Huaraz heights and adventure!

Posted on January 22, 2013 by bexbatorio

I left La Paz via plane for Lima for a night to recoup and plan the next segment of my trip. As I’m back in Lima later in the year I was not too concerned with using my time wisely and other than visiting the Huaca Pucllana ruins, a very good Pisco sour and some local market cerviche that was about the sum of my sight seeing/experience in Lima before I took a nightbus north to Huaraz.

Huaraz is the capital of the Ancash area, and the main city in the Cordillera Blanca region the second highest mountain range after the Himalyas. My initial plan was to go on three one day hikes, and as I arrived at 6am originally thought I’d be able to go out straight that day. Luckily (I’ll explain later) I’d slept particularly badly on the bus so decided against that and was able to check into my small hostel which was nearly empty as its low season and get my head down for a few hours. In the afternoon I had a bit of a wander and checked out the local food market with cows heads and guinea pigs amongst other delicacies. The guy that ran my hostel was a pretty amusing character who also ran a Pizzeria in town, that evening myself and a Brazilian chap who’d come in on the same bus as me had dinner there and a free shot of Coca spirit to help with the altitude. After La Paz I was wandering around Hauraz feeling pretty ok, and thought I must have had handle on the altitude…….

Next morning myself, the Brazilian chap and a Scottish lad who was working at the hostel were all collected by minibus at six am for a trek. After ten minutes the bus stopped and we were transferred into a pretty ropey looking car which we all thought was going to be a bit of a disaster but the driver turned out to be really interesting and funny. The first hour of the transfer was just along a normal road through smaller connecting towns and villages. We were driving through the valley between the cordillera Blanca and Negro and the early morning sun hitting the snow capped mountains made for some stunning vistas, our driver stopping in places so we could take photos. After we reached the town of Yungay we turned off and started to climb a very twisty track through small farming communities, it was very slow going and took longer than we had anticipated but passing through the rural landscape seeing families in traditional clothing made the journey interesting. After a further hour we reached the entrance to the Huascarán National Park. After paying our entry we continued on very slowly as the road cut through a steep valley and we climbed higher and higher. All of a sudden we were driving along side a aqua marine Laguna, which quite literally took our breath away, having stopped for a few photos we continued and reached a second blue lake. A further five minutes drive and we were finally at the start of the trek, now 9.30am and all ready at 3850 metres.

I’d already said that I thought I would be a bit slow with trekking at this height and I could not have underestimated that more! The Scottish chap had been in town for a few more days than both of us, and also a far more experienced hiker was off like a whippet, and within twenty minutes the Brazilian guy had moved out of my sight also. The first few km were not even really uphill but just to keep my breathing even was a mission. The landscape was beautiful, lush green pastures with very chilled out cows and on all sides snow capped mountains and waterfalls rushing down. Then came the first climb and when I saw how far up the mountain the Scot was I was thinking how on earth am I going to get this done. It was pretty hot so a changed into my shorts with literally no one else around to see. This first series of zigzags I was managing to walk for about a minute max before having to sit and catch my breath, on the plus side I took lots of photos whilst sat. The Brazilian guy was now at least twenty minutes ahead of me and had our big bottle of water, I had nearly drunk all my small bottle but was able to refill at a waterfall. Eventually I reached the top of that section to another plateaued pasture with more chilled cows.

On the other side of the plateau was a sheer black cliff and two the left I just caught the last glimpse of the red T-shirt of the Brazilian guy disappearing over another steep section. It was amazing how for the twenty minutes it took me to cross this flat section my breathing was completely fine, and then as soon as I started the second steep section I was complete floored again. By this point I was trying to get to fifty paces in before letting myself stop but half the time I couldn’t even manage that. I’d now been walking only for three hours, but that was the time to have expected to reach the final lake. I had no indication that this zigzag climb I was on was the final climb or not and as I STRUGGLED on had said to myself that if when I reach top of this bit and the lake was still further up I was simply not going to be able to make it. I don’t want to sound overdramatic about this, but I’ve never never felt anything like this, a complete inability just to walk a few steps!! As a reached the top of the final zag the aqua blue Laguna 69 came into view! I was so relieved I just stumbled to the edge and pretty much collapsed. This is why I mentioned it was lucky I was so tired the day before and hadn’t attempted a trek on day one, I think I would have point blank failed. The Brazilian guy had been there at least half an hour, and the Scot had actually had time to walk up to a higher point and back a further 1.5km. The laguna was at 4600 metres! I know I seem to have banged on a lot about heights lately from Bolivia etc, but just to put into perspective: highest mountain in the UK Ben Nevis 1344 metres, and probably the highest I’d been in Europe before skiing on the Grand Montt in L’Espace Killy at 3450. We had lunch by the lake and took plenty of photos, this is view I want to remember not just for its beauty but a sense of achievement too! We journeyed back down together and I was able to keep up, amazing what the effort of uphill does to you…going down was fine. We were really lucky as we had sun and blue skies all day, this being rainy season. I’ve since met some other people who’d been in a group of ten, and only three of them reached the Laguna so I don’t feel quite so pathetic! The drive back seemed to take even longer and we were all pretty beat. After showering we had a three course meal for £1.5 including grilled trout. The Brazilian guy left on the night bus and it was an early night for me.

Next morning I was at a tour office for 9am for a mountain bike ride, which should have been with two other punters but they didn’t show. So it was just me and my guide Charlie. I had assumed we’d be taken by agency transport to our starting point up in the Cordillera Negra, no. First we cycled through the town and the market where he bought various items for our packed lunches. Then we stopped and he started to dismantle out bikes next to a very battered estate car that was parked on an incline with a rock under the back tyre to keep it rolling back. There were already two ladies and a baby in the back seat, and I couldn’t see how our two bikes and us would fit in….we did plus another young lad. So that was six adults, a baby and two mountain bikes……I appreciated being told to sit in the front…and I hadn’t even called shotgun! We left Huaraz and started to climb the Negra side, loosing all the other passengers after half an hour. I’d all ready told Charlie that I’ve only been mountain biking three times, and as it was just the two of us he said he’d tailor the route to my ability. The guy who we took a lift with actually worked for a mobile phone company which had a signal pylon right at the very top of the hill, so we rode all the way with him to the summit. Normally the ride would start a bit lower down, so we “sort of” lucked out being able to go this bit higher and Charlie had never been before so the first section was an “adventure” as he put it for both of us! I also say top of the hill…that was still back up to 4000metres!

First five minutes on a dust track no problems, my bike wasn’t as amazing as La Paz death road, but it was still decent. Then it was time to go cross country into a field, on leaving the track I immediately went straight over the handle bars as I wasn’t used to having such a low bike and the bottom bracket axle caught the lip of the track as I crossed over. I landed in a heep, a little winded and embarrassed and in my usual style professed to being completely fine and we carried on. I was really glad for the gloves, helmet, and knee and elbow guards. On later examination I’ve got a massive bruise on my inner thigh, my left tit, broke a finger nail and a bump on my head to. For this first sector which he’d never done either, it was pretty hard as we dodged rocks, very tough tufts of grass, slightly boggy areas and then came upon an area we they were planting small trees and every metre were cereal sized box holes three foot deep. After a while with both of us nearly falling in the holes we had to walk a final five minutes to get back to the main road, unfortunately walking through the prickly grass tufts has given me the effect of razor rash on my legs. The next section was back on the hard road and I sped off assuming Charlie was behind me, I stopped after five minutes beside a family farming on a plot of land and waited…and waited. Still no Charlie, and then the families’ dogs descended on me barking, I sped off round the next bend with the dogs still chasing bricking it and grateful I did get that rabies jab. Having lost the dogs I saw Charlie up ahead who’d cut down through the last zigzag hence I hadn’t seen him. On the road he’d slipped on his peddle which had them badly whacked his ankle and he had a lump the size of an egg protruding. So less then half hour in we were doing pretty well between us!

Over the next four hours as we descended back to the town we traversed through and down fields, dirt tracks, stone paths, steep rocky streets, were chased by more dogs and passed by more farming families and I got to see rural peru first hand. I didn’t fall off again, but had several more near misses. From a biking perspective, having bragged about how awesome I thought I was at death road La Paz….this was a totally different ball game and way harder. The death road cycle itself is actually pretty easy and consistent and not really physically challenging. Whilst still downhill for the most parts this was far more technical and demanding on the body and I could really feel it. I think I improved a lot during the day understanding when I needed to be stood up and leaning back etc. I was glad I didn’t let my initial donkey move freak me out.

We stopped by a small families’ group of stone huts for our lunch. An elderly lady was herding some sheep outside and Charlie knew her mother who he thought would be inside. I felt slightly intrusive but the daughter (about sixty) showed us into the yard between the brick houses which was literally a pigsty and then into the house/room her mother was in. The smell was the first thing that hit me, down to the fact that in this small dark room was about thirty guinea pigs and six kittens, I could hardly see as it was so dark but in the corner of the room on a makeshift bed was her mother about eighty years old. She was tiny, and can now barely walk. I was unable to understand her, as she spoke Quechua not Spanish, but she invited us to spend the night at her house. At night the place work be freezing cold as they barely had panes in the window and huge gaps in the stone work. I gave her my biscuits and Charlie said he’d return with some basic medicine when he was there next. When we left I asked if I could leave some money for them, but he said where they were was so remote to shops that it wouldn’t be practical and its better to give things. I gave the rest of my lunch to the daughter and she shyly allowed to have a photo taken with me. We passed another family Charlie knew and he let the fifteen year old son have a cycle on his bike, and the two younger siblings let me photo them with Charlie. In Bolivia and Peru the traditional clothing and hats that a lot of women still wear has been really interesting and something I’d like to share a bit more but it’s very intrusive to take photos without asking and often my request is declined understandably.

From what I originally thought was just going to be a downhill bike ride, the day had turned out to be so much more. It was great being the only person, and I had whole day only speaking Spanish and Charlie was able to explain a lot if the Peruvian Quechuan culture to me. He also spoke Quechua which when we met people in the rural areas was necessary. The biking itself superseded my expectations both in difficulty and fun, and what I saw was far more interesting then just beautiful views across to the Cordillera Blanca. Definitely up there as one of my favourite days on my trip so far.

That evening I was getting another night bus down to the coast and as I didn’t have too much to do ended up helping the guy who ran my hostel along with some of his friends move a bar and a fridge from his restaurant which he’d had to close the night before as his lease was up. It was pretty surreal stood up in the back of a pick up truck holding a fridge from falling back driving up a hill in the city. After helping the Scot guy and I helped ourselves to the food that was from the restaurant and made a massive pizza….in attempt to put me in a food coma for my night bus!

Like some other places I’m gutted I only had two nights here, and if I continue to enjoy hiking or get more into biking or start climbing this would definitely be a location I’d come back to for a few weeks holidays in the future. There is four day trek in the area “the Santa Cruz”, which if you are a serious hiker coming through Peru must definitely be on your list. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been so far for sure!

Silliness on the Salt flats

Posted on January 21, 2013 by bexbatorio

As promised link to the video we made on the salt flats. Excuse expletive lyric content and general silliness! We had a lot of fun….

http://vimeo.com/m/57812472

La Paz madness

Posted on January 20, 2013 by bexbatorio

La Paz was my final stop with my tour, and also my final destination in Bolivia. We arrived after a twelve hour bus journey early in the morning. Coming into at La Paz is unlike anywhere else I’ve been, the city is inside a huge basin and at just below 4000metres the highest capital in the world. The neighbouring town of El Alto hosts La Paz’s airport has a runway twice as long as normal as the air is so thin it does not provide enough resistance to slow the planes. The buildings cover and climb the huge basin, and in the distance snow capped Illimani at 6402. The outskirts of the higher end of the city are very poor, and then as you descend lower the buildings and the people change, the rich white people choosing to live lower down where it’s slightly less cold. It’s a city of striking contrasts with some beautiful old buildings surrounding by ugly blocks and sprawling red brick Lego houses. And like many other places the gap between rich and poor is unashamedly evident.

We spent our first day exploring the central market areas, including the witches market and climbed to a couple of miradors. Again having enjoyed the lower altitude of La Serena we were all back to gasping for breath especially as the city sits in a deep V shape and as soon as you start to climb the lack of oxygen is a killer. The witches market is a small area of shops where you can buy amulets, spells, and cures for luck, love, money, asthma, impotency and depression. One of the most shocking items they have to sell are dried llama babies, these are actually foetus of still born lamas and with other items are buried under your house for Pachamama to ask for good-luck. It felt a bit touristy but I saw quite a few genuine local customers buying items so definitely still a business for the witches. La Paz is also a great place for shopping for alpaca and silver, and a few of us girls made the most of it.

Day two, three of us did death road bike ride (see previous post), on our return the group went out for our last supper to a great Thai restaurant owned by a friend of our guides. I opted for a spicy curry thinking it would be like in Argentina were there are very little spices and their version of spicy would still be mild….I was WRONG! Still very tasty but think I managed to sweat all of my makeup off with everyone asking if I was ok every bite. It was a little bit of an emotional meal with everyone saying how great our group had been and what a brilliant time we’d all had. Having been quite worried about the tour before hand, all of my concerns we dismissed and I’d had way more fun, done far more things, and most all met some great people. So thank you Nancy, Deanna, Erika, Laurie and Tony!! We headed to a club for a few hours, but after the big meal and the bike tour we were pretty shattered.

Next morning the group dissolved heading their various ways, myself and Tony were both hanging round La Paz for a few more days, he waiting for his girlfriend and me just to enjoy the city a bit more. He convinced me to stay in one of the notorious big party hostels for my extra four nights, not my usual style at all, but thought why not. We chose Wild Rover..yep massive Irish bar at the centre of the place, luckily our room was only a four bed and off a courtyard far from the bar area so not too mental.

That afternoon we met up with out tour guide who had a free day, and we descended a seventeen storey hotel block face forward. It was one of those things I didn’t think about until I got up there and looked down and then thought “WTF!”. Myself and Nancy were pretty nervous about it. We all opted for the fancy dress suits versus the standard orange jumpsuit; Batman, Spider-Man and a a podgy Cat women. We had a practice inside on a small ledge and then it was time. Nancy went first and her fear on the ledge fully transferred to me, once she was moving she was off and the final twenty metres you let go of the rope and jump away from the wall to free fall before they stop you three metres from the bottom. I was up next and standing on the ledge looking down was pretty frikin scary… I didn’t hang around the top to long and once moving was fine too, I went down pretty quick so the guy taking photos only got one of me! Tony was fine, having done quite a bit of climbing previously and leapt down. It was really exhilarating, and a great view of the city from the top to. We said a final goodbye to Nancy before grabbing a siesta for our first night at the party hostel. We had a few drinks at the hostel before heading out to a better bar with some others, our taxi driver was an absolute lunatic even by South American standards. At one point we all thought we were being driven somewhere totally dodgy to be robbed and being a bit paranoid I started hiding my money in my shoes. It was fine, he was just a mental driver….

Following day after a late start we took a taxi to the highest golf course in the world. On the way we drove into the lower end of the town where the rich live in gated communities with tennis and horseriding clubs, it’s quite the contrast to the upper parts of the city. The golf course is up on hill nestled into the valley of the moons, and the entrance and location to the course is amazing! We were just there to muck around on the driving ranges, a bit of chipping and putting. I’ve not picked up a club for at least four years and after a first fluke good shot was utter pants. The back of the driving range was a cliff, whacking a ball into was pretty satisfying…all though I think only one of my shots got that far! It was a pretty surreal place to be after the intensity and chaos of the city.

Sunday afternoon after a meandering morning in the markets we went to check out Cholitas wrestling. This is something unique to La Paz, a little like WWF but even more light hearted and pantomime like. And the clincher is its not just men fighting, but women too…and not just with each other but with men also…plus the referee gets involved. It was hilarious! All the locals sit on levels of benches around the hall, and then all the tourists get the “ringside” seats, plus “free” snack, drink and souvenir postcards. I’m sure the locals paid less then fifty pence to see what cost us including transport a relative small fortune in their terms. It was definitely worth it, one of the oddest things ever. We met a couple of people on the bus, and returned to the Thai place a group of twelve for dinner…I learned from my previously mistake and girled out with a mild Malaysian curry this time. What should have been a fairly quiet Sunday night ended up in some dodgy lowlight bar till stupid O’clock and consequences were paid by all the following morning.

My last days total productivity in La Paz involved finding a Internet cafe to print my e-ticket for my following very early morning flight and packing. So my experience of the party hostel was actually ok, partly as we didn’t really hangout in the hostel too much. From a facilities side of thing, the bathrooms were spotless, every shower I had was hot (rare in La Paz),the beds huge and with duvets! Yippee! Downside for us despite being in a quiet room was our other two roommates who snored the whole night!! Ear plugs were our saviour!

So La Paz was a city of something for everyone, culture, shopping, restaurants, thrill seaking, and partying and I think I ticked all those boxes! Unfortunately I only ended up spending two weeks in total in Bolivia, and can’t believe the things I saw and did there. From the deserts, lagunas, quebradas, valleys, salt flats, highest city of Potosi, Colonial Sucre, diversity of La Paz and all the activities we did it was an amazing and fun packed time for me.