Huaraz, Peru

September 14

We spent 9 hours northbound on a bus lastnight from Lima to Huaraz. The ride was like nothing I have ever seen. We passed though the desert Andes and then ended our trek in white capped glacier mountains. The route followed the Pacific Coast line for much of the trip. I had never before been on a road tucked between the view of the ocean and mountains.

We got in fairly late, checked into our hostel, Albergue Churup Hostel. It is run by a local family and they dont speak English. Its nice not being in a hostel where everything is in English. Libbys Spanish is improving daily. She gets really excited to speak with the locals. For 25 soles ($8 USD), we have a cozy room to ourselves, kitchen, fireplace, internet, living room with another fireplace, and a sunny courtyard and the owners and staff seem all too willing to get you hooked up on a guide to hike Cordillera Blanca or mountain biking.

There is so much to do here, from what I have read in the short time i have been here. We got in late and walked down the street to find some food and ended up at this chill little dive that served wood fired pizza and really cold beer. mmhmmmm! Gustavo a young peruvian who worked there also gave us tips as where to get the best hiking. Meanwhile the restaurant gatito, little kitten, was nestled in my lap. We both started feeling dizzy and headachy..no the guys at the place didnt slip something in our drinks...we were feeling typical altitude sickness. Asheville is at 2,300 meters above sea level, Huaraz is between 5,000_6,000. Today we both feel alittle better, but the mate de coca tea we had for breakfast is helping! Its tea made from the coca leaf and helps altitude sickness and is tasty.

We are heading down to the plaza ..Huaraz is a chill little town with hardly any tourists at all...to find breakfast and a sweater! I think we{ll be here for awhile. On the outskirts of town there are indigenous quechua speaking communities that wear traditional dress and English bowlers hats.

The market during the day is filled with colorful fruits, vegetables, and meats (swarming with busy flies). The majority of the locals with their produce were older women, sitting and talking with one another. They dont seem to pay much attention to us. I prefer that over constantly being sold something like I am a tourist. I wish I could have taken more photos of the beautiful Andean women with my eyes, but I cant and always having your camera out isolated me fron talking to the people.