Let the hiking madness begin!

Huaraz and the Cordilla Blanca
Reading about Huaraz, it conjured up an image of Baños; amazing mountains and lots of great hiking. We arrived early into Huaraz and were greated by who I thought was a tourist advisor. He informed us of all the hostels that we should stay at and the tours that we could book. Well, while on the way to the Plaza de Armas our new friend casually strawled away informing us that he was going to go and book our tour, Anna and I looked at each other thinking, ¨What?¨. To add to the confusion of the day, our hostel, the one described painfully well in Lonely Planet called Bellapampa was no where to be found. We asked a policeman, received instructions from taxi drivers, but alas, know one knew exactly where it was. So we stayed at Joe´s place, a rather tall, unimpressive hostel with really unfriendly owners. Joe may have been a cool guy back in the day but these days he could depress even the happiest of puppies. The best thing about Huaraz are the tall white peaks surrounding it.

In order to fully appreciate the Cordilla Blanca we decided to do the Santa Cruz trek. Its a 4 day trek that runs past the most beautiful mountain in the world (as rated by old men, a long time ago). We booked through our hostel and while we asked all the right questions, we realised later on that we didnt actually ask anything about the tour agency itself. On the day, we were praying that the van would come and pick us up at the happy hour of 5am. Galaxy Tours, while having a tacky name, turned out to be a really solid company.

The only thing that will possibly do justice to the whole experience are the pictures. It would be pointless to describe all of our hiking, but there were some things that should be mentioned. The one thing that really suprised us was the afternoon lunch, usually something tasty and filling like tuna ceviche. It was great not having to carry all of our stuff ourself for once, those donkeys definetly earned their carrots on that trek. Once the hiking for the day was finished, we would be treated to a mid day snack of tea, coffee and biscuits to be followed by a really delicious dinner from our experienced chef.

Overall, the food was amazing and the views, some at over 14000 feet were absolutely breathtaking. Along the trek we came across amazing turqouise lakes, massive glacial peaks and a number of different landscapes. But not only that, we also found out that an earlier civilization lived around the area and to get around the valley quicker, they built a number of underground tunnels. They have never been explored due to lack of oxygen, but they are supposed cover an enormous area.




Arequipa
Our intended stop after Huaraz was meant to be Cusco, because looking at the map of Peru it looks like there are roads going straight to it. While there are roads, buses dont actually use them. Instead of going straight to Cusco the buses go through Arequipa which is further south and then north from there. We decided that Lima wasnt worth the trip and wanted to go straight through it. The other dillema was that we didnt know which bus company we should choose to get down there because the bus ride to Arequipa is a whooping 24 hours. We decided to check out Cruz del Sur, the fanciest and most expensive bus company in Peru. Their prices are usually twice anybody elses, but we found out that it was justified. While talking to the lady at the terminal she informed us that Cruz del Sur regularly has promotion tickets on their buses. These tickets are half the price of a normal ticket with the exact same service. We booked two bus rides which ended up costing us 80 soles each ( about $30 ish) instead of the regular price of 170 soles each.

Needless to say the bus ride was amazing. It felt more like a plane ride than a bus. Because its so expensive, the buses are never booked out, so haf the bus is usually empty. The bus attendend wears a crips looking suit and tries to be very professional. Meals include breakfast, lunch and dinners, pretty much the same quality as a plane. But not only that, the buses have two drivers which switch off every 4 hours and the buses are monitored by GPS at all times to make sure they dont stray from their shedueled path. As you can tell, we were pretty impressed by the whole thing.


As described in the Lonely Planet, Arequipa has an amazing central plaza. The city itself has a clean, colonial feel. Its a modern city with all the necessities but still retains a classy vibe. Its call to fame is definitely the atmosphere but also its gigantic supermarket. The best way to describe it is as ¨Peru`s Wallmart¨. It was enormous and had everything anyone would ever need. Being inside their did not feel like we were in Peru.


We stayed in the best hostel of our journey thus far; Arequipa Backpackers Downtown. Not only was it cheap for a big city, the mattress were brand new, the showers really hot with a massive shared kitchen. Not only that, they had 3 tv rooms, 1 play station room, airhockey table and a pool table. It was the perfect place to relax and unwind. It was also the perfect place to meet other travellers and to get the latest scoop on things to do around Arequipa. 


One of our reasons for coming down to Arequipa was because we wanted to hike in the Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world (twice as big as the Grand Canyon)(the deepest canyon is next door). While we could have taken a tour, we decided to catch a local bus and do it all ourself. Our first day we arrived in Cabanaconde, the starting point for the hike. We stayed in a little place called Pachamama because Lonely Planet described it as friendly, upbeat and ran by really cool hippies. It really wasnt that cool and didnt actually feel very nice at all. One of the coolest things about Cabanaconde was the local dress style. While on the bus we stopped to pick up the farmers coming back from a hard day`s work and all the ladies were wearing  amazingly decorated hats. Some were wearing dresses and skirts to match. The hats were all of varying design and were worn by ladies and little girls alike.




 
The next day we got up at 8am and hiked for 6 hours to the Oasis. The first 3 hours are straight down the mountain, where Anna carried our heavy backpack, with the tent and all. It was a spectacular journey, the deeper you go, the more real the towns in the deep gorge feel. Arriving at the Oasis was spectacular, a green and blue oasis in the middle of the canyon surrounded by brown. For just 5 soles each, we pitched our tent and proceeded to spend the rest of the day hanging out in and by the pool. The next day at 5am while slowly getting out of our tent and preparing our breakfast, the guided groups were already leaving. They prefer to hike out at 5am, to beat the sun, without having any food. We hiked out at 6am and pretty much ran the vertical 1000m up the mountain. We were trying to beat the sun as hiking under it would have been impossible. It took us two hours to reach the top where the usual estimation is 3 and a half hours; legs and lungs on fire and trails of sweat that would make snails proud.


In all, Arequipa was a fantastic city and we had a great time. We discovered that we could buy a really good tasting 1.1L of beer for 5 soles ($1.60) and that the markets are far more expensive in the south of Peru than they are in the north. Ofcourse this is relative, where the usual price of a huge mango is 50c (US) and bananas are 12 for $1.30. Its easy to lose sight of the price of things and to bicker about 10 cents, however allot of the time its the principle. Those little ladies are tricky and will take the casual foreigner for all he has.

Our Peruvian route

According to our calculations, we have spent about 5 weeks in Peru, which makes it our longest stay yet.

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Legend

A. Piura, Peru
B. Mancora
C. Chiclayo
D. Chachapoyas
E. Huanchaco
F. Huaraz
G. Arequipa
H. Cusco 

Ruins, beaches and long bus journeys...Welcome to Peru!

Getting into Peru was a really simple affair compared to all of our drama with airplanes. We were warned by our hosts in Vilcabamba that while crossing the border at night was safe, it was a good idea to keep an eye on all of our luggage. They also recommended that we write down the bus number just encase the bus driver decided to drive away without us. Ofcourse, non of that was an issue. At 4am in the morning people move around like ghosts. One interesting thing that we found was that we obtained an amazingly detailed map of Ecuador on our exit from Ecuador.

Arriving into Puira after the long, long bus ride with little sleep, felt like we were shellshocked. It was hard to think clearly and with the swarm of taxi drivers at the terminal we made some hasty decisions that left us red faced for a few days. Just to warn anyone coming to Puira, all the bus terminals are on the main street, it doesnt cost $8 on a taxi to take you around the block. Next, the exchange rate is at around S2.7 (soles) for US1, there hasnt been any crises in the country that deflated the exchange rate. Thirdly, Chiclayo and Trujillo are as safe as any other city in Ecuador or Colombia, just go on!

Mancora
With the urging of our ´helpful and trustworthy` taxi driver we decided to head off to Mancora even though the plan was to go to Chiclayo.

The drive to Mancora was spectacular. We passed through vast deserts, dunes, mountains and ruins sprawled all over the farm land. Mancora itself is situated on the coast, surrounded completely by a massive desert. The town felt like a carnival; lots of colour, people and restaurants to cater to all of the tourists needs. Getting of the bus in the main plaza, the bus was surrounded by little mopeds, everyone yelling at the same time that they could take us to the best hostels for the best price. Honestly, non of those little retrofitted bikes could carry our backpacks even if we wanted to go with them. Instead, we walked around Mancora looking at 6 or so different hostels until we settled on Hostal Posada. It turned out to be a really good decision to come to Mancora. Not only did we obtain allot of usefull information about what to expect of Peru, we were also able to understand the pricing system as the change from dollars to soles plays with the mind. The hostel had a camp ground, a decent kitchen and somewhat warm showers. The best thing about it was that it was just a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Mancora was our `coffee break`. A place to break up the journey and to get our heads around Peru. One thing that we immediately noticed is that internet cafes are much cheaper in Peru than they were in Ecuador, S1 compared to US1. Fruit and general groceries are a bit more expensive. Our greatest discovery was that Peru actually has some pretty good beer. For S6 we were able to obtain a 620ml bottle of Cusqueña Malta, a really good dark beer. Interestingly enough, the price of one bottle in a bottle shop was the same as the price you would pay for it in a restaurant. We splurged a few times on Ceviche and we found that it differs a little here from the ceviche that we`ve had in Ecuador.

Chicalyo

We arrived to Chicalyo in the morning and were adamant on taking it slow. We hailed the best looking cab; a fancy silver, slick looking car. While on the drive our taxi driver informed us that we needed to be really careful with what kind of cabs we caught. He enlightened us to the fact that even those taxis with signs, numbers and official stickers could all be faked. So our strategy for choosing cabs was completely gone out the window. The thing about cabs in Peru is that all to often, travellers would get into a cab, only  to be driven to the furthest part of the town and have their bank accounts emptied out. The solution is to pretty much avoid catching taxis or have the hostel or bus company call official cabs. In general, its quite easy getting around on local transport, there are a million combis going to all parts of the city, they are also allot cheaper.

The hostel that we chose to stay at was recommended by Lonely Planet. While it was family ran, quite and near the plaza, it turned out to be one of the worst hostels that we`ve stayed at. The owner of this place was a really shy and quite lady in her late 30`s with obvious social and communication issues. The hostel was our first in a few ways. Firstly the kitchen didnt have a fridge, which we managed to do without, however what it did have was a load of cocoroaches crawling all over the walls. The bathrooms had little hot water and no toilet paper while also missing the toilet seat covers. Obviously, we dont recommend staying there.

Chiclayo turned out to be a nice city. It had a beautiful main plaza and lots of of supermarkets and internet cafes. The little towns surrounding Chicalyo had allot to offer in the way of ruins and other historical sights. We decided to pay a visit to Lambayeque, a little town, 30 minutes by bus. There we visited the Royal Tombs of Sipan. A museum with the largest display of gold artifacts that I have ever seen. Another thing that we quickly learned is that while Peru has all these amazing things to see, they are quite expensive. All the touristy sights are desgined to milk as much money from the tourist as possible. Happily we discovered that our student cards give us huge discounts, on the order of 70%.


Chachapoyas

Main square

 The reason that we came to Chachapoyas was because we wanted to see the less popular rival of Machu Pichu; Kuenka. Kuenka is a huge fortress located on top of a mountain. While it has massive walls surrounding the city, archeologists believe that it wasnt a defensive fortress, but rather a place dedicated to worship.

We stayed in Hostal Plaza, a hotel facing the plaza with a really nice interior court yard and a downstairs restaurant. Interestingly enough, while having the usual 2 double beds, there was a huge shower built into the
middle of the room, with step leading to it. We quickly learned that Chachapoyas had much more to offer than just the fortress. Just in 2005 the third largest waterfall in the world was discovered 2 hours away from Chachapoyas. At the same time, there are a myriad of other ruins and archeological sites to visit. Another thing that Chachapoyas has going for it is the really cool Mercado Central. There we were able to obtain the local specialty, Juanes, a type of tomale made with chicken, maize, olives and egg. For S1 (or 40 cents) each they were a bargain.

We took a tour to Kuelap, which included an English guide, a really tasty lunch and a long bus ride there and back. In terms of grandeur, Kuelap is massive. As you drive through the valleys, you can see it perched ontop of the mountains. We learned that inoder to build the place, people had to haul huge rocks down from the river floor 3km away, up the mountain. This was the exact same way that they obtained enough water to sustain the population.


The next day we decided to head to Karajia. Karajia is a little town, 2 hours drive from Chachapoyas which is home to really small but interesting sarcophagi. Seven of them stand guard to the enterance of the cave, overlooking a huge valley. Said to contain curled up mummies and perhaps even treasures, a couple of years ago a helicopter took 2 of them away for further study. While they are 2.5m in height, the distance that you can view them from makes them seem less significant and impressive. Its easy enough to get to them on your own, so a tour is not worth the expense.

Huanchaco

Located 15 minutes North of Trujillo, Huanchaco turned out to be the perfect place for relaxing and unwinding. Arriving at the bus terminal we knew which hostels we wanted to check out and how much it should cost to get there. Our taxi driver suggested that the place we wanted to stay at didnt have a kitchen so we decided to stay at Hostal Fiscal, a quite family run hostel. It had a really good kitchen but the fact that it was so dead really didnt inspire us to stay there longer. Next day we ventured over to the hostel that we were initially going to go to, and turns out that not only do they have an awesome kitchen, they also have a really good camping setup. Needless to say we moved the following day.

Hostel Nylamp is located on the other end of town. It has the best camp grounds that we´ve stayed at, with a huge kitchen with all the possible utensils and some of the best hot showers. At S10 a night, it was a complete bargain. Getting out of our tent every morning we were treated to a view of the roaring ocean, palms and the desert behind us. The fact that there was a guy there with a slack line only added to the feel of the place. We spent way longer than we intended in Huanchaco, laying around on the beach drinking Inca Cola quickly became a habit.

Besides the amazing beach, there are a ton of archiological sites to check out around the area. One of the biggest attractions is Chan Chan. A huge sprawling city covering 1000km, was once home to 250k people. One of the first things that we explored was the palace located within the walls of Chan Chan. It has been rebuilt in places, with explanations and easy to follow routes so as not to get lost in the city made of sand. Getting to the palace is a 30 minute walk through what looks like a desert, with crumbling walls and half hidden foundations as far as they eye can see. There are plenty of people offering to drive you around so that you can see all the sites, or tour guides offering there services suggesting that you really need them. Honestly, it was mostly a rip off. All the places can be reached by bus and most of the places offer some form of explanations as to what they are and what happened there. We walked from the palace back onto the main road to the Museum dedicated to the site. Calling it a museum is a stretch as all it is, is 3 rooms, with bits of information, honestly one of the smallest museums in the world. From there we walked to Huancas Esmeralda, a temple located in the suburbs outlaying Trujillo. While impressive with lots of cool designs, its most striking feature was that it was located in the middle of suburbia, a centuries old temple amongst twenty first century buildings.