Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2003 - 8:00 p.m.
Took a night bus to Huaraz, leaving Trujillo at 9pm. I had trouble sleeping on the bus, even though it was one of the best buses I've been on (even got a snack). After several hours, finally slept, but not well.
We arrived exhausted in Huarez at 6:30AM. A woman took us to a hostel she said had a room for 3. The cold air hit us as we left the bus station and staggered along the quiet city streets to the hotel (our elevation is about 3090 m). Once we got to the hostel we learned that the room wasn't available until 9AM, two more hours. We wanted to sleep NOW so we found another hostel nearby, checked in and slept all morning, until about 2pm. We then showered, got some lunch, looked for tour companies for tomorrow, but the offices were closed (at 3:30pm on a weekday!), so we checked our e-mail and later on (about 5pm) the offices were opened and we signed up for a day tour for the following day.
August 13th (Wed), took the all-day tour of surrounding area of Huarez. It is definately a part of God's country up here, so amazingly beautiful. We are at the foot of Peru's highest mountain, Huascaran, at 6768 meters. It is an amazing crystal white snow stopped mountain along with other impressive peaks of the Cordillera Blanca range. After Asia, Peru has the highest mountain ranges in the world. Very impressive. We also went to a fabulous turquoise lake with the white mountains behind it, Lagunas Llanganuco. Very nice. In addition, we visited the town of Yungay, which was destroyed (along with the surrounding area including Huaraz) by an earthquake / avalanche in May 1970. It was one of Peru's worst natural disasters. About 70,000 people died.
Tomorrow we are taking another tour which will include some unique fauna and the Pastoruri glacier. Was hoping to visit the ice caves nearby, but apparently they are currently closed to the public. The boys & I plan to stay in Huarez until Friday where we will make our way down to Lima. I have the same itinerary as the guys; Nazca, Arequipa, Cuzco and Macchu Picchu so I think it is quite plausible I will travel with them for the next couple weeks through Peru. It's cheaper, safer and much more enjoyable to have travel partners.
Peru is very similar to Ecuador, it seems to be a little bit cheaper for tourists and a little bit poorer for the locals (I expect Bolivia to be even more so). I had heard that the people in Peru weren't as friendly as Ecuadorians, but I haven't found that to be true. You find rude people and real kindred spirits in any country you travel to. I have found that gas (petrol) is very expensive here...about $9 a gallon! Also, I was thrilled to discover for the first time ever in S. America my favorite candy bar in a local market here...Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! I was so thrilled that I even paid the exorbanent price of $1 and savored every milisecond of it before I happily devoured it. I wasn't expecting to have one of those until I return home for Christmas!
