Peruvian Venture: Fast and Furious

Risked the overnighter to Huaraz

Catching breakfast at Cafe Andino

Boonies in the hills of Huaraz

3.5 days later and I´m back in Lima, enjoying the hospitalities of Jorge Chavez Internationale one last time. It was a whirlwind tour to Huaraz, yet another small mountain town on my trip. 3.5 days was enough to get to know Huaraz like the back of my hand. I can tell you where all the grocery stores are, where the good restaurants to eat are, who the reputable mountain outfitters are, where some good climbing places are (I wish I brought my shoes!), and most importantly where the cheapest coca tea places are (a life saver when you jump in at 3090 meters). It was surely enough time to see the sights in and around the town, but not enough time to actually trek the highest peaks in all the Andes...that´s for the next trip. And the mountains were glorious. Huascaran is the highest peak, clocking in at 6768 meters, high enough to scare me just looking at it. Since I didn´t have too much time, I actually (gulp) signed up for a tour to take me around the area. It´s a sore subject for me, doing a tour that is, because I just can´t stand the type who would do such a thing (and I guess I´m one of those types now). But I was tired. It´s the end of the trip and I´ve barely slept in the last week (you´ll notice the progression of baggy eyes in the pics to come), my feet hurt, and I wanted someone to hold my hand and tell me where to go without the worry of muggers or kidnappers. I experienced my first tour group, which ended up being surprisingly tolerable, simply because I could only understand about 20% of what everyone was saying (a saving grace for my patience!). We stopped at all the little towns north of Huaraz to Carraz (Carhuaz, the new and old Yungay (hit by a devastating avalanche in 1970 that killed thousands and thousands of people), Mancos, etc), which was great since they were all recommended by my trusty Lonely Planet. The highlight was undoubtedly Llaganuco Lake, about 80km north of Huaraz, and one of the most beautiful lakes I´ve ever seen - shimmering turquoise green and blue water with a backdrop of snow-capped peaks - peaceful, pretty, and simply lovely. We had an hour at the lake and naturally I ditched the group and hiked all around the lake (it´s amazingly easy to ditch a group...you just need to walk 10 feet away! lol), up the hills, and enjoyed my time there.

And now I´m back in Lima. Barely. I was 30 seconds from missing my bus in Huaraz (woops...had to get one last coca tea fix. lol.) and the 9 hour bus ride was nauseating (overnight is definitely the way to go in the future). I´m about to roll out my Big Agnes one last time in Lima airport, set my alarm for 3:30am, and hope to god that I´ll hear my watch beep. If not, Peru will have me for one more day. And to be honest, if my dad wasn´t visiting the states, and if my mom & sis weren´t visiting SD right after, I´d probably change my return ticket date and hop on a bus to Argentina. But that´s for another day. I´m looking forward to a real bed real soon and NOT wake up to the sound of roosters at 5:30 in the A of M each and every single morning. Amen.