11th Dec

Anyway the hotel is very nice, but right under the
flight path of the planes. We still get a reasonable sleep, but have to
be up at 5.30am as the fight to Huaraz leaves at 8.15. They seem to like
you at the airport 1.5 hours before. Our flight is delayed. No
information is available, so we sit and wait. Eventually we board the
little Dash 8 and we are in the air.

The flight is smooth and very scenic. Huaraz airport is very small. Its so behind the times. I watch as our bags are unloaded onto the baggage cart, and 1 guy pushes the cart 200 metres to the terminal. Now at 3,000 metres altitude and 20 pieces of baggage this is one mean feat.

The drive from the airport to Huaraz is about 30 minutes in another taxi driven by a madman. The scary thing is all the taxis we have been in dint have seat belts in the back seats. So if anything happens its going to hurt. We check into our very basic guest house. The room is ok, and the bed are comfy. Cannot expect too much for $25 a night including breakfast. There is only 1 other person staying here, so t will be nice and quiet.

We have booked 3 full days tours to see Huascaran National park. So for 3
full day tours the cost is $50 each. Lets hope the bus has good brakes, as we are heading up to 5,000 metres.

12th Dec

At 9am we are at the tour office waiting to board the bus. We are told to follow this guy and we walk down the road to another bus company. Little disappointed as i booked with Pablo Tours, which are meant to be one of the better operators. The new tour company is Mony tours.
Board the bus and we are on our way. Bus is full. we are about an hour into the trip when we start to smell a burning clutch. As the bus starts to climb, the smell gets worse and smoke is pluming out the back of the bus. I said to Alan as soon as the bus stops get off in case it bursts into flames.

Well its not long before the bus comes to a grinding halt. We are the first off. Smoke is billowing from under the bus. The smell of a fried clutch is overpowering. Great start to the day!
After half and hour we board the bus and coast back downhill to the Little village and wait for a replacement bus.

After an hour or so another bus arrives and we continue on our journey into the mountains. The scenery is spectacular. We arrive at Chavin for lunch. It is a small village with lots of archaeological discoveries. Lunch was awesome, heavily spiced grilled chicken with rice and salad. With lunch finished we head to the bus. I have a quick look over the bus the see the front left tyre is bald and canvas is showing. I tell the driver who tells me its ok, ******** it is!

Not much i can do so fingers crossed it doesn't blow. Our next stop is a Museum. While we are waiting for the other people i have a better look around the bus, only to find one of the rear wheel studs is missing. Can things get any worse?

Ok, so we have visited all the sites and now head back to Huaraz, about 2 hours away. If you can picture extremely winding switchback dirt roads climbing up and down the mountainside with no barrier to stop you from plummeting over the edge. Remember the bald front tyre.
Luckily the bus makes it back to town with any incidents.

13th Dec

Today the destination is Pasto Ruri. Its a huge Glacier in the national park. We are with Pablo Tours today. I made sure that they didn't and handball us to another operator. Our mini Van is very comfortable, and we are a group or 7. The journey takes about 3 hours to get into the park. Once in the park the very rough dirt road climbs to 4,800 metres.

We stop to see the largest Bromeliads in the world. As the road climbs higher it begins to snow. Unfortunately its not good for photography. Anyway we reach the car park, snowing heavier now.

The bus stops and we make a beeline for the toilets. You pee more at higher altitude, so Alan tells me. We are not really dressed for these conditions. Jeans, T shirt and lightweight jacket, and a disposable poncho. It must be zero degrees or less, snowing on and off, but this wont stop us from making the 2.5 kilometer walk uphill to see the Glacier. This is the hardest walk we have ever done. Not only is it uphill, but we are climbing to 5,070 metres. Oxygen is thin and its getting a lot harder to breath. Heart rate is 140 plus. Taking it slow and having a few rests we make it.

The view of the glacier is awesome. We arrive just as the sun shines some light through the cloud. The snow has stop. We are now at 5,070 metres (16,600 feet above sea level). The body is not happy at this altitude. Heart rate is up, taking twice as many breaths, head feels light like you might faint. Sat down for a minute to take in the scenery, stood up as normal and nearly passed out. Just then i remembered to stand up slowly to avoid getting light headed. All good.
All this with a head cold, which is taking its time to go.

We are the first back to the bus, and we try to warm up. the rest of the group is aboard and we head back to Huaraz. It was a tough day, but truly memorable.

Now for some dinner. Chinese it is, and ever so good. It will be an early night, with another full day tour tomorrow.