Finding Utopia in Huaraz, Perú

Disclaimer: This will be my last blog post although it was hardly near the end of my trip. This is for several reasons. First, as most of you know, I’m back living in The States and this year long South America adventure has come to an end at this time in my life. Secondly, I’ve noticed I ran out of space for uploading pictures and unfortunately, if you read old blog posts, some of my pictures will be deleted. However, I do plan to upload pictures of some sort and make some Facebook photo albums to portray the rest of my adventure: Submitting a mountain peak of 5,750 meters, family trip to Machu Picchu, travel through Bolivia for a month where Lorena and I were reunited, a month volunteering as a Spanish speaking bilingual speech-language pathologist in Cusco, Peru where 3 more visitors from home made an appearance, and my final month in Costa Rica to obtain my 200 hour yoga teacher training certification. But for now, enjoy the last blog post of this chapter of Mi Mochila Y Yo!

I had been looking forward to traveling in Perú since I met my friend, Ali, in my first month of travel in South America. She absolutely loved Perú and the pictures she showed me of turquoise blue water, surrounded by snow-capped mountains had me looking forward to it. Unfortunately, what I had experienced so far in Perú (Arequipa, Paracas, Huacachina), I hadn’t loved. It felt too touristy for me. I began to feel I was searching for a place I wouldn’t find. I also began to fear I had seen so many amazing things on my trip that I wasn’t going to match, definitely not exceed, what I’d already experienced. But I did find it, my utopia, in Huascaran National Park in Huaraz, Perú.

My plans for Huaraz were to go to Laguna 69, a challenging day hike, and I was fumbling with the idea to do Huayhuash, a 10-day trek, with my friend, Hassan. When we arrived, my plans went to shit. Lorena and I arrived from a rough overnight bus ride (Lima –>Huaraz). Think windy, curvy roads that go up and down the mountain, which made my body move side to side all night in my bus seat. We arrived to Huaraz, I was tired and just wanted to arrive at our hostel. Unfortunately, the first thing I experienced were cab drivers who swarmed us asking which hostel we were going to. I was so annoyed I tried to walk away but they kept following us. The price they gave us was cheap so I assumed we could just walk and get away from the obnoxious taxi drivers. I regretted this a few minutes later. I was carrying my 16kg (about 30 pound) backpacking backpack and my 20 liter backpack in front. When I went to step in the street, I couldn’t see where I was placing my foot because of my backpack I carried in front. I stepped on broken pavement and rolled my ankle, all my body weight and weight of the 2 backpacks heavy on my ankle. I was in so much pain. Due to the pain, I couldn’t stand up with all the weight of my bags and was laying on the street near the curb saying “Ow, Ow, Ow!” As Lorena kept me safe from the now oncoming cars since the traffic light changed, and she helped me to my feet. I walked over to a building to help support my weight as the pain radiated in my body and Lorena hailed a cab. This is when I thought, dammit why didn’t we just take a freaking cab?

I could at least go to our rooftop at our first hostel as I read and iced my ankle in the sun.

I was forced to stay seated, elevating and icing my leg all day and most of the next day as well. I was so

This is a picture of the market where Lorena and I bought our vegetables and fruit. These markets basically turned me vegetarian because I could not stand the smell nor the look of the meat. I literally walked by and had to look at the floor and cover my nose and mouth. Yes, that is some sort of animal head (goat?) on the corner of that stand.

grateful for Lorena because she did all the shopping and cooking for me so I could keep all the weight off my feet. Mil gracias, amiga! I had planned to go to Laguna 69 the next day or day after our arrival but that was on hold. I also had to text Hassan to tell him I thought the 10 day trek to Huayuash was now impossible for me to accomplish. However, perhaps this injury was a blessing in disguise because it forced us to get used to the higher altitude. I did not realize how intense altitude can be when you are not used to it. After 48 hours of resting I felt I needed to escape the hostel with shitty wifi, people stealing my food, and rude owners so Lorena and I switched to a fancier hostel (more like a hotel) called Churup hostel and my nerves from sitting still were immediately calmed. Here, we met a couple, Andrew and Asia (pronounced Asha) who were probably the coolest couple I’ve met on my trip. They are from Australia and were traveling a year for their honeymooon and were more than willing to practice their Spanish with Lorena and I which was great to have multi-lingual speakers to talk to – more on them later on during my stay in Huaraz. The day Lorena and I switched hostels, the two of us went out to explore Huaraz and these following pictures are from that random day hike from town.

Lorena and I stumbled upon a beautiful farming neighborhood about an hour climb outside of the city of Huaraz. It was a beautiful place to accidentally find ourselves in.

 

I recall seeing a Peruvian woman in her typical Peruvian attire (big skirt, blouse, and small sombrero) attending to the cows and I thought, “how sweet”. Then I saw her pick up large stones and start throwing them at the cows’ bottoms to make them move in the direction she wanted. My vegetarian quest continued.

 

Taking a snack break on our day hike.

 

Views of the city, Huaraz, behind me in the picture above. You can understand why I got instant relief as Lorena and I hiked into nature and away from the buzz of the city.

 

We found a delicious, beautiful, and slightly expensive (Peruvian relative terms) place to have lunch outdoors. I felt pretty out of place in my hiking boots and work out clothes in the fancy restaurant but we were outdoors and paying customers so I got over that quickly.

I was really thirsty and decided to try the Chicha Morada drink, made from purple corn. It was sweet and delicious. The meal is a stuffed avocado. Think avocado stuffed with potato salad. It was a bit too much mayonnaise for me.

Views from our lunch spot.

I was slowly testing out my ankle for more challenging hikes and multi-day hikes that I was unsure I’d be able to do after my injury. After reading a guidebook in our hostel, we found a shorter hike that was a 15 minute bus ride from town. We went with a couple from our hostel. This was another cool couple. He was French and she was Italian. They could speak French, Italian, English, and Spanish fluently (maybe I’m missing another language here) but it was so impressive! They were extremely patient on the trail because Lorena had a more difficult time acclimatizing to the altitude; whereas, I just wanted to hurry up the hill since I had felt closed inside the past few days sitting and icing my ankle, in the city of Huaraz and was happy to finally be in nature. Regardless of pace, we all made it to the top of the hike where we met an ugly lake, but beautiful views of surrounding mountains and a valley that reached towards the city.

Farmers working through traditional methods as we hiked up through a farming community. On our trek down we saw kids that had to make that hike uphill everyday after completing their school day. One child hiking was probably only 4 or 5 years old.

These women were dressed in traditional attire (note the big skirt, blouse, and sombrero seated at the top of her head). They were at the top of the hike waiting for tourists like us to snap pics of them and leave tips.

 

Views at the look out point of our hike – and this was the least impressive hike we did yet still gorgeous!

The valley led to the city center that you can see below

Taking in the views

House located at the top of the hike, middle of nowhere land.

Stunning in every direction

After the acclimation hike, I decided I was willing to test my ankle out on Laguna 69. I would reach my highest elevation achieved in my history of hiking. I had heard that it was a challenge, but I was up for it so we signed up to go with a company from town. They picked us up early in the morning (5:30am-ish) and they drove us several hours to a breakfast spot and then continued towards Huascaran National Park. I slept horribly the night before and miraculously was able to sleep most of the bus ride. I remember my body bobbing back and forth. The roads are not paved so you are traveling over uneven gravel roads with random potholes that are winding up the mountain ranges through the national park and to our starting point. We made one stop before said starting point and got off the bus to take pictures of a large and beautiful lake (see below).

Lorena and I had predetermined that we would not be doing this hike together. We worked at different paces.

Start of the hike.

For me, it was important to feel like I was pushing myself and getting a good exercise and for her it was important to not feel pressure from me to keep up her pace. She knew she could do the hike, but slow and steady.

At this point, I hadn’t felt any significant impacts from the altitude. We were starting at 3,900 meters (12,795 feet) and rising to 4,600 meters (15,091 feet). I hadn’t completed any high altitude hikes at this point so I had not experienced what affects altitude can have on you. I started out strong and actually asked our guide if we could go ahead at our own pace because I don’t like to do hikes with an entire group of 25+ people and accommodate for all paces. I started out ahead and found a steady pace with a group of 5 guys.

Little abandoned huts as we began hiking.

Laguna we came across at the 1/2 point of the trek.

I was pretty solid climbing with these guys but then we reached the steepest and most difficult part of the climb. The guys were pushing forward, but I knew I wanted to take it easy and not get sick. I added some more

I think only half the guys got my “silly face” request.

coca leaves to my cheeks, leaves that help with altitude sickness but all of you will probably find it interesting to know, also used to make cocaine but massive amounts of coca leaves and many more sickening chemicals are needed to make cocaine. Using coca leaves, you pack them in the side of your bottom cheek, like people who chew tobacco. You chew on the leaves a bit to get the juices out of the leaves and then suck on them. They help with headaches, nausea, and other symptoms someone may encounter from the altitude. I also found it was an appetite suppressant. Great dieting option if it were legal in The States! The biggest symptom I was feeling from the altitude at this point was lack of air. I felt extremely difficult to breathe! Due to this, I was walking extremely slowly and taking plenty of breaks. I also had a slight headache but it wasn’t

Waterfalls along the way

anything debilitating. Overall, I made it up to Laguna 69 without any hiccups. I arrived and there was a small group of people but I immediately found a quieter place to stay away from any crowds and enjoy the nature. I ended up seating near a couple that I found out were from a Nordic country. The guy had just come out from taking a swim in the water and seemed unshaken by the cold. Now, I had done some swims in cold water on my trip, but this laguna was completely surrounded by a glacier and the air temperature was warm, but not near hot enough to entice me to go for a swim. I continued talking to him and he informed me that he actually competes in ice swimming! There is such a sport?! Nutty! And it’s popular enough to be a sport?

 

 

 

At peace resting next to the crystal clear water

Asked my swimming friends to take my picture as I waited for Lorena

Close-up shot of the glacier that is unfortunately receding at a rapid rate due to global warming. In just a few short years this glacier will likely be all melted. It made me grateful I could travel and see the world as it is now but sad to hear about all the negative effects our lifestyles in modern day has on the Earth.

Monkeying around with some yoga and attempting Mermaid pose.

 

I hung out in the sun a bit and decided to scope out Lorena’s status on the hike. I was hoping she’d make it, but she struggled with her heart rate increasing and being short of breath in the altitude. However, as soon as I stood up, I saw her arriving to the Laguna! She made it! “MUJER!” (That’s our nickname for each other). I was so proud of her. This hike is extremely difficult and she did not have much hiking experience (maybe none at all before our arrival to Huaraz), but she made it! The next day, Lorena and I were parting ways as she started her travels toward Ecuador so I was extremely happy we could share the experience of completing Laguna 69 together. She was going to Ecuador to volunteer to help with the earthquake that occurred just a few weeks prior. Way to go making it to Laguna 69, Lorena! We shared our lunch together and began our trek back down towards the buses. At this point, my head was starting to hurt more so I tried more coca leaves but it wasn’t helping much. When we made the several hour trek back to the bus, I was happy to rest my eyes and fall asleep on another bumpy bus ride back to our hostel. I was, however, excited to realize that my injured ankle was able to handle a difficult hike. Perhaps I would be able to hike a multi-day trek after-all in Cordillera Blanca.

Lorena y yo disfrutando la laguna y la catarata.

Beginning our decent back to the bus. You might be able to see Lorena’s red t-shirt and white hat if you look hard enough!