After a somewhat arse clenchingly nervy drive along the Pan Americano highway which snakes right along the edge, and by edge I mean edge, of the coast, and we trundled into the mountain town of Huaraz. Celebrated the return of blue skies and sun before dumping our stuff at the friendly Way Inn and heading out to explore.
Next morning we caught a local collectivo mini bus to the Monterray hot springs where we sat and pickled ourselves for a good few hours in the brownish red water. Brown because of all the good-giving iron ore apparently. Bit minging looking but super relaxing. We left shortly before growing gills and met up with some peeps from the hostel for some drinkies.

In the morning, ignoring traditional coach tours, we hopped on another collectivo, armed with our breakfast llama-shaped bun, for the hour long journey through the countryside and little villages to Yungay. This is where the entire original town was wiped out in 1970 and 20,000 people died when a earthquake caused a massive mudslide burying the whole area. Pretty sobering stuff considering the earthquake not far from here only a few weeks ago.

Abandoned our poor bartering session with taxi drivers, and managed to wangle our way onto a comfy coach for the next hour climb up the mountain to the famously bright blue Llanganuco Lake. After a lakeside stroll, we Wended our way back down into the valley and onto Caraz for a spot of lunch in the town famous for milk and honey. No milk and honey for us, instead a one dollar set lunch of meat, possibly chicken, and mashed yucca, followed up with a homemade icecream in the plaza.

Caught a local collectivo back to Huaraz which was a proper real experience. At one point our modest 12-seater bus was ferrying 23 people, two giant buckets of unknown liquid, couple of bundles of unknown substance, four bikes strapped to the roof, a drunk farmer and his wife in a wide-brimmed hat and a puppy in a sack.

Another half hour in a taxi driving up the mountains in the dark and we reached our chill-out luxury lodge boasting goose down duvets and orthopedic mattresses to help us eschew our western ways and get back to nature. Ah, the simplicity of mountain livin'. Some tasty top notch home cooked food, numerous cold beers and a few rounds of 'My boat is loaded with...' with our fellow lodgers and we went out with the generator.

Woke up with the dawn light and stumbled out of the cave dorm to the sanctuary of a proper matrimonial double. No more slumming it for us! Spent a wonderful couple of days just chilling in the hammocks admiring the views and scoffing enormous amounts of BBQ, homemade apple pie and custard. Just like the Peruvian ancestors did! But it wasn't all relaxing, we ventured for a little stroll, attempted the climbing wall and watched with great enthusiasm as the others returned from their 8-hour trek.

After a fab Shepherd's Pie dinner, six of us piled into a taxi back down into town to catch our overnight bus to Trujillo despite an unscheduled stop halfway down to allow some randomers cling onto the roof!