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Published: November 14th 2011
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Yes dear readers, your correspondent is back with more tales of derring-do and adventure without any embellishment or sophistry. There have being rumblings that perhaps I – in the past – possibly exaggerated a few areas of my reports, a charge I could not possibly answer without the aid of a damn fine solicitor.
Anyway after I fought off the tigers all was well !!
We arrived in Huaraz by bus and still a bit tired after the trials of Macchu Pichuu ( your correspondent had to spend 2 days in bed with a badly sprained ankle – thankfully his own) so a day or two relaxation was called for. Sadly, as is usually the case in such matters, this was not to be the case.
Our hostal had information concerning trips to local areas of interest. The first was a journey to LLanganuco Lakes. Your correspondent was a bit wary as the name sounded very Welsh and, as will be described later, it rained a lot there. The lakes are in the mountains that ring Huaraz and to get there you have to drive via Yungay.
The minibus stopped at Yungay and we had a tour of
where the town used to be. In 1970 there was a massive earthquake which triggered a huge avalanche. Within minutes 25000 people were killed. Only 92 survived. The Peruvian government has banned any excavation at the site. They declared it a national cemetery.
Standing in the burning sunshine everything was so quiet and peaceful. Was difficult to imagine the terror that was unleashed.
We piled back in to the bus and headed in to the mountains towards the lakes. As has been made clear, your correspondent loved Bolivia. The sole part of that beautiful country was the road network – ie there wasn’t one. Well, in this part of Peru a similar situation exists. The poor little bus was bouncing all over the place, while inside the passengers were being shaken to the core. The driver tried to overcome the problem of the terrible state of the road and the unease of his passengers by driving faster !!! All this on the side of a 5000 metre mountain. Thankfully Wendy was sat on the side that continually perched over the side of the cliff.
As we got higher into the mountains, the clouds started to gather. They
got blacker and blacker with an ominous promise of rain. Was it just coincidence that we were arriving at a place with a Welsh sounding name ?? Your correspondent thinks not.
The lake was reputedly beautiful. All the photographs I had seen showed a beautiful turquoise coloured expanse of water, nestling in snow capped mountains under a blue sky and a warm sun. The reality dear readers was rather different. It was chucking it down and blowing a freezing gale. We managed a 5 minute walk to the shore of the lake, then turned round and ran back to the bus, which took us back to Huaraz.
And that dear readers was our day trip to the lakes. Eight hours in a minibus for a 5 minute run in the rain. The next trip could only be better.
The next day we were going to an ancient settlement called Chavin de Huantar. The Chavin were a tribe far older than the ubiquitous Incas ( Chavin was built 1200BC ) and had far more influence. Your correspondent was thoroughly looking forward to this trip. The only slight concern was the journey. Based on the day before we approached
the minibus with a fair amount of fear and trepidation.
We were fully justified feeling like that. To get to Chavin de Huantar from Huaraz, you have to go over the mountain rage. When your correspondent says over the mountains he means over the mountains. The road zigzags it’s way up 6000 meters of the most inhospitable terrain imaginable. This surface was much worse than the day before and it was not long until the passengers were losing the will to live. Again, the driver had a great time. He seemed to be in a race against himself and was determined not to lose.
The main problem with driving up a mountain is that you have to get down the other side of it. The road surface was worse. Covered in mud and littered with potholes and huge cracks it was not much fun. Add to that the pouring rain and our driver not being able to see clearly out the window, then you can understand his aversion to slowing down.
Eventually ( after lunch of beer ) we arrived at Chavin de Huantar. We were not disappointed. Much of the original structure is still intact and
you can still explore the underground chambers. It was here that I experienced a once in a lifetime situation. Yes, I had an Indiana Jones moment !!!! In the middle of the chambers is the holiest of shrines of the Chavin. It is 5 meters high carved rock and is called The Lanzon. I recommend that you google it and marvel in the same way we did – except from several thousands of miles away.
The whole experience was definitely worth the trip there, but then I realised that we still had to make the trip back and there is only one road. Yes, you have guessed it, we had to go back the way we had come and this time it was getting dark as well. At one point I could feel the bus slipping towards the edge of a sheer drop. Thankfully, for situations like this, I always carry a small puppy or kitten as a suitable replacement, thus ensuring my safety.
To sum up – the trip was worse than the day before but Chivan was much better than the lake. This ended up being a ten hour day. An hour and a half at
Chivan, half hour for beer and the rest in the bus. So much for our relaxing few days doing nothing.
Did we manage to find peace and quiet at our next destination ? Dear readers, you will have to read the next blog instalment to find out…….
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Albert
non-member comment
Well don't you two look happy! What a swell party this. Favourote photo this time - separated at birth:-)