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The preferred road from Lima to Huancayo, in central Peru, is the Central Highway, and the trip takes about six hours. A lesser known way is through the Cañete and Yauyos provinces of Lima, via Lunahuaná, Magdalena, Alis, and Tomas. This road is now paved up to Magdalena. Yet, the trip from Lima to Huancayo through the mountains of Yauyos is not for the faint of heart. It is an enduring and almost magical ten-hour trip, full of adventure and surprises. The most pleasant surprise, about three-fourths of the way along, is a canyon so narrow that a tunnel had to be carved in one of its walls to make space for the road. Near Tomas, the Cañete river breaks through a near-vertical gorge about 3 m wide. For those in search of breathtaking experiences, this one certainly does it. One cannot help but wonder how such a narrow passage could have been formed. Here, geology married time to perform a natural marvel of hydraulic engineering. We can only admire the constancy with which water chiseled, one iota at a time, the massive batholith of the Andes to create the magnificent Tomas Canyon.
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