10 Days in Huaraz, Peru

View from hostal roof

After a couple of days in Caraz we rode the final 75km to Huaraz. By this time another cyclist we had met in Trujillo, Enrique, had also made it to Caraz and we rode together. We had our first robbery experience on this ride, although not our stuff. Enrique somehow dropped his camera on the road about 20km from Caraz, he spun his bike and bob trailer around to pick it up off the road, but was too slow. In a matter of seconds, a truck heading in the opposite direction stopped, swiped the camera off the road and took off again. Unreal, such an opportunistic crime. Enrique went back to Caraz as some locals thought the truck would be heading to the markets, but he had no luck.

Local school girls

The road from Caraz to Huaraz was riddled with potholes of all shapes and sizes. The most nerve racking thing along this road was the constant stream of swerving traffic, busily avoiding potholes, and thankfully avoiding us as well. Other than that it was a beautiful ride, there where hardly any clouds, and we had views of beautiful mountains in the Cordillera Blanca. Ok, so the beautiful day lasted until the final stretch into Huaraz, where we hit a lightening and rainstorm, thankfully it was only 10km.

We met up again with Carmen and Renate (the German girls) who had managed to ride into Huaraz (from a town just past Caraz) on the same day. They arrived before the rain, lucky them! We all relaxed for a few days, then organised a mountain expedition together. After much shopping around various guide companies we booked in a trip up Mt Pisco, a 5800m peak, with no technical climbing involved.

Climbing group (Pisco in the background)

Trail to basecamp

Donkeys that lightened our load

Pisco was a 3 day expedition in total, the first day involved a long bumpy taxi ride into the national park.. From there we walked about 3.5 hours to base camp. We had beautiful weather and tremendous views of the peak we were to head up the next day. The next morning we were up at 1am, walking over tricky rocks and boulders by 2am. By 4am we hit the glacier, put on our helmets and crampons and started clambering up. We had 2 groups of 4, Ben with 2 guides and another Brazilian tourist, me with Carmen and Renate and one guide. I don’t think I have ever had such cold fingers in my entire life! Thankfully we warmed up a bit as we climbed, but as the sun rose we could see clouds up ahead that were not there the day before. After several hours of very slow arduous walking Ben’s group made it to the top, not that you could tell it was the top due to terrible weather conditions. Us girls decided to turn around, (we found out later we were only about 50m from the top!) but the weather was terrible and we could not see a thing. Then began the slog back to base camp. We all made it back unscathed, however on reflection we had a few concerns about the safety of the operation and made these points known to the guides. We all had some much needed rest and good food again in Huaraz!

Early morning

Bad weather

After a couple of days rest Ben and I booked a mountain bike trip with a great local guy, Julio. Julio started his mountain bike business in the early 90’s, and has had several kiwis ride with him over the years. After meeting at his shop and setting up the full suspension Specialized Rockhoppers, we taxied up another bumpy road for a hour. We rode a mixture of gravel road and single track, also passing through small villages, with amazing views and brilliant weather. The lack of oxygen in the air made itself known and the lungs got another good workout. We rode for several hours eventually making it back to town. Overall a really fun day, and something we will definitely do again in Peru and/or Bolivia.

Bike trail through someone's backyard

Julio (guide) and us

So, as I write this, I find myself tired, again! Tonight we bus to Lima, then onto Cusco, which will be our first long haul bus ride. We will say goodbye to Renate, Carmen and Christian (Carmen’s boyfriend, who is also cycle touring, and planning on riding into and around the Cordillera Blanca, insanely hilly and on gravel roads!). Hopefully we all meet again in Cusco as the girls are also heading in that direction. We hope to start cycling again from Cusco, we will keep you posted.