So from Cuenca I booked a bus to a beach city in Northern Peru, Trujillo. We left at 9pm, went through immigration sometime in the middle of the night, and then spent most of the next day riding through the desert landscape of Northern Peru. There were a handful of other tourists making the same journey, so we got to know each other a bit in 20 hours of traveling together! We were all ready for the beach! This place is more known for surfing than actually having nice beaches, but whatever; a relaxation day was definitely needed. Once again the weather was kind of wishy washy and the sea was full of rocks making it tricky to actually wade out into the ocean, so it wasn’t exactly an inspiring experience, but we did have some tasty seafood right on the waterfront! A Swiss girl and I decided to head onwards after just a day, taking a night bus back into the Andes, a mountain town named Huaraz.
some buildings on the beach and then a whole lotta desert
Even though the weather was cloudy and misty, and the city wasn’t particularly beautiful, I actually enjoyed it a lot! It’s a very indigenous town and everyone is wearing colorful outfits and interesting hats. The streets were crowded with people selling their goods and gathering around the breakfast carts. A lot of hustle and bustle for 7am! I liked it. There were ladies sitting out in front of my hostel selling some kind of moss and I had to ask them to move to get into the door. I still have no clue what this moss is for, I don’t think I’ve ever seen people selling moss! I checked into the hostel and fortunately they had a bed available to sleep (SoI didn’t have to wait till check in at 1pm!) When I woke up it rained all afternoon, so that first day was a pretty chill. We did make to the small history museum - only in Spanish though. Me and the Swiss girl had a hike planned out for early the next morning, as you have to do because it’s basically guaranteed to rain every afternoon around 2:30!
the entrance to my hostel haha
If you can’t tell, I loved the moss ladies
some sculptures at the museum
Later that evening we made some dinner together, but the Swiss girl was feeling pretty lousy, but I was able to meet a fun Dutch girl to do the hike with instead. Perfect. We left around 7am and a cart that sold sandwiches of eggs, hot dogs, and avocado. I wish they sold these everywhere in South America! We then found the stop for the collective (minibus) and left with just a handful of passengers. A couple stops later our little bus that sat about 12 was loaded with 20+ people and few on the roof to boot! I had an old woman wedged about halfway onto my lap. It was kinda fun! Most people got off in the next village 20 minutes up the road, and then we were dropped off in 45 minutes at the Laguna Cherup trailhead.
The trail was basically straight upwards, and like most places in the Andes, it helps to be acclimatized! After my hikes in Ecuador I was in pretty good condition, but Chantalle had been at sea level in Lima previously, so it was a bit tougher for her. The hike was a more adventurous one, at certain parts you have to scramble up some wet rocks and they have these chains anchored into the rock to hold onto. It took us maybe 2.5 hours to finally reach the lagoon. It was mostly cloudy, but every once in a while the clouds would clear a bit and reveal some of the white capped mountains looming over the lake. It was a nice place. And we only got a a bit of drizzle, so a successful hike! We found another collectivo to get down and were done by 2pm, literally 5 minutes before the downpour came! Originally I had plans to do a big multiday hike here, but with all this rain I realized I had to scrap those plans. I’m a fair weather hiker!
The next day Chantalle and I signed up for a hike a called the Paramount, which is a hike along a particularly blue lagoon and supposedly you see the exact mountains which the Paramount Pictures logo features! Very exciting stuff. The only caveat is that it’s 3 hours there and 3 hours back. So we set off at 5am and since it was clear that morning I finally got a good view of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range unobstructed by clouds, which were spectacular. But I couldn’t take any photos from inside the bus. By 9am we were off hiking! The lake is a gorgeous teal color, similar to the ones I saw in Banff this summer. It started off nice and sunny, but by the time we reached the second lagoon the clouds had rolled in and we got some rain. It was a cold and wet lunch! Most of the mountains were blocked by clouds unfortunately. Then we walked back out the same way we came and the weather got nice again! Just three bumpy hours back to Huaraz, ugh.
The second laguna, a tiny glimpse of some mountains and blue skies!
Two days later we signed up for the Laguna 69 tour, which is the most famous of the Lagunas in the Cordillera Blancas. We shelled out for a more expensive guided hike which takes you on some of the trails and viewpoints around the lagoon, so a bit more involved than just going straight to the lagoon and back. Of course this was the day we got the worst weather, just clouds and mist and zero visibility the whole day. At one viewpoint our guide described how in the months during the high season you can see 7 different mountains from this spot. Must be nice! We were left with only our imaginations. After a few hours we got to the lagoon in a solid drizzle. It was a nice color of blue, but not like it would be if the sun was shining on it. And then you couldn’t see anything beyond that. It was another lunch in huddled under our ponchos. I was quite happy to go back down as soon as possible. A pretty disappointing day. But I still had a great time walking around the city and taking photos!
The way down, I didn’t even take a picture of the laguna 69, heh
The outfits, and hats especially are great
I was originally planning on going to Bolivia after Peru, but the thought of spending more time in rainy season sounded appalling, so I modified my plans to fly down to Patagonia, where it’s supposed to be prime hiking season! But first I had to get to Lima and then fly back home for Christmas! I didn’t really do anything in Lima besides walk around and eat a lot. Lima has an excellent food scene, so many restaurants with skilled chefs, interesting dishes, and meals of multiple courses for a fraction of what they would cost in Chicago. Some of the ceviches are absolutely terrific!
