Huaraz

As my good friend Tyler said, “Sounds like you might have been bitten by the climbing bug” Well he was correct. So I headed up to Huaraz, Peru.

Huaraz is an adrenaline capital for the mountain enthusiasts - hiking, climbing, rock climbing, mountain biking, hot springs etc. It is the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas with 22 peaks over 6,000m. There are 3 different mountain ranges - Cordillera Blanca, Cordillera Negra and Cordillera Huayhuash and 2 parks - Parque Nacional Huascaran and Huayhuash within an hour of this town of about 100,000 people. A small town, snow capped mountain views from town, hiking from downtown, sounds perfect right??!! The only problem I was facing was not having enough time to see it all.

A view from my hostel terrace:





























My Australian friend, Heath, and I decided to go for a day hike up to Laguna Churup in Parque Nacional Huascaran. The lake itself is at 4450msnm. A great day hike with views of Huaraz, brown rolling hills, rocky cragged mountain tops, snowy peaks and waterfalls.

















































We started up the hiking trail from a small village, Llupa, north of Huaraz. The town was comprised of houses, gardens and a walkway up into the mountains, Quebrada Quillcayhuanca. On the way up, about 40 people from the village were working on the trail. They were maintaining the trail as well as clearing the irrigation canals which gave their town water from the glaciars above. I love seeing groups of people working together towards a mutual goal. It reminded me of home :-)
But I thought it was strange that not only did the children ask for caramelos (small candies), food, money etc but so did the adults. I was shocked when a grown man of about 50 or 60 asked me for some caramelos. I had a hard time with the requests at first, but let go of my own judgements and finally when we got into the microbus for Huaraz, I got a good laugh, made some jokes and even made the women laugh, when they asked for my earrings and shoes.
I know it is a common practice for tourists to give candies/lollipops to the children throughout Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. I have not engaged in this practice for the main reason of me not liking children learning to beg for things. I also worry about their teeth and the lack of money for dental care. But I feel like I got a confirmation of my thoughts in this village. I do not like the locals thinking that all tourists are rich, better than them and will give out handouts when asked. What do you all think??

The view of the outskirts of Llupa, with the water canal or water source flowing down in the middle of the trees