Huaraz - Literally Breathtaking

The first place I visited after leaving PSF was Huaraz, a city in the mountains of Peru. The city is approximately 3,000 meters above sea level, which is about 12,000 feet! I arrived there from sea level Pisco, so I had a very difficult time acclimating. I arrived at 5:00 in the morning via bus (see pic to the right), like always, and after sleeping two hours in a deserted Peruvian bus station, I went to my hostel. It was called "Hostel Caroline", which had a resident rabbit, Lucky, as its pet.

The view from the city of Huaraz is impeccable. Snow covered peaks tower over the city, and adventure sports relish in the community. To my delight, there were vegetarian restaurants on many corners. I also found a great little coffee shop owned by a Peruvian woman and Californian called, wait for it... California Cafe. The coffee was wonderful, and they had CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. For those of you who do not know, I love chocolate chip cookies,

and these are more precious and harder to find than gold in Peru.

I spent too much time in this "find" reading my first Isabel Allende book, El Bosque de los Pigmeos or The Forest of the Pygmy in English. It is my second attempt at reading a novel in Spanish, and I am flying through it. I needed to read a book. I have been avoiding reading in English for fear of losing my Spanish, and I had no idea how much I missed reading.

Unfortunately, I only stayed in Huaraz for three days and two nights. For my second day, I went to Lake 69, a crystal blue pool located at difficult 4300 meters. I found a British gentleman to go with me who was staying in my hostel. We also hiked down and shared a meal with a guy from Germany who was traveling through Peru.

We started the hike at 5:30 in the morning. We had to take two cars -- for a total of two hours, and hike for three or four hours to the top. The path was scattered with cows and horses - and the droppings of cows and horses.

The higher I got on the hike, the less I could breath. For the last thirty minutes of the hike, I was walking five steps, and then having to stop. But, I made it!! I was very proud of this accomplishment.

The lake itself was worth the struggle to the top. It was as blue as the Pacific that I saw in Hawaii and Galapagos, but in contrast, it had snow covered mountains as part of the view. We could only stay there for enough time to eat lunch and take pictures because we had to be at the bottom by 3:00 to catch a bus.

After the hike, I was TIRED! I ate a hearty vegetarian meal and went to sleep. The following day, I relaxed, read my book, and visited the local museum. I had planned on visiting another lake this day, but I was so exhausted and (now I know), suffering from a little bit of altitude sickness, that I decided to take it easy that day.

The museum was interesting, and like many of the museums I have visited in Peru, it had its share of mummies. The museum was also packed, both inside and out, with small statues from the pre-Incan culture that flourished in the Huaraz region before colonialism.

My bus did not leave Huaraz until 9:00 at night, so I had ample time to enjoy my remaining time at my hostel. I practiced yoga on the roof for about an hour before it started lightly raining. This forced me to look out over the town, and this is when I noticed the double rainbow that had formed over the city. Maybe it was just because there was rain and sunshine at the same time, but I had a feeling that the rainbow as going to occur.

The yoga, rainbow, and breath taking view gave me the first feeling of peace since I left my dear friends in Pisco. It reminded me why I was traveling and how beautiful the experience is that I am having. It also reminded me to look around! There is so much we miss while swimming in our own heads.

After randomly bumping into a PSFer at the hostel, I prepared myself to leave. The more I am travel in Peru, the more I realize how incredible this country is. Every town, I mean EVERY TOWN, has ancient, recently discovered ruins. In regards to nature, Peru offers the following: the beach, the jungle, the alteplano, the desert, and the Andes Mountains. I could spend another three months here and not see everything the country has to offer. I highly recommend visiting this mystical place. My next stop is Chachapoyas, a little lower and smaller and... Closer to the Jungle!