Huaraz, Peru

After a 8 hour ride on the night bus from Lima, I arrived in the city of Huaraz, which is nestled in the mountain range Cordillera Blanca.  These mountains have permanent white snowcaps and glaciers, which includes Huascaran, the highest mountain in Peru (22,200 feet)..

Huaraz, Peru... No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to say this name correctly in Spanish. That doesn't matter. Huaraz, it is one of those places that just seems to suck you in.  People come for a week, and end up staying for a month. I may very well be one of those people.

the pet monkey, Harriet, at the hostel, Monkey Wasi

 My first few days here I spent trying to figure out where to even start. I'm surrounded by beautiful mountains, with endless options for hiking and climbing. But, where does one begin?  I received a note (not really sure how it got passed on to me, other then by miracle), that my friend (a British guy I met in Pucon, Chile), told me to come to Hatun Matchay (a climbing area about 2 hours away from Huaraz). I rented all my climbing gear and went out the next day. We met an American couple there, and all had a great day climbing. We did about 6 pitches, but was pretty exhausted by the end of the day (partly due to the high altitude). I forgot how much I LOVE climbing

climbing at Hatun Matchay

the start of our Santa Cruz trek

A few days after that I started the Santa Cruz trek, which is a 4 day trek through the Huascaran National Park. I was torn whether or not to go through an agency, but by the end of it I'm glad I did.  The donkeys carried all of our stuff. We had 2 guides who cooked all our food. And the best part, I went with 11 other wonderful people from different parts of the world (Canada, England, Israel, South Korea, Austria, and USA). It was nice getting to know each of these 11 people, and sharing stories about our lives and our cultures.

Over the 4 days, we walked 45 kilometers (28 miles). We started our days around 730, stopping for lunch at lakes around noon to eat our "box lunch" (basically an avocado or cheese sandwich, crackers, fruit, and cookies). We stopped each day around 4 with hot tea/coffee and popcorn.  Dinner was at 7, and we were all in bed shortly thereafter.

almost at 15,000 feet. higher then any point in the continental US

The first night was the worst for me due to my sleeping bag (or lack there of).  The feathers in this down sleeping bag served no purpose, as they were all bunched together, and I essentially slept with just a sheet in 25 degree weather. I changed sleeping bags for the next 2 nights and it was much better.

does this mountain look familiar? Paramount pictures perhaps?

a group of friends on the trek

the donkeys hard at work

our dinner tent

It was a beautiful hike, but I'm glad to be back in civilization and to take a hot shower and sleep in a bed.

NEXT STOP: Beach!  Err, that's if I can get out of these beautiful mountains.

Amazon Jungle

Manu National Park

After 2 days of rest in somewhat comfort and civilization, we began our 4 day/3 night trip to Manu National Park, which is part of the Amazon Jungle.  After a long 10 hour bus ride we arrived at our first hostel.  In the pouring down rain, we walked 10 minutes and took a cable car across the bridge to get to the hostel.  It wasn't the most pleasant night, as we all slept in our wet clothes (because the rain had seaped through our backpacks, and got all our dry clothes wet).  The other hostel, where we spent our last 2 nights were much better with somewhat comfortable beds and mosquito nets that actually fit the bed.  

The wildlife we saw in a nutshell:

• cabybara - the largest rodent in the world (a relative of the guinea pig)
• birds - macaws, oropendlas, parrots, cock of the rock (national bird), yellow fly catchers, cardinals, stink birds (that looked like pheasants)
• night walk - spiders/spider webs, frogs (one laying eggs), huge ants, stick bugs. It was just nice being in the jungle and listening to the sounds of nature.
• all sorts of trees (being among the most variety of trees I've ever been), some with roots taller then me

The last morning we went to the claylick, where we saw parrots, macaws, and other beautiful colored birds. The minerals from the clay are a huge supplement for the diet of these birds. 

on the boat to our hostel

  

how serious do i look with my irrigation boots & binoculars

leaf cutter ants

how we passed our nights without electricity

cloud forest

coral tree

small "boat ride" 

stink birds

cabybara

mocaw

a random picture (not from the jungle), but 3 ladies sitting watching a parade in Cusco

Sandboarding and sea life watching

How quickly the last month went by with my great traveling companions (Lilah & Greta). We had a great time trekking & traveling together (Amazon jungle, Machu Picchu, biking the world's most dangerous road, the world's largest salt flats,relaxing at Lake Titicaca, etc.) It'll be nice to have those 2 to talk to about those moments I shared with them.  

So I'm on my own again...As I jumped on the bus from Cusco to the coast of Peru (Huachachina), going my separate way, I was left with a very strange feeling. For the past month and a half I had another half to help with the plan making, the shared experiences, and the company. I know I'll get used to traveling alone again, but for now it is just a bit... strange. I'm on my own for the next 2-3 months. No one knowing my exact location. I'm left to make all the decisions on my own, and control my own journey & destinations.

Anyways, after a long, cold 19 hour bus ride I arrived at Huachachina, a tranquilo little oasis town surrounded by massive sand dunes. This is a popular area along the "gringo trail" because of the sandboarding. I went out with a tour for about 2 hours. I thought as a snowboarder, the sandboarding would come easy. I was wrong.. it is just so different. Most of the group gave up on the sandboarding and we just went down on our stomachs. It was a fun, yet scary, kind of experience.

(stolen from google images) - an aerial view of Huachachina

the cars we drove up in

the first hill we went down... the "bunny slope"

ISLAS BALLESTAS

Another tourist trap around this area are the "Peruvian Gallapogos" or the "poor man's Gallapogo Islands." Either way, it was still worth the 50 soles (apx 18 US dollars to see these islands, and the beautiful animals that live there.  After a 30 minute boat ride we arrived to these beautiful rock formations crowded with sea life (pelicans, sea lions, starfish, penguins, and over 15,000 birds (not exaggerating)).

a group of Pelicans

sea lions!  look at the one on the right, that looks like it hurts.

the masses of birds that were coming from as far as the eye can see
(of course I got pooped on... it was inevitable)

Machu Picchu

 Machu Picchu -- a great wonder of the world, many people's highlites of their South American trip.  To get to this famous spot, we went on the 4 day Inca Jungle trek.  Many people just take the train from Cuzco to the top of Machu Picchu (which is about a 4 hour ride), but instead we hiked/biked most of the way taking us 4 days instead of 4 hours.  

Team Pumas after getting our faces painted. Day 1 of our trek

A local kid showing off his dead rat he caught

a monkey drinking beer

 The 1st day of our tour we biked about 15 miles down a mountain, which I didn't get to enjoy as much as I would have liked. The bikes were a bit sketchy (my brakes barely worked and I felt like my tires were going to fall off).

Greta, Lilah, and Amy

dressing up and learning a traditional dance

 The second day we hiked about 12 miles, ending our day at natural hot springs.  During our hike the guide talked about the different trees and animals in the jungle, as well as the history of the Incas.  On the top of the mountain we did a Quechaua ceremony. Our guide talked in Quechaua, as we all held up 3 cocoa leaves.  These 3 leaves signified the upperworld, this world, and the underworld. Bolivia & Peru are large growers of cocoa leaves. It literally takes a ton of these to make cocaine so don't think I'm getting myself into sketchy stuff here, haha. Many locals will chew on throughout the day. They will chew on them to have energy and lack of appetite as they work in the fields all day.


Halfway through our hike we stopped at a place where we got to dress up and do a traditional dance (which was more or less stomping while our tour guide played the flute. That night we went to a discotecha in Santa Teresa, where I learned how to dance Salsa (however, not quit mastered).

at the top with the 3 cocoa leaves

at the top with our group

Lilah crossing one of the many scary bridges

The third day I woke up, still slightly effected by the night befores activities ready (or, not so ready) to hike another 13 miles.  Most of the group paid extra to go ziplining but because of my previous experience in Costa Rica, going in circles, I chose to opt out.  We spent the afternoon walking on the railroad tracks to our destination, the town of Agua Calientes.  From these tracks, you could see the top of Machu Picchu. After 3 days of hiking through the jungle, we could finally see our destination.  Along the way, we crossed many types of bridges (all a bit scary) ranging from bridges made of 3 logs, cable cars, mini suspension and bouncy bridges.  All off which are over white water rapids.

cable car!

Machu Picchu!!

 

so stunning

at the top of Machu Picchu Mountain

Our fourth and final day we woke up at 4am to begin climbing the 1,726 stairs to Machu Picchu.  Half of our group walked, and the other half took the bus and we all met on the top.  We had to wait for an hour because they weren't going to let a girl from our group in because her ticket said "student" (I'm still not sure why this took so long to get cleared up).  Greta's ticket said she was from Afghanistan and was let in, no questions asked.

After finally being let in, our guide, Sammie, shared with us some more history of the Incas, and showed us around the ruins.  The ruins were incredible, but what really impressed me were the mountains surrounding it.  We hiked another 2,000 steps to get to the top of Machu Picchu mountain.  We spent the day walking around the ruins, and admiring them (and the mountains).  We walked down the 1,726 stairs to catch the 6:30 train back to Cusco.

We had 2 days of rest in Cusco before leaving on another 4 day/3 night trek in the jungle (Manu National Park)