Advertisement
From Cusco we took a bus to Peru's capital city Lima. This was just a quick stop off for 2 nights before moving on for more trekking. Lima is a massive metropolis and we weren't there long enough to get to grips with the whole place. Instead we spent most of our time in the posh Miraflores district next to the Pacific Ocean. We went shopping, sipped pisco sours by the sea and cooked ourselves amazing meals after we found a supermarket with gorgeous fresh produce and plenty of European treats (proper cheese and ham!). We also took an afternoon trip into Central Lima where we visited the Cathedral, ate a picnic in the Plaza de Armas and saw lots of important-looking Government buildings. They also sold excellent watermelon on the streets of Lima so we indulged in lots of that too.
However, soon we were ready to move on and caught a bus to take us to the small city of Huaraz where we stayed at the super-friendly Caroline Lodging. We spent a day sorting out our plans, hiring a tent and getting maps for the Santa Cruz trek (usually takes 4 days but we were going to attempt
to complete it in 3 days). We also dropped into the excellent California Cafe and were tempted to just stay there for 3 days instead of going hiking at all!
Day 1 Rain, rain and a bit more rain. We took the bus from Huaraz to the small hamlet of Vaqueria to begin the hike. When we arrived in Vaqueria it was raining heavily and we were sorely tempted to call off the whole thing. However, some more people showed up a while later to do the trek and we figured that if they were going to do it then so were we! Of course all of these other people were on guided tours and so had mules to carry their bags and tents whereas we had everything on our own backs (hardcore!).
The next few hours we hiked through the rain and the low clouds, passing through a couple of small villages before heading out into open country. The going was easy enough, no steep uphills, but carrying the big rucksacks certainly made me feel every step.
We finally arrived at the campsite (called Paria) and gladly set up the tent and set about cooking dinner.
Having been on organised multi-day treks near Cusco we were used to arriving at the campsite and having gourmet meals cooked for us. Sadly, on this trek we had to do all of the cooking on my little gas stove, so pasta with tomato sauce, crackers and tea was pretty much all we ate for 3 days!
After a tough day and with a much tougher day ahead the next day, we went to sleep early hoping to rejuvinate ourselves. Unfortunately this was easier said than done. At about midnight we woke up to the sound of something brushing against the front of the tent. Obviously we were both a bit scared and so made some noise, turned on our torches and managed to scare away our intruder. I ventured out first (how brave am I?!) and we realised that most of the stuff that had been in our porch - including boots and some clothes - was now strewn around the campsite after a bull had attached them to its horns! Luckily we recovered everything and put it all inside the tent for the rest of the night. The next few hours were spent attempting to sleep and
not think about the wild bulls roaming around nearby...
Day 2 This was always going to be a difficult day of hiking - involving an ascent of nearly 1,000 metres to the Punta Union pass at an altitude of 4,750m followed by a drop down into another valley for our second night's campsite. The day started relatively well, with no rain (and no bulls). However, soon after we had packed away our stuff and started on the trek it became clear that the weather was not going to hold for us. Masses of clouds were gaining on us from the valley below and then the rain started. I think we could probably have handled this, but then the snow began and it all got much worse! For the next few hours of ascent we had to put up with sometimes heavy snowfall and the slippery underfoot conditions that were brought with it.
If we had been the only people on the trail I think we would have had to turn around and go home. However, the other group of hikers was near to us for most of the hike and for the final uphill stretch, where the path
was no longer visible, we gratefully followed their friendly guide. We made it to the pass surprisingly quickly and I was impressed by how well we were coping with the altitude. However, the snow was too heavy and deep by now to worry about such things and all I could do was give a little "woo hoo" at the thought that the rest of the hike was downhill from now on.
After a short stop at the pass for a quick breather, we started the descent into the Santa Cruz valley. Despite going downhill, the going was still tough as the snow (which was now a bit more like sleet) was still pouring down. Also, the downhill actually made things worse as gravity was trying very hard to bring us down quicker than we wanted. Both Barry and I slipped and fell on a couple of occassions and I was very happy when the snow finally let up an hour or so after the pass. From there it was an easy enough (although soggy!) hike to the campsite at Taulipampa.
We made an early (around 4pm) dinner and settled in for the night at the highest altitude I
have ever slept at (4,250m). Yep, it was cold!
Day 3 We were awake before dawn in order to get breakfast over and everything packed up to make an early departure. We had to leave early as we were hoping to walk two days of the usual hike in just one day (a total distance of 24 km). As the sun was rising it became clear that today was going to be a much better day, both with the clear blue skies and the fact that we were going to be walking mostly downhill all day. The views were stunning and we were surrounded by snow capped peaks in almost all directions.
We set off at 7am and spent the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful weather, lovely vistas and sense of achievement that we had survived the harsh conditions. Only at one point did we run into some trouble when we lost the path and ended up ankle-deep in wet mud (see opening picture!). But we managed to escape from this and got back on the path after 15 minutes of drowning and swearing. Despite the length of the hike the day passed quickly and we
Top of the pass
With the other group who we had followed up as we couldn't see the path. made excellent time, well ahead of our schedule. We found that it was easy to complete the trek in 3 days, although I am sure that the better weather helped there!
We arrived at our final destination, the small village of Cashapampa by mid-afternoon after reaching the end of the Santa Cruz valley. From there we took a variety of collectivos and buses to get back to Huaraz. Our triumphant return was greeted with pizza and red wine, something we had been dreaming about during those snowy days!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.263s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 27; qc: 123; dbt: 0.1322s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
barrygahan
Barry
I miss that chicken feast!
Just for the record, we shared it, it wasn't all mine!