All dirt, gentle climb from Celendín at 2600 meters to Cruz Conga at 3300 meters. We got a late start because of the potato truck ride the night before, so when we asked about the road ahead the folks here encouraged us to stop and found a spare room for us at Maritz Lozano's house, quite generous. They warned that it would be colder and colder and that we had quite a climb to go. So we had a very pleasant night with them.

The rest of the climb continues gently another 15-20km or so to the pass at 3765 meters. There are houses along the way, including a couple of bus-stop restaurants, so I'm sure hospitality could have been arranged farther up.