Blogs from Huaraz, Ancash, Peru, South America - page 7

What can I tell you about our happenings, since my previous entry, that was made even before we have taken the flight to start our journey - so many things have happened. Well, Since Nitzan wrote you a little about our flights to Lima, and about our stay in Lima, I will jump directly to our last week, spent in Huaraz, situated 8 hours north of Lima. Well, first, I am happy that I can write you, that means I came back from the “Santa Cruz" trek. Though I am back, I cannot say I am in one piece, because I have just learned about the existence of muscles I was not aware I have in my body - and now that they are aching and contracted, I have come to know them. Nitzan is writing ... read more

Huaraz, Yungay, Vaqueria, Cordillera Blanca, Cashapampa and Caraz - 13th to 19th of Feb. After our trip to the seaside, we headed back towards the mountains, to Huaraz to be precise. Huaraz is quite high up, 3052 metres (10,013 feet) above sea level, and it's meant to have some of the best trekking in the South America, if not the world. Obviously, this was right up Richard's alley. It's in a really beautiful location, bordered by the Cordillera Blanca, so called because of the snow capped mountain peaks, on one side. The Cordillera Negra, on the other side, protects the Cordillera Blanca from the winds coming from the ocean. We made our journey to Huaraz by night bus, arriving around 8am. The bus company really did know how to make buses - big leather seats ... read more

Well, last weekend I went to the hot desert in Huacachina and this weekend it was the complete opposite, as Christine, Kristine and I went to Huaraz and into the mountains! We started the weekend off by going paragliding on Thursday afternoon in Lima. It was totally awesome to jump off a cliff and be sucked up into the air by the wind. I did some tricks swirling over the ocean and swooped precariously close to the cliffs, it was great. We left on a ¨red eye¨ bus ride at 10pm on Thursday evening and arrived in Huaraz at the delightful time of 6:30am the next morning. We took Cruz del Sur, arguably the nicest bus company in Peru, so the trip was pretty good. In fact on the way there, we sat at the very ... read more

The ´Mile High Club´ is for people with a big fascination for remarkably small proportions. Nestled in a North-South running valley, with the lower Cordillera Negro (black range) to one side, and the Cordillera Blanco (White Range) on the other, Huaraz is an awesome spectacle of altitude. The peaks of Blanco tower over the town, which itself sits at 3000m. Compare this to National Park, NZ, at 850m. And in this recreational paradise, we were truly blessed with things to do like mountain biking through local farming hillsides, swimming in a gorgeous lake at 4900m looking up at the ice shelf, and tackling a 5600m snow covered summit, Villunaraju. But perhaps this beauty comes with a price tag for the locals who have a slightly xenophobic streak - more so than anywhere else in Peru we ... read more

All is well here in Huaraz! I recovered from my stomach bug which I feel came about from eating grilled pig in the outdoor market- not a good idea- no "iron stomach" here. Just could not resist- everyone is so friendly and wants you to try their local food. Today we biked from Huaraz to 12,500 ft through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. From an arid grassland to the base of the glaciers in Huascuran National Park. It was full of life-Peruvians washing clothes, bathing and fishing in the streams, sheep/cattle herders (shepherds) tending to their animals, the building of houses and the continued friendly waves that we have received from everyone. It is hard to capture the imagery here and the simplicity. People in these more remote areas farm with ... read more