Two Cordillera Panorama | Tourist Attraction

Peru

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Verified:
over 1 year ago
Altitude:
4886.0 masl
Contributor:
AndreasKramer.ch

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This is an attractive drive. West of the glacier parking is your standard issue Peruvian ripio road... not much to be concerned about. East of the glacier should be passable by most vehicles. We travelled from east to west (downhill)... slowly... in our 2WD underpowered, standard clearance Fiat Fiorino. There was never any point where we thought we might not be able to make it. The most questionable obstacle was maybe a kilometre east of the glacier.

The glacier walk is paved and 3.7km. It took about an hour. There are dinosaur footprints and plant fossils on a short side trail near the lake (look for the rope and four blank orange signs). The glacier was probably more impressive a few years ago, but it’s still worth the effort if you’re in the region. There are bathrooms and vendors.

You can take 2x horse rides up for 20sol but if you’re inclined to consider animal welfare, take note that they tie the horses front legs together in the evening and it looks awfully uncomfortable.

We passed the pay control at 6:15pm and there was no one to collective 30sol per person fee.

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the most beautiful road I have ever been on. going slow because of the unending potholes took us just over 2 hours to get to the intersection of the glacier.

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This is an attractive drive. West of the glacier parking is your standard issue Peruvian ripio road... not much to be concerned about. East of the glacier should be passable by most vehicles. We travelled from east to west (downhill)... slowly... in our 2WD underpowered, standard clearance Fiat Fiorino. There was never any point where we thought we might not be able to make it. The most questionable obstacle was maybe a kilometre east of the glacier.

The glacier walk is paved and 3.7km. It took about an hour. There are dinosaur footprints and plant fossils on a short side trail near the lake (look for the rope and four blank orange signs). The glacier was probably more impressive a few years ago, but it’s still worth the effort if you’re in the region. There are bathrooms and vendors.

You can take 2x horse rides up for 20sol but if you’re inclined to consider animal welfare, take note that they tie the horses front legs together in the evening and it looks awfully uncomfortable.

We passed the pay control at 6:15pm and there was no one to collective 30sol per person fee.

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Came in from those side two up on a motorbike. Has been raining a lot so Pretty wet and muddy in places,a few big rockfalls that would be hard to squeeze around in a big rig. 4x4 should be fine. Took us about an hour and a half with a couple of photo stops. Stunning riding and scenery.

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We did this way during the time of rain. ..what shall we say? We called the Track "pothole madness"...We would not even call it road with it's potholes as big as swimming pools. So far the worst since over 1 year in South America and we are off road drivers and no asphalt cowboys. Our IVECO Daily 4x4 is a brave buddy but we did our cabin no favour with this track. Completely unmaintained road (at least at this time of the year) from the glaciar to the east with massive potholes and rock avalanches that lay as they came down and heavy wash outs. We survived. BUT we totally agree to previous comments....a great scenery...reminded us of Iceland and yes...its a bit like "Lord of the rings like" as previously mentioned. Recommended but better do it not in "tiempo de lluvia"

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on of the best sceneries on south America so far. the western part of the drive and the glacier is not very exciting but this road is stunning. I recommend to start on this side so you can be sure to go in good weather. when it's dry its pretty easy on a motorbike

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we even do it twice. the views are just marvellous. our sprinter camper van 2x4 managed it, although- yes- it is slow going.

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Information for Rv:
We drive this incredible road , the paradise on the morning , the hell on the afternoon . A very beautifull weather to visit the Puya Raimondii place ( where we made a bivouac the last night )and the glacier . We decide to continue the road to the est enter and after some kilometers ,climb a bad landslide . The weather changed very quickly . A very big snowstorm and thunderstorm. We couldn't return , and we decided to continue but we was blocked in a very frezze part with more snow. After 3 hours de snow hadn't stop and we continued to drive but it was very dangerous , a lot of land sliding , big stone on the midlle of the road .
We was very lucky to not stay the night on the midle of nowhere and with a lot of snow.
information: our rv is a 24 feets size from Canada with Rear propulsion , four twins wheels .
Don't come here if you see some clouds !
There had an incredible wonderfull view on the first part of our drive and we could'nt saw nothing at the second part , cause of the clouds and snow....
The locals don't take this road.

Attention , avis pour camping car :
Nous sommes arrivé tard sur le spot puya raimondii où nous avons passé la nuit . le matin nous sommes partis visiter ce site puis le glacier quelques kms plus loin , sous un magnifique soleil , pas un nuage à l'horizon. La piste est très belle et bien entretenue jusque là . l'après-midi ,nous avons décidé de continuer vers la sortie est . La piste dégénère rapidement après le carrefour du glacier , très vite nous retrouvons à franchir un effondrement . En quelques minutes nous sommes retrouvé dans un cirque plus froid où nous nous sommes retrouvés dans une tempête de neige et orages. Impossible de faire demi-tour , après avoir eu plus de dix centimètres de neige sur la piste ,nous avons décidé de nous garer et de faire un break ,attendre que la tempête se calme , ce qui n'est pas arrivé . Nous avons décidé de sortir de ce cirque enneigés et slalomer entre toutes les pierres qui venait de tomber au milieu du chemin . Du croisement du glacier à la route principale , nous avons mis plus de 3 heures de conduite sans compter le break pour attendre que la tempête se calme.
Si vous voyez des nuages au niveau du glacier , ne vous engagez pas ici , de toute manière vous ne verrez rien au milieu des nuages et de la neige . Et la route est vraiment mauvaise .
Nous sommes passé du paradis à l'enfer cette journée et nous pensons vraiment eu du pot sur ce coup là .
Soyez prudent , pas oubliez qu'on passe à plus de 4850 mètres ici ...
Notre Camping car est canadien , roues jumelées ,propulsion arrière . 7,50m 5,5 tonnes.
Nous nous sommes aperçu que les locaux n'emprunte quasiment pas cette route , ce qui prouve l'état de la piste ;)
www.foodailleurs.net

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We did the rout from east to est with a 10 ton camper truck. The views are indeed beautiful. the eastern part from rout PE 3N till the turn of to the glacier is heavily potholed and I wouldn't try it with a "normal" RV. It is doable with an RV, but your RV will hate it. I guess the road conditions in the wet season will deteriorate significantly as a result of mud and rock slides. As mentioned in prior entries, the part from the glacier turn of to the west is better and can be driven by any vehicle.

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We drove the full length of the road from west to east. Easy doable if you bring time and high clearance - even in a snowstorm. Though, in a snowstorm you won’t see much of the surrounding peaks, so check the weather forecast. Nevertheless we really enjoyed this beautiful “lord of the rings”-like countryside.

Entrance fee: coming from west, it is 30 soles pp per day but leaving from the east entrance nobody is checking anything.

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This is a must do ride, incredible views and road seemed to be in better shape than previous posts. Epic.

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Crazy beautiful drive!! Coming from east untill the glacier, i am not sure big motorhomes are able to do this, so maybe check first with locals? It's not maintained, so there are parts with mud, rocks, holes and sometimes sand&rocks that has slide from the mountains which makes it rough to pass through. High clearance is recommended! After the glacier the road is much better, suitable for all vehicles, many tourbusses drive up to the glacier.

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The best scenic drive in the mountains we ever had. Just amazing and breathtaking!!

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Beautiful road and well worth driving the whole thing. It seems like this road used to be a pretty good one, but the portion from the glacier west has just not been maintained. Tons of potholes, washed out areas and areas where rock and soil has fallen and covered the road. We took our time and made it with our 2x4 Sprinter. As others have said good clearance is needed.

We appreciate that Ranamondo comments on all there small roads, however, I, for one, am a little sick of his superiority complex. Stick to the facts man. Nobody likes bumping through miles of potholes, and don't pretend that you do. We drive these roads as part of our journey for either the destination or, in this case, simply the views along the way.

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An incredible drive, and one of our favourites. Passed one car the whole time. Road isn't great nearer the top, but manageable with high clearance and going slow (no 4WD needed). Recommend coming in from the east / high altitude and driving down through the park - it's just easier.

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It's probably the most scenic crossing of the Cordillera Blanca. We drove all 4 (maybe there are more) and this we liked best. WOW

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Road blocked at 7 km from this point. Landslide. We had to turn back 22/05/2017

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Thanks ranamundo for this great and truly comments! We took this road yesterday with our motorbike (200cc, small one), and yes the road is rough, narrow, with rocks and holes, but the landscape is amazing! Just Go slowly and everything ll be fine for you :)

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Breathtaking views on Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash. The road is rough, partly washed out. You need a car with more than average high clearence. Nobody up here. /// Bitumen and Panamericana drivers be WARNED: if you like sealed roads and swear about potholes DO NOT DRIVE this track, you just will not love it!

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