Peru....the last month (mainly Huaraz...)

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June 26th 2009

Published: July 12th 2009

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ooshy

Huaraz Sunset

What can I say??? the view from the hostel!

Hi Guys, Long time no speak, write, read. So already in the Galapagos, waiting for the boat, so i think its time to summarize a month and a half of Peru, b4 i forget where and what i did.... Due to different reasons this is really going to be mostly facts and no stories, especially because otherwise i will have to spend a month here at the pc.

So I left Cusco to go across the Andes, a very untouritic route, as everyone leaves to the coast from Cusco. Indeed i didnt see even one tourist. The bus went via somewhere until Ayacucho, a cute Inka city. This was 18 hours. No pictures.
Stayed there 2 or 3 days doing less than nothing and went on 10 hours to Huancayo. Both routs, to Ayacucho and Huancayo, were spectacular and sometimes rollercoaster like, with quite old buses, kissing the edges of the road so that it sometimes looked like we were going down, but we didnt :-)
In Huancayo there was again not much to do, or didnt feel like it, so did a small walk to some rock formations, which was very beautiful. Further walked around and relax.
Next was

Cusco to Ayacucho

the route to Huaraz. For this i could go still thru the Andes, but this was a bit too much after the 19 and the 10 hours...so ths other option via Lima. This meant 10 hours to Lima, in a tremendously beatiful road, going from the high Andes down to the coast. In Lima 2 hours wait at the bus station (you would rather kill me than make me enter this terrible city....4 years ago was enough :-) and from there the night bus, 9 hours to Huaraz.
Huaraz. This was the place to be. The hostel was really cute, with a room overlooking the snowy mountains. I really liked this place. Even the busy city didnt scare me...After 3 lazy days it was time to work again. I met German, the Cilean guy, and we did a 4 day trek, The Santa Cruz trek, thru loads of snowy mountains (up to 4900 meters), lagunas in great colours and shapes, and lovely nature. Great! The grand finale of the trek was on the 5th day, where we took the bikes and went down the mountains, from 4800 to around 2000 meters in half a day, not able not to go

Santa Cruz trek

Day 1

head to head sometimes (he was better...but only a bit :-), which made the ride sometimes real scary and even more fun!
After that a day or two of rest and on to Trujillo, which means back to the coast (see map) in around 10 hours of yet again a thrilling route!!! It was really hard for me to leave Huaraz. Loved it there...and there were another 10 or 20 different treks to do, but well...
Trujillo, second largest in Peru (700000 lonely souls). The city itself is not that interesting (except for one of the best restaurants i had eaten since the start of my trip...). But next to the city, loads of old ruins, and really old!! See the pictures. Says it all.
After 4 days here, up to Mancora, 10 hours, a small coastal beachtown in almost the border with Ecuador. Here it was doing nothing except enjoying the great sea, the most beautiful sunsets, and eating Ceviche every day. Ceviche is the food of the gods as far as i{m concerned, and i could eat it 3 times a day! This is simply semi raw fish, cooked very shortly with coriander, lemon, union, garlic and chili.

Santa Cruz trek

Day 2

Nothing like it. I dont know how life will be without it (well, i will have to make it myself...). German went back to Chile after a couple of days, someone around here has got to work :-) Anyway, I believe i planned for 3 days here, but it became 2 weeks. . I must have been tired of travelling, and the great weather and beautiful beaches just helped me stay. 1 day i took a day trip to Tumbes, up north, where I visited the Mangroves, the Bird island, fool of crazy Fregate birds - a great scene!, A crocodile colony, and finished in the thermal baths. Not bad for a day :-)

OK guys, You've got now a month and a half of the trip. AS I said, now in the Galapagos in Ecuador, taking the boat tomorrow, and will tell u all bout it when I'm back.
Be good boys and girls and god bless America (south america, that is...)

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