Blogs from Ancash, Peru, South America - page 27

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South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz December 30th 2006

When we stepped off the bus at 6am in Huaraz, it was like we had arrived in another world. Because we had traveled through the night, we hadn´t seen any of the scenery along the way. The contrast from the coast to the mountains was incredible. In every direction, huge snow capped peaks rose above the city. we were already at 4000m above sea level and some of the mountains seemed to rise hundreds of meters further above us. Huaraz wasn´t what i was expecting. From pictures i had seen of Pete´s time in Cajamarca and from my only other visit to the Andes in Cuenca (Ecuador), i was expecting to find a relatively cosmopolitan european type city. Huaraz is in fact a very basic market town, full of indigenous people selling the produce of their ... read more
Huaraz
Mt Churrup
Mt Churrup

South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz December 26th 2006

Huarez is located in the Peruvian Andes at 3200m, a great base for climbing the local mountains, including those experienced in "Touching the Void". The activity for the gang was to scale a 12m tall ice wall using crampons (spiky shoe addons), ice picks and natural skill! The ice wall was located at altitude of 5400m, the highest that the majority of people had ever been. You can see the beautiful scenery that was experienced and certainly a change from the arid, blandness of the Peruvian west coast. The ice climb itself was exhausting for all, physically very demanding, but exhilarating successful upon completing the ascent. Cheers and words of encouragement from below enabled people to push themselves further. I was given some words of advice the day before arriving in South America by a good ... read more
Andes Landscape
Andes Landscape
Andes Landscape

South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz December 12th 2006

Unfortunately I was battling a bit of food poisoning during this part of the journey so all I have to show is a lovely picture of the mountain peaks from our hotel. The town of Huarez is located at about 10,000 feet and is about 8 hours north of Lima, not too far from the coast. The peaks of these mountains top 20,000 feet! Incredible!. There´s several hikes you can take up them- most involving ice picks and boots with spikes. I was happy to sip tea and gaze at them from below. ... read more
Frightening Faces Around Every Corner

South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz December 10th 2006

Ross: Ok so we haven’t posted in nearly 3 weeks and our last post about Lima was pretty crap as it had no photos. So it’s time to set things right and let you know we haven’t been kidnapped and dismembered (yet). It’s the 23rd of December and as a wee Christmas treat we thought should really get some posts up to satiate your appetites. Lima & Huaraz I can’t really say a great deal about Lima as we never really saw that much of the city other than Miraflores which is a world apart from the rest of Lima as we discovered on the bus journey to Huaraz. This was also our first contact with the excellent Cruz Del Sur bus company, traveling by bus in Peru is something to look forward too as for ... read more
The Rock...
The Stream
Ross in action

South America » Peru » Ancash » Cordillera Blanca December 2nd 2006

We are in Huaraz region of Peru and wow, what a change from Guatemala! We have been amazed at how nice people are here, even coming out of their homes to wait for a bus with us, and even, on occasion, having students come up and want a picture with us...freak show anybody?!? They specifically asked for a photo with the gringos, which we had taken but absolutely no doubts allowed said we were from England, not that that makes much difference here, everybody is so welcoming. We have done some treking, but with the majority just over 4000m, us poor lowland Brits are finding it somewhat hard to breath...it´s taken us an entire week to fully aclimatize so we can even walk along beside a lake at 4250m and not feel out of breath. We ... read more
funky tree and blue lake
PIramide
From Llupa with love

South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz October 27th 2006

Buenos Dias, Ach ja, sommige dagen zijn ook wel eens wat minder. Eigen schuld, moet je maar niet aan de start van het regenseizoen in Peru zijn. Het is een beetje zoals in Nederland stel ik me voor. Vandaag in ieder geval! Anyway, hallo allemaal vanuit Huaraz! Een regenachtige dag als deze geeft in ieder geval de gelegenheid om CD´s vol met foto´s te branden, cd recensies te lezen, te lachen om Feyenoord, plannen te veranderen, goede koffie te drinken en jullie op de hoogte te houden. Het blijkt dat ik weinig inspiratie heb voor een lang verhaal, getuige mijn getuur naar het beeldscherm! In het kort bestonden de afgelopen weken uit: - Een maffe grensovertocht van Ecuador naar Peru. Met casual geklede douaniers (Duits WK T-shirts) en helse rebel roads - Een trekking van 4 ... read more
Twee Koeien
Slang
El Conductor

South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz October 24th 2006

Huraz Huaraz sits well over 3000m high in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range, where there are loads of peaks above 5000 meters. Once destroyed by an earthquake in the 70's Huraz has a practical feel to it. There is one main road with all the commercial facilities. The rest of the town is residential. Most tourists opt for one of the 4-5 day tours (Santa Cruz loop). But we didn't have the time nor the money to spend doing this so, we set off on our own trek after visiting the tourist agency for a map. Churup Trek It was a full day trek, and one undertaken still suffering from stomach cramps. It wasn't technical but it was long and steep and the weather was against us. The lady at the tourist agency promised a spectacular ... read more
Huraz
Churup Trek
Churup Trek

South America » Peru » Ancash » Cordillera Blanca October 19th 2006

When I first heard about the Cordillera Blanca - Peru´s trekking and climbing mecca - I envisioned lycra-clad sport climbers and gear-laden gringo backpackers swarming mountain trails...mountains fading with beauty from overuse. After an incredible 8-day Cordillera Blanca circuit trek, I can say I was mostly wrong - but not completely! I wanted a solo journey, and with recent reports of armed thugs in the nearby Cordillera Huayhuash I thought the Cordillera Blanca (CB) would be a nicer option. I hitched a combi to Catac, walked up to Laguna Quesquecocha past an otherwordly Puya raimondii grove, and over a nice starter pass (at Laguna Acococha, 4600m). After a first cold, sleepless night with some altitude-related headaches, I continued up the Quebrada Raria and over a 4... read more
CB fuzzy cacti
Laguna Queshquecocha
late afternoon at pass nr Lagua Acococha - oh, my head ached here!

South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz October 17th 2006

Well, we have finally completed the journey from Quito to Lima. What would have been a 2 hour flight has only taken us about 10 days on the bus, but it has been a great journey and I have become a champion bus bingo player. The buses in Peru are soooo good compared to Ecudor (and the UK for that matter). They have beds, semi beds, air conditioning, leave on time, have films that you can both see and hear and have entertainment such as bus bingo. I am a convert although this is South American bingo so is a bit more raucous than back at home with bonus numbers for getting questions right. I have even won a game although I didn't want to shout bingo as I still get confused between the words for ... read more
Bingo
Temple of the moon
Top of the mountain pass

South America » Peru » Ancash » Huaraz October 6th 2006

זה היה ערב חג ראשון של סוכות, ואנחנו קמנו עם אור ראשון כדי לזרז כמה שאפשר את נושא קבלת החיסון.בשלב הזה עוד היתה לנו תקווה להגיע לפני החג ללימה, אבל מהר מאוד התבדנו... בערב קודם הבנו מהמדריך שלנו שיש כפר במרחק חצי יום הליכה מהנקודה שהיינו בה, ושם יש טלפון וגם מרפאה. התכוונו לברר שם אם ניתן לקבל את החיסון במקום, או לטלפן לארץ כדי לברר כמה באמת דחוף שנקבל את החיסון ומה הדרך הטובה ביותר לעשות זאת. המדריך שלנו היה לחוץ מאוד מכך שרצינו לעזוב את המסלול המתוכנן. הוא היה ילד הרים כזה שמעולם לא יצא מכפרו למעט לעשות את המסלול המוכר, וממש דאג מהשינוי הבלתי צפוי ומאיך הוא יוכל לחזור הביתה. לאורך כל הדרך הוא ניסה להניא אותנו מלבצע את תוכניותינו. הגענו ב11 לכפר קירופלקה, שמעניק למושג "מקום שכוח אל" משמעות חדשה. כשנכנסנו לכפר ... read more
Qeuropalca
Qeuropalca




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