Blogs from Ancash, Peru, South America - page 2

“No, I need to take the ice axe, what if we come across a Yeti!?” says James to Marco (our trusty Peruvian guide) after Marco has indicated that he doesn’t need the ice axe for the 5 minute walk around the back of the glacier to install our ice climbing top rope. Marco shrugs and starts walking, probably thinking to himself that this is another strange gringo with strange habits…James bounds after him like an excited kid – or rather like a rock climber who is ecstatic about fulfilling his dream of climbing an ice wall, and in the flipping Andes! James wants it noted that glaciers are classic yeti habitat and didn’t want to be unarmed on his first trip onto a glacier. And so, there we were, back up at 4500m , deep within ... read more

Firstly our bus trip up to Hauraz- eish, seats at the front on the top of the swaying double decker bus plus 8 hours of switch back roads plus gaining 4000m from the coast– made for an eventful trip. Won’t go into too much detail but needless to say that we have booked the more expensive seats downstairs for the return bus! We are loving our time here in Hauraz (pronounced Wa-ras). It is a popular base town for the enormous amount of treks and adventure sports in the nearby Cordillera Blanca, proved by the many North Face branded gringos. We find ourselves being totally gob smacked every now and then when you glance up and see the huge snow capped mountains peeking out from every direction. Hauraz sits at a comfortably high 3100m. We are ... read more

Our first impressions of Peru along the bleak barren coast were now a ten hour overnight bus ride behind us. And what a contrast. Where as a dusty desert defined our last few days, now snowy spiraling peaks and picturesque mountain villages predominated our new Peru. Arriving in Huaraz at 4:00 A.M., we hopped a taxi to the Casablanca Hostel ($15 a night including continental breakfast ) and were surprisingly given early morning check in at no extra cost. We promptly crashed. Huaraz is the place to go for trekking and serious mountain climbers. Just outside town are many towering peaks poking the sky at 20,000 feet and higher. These granite gifts from God seduce you to get outdoors, sign up for treks and spend time wondering how insignificant man is beneath these behemoths. Wasting no ... read more

הגענו לוואראז! יש כאן כמות מטורפת של ישראלים - בכל מקום שומעים עברית - כנראה הם נמשכים לכאן בגלל כמות הטרקים הענקית שיש כאן. פגשנו חבר´ה שכבר חודש וחצי בוואראז ורק עושים טרקים - גרמו לנו להרגיש כמו ילדים (כבר פחות התלהבנו מהטרק וחצי שעשינו...). בכל מקרה, החלטנו להתחיל עם טיול יום למקום הכי מדובר בוואראז - לגונה 69. זו לגונה שנמצאת איפשהוא בהרים, והיא אמורה להיות בצבע טורקיז ומסביבה הרים מושלגים - בגלל זה כולם מתלהבים ממנה והיא מאד מפורסמת. היא נקראת לגונה 69 - משום שמסביב יש מלא לגונות ויום א�... read more

Our next destination... And they say the best things are unplanned and this one certainly supported this notion.... We decided after a bit of investigatory work that rather than head down the coast as we'd originally planned we'd head up first for a bit of high altitude hiking in the second largest mountain range in the world the Cordillera Blanca.... And stay in the city of Huaraz way up in the mountains. Darragh had been there and supported our idea with good feedback about the place so we booked our bus... A day time bus on recommendation as the scenery on the journey was supposed to be breathtaking and it was said to be a bit of a waste if you headed up at night and missed it! Chris at the hostel said give yourself 45 ... read more