Pushing Pesos: Huarez Peru - The land of trekking

We were intercepted by our Aussie mate Jo who convinced us to go to Huarez to climb some lagoon. This would not have been on our list to do but we were easily persuaded and decided it could perhaps be fun. After an overnight bus from Lima we arrived in Huarez which was quite a big town in amidst snow covered top mountains. We stayed in a lovely hostel called "Chirup" which was decked with oak flooring ,overlooked by a large open fireplace.

On our first day we went on a mini 3 hour hike to a local lagoon, dont get me wrong it was still a killer. At the top we had spectacular views of the snow capped mountains that surrounded us. We sat on the top with our picnics and feasted, it was so peaceful. We also acquired a pet dog who followed us all the way back down. We were starting to worry that she would come back to the town with us when she stopped at a house and we saw two puppy's exactly like her. We soon realised these were her pups and she had perhaps lead us there knowing we had food. We feed the puppys with the food we had left and set off again. We jumped on a local collectivo, these are vans that you can flag down and pay a small fair.

After nearly missing our stop we jumped out and found local market. In this market we saw skinned guinea pigs and live ones all squirming in a big bag of netting, almost knowing their untimely fate. At this point we still hadn't managed to try the specialty "cuy" (guinea pig) but after seeing them skinned, so skinny, it certainly made us think again about wanting to eat them.

A procession in the town

Huarez town centre

First day 3 hour hike- where we had our picnic

Rolling hills

Our 4 legged friend

The Market Massacre- Not for the faint hearted

Yum!

Skinned Rabbit

Netted Chickens

Squirming guinea pigs beside a splattered wall of blood

Skinned guinea pigs and chickens feet

Lagoon 69

On our second day we arranged to be picked up by a van to take us to the area to start the Lagoon 69 trek. We had seen pictures of Lagoon 69 and it was the sole reason for our Huarez detour. This was an 8 hour 1 day trek at 4600m altitude so we knew it was going to be tough. We were also told that the mountain seen on the paramount pictures logo was shot in this area as it was voted the most beautiful mountain. We started our climb, walking only on a slight incline over a grassland, passing cows along the way. Now normally at low altitude this looks a breeze but at high altitude we could hardly catch our breath. The walk was the most scenic I have seen, it was beautiful beyond words. After much houghing and puffing we reached our destination. As you turn the bend you see this clear blue water trickling down into bluest blue lagoon you have even seen. It was astonishingly beautiful and no photo can do it justice.

The water was so cold but some dare devil trekker took a plunge. We waded in for pictures and within a second we could hardly feel our toes, I could only imagine the Atlantic to be as cold. After our picnic we started our descend back down to our van to take us home. On the way home I got chatting to one of the trekkers on our trip. He said he visited South America 22 years ago but decided to return as last time he never managed to make it up to Peru. He was an intriguing man, very charismatic and it was great listening to his stories. He said he was in Chile 22 years ago and had crossed over from San Pedro to Bolivia as we had done. But back then there wasn't any tours, they crossed the border by getting a lift from a local in a pick up truck. Back then there wasn't a border crossing either so when he got to Bolivia he was heavily questioned by the Bolivian authorities. He showed his New Zealand passport but at that time the Bolivians had a map on the wall that didnt include New Zealand and they wouldnt believe it was a real country. Imagine trying to explain New Zealand was a real country, he got me laughing. Anyway after several hours they finally believed him and sent him on his way. What a story.

Here are some pics of Lagoon 69, it really was worth a visit. After the trek we left our Aussie friend as she wanted to do a 5 day Santa Cruz trek ( suppose to be ones of the best treks in the world) but we declined and decided to leave for party town Mancora which was by the beach. Here are some pics of our trek to Lagoon 69!