Peru: Lima – Huaraz

My trip began with a series of planning failures.

My first mistake was not having fully read Peru’s entry requirements. I tried. I opened the gov.uk webpage and read the entry requirements – right up to the point which informed me I didn’t need a visa to enter the country. I promptly closed the web page. Turns out there were more requirements further down. The stewardess at Bogotá airport had read them and would not let me on my connecting flight to Lima until I had booked my onwards ticket out of Peru. 20 minutes and a bus ticket to Bolivia later, I made the flight.

I was not hugely impressed by Lima. I arrived at my hostel shortly before midday, tired, hungry and in need of a shower. As check in wasn’t for a few hours, the shower and bed were off the table. I left in search of some food and found myself my first ceviche – a National Peruvian dish of raw fish marinated in lime juice. It wasn’t great and l am definitely on the lookout for a better version.

I stayed in Milaflores – apparently the hipster region of Lima. Although my hostel was right on the coast, the beach did not look very inviting. The historical centre of the city was nice with wide streets and yellow buildings – symbolic of the wealth of gold and copper in the city. Alongside traditional dishes, Peru has a lot of Chinese restaurants, a relic from colonisers bringing over Chinese slaves to work in the city in the 19th century.

Having left the UK without a plan I was keen to speak to people and get recommendations. Here came my second planning failure. I heard repeatedly about positive experiences in the Amazon in various countries throughout South America. However, I also heard about subsequent issues crossing boarders without having a yellow fever vaccine – which I did not have. Although I heard mixed reports on how necessary it was, when I realised I could get one for £35 about 25 minute walk from my hostel, I decided to get it for my own peace of mind.

I stayed in Lima for 3 nights and then got a night bus to Huarez, a small hiking town about 400km north of Lima.

I arrived at around 6:30 on Tuesday morning. Whilst Lima was very cloudy but warm, Huarez was wet. Enter my third planning error: March is the wet season.

Luckily for me my hostel was on 15 minutes from the bus stop. When I arrived I missed it entirely. It was not signposted and turned out to be just some guy’s house with a spare room filled with bunk beds. He and his friend welcomed me with coffee and a trip to the market for Peruvian style hog roast for breakfast – so long the vegetarianism. It was worth it for the shredded pork with pickled onions and sauce in a pita bread.

That afternoon I climbed the hill behind the town to a big cross and a nice view of the mountains. This was my first acclimatisation walk. Lima is on the beach whilst Huarez is 3700m so if you plan on doing longer hikes it’s recommended to do a few day hikes beforehand.

The following day I joined a tour for the most famous day hike – Laguna 69. The day began with a 5am 4 hour bus ride to the bottom of the walk. The walking was pretty manageable, a curling path up the side of the valley. The lake was at 4600m and the view was stunning – aided by the sunshine. About half way down, the rain began and we made it back to the bus slightly damp.

Whilst I enjoyed my first tour, I was also keen to do some solo hiking. On Thursday, I got a local bus (a collectivo) at 7am to the base of Laguna Churup. The walk up was definitely harder than Laguna 69 and involved a hundred metres of vertical climbing and skirting around waterfalls. Sadly, the clouds set in as we arrived at the lake but it was still beautiful. As we ate lunch, it began to rain and so we hurried to take some photos and get down. Scrambling down wet rocks with thunder looming certainly kept us moving. I looked particularly stylish in my blue poncho borrowed from my hostel – maybe my fourth planning error was having no gear. Having all made it down the mountain we piled back into the collectivo, cold and wet. When we arrived back in Huarez hot food was necessary and we’d all had separate recommendations for an Indian restaurant in the town which had a menu of the day for 15 soles (£3) including a curry, rice, chapatti, and orange juice.

Although I was in desperate need of a shower, I had an appointment with a man standing on the street corner (his office was “under construction”) who was to book me onto the guided Santa Cruz hike. Holding all the cash I had in my hand, I paused to consider whether is was a sensible idea to go up a mountain for four days in my work trainers during the wet season. As I deliberated, my kind guide pointed to a poster on a lamppost of a man who had gone missing five years ago when he’d tried to do the same trek I was about to buy alone. An effective sales strategy. I decided to risk the weather as I had enjoyed my day hikes so much so I handed over my cash (although I was 150 soles short) and went back to my hostel to prepare for my 5am bus the next morning.

Santa Cruz

The four day trek began with a 7 hour bus journey from Huaraz to Vaquería. After some avocado sandwiches we started walking. The first day was pretty low and easy walking, keeping close to a river. The hike is through the Huascaran National Park. Just as we arrived at our first campsite, the rain began. The fifteen of us piled into a teepee and then into our own tents. Tea and crackers were served at 4 and helped warm everyone up and dinner (for the vegetarians) was rice and egg.

After a wet previous evening, I was questioning my choices when I woke up at 5:30 on the second morning. Although the day was dry, visibility was low which was a shame as we were to hit the highest point, the Punta Union at 4750m. As we climbed the final 50m, viability was so poor I thought we might lose some people at the back of the group as the path wasn’t clearly marked. However, as you reached the Punta Union, you walk through a gap in a wall of rocks and the sky on the other side was much clearer. A mountain partly covered by cloud was on the right with a lake below.

The remainder of the day was downhill. The clouds lifted through the afternoon and the mountain that was partially concealed at the Punta Union appeared.

That night we camped at the base of the valley, surrounded by snowy mountains including the mountain with the stars at the start of Paramount films. Pretty cool.

By the end of the second day we had amassed four mountain dogs. They live on the mountains and follow tours of hikers. Their presence was greatly appreciated as they guarded our campsite from curious cows interested in what we were doing in their valley.

In the third morning, we had the choice of either pushing on the campsite or heading up to a lake. I joined the latter party and the lake made an adequate substitute for a shower.

After the lake, we dropped down into the next valley pretty quickly. By lunchtime we only had walking on the flat valley floor left. Although we had spent an hour swimming and sat at the lake that morning, the group who heading straight to the campsite only made it there fifteen minutes before us – although admittedly many of them were suffering with the altitude.

The final night came and left and we suddenly only had five hours of walking left. Unfortunately the route on the fourth day was very river-based. My trainers were not cut out for the terrain. An Australian who was also ill-equipped with trainers gave up this day and resorted to walking in his ‘thongs.’ After we arrived at Cachapampa, the village at the edge of the national park where our bus was finding us, I decided to follow suit and tied my wet shoes to my bag and got my flipflops out. Big mistake. Mosquitoes bit the soles of my feet to shreds which isn’t very comfortable when you have two long bus journeys that day.

We arrived back in Huaraz at about 4pm. After showering and repacking in my hostel, I joined some people from the trek for well-earned pizza and picarones – a Peruvian dessert of deep fried sweet potato and squash, shaped into a ring like a donut. They were quite nice with no hint of vegetables.

At ten that evening, I had a night bus to Huanchaco, a town further north on the beach with great surfing. Whilst the mountains were stunning, I was ready to be warm and dry by the sea. Unfortunately, my bus was not so ready. Having left at ten, we broke down at around midnight and at 3am were loaded onto another bus. At 5:30, thirty minutes before I was supposed to arrive in Huanchaco, I found myself back in Huaraz. Exactly where I started. Perfect!