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!

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 :(