adventures around huaraz

so i've been in and around huaraz for a few days now. haven't been too impressed with the accomodation here. i looked at 3 placed before choosing one. a lot of backpackers who smoke and drink stay here, which has been annoying, but I have met an american (terra) and a south african (lourens) and have had some good fun. first night here we went up to the lodge up in the mountains owned by the same peoplewho run the hostal in town. a beautiful setting, a great dinner, but too much smoke. the next day the 3 of us for a day hike to a glacial lake. it was a great hike with fantastic sights the whole way. the 3 of us spread out quite a bit, so when I got to the almost very end, i had no idea where to go. every where I went seemed like rock wall, and I had no idea how to get over it, so i waited for hikers closest be hind me to catch up. it turned out the impossible rock face was possible (with 2 people pulling me up by the arms, accompanied by lots of knee scraping). in the end it was well worth it. beautiful lake, sunny day, surrounded by glaciers and mountains. the walk back was a bit too much downhill for my knees, but we made it eventually.

we headed back into the city that night, and the next day rented mountain bikes and caught a local bus to the top of the mountain range on the way to the ocean, and rode down. cold at first, but lots of fun on the dirt road. lourens took a turn a bit too sharply and his face and body ate a bit of gravel. his chin and hand were pretty torn up, but he decided it would take longer to catch a ride down in a truck than it would be for him to ride the rest of the way. terra and i played doctor with toilet paper, water, and duct tape. later on terra and i were walking our bikes down a steep part, and noticed a bike part on the trail. when we caught up to lourens, we found that his front tire fell off due to the missing bike part we picked up. luckily he wasn't going too fast when the 2nd accident happened. all in all he needed two stitches to his face and his pinky nail pulled off. he's quite a sore sight, but in good spirits. today i took off from physical activity, enjoying the views, spending time planning the rest of my days in the north, and figuring out my short side trip to machu picchu. tomorrow terra and i (if all goes well, ie if i don't get sick from all the food i ate tonight) are heading off for another smaller town on the other side of the cordilleras blancas (huari) to hike for 2 or 3 days. and then my time here will be nearing the end :(