Huaraz

We were persuaded to take the day bus to Huaraz, but the first four hours up the Panamerican were very dull. Luckily the last three hours made up for it by being much more scenic as the road turned inland and zig-zagged up into the mountains.

Huaraz sits at just over 3,000m between the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca. But it's a fairly large town and was rebuilt in the 1970s after an earthquake so it doesn't have much of an up in the mountains away from it all feel! But it is a good base for treks and climbing and our hostel was full of people looking far more fit and intrepid than us! And on the fourth floor of the hostel there were great even if distant views of several 5,000m plus snow-capped peaks and including Huarascaran at 6768m. Views from the hostal...

The first full day there we were feeling a bit tired so we spent a day acclimatising to the altitude again - we spent the afternoon at some nearby thermal baths - and that was about all!

The next day we went on a tour to Chavin de Huantar - about three hours' drive through the mountains - to visit some more ruins. This time Moche ruins from around 800BC - a fantastic site with a huge pyramid containing tunnels and ceremonial rooms. And a great museum with some artefacts showing off the wonderful Moche art. But it was all somewhat spoilt by the guide from hell who treated us like school kids and marched us round at a silly pace and got stroppy if we dared to stop to look at anything he wasn't talking about!

Next, we made up for our lack of exercise with a full day's walk up to 3,700m in the Cordillera Negra where we could get some good views of the Cordillera Blanca. It wasn't that high but I really struggled with the heat and the altitude.

The next day we had planned an even bigger walk but we delayed it a day as David's stomach wasn't behaving and I was quite happy to have another quiet day - maybe we should have trained a bit more before coming out here! It was worth leaving it a day as we were then feeling much better again, so then it was off for the big walk - leaving Huaraz at 6am, three hours' drive up to 4,000m, then off up to 4,600m! Most people with us were half our age and scampered up, but I was somewhat slower though still made it! Now cooler, the altitude wasn't quite as hard as on the previous walk. And it was worth the effort as the 6,000m peaks around us were gorgeous - and the lake at the highest point of our walk was a spectacular blue colour - the photo doesn't really do it justice!

Once back in Huaraz it was time to repack, shower, have dinner (alpaca, a bit chewy!), and catch our night bus to Trujillo. We were delayed before we started as three passengers missed the bus and then, by catching a taxi, managed to get in front of the bus and sit on the road until they were let on the bus! The police were called and the bus company eventually gave in and let them on half an hour later. We still managed to arrive in Trujillo half an hour early, which we really didn't want as it was only 5am, hmm. David managed to get some sleep on the bus, can't say I did!