Huaraz - Gateway to the Cordillera Blanca

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Huaraz is the main stopping off point for travellers wishing to do some serious trekking and outdoor activities in the Cordilla Blanca, part of the Andes and the second highest mountain range in the world after the Himalayas. The range has a whopping 22 summits over 6000m.

Huaraz itself ain´t too pretty so there was no point in hangin´around there. I headed straight out to Chavin which is a village about three hours SE of Huaraz. At Chavin is the remains of one of the oldest cultures in South America called unsurprisingly the Chavin Culture! At the site is a sort of pyramid complex which was built over 400 years from 1200BC to 800BC. Its really quite impressive and you can see clearly how over the 400 year construction period the stonemasonry improved as the building gets higher. It also shows that the Incas´stonemasonry skills (1500 years later), as evidenced in Cusco and Machu Picchu, evolved from the Chavin culture. Within the ruins is a complex labyrinth of passageways which are in remarkable good shape given they are c2500 years old!

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