Peru Travel Report 3: From Barranca to Huaraz

Lima - Barranca - Huaraz

Taking a bus in Peru is not hard, it's just a bit more difficult than in Mexico. There is not one central bus terminal, but each company runs its own departure spots. And of course routes, timetables and prices are not accessible without being right at the terminal.

Going up up up - over 3000m above sea level!

When I planned my trip from Lima to Barranca, I asked the hostel's receptionists, just to get the answer:

"Barranca? You mean Barranco, right?"

As I said, Barranca is well off the beaten track, so even many Peruvians didn't have a clue about where this place was. Instead, they thought I wanted to go to Barranco, a district of Lima, right next to Miraflores. But no, how I get to the quarter right next to mine is pretty clear to me. In fact, I want to go to Barranca, not Barranco. I ended up searching the web and found similar questions - of Peruvians! And some answers about which companies run this route.

Many "lagunas" (mountain lakes) around Huaraz

Going from Barranca to Caral was similarly difficult, because you had to find a specific shared taxi... I had to search for 2 hours, asking again and again, just to find out that it apparently had changed it's departure spot several times, so that everybody gave me different directions.

Many vendors still wear traditional clothes - beautiful!

Compared to this, going from Barranca to Huaraz was surprisingly easy. Although I did have to take first a shared minibus and then wait another hour at a petrol station until the second shared taxi was full, it still was easy, because everybody at least gave me the same, straightforward instructions.

"Public typewriters". Apart from public scales to know your weight and nail clippers for rent (seen in Cambodia), public typewriters are definitely another clear hint that a country is not too developed or wealthy...

Huaraz surprised me. According to my travel book it wouldn't win a beauty contest, because everything had to be rebuilt after an earthquake in 1970. But in fact, most parts of any Peruvian or Mexican city I got to know are not really presentable, so this didn't bother me.

Houses are not beautiful, but what counts is the atmosphere, right?

Instead, I loved the atmosphere in the middle of the mountains. Arriving there really made me feel a bit dizzy, due to the altitude of over 3000m. But this feeling eased after some hours and I could totally enjoy the view - and the awesome variety of food. When it comes to street food, Huaraz is definitely a must.

One of my favourites: Sweet and warm pumpkin purée. How I miss pumpkin in Mexican cuisine...

Pachamanca normally refers to cooking meat for several hours in the earth, but this tub seems to be a decent substitute if you don't want to dig through the asphalt.

Although totally tucked away in the mountains, Huaraz featured some sublime ceviche. Although I hesitated at first to eat more or less raw fish, I soon made full use of the omnipresence of this tasty dish. And in fact, I never had any stomach problems, at all. Peruvians seems to be a bit more responsable when it comes to spoiled food and consumer protection. Here in Mexico, vendors will sell you the worst and long spoiled trash you could not even think of. I never had so many problems with food like here. Yesterday I had dinner with two German friends and they both complained about their already long-lasting stomach issues. And in the office, even my Mexican coworkers are permanently taking their isotonic saline solution... I think it says something that there is apparently no Mexican who doesn't complain about having problems with gastritis. Not so in Peru.

Peruvian tamales are sooooo much better than Mexican ones!

What is really contrary to the situation in Mexico is the food naming. In Mexico, they will tell you how many unique dishes there are in the country. Sopes, Gorditas, Huaraches, Tlacoyos... all these are ALL just tortillas in different shapes, but never ever say that to a Mexican, unless you want to be deported immediately! Same with Tortas, Molletes and Cemitas. In Germany we would call all of them "Belegtes Brötchen" (sandwich), but noooo, of course it makes a big different if your sandwich is being served in a whole (Torta), sliced (Mollete), or in a bun which has approximately 2 sesame seeds on top (Cemita).

In Peru, the opposite happens. It doesn't matter in which part of the country you are (well, ok, I just know a minuscule part of the overall area), the "region's typical dish" will always be (picante de) cuy ([spicy] guinea pig) and Pachamanca (baking meat in an earthen oven with hot stones). I think, "region" for them does not refer to the city, but is used to distinguish Peru's three regions traditionally used to describe the country geographically (coast, highlands, jungle). I think, cuy and Pachamanca are especially popular in the highlands, while at the coast, Chinese-Peruvian Chifa restaurants are more common. And in the jungle? No idea (it's said that people there solely live on ice cream... who knows).

 

Apparently quite tasty... But no, thanks.

The most common dishes also make it once again clear that for many people in Peru, food is all about survining - not necessarily savouring. This doesn't mean that the food is not tasty (as I said, it indeed mostly is!), but you will find cuy (guinea pig) and quail eggs everywhere. In other words: Goods, that can be produced cheaply and rapidly. In fact, cuy farms are a great investment for microcredits, as guinea pigs have a high reproduction rate, mature rapidly and are nutritious.

Quail egg vendors peeling their goods can be found everywhere in the country (well, in the small part I got to know)

Huaraz is all about trekking. So, of course I also did some. I opted for one of the most popular treks, the so-called "Santa Cruz Trek". You would think that locals knew best where to go, but on second thought you understand that this is actually not the case. While foreign tourists have the time and money to take holidays for several weeks, the local population is too busy to earn their humble living, so they never go for more than one day.

Mountain range "Cordillera blanca"

In fact, the locals I talked to tried to discourage me. They told me about avalanches, murder, kidnapping, assaults, people frozen to death... Indeed, some investigation in the internet will reveal such reports. But then again, there are departing so many tours each day... How unlucky did I have to be in order to be victim of any of these dangers? Of course, I did the trek. And it was soooo worth it.

I was just a bit insecure regarding all the professional trekking gear all the others of the group arrived with. They actually made jokes of my shoes and walking just in jeans, but hey, I obviously survived... They were a bit unbeliving when I told them that this was my first trek in Peru, no previous one for acclimatization. But to go running on 2150m in Cholula apparently was preparation enough.

Although I really indulged in coca tea during the 4-day trip, but just because of its great taste which resembles green tea. Others really needed it due to altitude sickness. For me, the worst thing was the incredible cold during nighttime. The tag on our sleeping bags marked them to be appropriate for temperatures down to 8°C. Well, it was much colder, I can tell you...

Fortunately I had bought lots of sweet stuff before, in order to avoid hypoglycemia. So, my strategy was to stuff my face with loads of sugar before going to bed, in order to boost my metabolism. Not sure, if this is how it's done, but it definitely helped (be it imagination or not).

Each day rewarded us with other magnificent views and landscapes. Awesome!

These were not our donkeys, but of course we also had some.

Almost on top.

The highest part of our trip: 4750m above sea level.

In the afternoon our group of around 10 people (Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Italy, Germany) always enjoyed some hot coca tea in the tent.

The trip was not really hard and the daily amount of walking was pretty manageable. We always arrived at around 4pm at the place where we intended to set up our camp. Then you could still stroll around a bit, but as temperatures tended to drop soon (sunset was at around 6pm), we mostly prefered to have some hot coca tea, decent dinner - and then we went to bed at around 8pm. Grandpa style. But it felt really good and you woke up with lots of energy.

German connection. In the back you supposedly can see the mountain which was voted the "Most beautiful mountain in the world". Well, for me it looked like any mountain, but someone told me that the votes were for the other side... Who knows...

This area before was a lush valley, but an avalanche in 2011(?) turned it into a barren - yet impressive - desert.

Curious donkey

The trip was sooo nice. Definitely recommend it. The guides were also really devoted, but they said that tourism in Huaraz had dropped considerably in recent years due to poorly managed travel agencies and inferior tour guides.

Back to Huaraz I still stayed a bit longer and relaxed the atmosphere. All the facilities which cater to backpackers but still a tranquil and somehow "original" place which was not too touristy. And due to the fact that almost all of the visitors were hikers, you always could find something in common with your fellows and exchange trekking tips.

Moreover, the locals really seemed to be interested in tourists and were not tired yet, as they sometimes are in more popular places (overrun by tourists). Several times I had lunch with locals and also had some very interesting and revealing talks about microfinance in Peru.

 

My next stop was Chavín de Huántar - stay tuned for the next post and get ready for the weekend!