We move around a bit in this issue, so here's a link to a map for all you geography buffs...
- Huaraz - climber's town
Cafe California for breakfast. If I lived in Huaraz I would probably come here a lot, which explains Chris knowing the owner. He is from California (has a Berkeley email address) and played Steely Dan and NPR while we were in there. Nice guy, and he helped get our hike figured out.
Its amazing up here. The Cordillera Blanca is in the west side of the Andes, which were pushed up from the Pacific, so the soil is supposed to be very good. They farm potatos, corn and ranch sheep, cattle, alpaca, even at this high altitude. We are about 10 degrees south of the equator, so it is relatively warm even at altitude. Huaraz, at almost 10,000 feet rarely gets snow. 10,000 feet in the Rockies will get you plenty of snow, and not as much farming... And the Andes start at sea level, so they are some of the most dramatic that I have ever seen. They are young
Most of the locals, especially in the high villages, speak Quechua as their native tongue as well as Spanish. This is the traditional Andean language, the same that the Inca spoke. This is still a very active and alive language. In this area there are english speakers, but not like in the cities. Spanish is very handy.
One of the great things about Huaraz is that Gringos don't draw so much attention. You can walk around and talk to people and most of them are very friendly and just treat you like a normal person. There aren't too many places that you can go as an American and not draw attention, and not usually positive. It was nice to feel almost anonymous.
- Climbing the walls
At night we went to the Garden Cafe, which is an outdoor bar with climbing walls and a fire pit. What a great concept. Pound a few beers and start climbing! Yet another thing that you couldn't get away with in the States. Hopefully CAFTA & FTAA won't open up the market for personal injury lawyers to sell their services in the rest of the Americas...
I asked Benjamin, the owner, if people often get on the climbing wall, and he said "all the time." Then he challenged me to give it a try. Now, I went to junior high, so I know now dares go. I said "I will if you will." Never fails. No double-dog-dares required, we were standing in the gravel pit in front of the wall getting ready. The bet was who could traverse the wall horizontally without falling. The prize was a liter bottle of Cusquena beer.
This climbing wall is four panels together, and each one is about 8-10 feet across. I didn't make it all the way across, but I got onto the fourth panel before falling. Benjamin didn't get quite that far, and graciously walked me to the bar for my reward. Benjamin - when you're in the States - how about a rematch?
- Vans and livestock
Today was for a long hike in the mountains outside Huaraz, to the Laguna Churup, which tops out at about 14,900 feet. Many peaks in the Andes go above 22,000. The trailhead is more than an hour from town so we had to get a car. Strange that in a town famous for climbing and in the middle of multiple mountain ranges that the trail would be so far. Well, part of it is the distance and part of it is that its slow going over these very difficult roads. These are basically 4x4 roads that they drive on with the equivalent of a VW bus.
So we walked up to the van that we would take to the trailhead. The main reason for this van is for locals who live in the surrounding hills to get down into town and back home. As we approached the van we saw a large crowd of people - and sheep. Most people in this area either farm potatoes or ranch sheep and llamas/alpaca. We paid our fare and climbed aboard. This is a van that looks like it should hold about 10 people, and we sat in the back watching person after person get on, 10, 15, 18... we ended up with 22 or so. And the whole time we were all wondering where the sheep on the sidewalk were going to go. But fortunately the door closed with no sheep inside. Right after that, a guy climbed on the roof of the van, and another guy starts passing sheep up to him. Really.
We ended up with about 10 sheep on top of the van and headed up the trail. And every few minutes a sheep leg would appear in the window, then pull back up. Then a different leg would fall into another window, then disappear back above. Every so often, the van would stop, a person would get off. Then one of the sheep would lower to them and villager and sheep disappear down a narrow trail.The van ride is a bit rough, but it is incredible to travel through these mountain villages and see all of the people just living out their lives. Interested in us as we traveled by, but not very.
We hiked up to Laguna Churup, a glacier lake above Huaraz, which is about a 3 hour round trip. It's a fun hike, with sweeping views some steeper sections, and a little bit of water. At the top is the lake, which is a beautiful (and cold, as a few in our group tested out) runoff from the glacier above. The glacier above is obviously much smaller than it used to be. It used to come down to the lake, and as receded over the past 20 years to the very top parts of the peak above.
- Biking down the mountain
Ok, here's a good idea. Have someone drive you to the top of a mountain pass a little over 14,000 feet, then ride a mountain bike down to sea level. Actually, it is a good idea, but know that if the roads are rough (think single track bumpy but a little wider) and the bikes are old and out of tune, its a bit more work than it sounds. Then throw in the occasional car, truck or bus, and some dogs chasing your bike trying to bite your ankles, and you have more than your ordinary bike in the park.
But what a blast. Its cool at the summit when we start at 8am, but not cold. a jacket and light gloves. Sunny and cool, what a great morning. Even at this altitude there are small pueblos of people farming and ranching.
Who knew a downhill ride could be so much work? The mountain bikes are good enough to do the job, but each one has its problems. None of them have good suspension, one has no suspension and the front deraileur doesn't work. Kevin took that one for the first half, and I took it for the second. In return I gave him my bike with a bad rim that caused flats every few hundred yards or so. Our tech in the chase can hops out to take a look at the rim. He's not a great bike tech, but he does a good job of at least trying to inspire confidence. He has the old style bike hat on, you know, the one with the short bill turned up in the back, as if to say "of course I know what I'm doing.". Well, thank you, Monseur Le Monde.
As we decend, the climate changes visibly. High alpine with rugged peaks gives way to green steppe-farmed hillsides looking across at shear cliffs. It seems like every half hour we're in a new climate. We ride through pueblos on the way, and groups of children run out to greet us, hamming for the camera.At sea level, we reach a desert that separates us from the coast. Not desert like cactus and scrub brush, this is desert like black sand and nothing at all alive. Not really a place that you want to get stranded.
- Cusco
From the end of the bike ride, we took a bus the rest of the way to Lima so that we could catch our morning flight to Cusco. I'm impressed with LAN Peru Airline. It was only 3 hours from hotel in Lima to hotel in Cusco. We got to the airport late, and they rushed us to the gate with an escort. Try that in the States.
Cusco is impressive from the moment you drive into town. The combination of Inca culture with Spanish architecture is unique and fascinating. It sits at almost 10,000 feet in altitude in a river valley surround by the Andes. I just got here and I already want to come back.
Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire, and many people say is now the tourist capital of South America. It certainly does seem to be the capital of cheap crap and aggressive street merchants. They must all go to the same class to learn.
There is Inca stonework and building foundations all over the city, and many of them have Spanish buildings built on top - a really amazing affect. We stayed at a hostel about 10 minute walk up the hill from the Plaza de Armas. From up there, the view over the town is gorgeous - red tile roofs surrounded by a circle of mountains.
I was a bit nervous about the motorcycle trip, since I hadn't been on one for at least 10 years. Also, I wanted to see things in Cusco. But this was a blast. I sat on the bike and it felt awkward. I had to think, "where is the clutch, how do I shift?" Wooo. But off we went.
We rode up the hill from Gringo Alley out of the city. Pretty quickly you get into small towns, then farm land. Really beautiful. We passed through little pueblos with tiny ancient streets, but these are not busy like Cusco, so it seems that you can speed through intersections, but I kept expecting that at any point I would get T-boned by a speeding llama cart coming down a blind alley.
After 2 hours we came to an Inca ruin, which includes a series of concentric circles going down several hundred feet. This was interesting, and also served as a reminder that I'm not in as good shape as I thought. This trip has been great for that. No shortage of humbling moments. Rode back to the city in the dark, and didn't kill myself or anyone else. Wow.
More on Cusco in the final installment...
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