Adventures at high altitude in Huaraz

(Huaraz, Peru, 17-21st of October 2017)

As we did not enjoy Lima that much we only stayed for two nights and then got on the bus to Huaraz. We really liked that bus with seats you could recline totally, a stewardess giving us blankets, pillows and food. And all seats are equipped with a screen where you could watch movies ! We really got to like Cruz del sur´s buses!

In Huaraz the main event seems to be to go hiking as the mountains are close by. We decided to wander around town the first day to get used to the altitude as we have been in Lima down by the coast for a couple of days. We ended up at a guinea pig festival at the main square, an obscure festival where some guinea pigs got a ribbon as they had won the beauty test and others where cooked and served to the visitors.

 

We did not really get the whole picture but we understood as much at that it was some kind of competition also regarding the cooking of the guinea pigs. Johan tried a plate with a guinea pig meal and he said it tasted like crispy chicken!

 

The second day in Huaraz we took a local bus to a hiking area where we did not need a guide. From start all was fine and we found a map that showed the way to the lake but very soon we ended up by taking the wrong way, we missed a turn and got on a path that was a bit longer than expected.

 

The hike also was a bit harder than we thought it would be, we walked 7 km straight up a hill before we reached the lake and the road was rough and hard to walk on.

 

Christel was really tired when we got to the top but after a 10 minutes rest she was ready for some sightseeing.

 

What a view we got from the top! From our small mountain we had the best view over all of the bigger ones. We met a guy from Peru at the top who works as a guide but this day he had a day off and decided to take a stroll up a hill. It took us 2 hours to walk up – this guy did it in 45 minutes! He was really nice to us and told us the name of all the mountains we could see.

 

The third day we had booked a tour via an agency to another lake called Laguna 69. As Christel was a bit tired from the day before and we had heard from the guide we met yesterday that the walk should be quiet tough at the end she was a bit worried. But the biggest problem for Christel would be the altitude. The walk the day before ended at 3700 meters, the hike to Laguna 69 starts at 3900 meter and ends up at 4600 meters.

 

It was a really hard walk but mostly because of the altitude. We were a big group from two different buses that started together but everyone walked at their own pace. We were told to try to reach the lake after 3 hours to be able to have one hour break at the top and then hike back in two hours. It is such a strange feeling when you get affected by the altitude – it is almost impossible to breathe and you feel really strange. You can walk 20 meters and then you have to stop for a break, which makes the hike take a long time.

 

It is also strange that you don´t know in advance if you will be affected. It has nothing to do with if you are in good shape and it has nothing to do with age either. We saw young men walking like zombies and we talked to one girl who easily could run a marathon but almost didn´t make it to the top. Johan is not affected by the altitude at all and walks like we were down at sea level. 

 

We did not get a long break at the top but got to the bus in time as downhill isn´t a problem for any of us. Christel was very happy when we made it back to our bus.

 

When we got back to our hotel that evening we just changed clothes and then headed of to the bus station to catch the night bus back to Lima. At the tour to Laguna 69 we met a couple that stayed in the same hotel as we did and it turned out they were taking the same bus as us and then needed to go to the airport. We decided to share a taxi and had time to talk a lot. The guys, Eduardo and Tatiana, were from Argentina and were on a 3 weeks holiday in Peru.