We spent the first two days mostly in our room watching TV. The 5 blocks walk to the main square seemed like a difficult task at that time. Things got better on the third day when we walked around the town and arrived to the market. Contrary to the main street, that resembles the main street in every small city, the market of Huaraz has its own magic. It's the market of the poor, with a lot of old Peruvian women sitting on the floor with their traditional clothes selling everything from sewing notions to pealed Sabreses (the fruit of the cactus) in psychedelic colors. The market also has an indoor part which attacks the visitor with all the smells of an eastern market, when meat, cheese and fruits mix together in your nose.
We decided to fight the laziness before it will take a hold of us, so on the next day Lilya went climbing on a cliff above a small river in Monterey near Huaraz. Oren, who never really saw the point in climbing a rock when you can use the opportunity to photograph someone else doing it, pictured her from every possible angle. See the pictures in the album and feel free to criticize Lilya's technique or the faces she makes, and Oren's photography skills.
In order to get used to the altitude we did a one day hike to laguna Awak in the mountains near Wilcahuain. It was described as a less popular and easy walk but turned out to be quite challenging since it was located at a height of 4600. First we visited a tomb from 1400 years ago and then started climbing to the laguna. We had a private guide which turned out to be quite informative, even though he spoke only Spanish. The climbing started easy but became very steep at the end. With our last breath we got to the laguna and pictured it from every angle. These pictures were the best pictures Oren have ever took. A National Geographic pictures indeed. However, we cannot prove this, because all the pictures were lost because of the lousy Brazilian card reader. You'll have to believe us (or not).We spent another three days in Huaraz before leaving to the Santa Cruz trek. The weather web sites promised rain. Instead of rain we got an amazing rainbow and the strangest sunset. We also got to see the festive parade of the traditional Father's day. Never before have we seen such unhappy marchers in a parade! They all looked as if they were kicked out of their worm beds to early and forced to march outside. Lilya did get some good pictures, though.
After a week in Huaraz we finally left to the trek. While on the way to the beginning of the trek we passed through an amazing view. An out of this world turquoise laguna greeted us as we entered the park. After entering, the minivan started climbing up through the valley to a high mountain pass. As the van got higher and higher the view of the whole valley surrounded by some sharp snowy peaks revealed. After passing the mountain pass we got a look at the landscape on the other side which was equally amazing. We got to the beginning of the trek at midday and met our donkeys. The fun thing about trekking in Peru is the fact that you don't need to carry your gear. Except for the water and the camera, the donkeys carried everything, while going much faster than us. The trek also included a cook, all the meals and the tents, which were ready for us at the end of each day even before we got to the camp.
On the first day, which was relatively short, we walked in a valley so we didn't climb much. Until the evening we got to know our group, which turned out to be a very nice, interesting and colorful. It consisted of another Israeli couple (Shay and Mor), one British (Robinson), one French girl (Yolene), one Italian guy (Simone), one Spanish guy (Javier) and two Czechs (Peter and Marek). At the first night the dinner turned into a political (one side) debate, when Oren tried to explain for more than an hour the situation in middle east from the Israeli point of view. The rest of the meals during the trek were much less serious most of the time.
The next day was the hardest day. We climbed slowly to a mountain pass at 4750 meters. The air is very thin at this altitude and the breathing is hard. Oren took some Coca leafs from our guide and chew them all the way up. The Coca leafs, very popular all around Peru, increase the blood flow in the body and helps the body adjust to the high altitude. As their name suggests, Coca leafs are one of the main ingredients in the production of Cocaine, which might shed a new light on the statement of the guide from the favela tour in Brazil that said that Oren is the most likely to buy drugs there. But to calm you down, we have to say that you need 5 kg of coca leafs to produce 1 gram of the drug, so we were far enough from danger. The leafs, by the way, worked like magic and helped removing the headache and the altitude sickness. The donkeys, however, didn't seem to mind the altitude and carried all of our gear up without any problem.
The view from the pass was, and now it is finally the time to use the cliche, breathtaking! The 360 degrees panoramic view included high snowy peaks, turquoise lagunas and glacieral valleys. As soon as we got up there, Oren forgot all his difficulties and started running from place to place taking pictures, as if the air on the peak is denser, or maybe he just had a spare set of lungs (inside his camera).
The next day of the trek began with rainy skies and cold weather. The Alpamayo peak, which was supposed to be one of the highlights of that day, was covered with thick clouds. The weather improved during the day and we got a great view of the river, the laguna and lots of cows that seemed to enjoy this sunny part of the day.
The last day was short and got back to the hostel at noon, just in time for the promising (and not really delivering) game of Spain and Chile.
At the evening we dressed as good as we could and went (together with Shay and Mor) to a KABALAT SHABAT in the "Jewish house". The "Jewish house" is an organization which is meant to give a feeling of home to Israeli backpackers around the world. The house is occupied by a family which, among other things, organizes a Shabat dinner every week. The small living room was crowded by 50-60 Israelis, and the dinner was the closest thing to Israeli cooking we could get including a real Humus and Tehina. Even though we are travelling for only 4 months, this was a very fun reminder of home. We went to eat there again on Saturday, and got a real home made Chamin! If you are Israelis in Huaraz, don't miss the visit there.
After eating at the "Jewish house" we went with our new friends from the trek to a local Ceviche restaurant. On our way back, at 11:30 p.m. we saw a group of Peruvian kids playing football and some of the guys decided to play against them. It took the Peruvian boys about 3 minutes to beat the Gringos team which had representative from all over Europe. Like in the group stage of the football world cup, the old continent got kicked off by the South Americans (or maybe it was because of all the beers....).
We left Huaraz the next day and took a night bus to Lima and from there an early morning bus to Ica.
After a week in Huaraz we finally left to the trek. While on the way to the beginning of the trek we passed through an amazing view. An out of this world turquoise laguna greeted us as we entered the park. After entering, the minivan started climbing up through the valley to a high mountain pass. As the van got higher and higher the view of the whole valley surrounded by some sharp snowy peaks revealed. After passing the mountain pass we got a look at the landscape on the other side which was equally amazing. We got to the beginning of the trek at midday and met our donkeys. The fun thing about trekking in Peru is the fact that you don't need to carry your gear. Except for the water and the camera, the donkeys carried everything, while going much faster than us. The trek also included a cook, all the meals and the tents, which were ready for us at the end of each day even before we got to the camp.
On the first day, which was relatively short, we walked in a valley so we didn't climb much. Until the evening we got to know our group, which turned out to be a very nice, interesting and colorful. It consisted of another Israeli couple (Shay and Mor), one British (Robinson), one French girl (Yolene), one Italian guy (Simone), one Spanish guy (Javier) and two Czechs (Peter and Marek). At the first night the dinner turned into a political (one side) debate, when Oren tried to explain for more than an hour the situation in middle east from the Israeli point of view. The rest of the meals during the trek were much less serious most of the time.
The next day was the hardest day. We climbed slowly to a mountain pass at 4750 meters. The air is very thin at this altitude and the breathing is hard. Oren took some Coca leafs from our guide and chew them all the way up. The Coca leafs, very popular all around Peru, increase the blood flow in the body and helps the body adjust to the high altitude. As their name suggests, Coca leafs are one of the main ingredients in the production of Cocaine, which might shed a new light on the statement of the guide from the favela tour in Brazil that said that Oren is the most likely to buy drugs there. But to calm you down, we have to say that you need 5 kg of coca leafs to produce 1 gram of the drug, so we were far enough from danger. The leafs, by the way, worked like magic and helped removing the headache and the altitude sickness. The donkeys, however, didn't seem to mind the altitude and carried all of our gear up without any problem.
The view from the pass was, and now it is finally the time to use the cliche, breathtaking! The 360 degrees panoramic view included high snowy peaks, turquoise lagunas and glacieral valleys. As soon as we got up there, Oren forgot all his difficulties and started running from place to place taking pictures, as if the air on the peak is denser, or maybe he just had a spare set of lungs (inside his camera).
The next day of the trek began with rainy skies and cold weather. The Alpamayo peak, which was supposed to be one of the highlights of that day, was covered with thick clouds. The weather improved during the day and we got a great view of the river, the laguna and lots of cows that seemed to enjoy this sunny part of the day.
The last day was short and got back to the hostel at noon, just in time for the promising (and not really delivering) game of Spain and Chile.
At the evening we dressed as good as we could and went (together with Shay and Mor) to a KABALAT SHABAT in the "Jewish house". The "Jewish house" is an organization which is meant to give a feeling of home to Israeli backpackers around the world. The house is occupied by a family which, among other things, organizes a Shabat dinner every week. The small living room was crowded by 50-60 Israelis, and the dinner was the closest thing to Israeli cooking we could get including a real Humus and Tehina. Even though we are travelling for only 4 months, this was a very fun reminder of home. We went to eat there again on Saturday, and got a real home made Chamin! If you are Israelis in Huaraz, don't miss the visit there.
After eating at the "Jewish house" we went with our new friends from the trek to a local Ceviche restaurant. On our way back, at 11:30 p.m. we saw a group of Peruvian kids playing football and some of the guys decided to play against them. It took the Peruvian boys about 3 minutes to beat the Gringos team which had representative from all over Europe. Like in the group stage of the football world cup, the old continent got kicked off by the South Americans (or maybe it was because of all the beers....).
We left Huaraz the next day and took a night bus to Lima and from there an early morning bus to Ica.
Tip 1: It is very easy to stay only near the main square in Huaraz, but if you are there, we recommend to go to the market and the parallel streets. You'll be surprised how many interesting things you'll find there.
Tip 2: We did all of our activities in Huaraz (Climbing, Laguna Awak and Santa Cruz) with the "Dancing Peak" agency and we were quite pleased with them. They have a pretty good equipment, good guides, and they even agreed to postpone the trek by two days because of the weather, a night before we were supposed to start it. Not all the agencies do that.
Tip 3: Before going to the trek, especially if this is your first time in high altitude, have a one day hike to one of the lagunas in order to get used to the altitude.
Tip 4: Buy some coca leafs before the trek, you'll need them on the way to the pass.
Tip 5: If you are Jewish, go to the "Jewish house" for Shabat dinner (or any other dinner). It doesn't cost anything but don't forget to leave them few soles as a donation for the next travellers.
Tip 6: There are a lot of bus companies going to and from Lima. The prices and the quality can be very different. Do your homework before deciding
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