Monthly Archives: November 2015

South America Day 64-65: Lima

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church

Nine hour bus ride from Huaraz to Lima. A sandwich and coffee to recover. Party until it’s light out. Lima is surprisingly nice! I am glad I stopped here long enough to find out. It is much quieter than the other Peruvian cities: the taxis seem to actually use their horns for their intended purpose. They have a chargeable card… Read more »

South America Day 62-63: Vallunaraju Attempt

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Ocshapalca

I had decided when I got to Huaraz that, in addition to treks around the mountains, I want to get to a summit of over 5400m. I asked around at the agencies and, after some trouble finding a group, booked a 2 day summit of Vallunaraju (5686m) with the same partner and guide that I went climbing with the day… Read more »

South America Day 60-61: Huaraz

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climbing

Retrospective Rest day and trying to find a summit expedition. November is a little late to climb on the Cordilleras, but it’s been done. An ATM ate my card and the bank said they won’t be able to get it out for a few days. I stopped by Cafe California, a tourist haunt, for a good cappucino, and a lot… Read more »

South America Day 59: Santa Cruz Trek Day 4

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Cordillera Negra

Retrospective For the final day of the trek we only had two hours of hiking which we could have tacked on to the end of the third day.  Before we knew it we were at the checkpoint near Cajamarca, the ending point, where we waited a while for the guide.  When we got to Cajamarca the van was waiting and… Read more »

South America Day 58: Santa Cruz Trek Day 3

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donkeys

The third day took us down a long and slow descent down the valley we gazed down the previous day. First came the sands, then a marsh, with the steam zigzagging the valley the whole time. For the last part the marshes gave way to waterfalls with trees overhanging. The drizzle started halfway through. It let up when we got… Read more »

South America Day 57: Santa Cruz Trek Day 2

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campsite

In the middle of a mostly sleepless high altitude night, I was woken up by highly accented cries of “Morning!” I looked around in the dark and remembered that wakeup time was 4:45. Shortly, I crawled out of the tent and made my way to the breakfast tent. We had tea and the dry rolls with margarine and jelly. The… Read more »

South America Day 56: Santa Cruz Trek Day 1

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mountainroad

I got up at 5:40 in hopes of bringing my stuff down and having a cup of tea before the driver got there at 6. He rang the bell at 5:50 and I scrambled to get out without breakfast. By the time I was out the door, he was gone. I had to have the hotel call him back, then… Read more »

South America Day 55: Hike to Laguna Churup

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churup

Preparations I got up at twenty minutes to seven, took a shower, and packed my daypack. My daypack is currently a colorful bag from an Ecuadorian market, rather than any fancy hiking equipment. I packed it bursting with the following: Camelback + bottle with total of 2L of water Medical kit Rain jacket Extra upper layer Warm cap Sunscreen Zoom… Read more »

South America Day 54: Rock Climbing in Huaraz

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climbing

Retrospective This was my rest and acclimatization day before going trekking in Huaraz. I had no plan, but I happened to mention at the hostel that I wanted to go rock climbing. A girl there was going just then. We had a great day of climbing. It was only my second time climbing outside. The cliff on the edge of… Read more »

South America Day 53: Huanchaco to Huaraz by Day

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valley

The Huanchaco hostel has been fun and it’s too tempting to stick around indefinitely, but the Cordilleras lay ahead. I said goodbye to the Pacific and hopped on the first of three buses required to get to Huaraz by day. I am glad I ended up on the day bus. The views along the road from Trujillo to Chimbote are… Read more »