fog rolls in during the afternoons. Altitude sickness is possible at the passes, so go slowly.
Fuel is limited. Food is simple and hearty, with trout soup, roasted guinea pig, and plates of rice, potatoes and beans.
Walk a few hundred metres of the old stone road, if you find it, and feel the care with which the stones were laid, still firm after five hundred years.