Let´s hike and not stop for 7 hours shall we?

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A 9 hour night bus journey took us from Trujillo to Huaraz, posh buses in Peru! Reclinable seats, a snack and a film that we could actually hear! We were still pretty tired when we reached the town at 5am but found a hostal easily.

Huaraz is the capital of the deparment of Ancash, which was totally destroyed in 1970 by a severe earthquake. It is one of the best places to stay if you want to go hiking/climbing. There is so much to see and do in the area, you should stay a few weeks really in order to explore the beautiful mountains, lakes, lagunas etc. Santa Cruz is the famous trek where most professional hikers head for. It is a 6 day trek, but as we were restricted with time, we decided to book a 1 day trip to Laguna 69, in the Cordillera Blanca.

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The name of the lake has no particular significance, just that when they first started naming the lagunas, they were numbered and this laguna was the 69th! Not very interseting really?

Anyway, we met our guide, who spoke pidgin English at 6am and joined a crowded collectivo for 1 hour or so to the town of Yungay, where we drank some coca tea to help us with altitude sickness. We then jumped into another collectivo even more crowded for 1hour and a half to the start of the trek. We were already exhausted by the time we started to walk... oh dear!

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The first stretch was fairly easy as we walked downhill and simply admired the sceneries. Clear blue skies, absolutely outstanding views of peaks above 6000m, just wow!! We stopped around 11.30am for a quick rest and then, then, the trek from hell! Uphill non stop in the blistaring sunshine with a guide who liked to talk but not listen! Bless him, he was 67, 6 sons and 1 daughter, all studying at uni, and he spent his whole life providing for his family.

We passed a first lagune where we spotted a few wild rabbits, and chewed some coca leaves for the first time. Our guide was adamant we had to swallow the leaves, but we found out today from our Inca trail guide that you should spit them! Hope my stomach will cope... Dylan was starting to feel weak by then. We still had another good hour until Laguna 69 by then! At the time we thought he was suffering from altitude sickness, but looking back now, he must have had sun stroke, as he was shivering and feeling awful at the end of the trek.

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We reached the lagune at 2pm (around 4200m) and had some food there. And that´s when our guide said, 20min break and then we hurry back down to catch a car back to Huaraz. Great!! So off he went virtually running down, not paying attention to where we were for the next 2 hours back to the road! We could have fallen down and broken our ankle for as much as he knew!

We made it in the end, but as we reached the road, there were no signs of a car! We will just wait, he said to us. I feel lucky!!!! What??? Dylan was laid on the floor, shivering and feeling sick, it was starting to get really chilly and dark, and he was hoping a car would drive past this remote road and give us a lift?? Crasy man! Fortunately though, there was a private bus waiting for a group of Germans not far. They finished their hike half an hour or so after us and felt so sorry for us, sat by the side of the road waiting for a miracle, so they told us to jump on their bus. Phew!!! I really don´t know what we would have done otherwise! Plus I got to practice my German which was nice.

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This was our practice for the Inca trail anyway. 6 and a half hours trek, 11km, mostly uphill.

We took a night bus to Lima that very evening, worst journey ever! The sealing was squeaking all the way, very very loud!! All Dylan wanted to do was curl into a ball and wake up to normality, but the guy snoring next to him on his left who was actually competing with the guy snoring in front of him, combined with the roof squeaking all the way was just not a good way to recovery!!