South America- part 3

After returning to Santiago for the final time during our trip, we felt ready to move on to a new country- Peru!  Originally, we had scheduled a four day trek through the Cordillera Blanca, but while we were in San Pedro de Atacama, we were informed the date either had to be moved up or back a day.  Unfortunately, moving it back was not an option as our flight back to the US was already set, and we had no desire to go straight from a four day backpacking trip to a nine hour bus ride and then to the airport.  Our other option was to move ahead a day, which would cost us an entire day of acclimatization.  If our max altitude was say between 10,000-12,000' maybe, but we would be reaching altitudes closer to 16,000'.  Embarking on a backpacking trip should be fun though at times difficult, but not stressful.  We both decided it was probably best if we cancelled the trip which meant changing our flights to fly home early or finding somewhere in Peru to kill that time.  After traveling for almost a month, we decided we would try to negotiate a change in our tickets.  I booked travel insurance through Expedia, which was useless despite the fact that we had a change in schedule beyond our control that would have potentially impacted our safety.  So, I had to circumvent Expedia and call the airline myself, directly.  Now I have been as critical as anyone of domestic airlines, but I have to say, Delta was incredibly easy to work with and waived our rebooking fee ($300 each are you kidding me?) and allowed us to catch an earlier flight for just the fare difference, which was more than reasonable.  So, that out of our mind, we set out to make the most of our time in Peru.

We flew into Lima where we caught a cab to a bus station outside of the airport region.  Holy cow, traffic in Lima is crazy!  It is just chaos yet everyone figures it out and makes it where they are going.  We had a few hours to wait in the Moviltours bus station (each company had their own free standing bus station and terminals which was actually really cool).  The station had a cafe, lots of seats, and most importantly, the Champions League semi-finals on a large TV.  So one weird thing we noticed in parts of Chile and Peru is that bathrooms don't have toilet paper.  You have to bring your own or buy it from someone selling outside the bathroom.  It only takes once, and then you always remember to bring some.  Once.  Haha.  Once on the bus, which was the only one we took that left late (about 45 minutes), we zoomed through the city streets, frighteningly close to guardrails, people on scooters, and pedestrians, making our way along the coast and then eventually into the mountains on the windy pass roads.  Some of the sights in Lima were tough to see- entire bluffs covered in shacks, medians full of garbage, and awful air quality.  As with most cities, I'm sure there are areas that don't look like that, but when that is your first impression of a place, it's kind of tough to move past that.  We watched the sun set from the bus and arrived in Huaraz that night around 8:30 where we caught another taxi and arrived at our hotel just after 9:00, starving.  Carrying our oversized bags to the third floor, we instantly felt the altitude of nearly 10,000'.  We headed out to grab some dinner, and as much as I wanted a beer or a Pisco sour, the thought of what that would do to my sleep deprived, hypoxic body persuaded me otherwise.  Water please, and keep it coming!

From the bus traveling Lima to Huaraz

We had already planned to spend the next day just wandering around the city, drinking lots of water and getting used to the altitude.  We ended up having to change rooms because as I tried to adjust the hot water temperature in the shower, the knob fell off and out shot a continuous stream of water.  That was not our finest moment, but once we changed rooms, now on floor four, hooray, and had breakfast, we were ready to get a look at Huaraz.  One thing that was striking was the mix of old and newish.  There were tons of women dressed in traditional village type attire- colorful skirts and wraps, high hats, and tights.  Many of them showed signs of a long life full of hard work.  I wondered where they came from, and when we ventured up into the mountains a few days later, we would see that they walk down from villages miles away into Huaraz to buy and sell items.  Many of them work as farmers, herding sheep, goats, and cattle at altitudes over 12,000'.  Consider me impressed.  Huaraz is definitely a place inundated with tourists looking to hike and backpack to some of the most scenic places on earth, and I don't know how many tour companies there are, but there have to be almost as many of those as people.  It's crazy.  Tours aren't really our thing- we like to go and come on our own timeline, often starting early or late and trying to avoid as many people as possible.  We purposefully avoid the hotspots because A) being around that many people isn't fun and B) we both feel, philosophically, it's not appropriate to burden those areas with any more people than are already there.  Yeah it's like one person swearing off single use plastics, it can feel like it doesn't do any good, but in my mind, I have to abide by my own values, and that is one of them.  Back on topic: tours.  So yeah, not a fan, however, logistics of independently getting to some of these sites is incredibly dependent on collectivos, so you have to wait until it is full of people before it will take you, so no matter what time you want to go, you go when the van, car, whatever is full, and by full, I mean full.  I read a travel blog from a British girl who said, if you're wondering how many people can fit in a Toyota Corolla, the answer is nine!  That sounds miserable enough, and couple that with Shaun's height, and that is just a hard no.

Views in Huaraz

View from our second room

Traditional dress (this was part of a festival, but there were people dressed like this not participating in any festival)

Soooo, we decided to look into booking a private tour, just the two of us and a guide.  Shaun found a company called Andean Peaks, and they happened to have an opening the next day for Laguna Churup which was definitely on our list of want to sees.  Octavio, one of the co-owners, met us at our hotel and went over the next day's plan and collected our money.  He seemed more than competent, so we went to bed that night full of water and excitement for the next day's adventure.  Octavio and his brother, Eloy, picked us up at 8:00 am and drove us high into the mountains through multiple villages including the one where they were raised.  Octavio told us he had to walk to school down in Huaraz, several miles, and sometimes he would have to walk back down in the evenings for soccer games.  While I marveled at that thought, I also began to freak out if I would be able to even keep up with this guy on our hike!  We arrived at the trailhead, I paid 50 soles to use the bathroom, and off we went.  Eloy was to pick us up at the end of our hike and drive us back to Huaraz.  While he waited, he would take a casual run along the road at 12,000'+.  No big deal.

The trail to Laguna Churup isn't long, but it is steep- it is only 1.8 miles to the lake, but you gain 2,142 feet of elevation.  You start climbing, and you don't really stop except for a couple of small relatively flat sections in the middle.  Initially, my lungs felt fine, my head felt fine, but it was like my legs weren't getting any oxygen at all, so I resorted to doing what I do when I want to die on trails which is count my steps to 100 and evaluate from there.  If I'm feeling good, I count to 100 again, and if I'm not, I stop and take two deep breaths and then start again.

Starting the day with Coca tea to help with altitude

Going up 

Yes, it was high

Part of the trail included negotiating two slick rock sections by aid of cables and some scrambling a short distance from the lake.  Once that section was over, it was only a few minutes before we crested and came face to face with the glassy emerald waters of Laguna Churup.  Towering at the far end of the lake was the impressive Mount Churup.  Perhaps more impressive than the mountain itself was the street dog who made the trek up to beg for food.  A quick instagram hashtag search reveals he's a regular at the lake.  Because altitude tends to damper my appetite, I was happy to share some cheese from my sandwich.  We sat at the lake for about half an hour before climbing an additional 300' or so to another viewpoint allowing us to look slightly down on the lake and also down our descent (the car seemed so far away).  The trail was a lollipop out and back meaning we didn't have to descend the cables, instead skirting around the lake's outlet before meeting back up with the main trail.  By the time we reached the car, our knees were really feeling the sharp descent, and by the time we reached Huaraz, we were starving!  We unloaded our bags and went out to grab some food and finally my Pisco sour!

Getting a look at the cable section

Shaun negotiating the cables (this was actually the way down, we only had to descend the easier of the two cable sections)

Climbing up

And up

And up

We had to assist two French tourists who did not know how to use the cables.  They were sitting under a tree waiting for help when we came upon them.  Validated our decision to hire a guide. 

That road down there in the middle, yeah that's where we started

Finally!

Made it!

And so did the dog

Us with Octavio

Doggo taking a nap

Laguna Churup

The water was incredibly green

Panorama of the lake

From the mirador which pushed us to 15,000'

We ascended just to the left of that waterfall

Views on the way down

Dramatic peaks

Bye beautiful mountain

The next day after sleeping in, we really wanted to get out and see another lake but weren't in the mood for a long hike, so we opted to hire a cab to take us to Lagos Llangonuco, about a two hour drive from the city.  The funny thing is, to take a packed bus tour for one hour at the lake is $115 per person, and we got a cab for the entire day for $150.  Another bonus is our cab driver was basically Jason Bourne- after sitting in standstill traffic for about 20 minutes with the opposite lane closed, our driver had enough.  Impulsively yet with amazing skill, he jerked the car into the closed lane and floored it for about two miles to the head of the traffic where there was a traffic official who immediately held up her hands to stop us.  The driver screamed at her that his passengers had a bathroom emergency and she reluctantly let us pass.  We all three had a good laugh as even though we negotiated our terms in Spanish, the driver didn't realize we knew what he said to the official at first.  We burst through another couple of smaller traffic incidents and reached the access road to the lake.  It was about 15 miles up a terribly rutted, rocky road, and we could see the driver's concerned expression with every bump and hole we hit (at an excessive speed for the road conditions).  Once at the lake, we affirmed one hour at the lake and then we would descend.  As we walked to the lake, we noticed the driver checking the condition of the car's body and decided we would pay him the $200 he asked for originally because he saved us so much time.  The first lake was unbelievably turquoise and we traversed a ways, leading to an even more beautiful view of the peaks in the distance.  After taking in the sights and eating our lunch, we headed back to the car, eager to find out if anything could top the trip to the lakes.  Going down was obviously easier than going up, and once back on the main highway, it was pedal to the metal pretty much the whole way.  We camp upon a police truck and of course we passed it though this time using the signal (the first and only time the whole drive).  During our time in Huaraz there was a festival going on called Fiesta de la Soledad which is ironically includes the word solitude.  The festival involves groups of kids marching down the middle  street in traditional garments playing drums and flutes at all hours of the day and night.  The traffic backups can last for half an hour or more, and wouldn't you know it, there was a group blocking our route back to our hotel once we arrived back in Huaraz.  Our driver then executed his most accomplished piece of traffic navigation yet.  Rather than cut down side streets, he turned across traffic onto the other side of the street, aka oncoming traffic and just started driving, banking on opposing traffic peeling off to avoid a collision.  Thankfully he was correct, and after we bypassed the parade, it was back on our side of the street and back to our hotel where we paid the full fare plus a generous tip.  I think I was more exhausted from the ride than I was from the hike to Churup.  After that it was one more sleep (and parade serenades) before we caught a bus to Lima for the longest travel day of my life.

Holy shhhhhh

Could have sat here for a while, but we had an hour

Crazy contrasts of colors

Always good to see lupine!

Caught the bus at 11:30 am, made it to Lima airport at 8:00 pm (after taking a cab from the bus station), waited for our flight to board at 12:30 am (it didn't), arrived in Atlanta at 9:00 am or so, and eventually back in Portland at 7:30pm... the next day.  It was straight to the hotel, shower, and pizza!  The next morning we caught the Amtrak back to Olympia, and just like that, it was over.  Definitely a whirlwind, jam-packed, unforgettable time with a lifetime of memories.

Windy roads down to Lima

Allll the way down to the valley (sorry for blurry phone photos from the bus)

Next steps were to find a place to live and start to get settled into regular life again.  Just kidding, we decided to do two more weeks on the road and add a member to our family- stay tuned!