finished my northern explorations

Terra and I left Chacas on a 7am bus that left at 8:30am. The ride back to Huaraz was quite possibly the most amazing ride ever. At first it was heading near a glacier, which was exciting enough. And then even closer. And then even closer until we were right beside it an able to see into the morraine and catch a glimpse of an amazing turquoise lake at the end of ever switchback. The locals must have been highly amused at the flurry of pictures I was taking during concentrated turns. After the first glacier, we headed underneath another, and again went up and up until we had a pee stop between two more glacial lakes. I remember looking up at some peaks high above one of the lakes, and noticing a weird horizontal topped rockslide (hard to describe in words) between two minor peaks. Because of the switch baks it was really hard to tell where the road was headed next, and eventually I realized it was heading to that rockslide bit. That was the 4800m+ pass to get us to the otherside of the Cordilleras Blancas. I was giddy with glee it was so exciting. The otherside was fantastic too...more snow capped peaks with intense glaciers, but this time we could see the switchbacks below us. I have some great pictures of that. Just a really great bus ride. Back in Huaraz we took the necessary showers and did the urgent laundry. Terra had been sick the night before in Chacas, so we were trying to get better through excellent hygiene, charcoal pills, and clean water. We had quite an appetite (me for pancakes ofcourse, can't get enough of them whilst on vacation) and ordered 3 huge breakfasts between the 2 of us for dinner. We didn't quite make it through, but it was a great effort overall.

The next day I was trying to decide between going back to the cool ranch I stayed at in Carhuaz for a peaceful night, or up to the smoky lodge where although it would be, yes, smoky, I would get to party with some great people I had met in Huaraz, before heading on an overnight bus to Lima in order to fly to Cusco. I ended up doing the social thing. A bit of wine on a healed digestive system, some dancing, and general socializing at a pirate-themed party ended up being a great way to send off Huaraz. Due to a 2am egging of the lodge owner, I once again did laundry in the city the next day, followed by watching some movies with some key people from my stay in Huaraz.

And then I was off. Night bus to Lima, trying to fall asleep next to an middle aged overweight man (you couldn't create a better snorer prototype if you tried). Taxi to the airport. When I checked in for my 9am flight (all paper and pen with this airline) they aksed if I wanted to jump on the 8am flight instead. I did. Arrived in Cusco. Grabbed a local bus to Urubamba. And now here I am. Did a bit of exploring today, trying to find some salt terraces via a combi (I swear 3 different people confirmed that the van was going to where I wanted to go) but was unsuccessful. Found some great food. Off to Aguas Calientes tomorrow on a train, and then I'll be able to do the standand Peruvian tourist destination - Machu Picchu. Can't go to Peru and miss that. I can't believe I'll be back home in less than 5 days!