Blogs from Ancash, Peru, South America - page 13

The ´Mile High Club´ is for people with a big fascination for remarkably small proportions. Nestled in a North-South running valley, with the lower Cordillera Negro (black range) to one side, and the Cordillera Blanco (White Range) on the other, Huaraz is an awesome spectacle of altitude. The peaks of Blanco tower over the town, which itself sits at 3000m. Compare this to National Park, NZ, at 850m. And in this recreational paradise, we were truly blessed with things to do like mountain biking through local farming hillsides, swimming in a gorgeous lake at 4900m looking up at the ice shelf, and tackling a 5600m snow covered summit, Villunaraju. But perhaps this beauty comes with a price tag for the locals who have a slightly xenophobic streak - more so than anywhere else in Peru we ... read more

All is well here in Huaraz! I recovered from my stomach bug which I feel came about from eating grilled pig in the outdoor market- not a good idea- no "iron stomach" here. Just could not resist- everyone is so friendly and wants you to try their local food. Today we biked from Huaraz to 12,500 ft through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. From an arid grassland to the base of the glaciers in Huascuran National Park. It was full of life-Peruvians washing clothes, bathing and fishing in the streams, sheep/cattle herders (shepherds) tending to their animals, the building of houses and the continued friendly waves that we have received from everyone. It is hard to capture the imagery here and the simplicity. People in these more remote areas farm with ... read more

Hola de Peru! Huarez is incredible! Brij and I came here directly from the chaos of Lima- we were there for 2 hours and jumped on a bus for 9 hours to Huarez. It was brutal! It is amazing how poor this country is and how dedicated they are to farming and helping others. Everyone has been so friendly even offering us change to make a local phone call. After sleeping until 11 the next morning, we met up with the ultimate guys that own a climbing and biking guide service- Galaxia Expeditions. We assembled our bikes in their shop yesterday and repaired a broken part on Brijs bike. That afternoon we went on our first bike ride to 10500ft. Today we went up in to the mountains with our bikes and the guides for 4 ... read more

After 36 hours of travel by plane and bus we arrived in Huarez (9500') last night. The connections were really good and everything went like clockwork, except for the sleep. Couldn't get horizontal until we arrived here. The food ... what can I say. Starting from the bus ride we have been having one wonderful dish after another. It is so good it make me want to take cooking lessons. We had some mystery meat on the bus, and last night I had "Lomo Salt Ado" - beef tips. Jeff had what we thought was chicken, turns out he just found out that he had guinea pig. I wish I was so lucky in random ordering. The retaurant is right below where we are staying. The t-rex burrito was almost healthy, it had brocolli, beans, peas, ... read more

Yungay was reached at warp speed in a taxi one would not have suspected capable of such rapidity, but it was not so fast as to prevent us doing a double-take at the sheep grazing alongside Anta airstrip. My second cheapest room in South America was surprisingly good value for money, with the Bolivian-style electric shower packing a 50C punch at a volume comfortably exceeding a dribble. Shortly after taking the room, a hotel minion arrived to remove the TV, but whether that was because it was broken or because they wanted to keep us in the dark as to Andy Murray's US Open progress, we shall never know. Yungay is overlooked by Mount Huascaran, the highest mountain in the Peruvian Andes at about 6,750m, and is close to a major fault line, so it's not ... read more