Leaving the narrow Cañon del Pato and the jagged mouthed tunnels behind, we climbed up into a big wide open valley between the two cordilleras. Whereas the Cañon del Pato is dry with very little vegetation, this valley is covered in a palette of greens stretching up both sides to the mountains. A few minutes into our drive through the valley we got our first glimpse of the reason we were here: white, rugged snow capped peaks towering over the valley. It was so surprising a site for us after so many months on the coast we had to stop for some photos and to enjoy the view. Little did we know, this was only the beginning of snow capped peaks, and we were about to be amazed over and over again with view after view of the jagged, white peaks that make up the Cordillera Blanca.

The Cordillera Blanca mountain range runs parallel to the Cordillera Negra range, its drier cousin that separates it from the ocean. The range is a mere 70 km (about 44 miles) from the Pacific Ocean, but thanks to it’s cousin the Cordillera Negra which protects the blancas from the warm tropical currents of the Pacific, it is the highest tropical ice covered mountain range in the world. Within a relatively small amount of space, there are 33 peaks over 5,500 meters (18,044 feet), with 16 of them over 6,000 meters (19,685 feet). Thanks to these dazzling heights nestled amongst the peaks you find beautiful glaciers and bright turquoise glacier lakes. This combination makes for some pretty impressive scenery.

The main highway leads through the middle of the valley between the two mountain ranges, with dirt roads leading up into the mountains. We headed up to Laguna Paron, located 30 km up a bumpy dirt road from the town of Caraz. The road goes up through another beautiful valley and the village of Paron with picturesque tile roofed adobe houses with corn hanging to dry from the rafters in the front yard. The locals, dressed in colorful traditional clothes wonder the road and work the fields of corn, potatoes and quinoa, along with little hairy pigs, cows, sheep, and donkeys.

Laguna Paron sits at the top of a steep narrow valley with one of the rocks reminiscent of El Capitan in Yosemite. The lake is the beautiful turquoise blue color of glacier lakes and sits at the bottom of Nevada Piramide, a snow covered triangular peak of 19,300 feet. On a clear day, a walk around the lake will give you views of snow covered mountains in every direction. We found a little dirt track that took us down to the edge of the lake and a perfect flat spot in the sand for camping. The sun was shining and the views were great so we decided to camp for the night.

Since we had just come from 3+ months on the coast and the lake sits at almost 14,000 feet, it probably wasn’t the brightest idea we’ve ever had, but hey it’s hard to find a more stunning campsite. We knew we were in for a cold night, but I don’t think we imagined how cold. In the afternoon the clouds came in taking away the warm sun and bringing the cold and rain. By late afternoon it was rainy and we were bundled up in all our winter clothes, freezing and wet. By 6:00, we had eaten a cold and soggy dinner and were in our tent trying to warm up. It was a long night of little sleep and terrible headaches for both of us. (Word to the wise: going up to almost 14,000 feet to sleep after spending months at or near sea level in one day is NOT smart. You should take at least a few days to go up in altitude in order to avoid the mind numbing headaches and shortness of breath that we experienced).

The next day the clouds, wind and rain were still hanging around, so we decided to head back down to the valley. The night before we had met a French traveler named Ronan. He had hiked up to the lake from the village below and slept in a little hut by the lake. He wasn’t really feeling up to hiking back down, so asked if he could catch a ride with us. Since we don’t have a back seat there really wasn’t much room for him, so he decided he’d take a ride on the roof. The whole way down we kept asking if he was alright up there, and he kept telling us to speed up (with a big grin on his face of course ).

A little ways down the valley road, we caught another dirt road to take us back up into the mountains, this time heading to the Llanganuco Lodge. The lodge sits at the base of snow covered peaks and near another beautiful glacier fed lake. The ruins of Keashu sit along side the lake and are actually partially submerged this time of the year. The first morning we were there, the sun rose in a clear blue sky, so we decided to take advantage and went for a hike around the lake and up the gorge toward the ice covered peak of Huandoy. It felt good to get out and be hiking again. As we hiked up and around the lake the views of both the lake below and the beautiful glacier above were spectacular. The warm fresh air with hints of pine and wild flowers was a welcome change from the smoggy cities and warm beach we’ve been used to.

After a few days enjoying the scenery and hiking, we decided we were ready to move on. The problem we were facing is that we were in the middle of Semana Santa, the holy week leading up to Easter that is a BIG deal here in Latin America. Almost everybody has at least the later part of the week off and heads for the beach and the mountains. Charlie, the owner of the lodge, told us Huaraz, the biggest town in the Cordilleras would probably be pretty crazy but luckily his brother owns another lodge in the mountains outside of Huaraz where we surely could find a place to camp. So we said goodbye to our nice mountain retreat and headed back to down the valley.

The Way Inn, didn’t disappoint. The main building is stone and grass roofed and looks like it belongs in the mountains of Europe somewhere. The mountains that march along behind the lodge help reinforce this as well. They also have a great home built sauna, with a barrel out the side where you can stoke the fire and enjoy the heat for as long as you want. It was worth the visit just for the wonderful sauna every night .

We spent almost 2 weeks here in the Cordillera, camping in the high mountains, enjoying the clean fresh air and the beautiful views of steep rugged snow capped mountains. The whole time we were off the grid with no internet and only enough electricity to recharge our cameras and of course our trusty Kindles when needed. It had been awhile since we went off grid and actually, it felt really nice. With out the distraction of internet we were able to really enjoy the area and get lots of hikes in. All our food came from the municipal markets in the little towns we would stop in. Most people might think that we are living far from the conveniences of the modern world, but the truth is a lot of the time we aren’t too far from a fairly big grocery store with mostly similar goods as you would find back home, and we are never too far from an internet connection (albeit maybe not as fast as we would like). Sometimes though, as in our few weeks here in the mountains, it’s nice to just get away from it all and truly live in the moment.

May 14th, 2012 | Tags: blogsherpa, cordillera blancas, laguna paron, Peru | Category: Peru, South America | Leave a comment

We’re winding our way along a narrow dirt road in the mountains of Peru, passing through tunnel after narrow tunnel. Each tunnel has been blasted through the rock mountain side, the mouth a big dark jagged abyss as we enter. Some are so long and the road twisting though the mountain side there is nothing but darkness and the jagged rocks surrounding us as we make our way through the single lane. Others are short enough that you can see the bright day opening up on the other side just a few hundred feet ahead.

We are driving through the Cañon del Pato, where the Cordillera Negra comes within kissing distance of the Cordillera Blanca. It is a steep sheer rock canyon with the only thing separating the two mountain ranges is at this time of year, a raging chocolate colored river. The road winds along the side of the river, cut into the side of the canyon and is narrow and single laned with pullouts every so often in case you meet another car coming from the other direction. The whole area is fairly drab, consisting mostly in a range of brown colors, including the layer of dust from the road, but still manages to be beautiful. The sheer rock faces of the canyon are deep brown and dark red and create a beautiful background of colors. The canyon itself is an arresting site, but it is the tunnels that make is such an amazing drive.

Luis and I keep discussing when and why these tunnels were built. The only explanation we can come up with is either mining or hydro power companies built it; which seem to be the dominant reason roads are built in such inhospitable terrain anywhere in the world-resource extraction. Our guide book says there are around 30 tunnels through the canyon. I have become so caught up in the beauty of the drive I have forgotten to count. I can say that there are quite a lot…

The Cañon del Pato is the northern entrance to the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. It is has been a much anticipated drive for us here in Peru, with many overlanders telling us it was one of their favorite drives. We had actually tried to come in through this route a month and a half before on our way to Lima the first time. Unfortunately, the road was blocked by multiple landslides due to rain. Then we got a major flat tire on the way out and ended up having to buy all new tires in Lima (after nearly 3 years and countless miles, it was time for new shoes). We had actually based our decision to head back north to the Ecuador border instead of going south to Chile when we needed to renew our truck visa on wanting to see the canyon and the cordillera Blanca. 1,200 kilometers of backtracking, was it worth it? As we were driving through this beautiful place, we decided that all the trouble of dealing with Ecuador again and having to buy new tires was worth it. What a drive! We’ve had some amazing drives on our journey (remember the Copper Canyon in Mexico), and Peru is turning out to have quite a few gems.

Our first night in we were looking to camp on the side of the road somewhere. We had some GPS points from PanAmNotes where they camped and had read lots of accounts saying you can just find somewhere to pull out. Unfortunately, when we got to the GPS spot, there had been a landslide in the area and the road down to the river was now buried. We could see the nice perfect flat spot, but no way to get there. We drove along for awhile trying to find another good spot. We finally found a little road and followed it down. The spot wasn’t perfect, but we thought it just might do. The problem was that although you couldn’t see the car from the road right above us, you could still see it from a little ways down. After hanging out for a few minutes, still debating if we should stay, a truck pulled down the same road as us and stopped a little ways up and started dumping yard waste. I guess we were camping near the dump. Luis decided to go talk to the drivers of the truck and see what they had to say. He came back and said they didn’t recommend us staying there, but we were to follow them to a municipal soccer field that had guards all night long. We followed them up the road, and sure enough, found a nice place to camp next to the stands. It wasn’t the most breathtaking place but at least we were up off the road, had some lights nearby, and even had our very own guards looking out for us!

May 9th, 2012 | Tags: blogsherpa, cañon del pato, Peru | Category: Peru, South America | Comments (7)

When we arrived in Lima, we thought we would just be spending a couple of days and moving on. As this is no doubt not the first time this has happened, I don’t know why we were surprised when we were still here a month later. A series of car problems and waiting for Lacey’s very important replacement Kindle to arrive and be released by customs kept us here. Luckily for us, as far as capital cities in Latin America, or any country for that matter, Lima is actually a pretty nice place, quite charming in its own way. It is a HUGE city in the middle of a dessert, but sometimes this fact is easy to forget. Driving into the city, you pass shanty towns and rundown neighborhoods typical to most large Latin American cities, but then all of a sudden you find yourself in some neighborhoods where you have trouble deciding if you are still in Peru or maybe somehow you were transported to LA and you are staring at the Santa Monica coastline.

Our first week in Lima we stayed in the upscale neighborhood of Miraflores, where many of the cities’ tourist hostels are located. We actually found a hostel that has a large walled courtyard where they allow us folks in vehicles to camp. It is actually quite a nice place, and we met lot’s of other overlanders and made some new friends.

Miraflores is kind of like a mini city within a city. Just a few blocks from our hostel, you find yourself at the seaside, looking down on the ocean from cliffs lined with beautiful parks and high end high rise apartments.

A few blocks in the other direction and you are at Parque Kennedy, three blocks of sprawling grass, lot’s of trees to provide shade on a hot day, and benches for enjoying that shade. And of course cats. Wait, what…cats? Yep, the park has a few glaring (thanks to Miro of Raising Miro On the Road of Life for teaching us this new word ) of cats that live here. The first time we visited the park, we were strolling along enjoying the park when I noticed a cat hanging out under the tree. Then I noticed a couple of cats sleeping up in the branches of one of the trees. I commented to Luis about it and soon we were seeing cats everywhere. Almost every tree had at least one cat napping in it’s branches and as many more where sprawled out in the grass. What was more surprising was that most the cats actually looked quite healthy and well fed. It took us a few more visits to the park to find out how this many cats can survive in a park in the middle of this huge city. It turns out there is a group of people, mostly a woman and her husband, who come to the park and feed the cats twice a day every day. There are 3 or 4 glaring of cats here and each one has to be fed separate from the others. They also bring medical supplies and vaccinations and give medical care to any of the cats who need it.

One of our favorite places in Lima is the Circuito Magico del Agua, located in the Parque de Reserva in downtown Lima. It is a huge park with 13 fountains of varying sizes (no, the irony of a huge park full of water fountains in the middle of the desert was not lost on us). Some are interactive so you can get in and get wet. During the day it is a great place to cool off in the Lima summer heat, but at night is becomes a colorful lighted world of water. All the fountains are uniquely designed and at night the water combines with great lighting to create a great show. They also have a crazy light and music show at the main fountain that reminds me of Las Vegas or Disneyland come to Latin America. At first I played the adult, content to stay out of the water and watch the others have fun, but in the end, I just couldn’t resist. It’s much funner to get a little wet now and then.

April 15th, 2012 | Tags: blogsherpa, circuito magico del agua, Lima, Miraflores, parque kennedy, Peru | Category: Peru, South America | Leave a comment

One morning while on our usual walk along the malecon in Huanchaco, we passed some guys building a big tower out of bamboo on the side of the road. We stopped to take a look and realized the bamboo structure was loaded with fireworks with fuses running all along the sides. It was maybe 30 feet tall, and had big wheels and squares jutting out of the tower, all covered in fireworks as well. Lacey, being somewhat obsessed with fireworks, got excited and asked the guys what it was all about. It turns out today was the festival of the Virgen del Sucorro in the town.

The firework towers were being put up all over town, paid for by different restaurants as an offering to the virgin. The guys working on the tower told us the celebration would take place that night, so Lacey was left to impatiently wait out the rest of the day for the big show. After sunset we were walking around wondering when the “celebration” was going to start and what exactly was going to take place. Finally we stopped to ask a lady who was setting up an altar in front of her restaurant when it would start and what was going to happen. Actually it was more like, “when are they going to start the fireworks?”, as we still didn’t understand what exactly the celebration was all about. The lady informed us the fireworks would be after dark but that the virgin was going to be coming down the street first. We were slowly walking down the beach trying to figure out what the lady meant by “the virgin coming down the street,” when up ahead we saw a procession come around the corner with a band, a bunch of people, and a big statue of the virgin covered in flowers. Aha, this is what she meant!

It turns out that Huanchaco is home to the second oldest church in Peru, the Santuario de la Virgen del Socorro. The church’s statue of the Holy Virgin, the Virgen de la Candeleria, was made in Spain. The statue is believed to have floated ashore from a shipwreck, spawning a cult of worship among the town’s fishermen. Our understanding from talking to local townsfolk is that the festival consisting of the procession with the virgin around town is intended for the local businesses to give offerings to the virgin in hopes of receiving good luck and fortune in the coming year. Many business owners all over town had set up altars in front of their business with flowers, candles and such.

The procession, including the virgin, being carried by a bunch of people (it looked quite heavy), marched around and stopped at each altar. The business owner would give a short speech and give some flowers to the virgin as an offering in the hopes of receiving good luck and fortune in the coming year. Sometimes there was a traditional dance performed by children, who were actually quite good.

After watching the procession for awhile, we decided to go wait at the firework towers for the next part of the show. After what seemed like hours of the procession marching along to the business on the north end of town (we had time to enjoy a beer and hang out on the side of the road forEVER), the procession finally arrived to the first firework tower where we were waiting. It was a quite a show! Having never seen a firework tower before, I have to say I was quite impressed. The fireworks were all set up on different fuses so they would go off at different times. We got to see spinning wheel of fire, fountains of fire, cascading fire almost like a waterfall, and even the name of the sponsoring restaurant lit up with fireworks. Also the fact that they were lighting the fireworks (and we are talking quite a bit of firepower here) off within 20 feet of a huge crowd of people made it all  a little crazy and added to the show.

 

 

At the end of the show, the procession moved on to the next altar and we decided we had had enough. As we started walking away not 5 minutes after the show we were totally amazed to look up and see that they already had most of the tower dismantled and packed away. Quite efficient! We headed back to camp feeling lucky we got this small glimpse into the customs of this small town.

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy:

April 11th, 2012 | Tags: blogsherpa, Huanchaco, Peru, Virgin del Sucorro | Category: Peru, South America | Leave a comment