Get off the Pan American Highway, a long way off it, and into the High Andes—and you’ll find some of the best roads you can ride in Peru!

Most travel destinations are just that, a destination. Pallasca is different. The ride to and from there is the draw, along with the possibility to meet an amazing man when you’re in the town.

Pallasca is a quaint little town high in the Peruvian Andes, You get (as you might expect, in such towns) an interesting old church built in 1650, on the eastern side of the Plaza de Armas. The scenery looking down the mountains and cobbled streets, is amazing.

There are a couple of places to stay. Last time I was there, I tried a hospedaje and the housekeeper told me the owners were away, out “walking their cow for a few days,” so she couldn’t let me stay, although the place was empty! She politely pointed to a green door next to the church: “Knock on that door and ask to speak to the Captain, he will look after you,” and she shut her door!

I walked over and knocked on the door—no answer, but it was slightly ajar. I peaked my head in and saw a short alleyway, so I entered; I got to the central courtyard an elderly man appeared.

“I’m looking for the Captain?’

The man standing in front of me said, “I am Captain Orlando Bladimir Alvarez Castro,” with a deep, confident voice.

“I was told you might have a room for me to stay in?”

“Yes, you can have my trophy room, the room is 15 soles/ $4.45 for one night, it is my best room!”

As always, meeting and talking to the locals can open up a large new world of interesting facts that most likely aren’t in a tourist guide.

Over the remainder of the afternoon and the following morning, I got to know him quite well, as much as you could in such a short period.

He told me that in these areas, he is a very famous man. He goes by Captain to the locals. In 1973 he was told to make this town accessible to the world by car; before this you could only get here by horse, donkey, or foot.

As a Captain in the Peruvian military, he was given the task to “go and build roads.” With help of the locals of course, down to the bottom of the valley and back up, but also two other roads as well. He said his biggest regret was not making it wider, but in 1973 he was the very first person ever to drive a vehicle into the town square.

This was such an amazing feat of engineering he was was commended by not one President but by three! He was given multiple awards for other services, the room where I slept was his ‘trophy room’ full of pictures of him with multiple Presidents of Peru, and he had a funny anecdote about each one, making him laugh, as he recalled his younger years piece by piece.

Why is this little puebla so special, and why build roads to get here?

Pallasca历史可以追溯到最早的时代啊f the Spanish Conquest. Serious studies indicate its name would come from Apollacsa Vilca Yupanqui Tuquiguarac, an important noble Peruvian native who served during the passage of the first conquistadores, thus receiving a coat of arms, according to the historian Felix Álvarez Brun in his book Ancash, a regional Peruvian history.

The Captain told me, “The roads to the Plaza De Armas were completed 10 meters at a time by all the men and male children of the town and they were supported by the women who provided the food.”

He continued, “We would set to work each day and during this time I would go and survey the land myself to determine the direction based on the geology the previous 10 meters uncovered. That’s how I ended up building these crazy roads up and down the mountain side.”

The town is a very original colonial place, one of few in the country, but as in most small towns and villages the populace is leaving and buildings are falling into disrepair.

He told me, “The local people need to respect this town and its heritage. I am retired but I have made it my mission to restore this building as its attached to our church built in 1650. If this building falls down the church might fall down too, then who would come here? No-one!”

Now, if you’re riding up into the town, you should stop, look across the valley, and ask yourself: If you were given this blank canvas what would your road look like and would it still be there today?

These are some of the roads the Captain built … go thank him personally.