Travel report from Ecuador and Peru

Travel report from Ecuador and Peru

Hi everybody,

Time for another (very) delayed report on my activities in south america. Go get a coffee, cause this could take a while.

Last time, we were going to head towards Peru, a process consisting of a large number of busses, plenty of waiting around and a few interesting stops along the way.

After a last stop in Quito to a fabulous museum about the ecuadorian painter Guayasamin we got onto the bus to Banos. Dramaticly perched between steep green hills the city is best known for its thermal pools, which we of course extensively enjoyed. Went rafting, great fun, almost got thrown out twice. After that, mountain biking in the ideal direction: downhill. Beautiful landscapes studded with waterfalls and mud due to the many roadworks. Yep, you guessed, more time in the hot pools needed...

The next day off to Cuenca. On any given moment of the year, there is a festival somewhere in Ecuador, and we seem to hit all of them. In cuenca this is associated with classic ingredients: marching bands, parades of the schools in uniform, and lots of fireworks. Generally, the intention of the latter is to scare as many people as possible in the crowd by launching the fireworks in their direction. Everybody is standing right next to the 'castillo', a construction of bamboo that acts as a launching tower.

Next city: Loja, very uninteresting. Again, marching bands and associated parade for unknown reasons. We then embark on our 15hour busride to Peru. At 3 o'clock in the morning we hit the border, they even have to wake up the border official. Around noon we get to Trujillo and found a guesthouse in the nearby and very quiet beach town of Huanchaco. It's one of those town you immediatly love, without really knowing why. Friendly people, you know everybody in 30 minutes (lost with chess twice against local merchant), good food... and of course a festival with parade and fireworks ;-)

Nearby there's the remains of the Moche and Chimu civilizations, both experts in mud.
Yep, they built their cities in dried mud or adobe, The temples of the sun and moon of the moche are fantastic, more than a 1000 years old and with perfectly preserved fresco's on the walls. Chan Chan is a Chimu city where thousands of people used to wlkk through the palaces and corridors. The sheer size and the decorations even now are impressive, despite hundreds of years of rains and wind (not the best friend of mud buildings).

Another nightbus later we're in Huaraz, in the middle of the mountains near the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash. We try to arrange everything as soon as possible to leave on trekking, 10 days around the huayhuash circuit. We hire an arriero (mule driver) and 3 donkeys to carry food, tent and some luggage. We're lucky because Miguel is a really great guy.

Slcightly less lucky with the weather however... Normally this is dry season (emphasis on DRY). Does not seem to work out that way. Rain on the first day, snow on the second, ... If you have to go uphill in mud when you're between 4000 and 5000 meters in altitude, it can really hurt ;-) On the trek, you go across 8 passes above 4600 meters and never camp below 4000 meters. Normally the reward is great views, but we had the occasional hail and snow as an alternative. Anyway, still a great trek with some great moments despite several hours of playing cards in the tent. Lakes in different shades of blue and green, snowy peaks and layers of rock folded by giants to form patterns in with different colors of minerals.

After the trek, the girls want ot do an ice climbing course. Not really mu cup of tea, so i decide to head of and visit some more spots on the coast. We arrange to meet in Cusco, some time later. Back on the bus, towards Lima, alone this time (a single tear rolling down my cheek).
This time everybody on the bus gets filmed, either for theft prevention or to identify your body if they drive down a cliff. Not sure.

Right, that's it up to Lima. After Lima, to Pisco, city of the Pisco Sour. Going there to see national park, of course ... ;-)

Hope everybody is enjoying summer (northern hemisphere) or is not too cold in winter... Let me know how you're doing!

greets,
nico