Blogs from Huaraz, Ancash, Peru, South America - page 6

Hallo Freunde! Das Team Mittelfranken ist inzwischen in Huaraz eingeschlagen und bereitet sich professionell auf Grosses vor. Die diesjaehrige Strategie lautet: Den Alkohol durch Wasser ersetzen, 12 Stunden am Tag schlafen und Finger weg von der Duenpfiffsuppe! Klappt bisher ganz hervorragend. Haben gestern erfolgreich die Innereien- und Fischabteilung des lokalen Marktes besichtigt, dabei fast gekotzt und anschliessend mehrere warme Mahlzeiten zu uns genommen, um schoen Substanz aufzubauen. Ansonsten haben wir heute eine kleine Wanderung auf 4500 Meter ueber Null unternommen. Leider war der DAV Summit Club und ungefaehr 4000 andere Wandervoegel auch schon da. Nachdem wir uns wie immer auf die Pole Position begeben haben, wars dann noch richtig schoen und uns gings spitze bis auf die fehlende Luft im System. So weit so gut! Spektakulaere News in Kuerze! Roemi und Floeri.... read more

I arrived in Huaraz 2 hours late. Immediately I stepped out of the security of the bus station, I was surround by 5 taxi drivers touting for business of hostels or tours (much to the amusment of some locals standing close-by). After saying no thanks probably 5 times, I started to walk off pursued by one die-hard. He got the message eventually! I decided to go on a 4 day/3 night trek hoping to see more of the mountains than a one day trip would have allowed. I booked with Galaxia Expeditions who turned out to be very well organised and the guide was excellent. Day 1 On Sunday morning, an early start was needed at 6am as there was approx a 4 hour drive from Huaraz to the drop-off point where the walking would begin. ... read more

Hola Chicos y Chicas! So, continuing on from departing Lima...I arrived early into Huaraz to clouds, rain and the cold. It was a far cry from the polished surface of Miraflores and the heat. Luckily I was being picked up by my hostel or you have to run the gauntlet of taxi drivers, tour operators and micro drivers. Even at 6.30 in the morning they are out in force! I had a fairly embarassing exit from the bus, though. I had bought a bottle of water to take with me which I had yet to realise was ´con gas´ (fizzy). So I opened it up after it had been rolling around in the overhead compartment all night and completely soaked the back of the guy in front of me in the baggage queue. Needless to say, ... read more

So we left country number 9 (Bolivia) for Peru, as always were a little nervous about the border crossing (would we have to pay a 'fine' for anything, would we be allowed to cross at all?). It turned out to be another easy (and free!) crossing, followed by a minibus to Puno. Once in Puno, we changed to a comfy double decker bus to continue our journey to Cusco - the starting point for trips to Machu Picchu. As we neared Cusco, the bus pulled over and we began to smell smoke inside the bus, so we all piled off onto the side of the road. There didn't seem to be much hope of a replacement bus as it was 9pm and we were so close to Cusco, so everyone took their bags and started to ... read more

Hola again Amigos and Amigas, Our travels from Ica to the nation’s capital of Lima only took about 4 or so hours in a pretty ordinary bus. 4 hours on a bus is easy these days. Lima is the biggest city in Peru with a population of close to 8 million. It’s a city with many faces. When I visited in 2006 most of my time was spent in the tourist zone of Miraflores, this time though would be very different. We were fortunate to have met a local girl from Lima during our time in Cusco named Ana. She took on the role of tour guide extraordinaire for a day, a long day. We were chauffeured through the suburbs of Barranco, Chorrillos, Miraflores, San Isidro and downtown Lima stopping at will, being presented with a ... read more