As soon as we turned left, away from the Panamerican highway, the landscape changed almost instantly. No more sand dunes, ocean and desert winds. We were now going through sugar cane fields, which sweet smell made us hungry despite the early hour in the day. It was like riding through a candy field. After a few towns, we started seeing what we were looking for: mountains. They were tall and brown, on each side of the road, with big stones everywhere threatening to fall off any minute. The change was refreshing after three days in the desert: we were on our way up to the famous Andes, our final destination for the day being Huaraz, a mountain town at the start of the Cordillera Blanca.
So excited by the view of our big summits
After lunch, the climb got steeper and we had to put on more layers due to the cold. The dry heat from the morning seemed a distant memory, especially when we hit the cloud line where it was both cold and misty. It worried us a little: would that mean that we would not get the see the high summits? We were after all in the rainy season and may have to do with the bad weather and no visibility. Suddenly, the clouds opened up and we entered a green flat plateau. No more curves: the road was now flat and straight, with a few hills on the side. With the fog gone, it also became warmer and we had to stop again to remove some layers. This is when we saw it from a distance between clouds: our first snow covered peak. Incredible, we hadn't seen snow since Alaska so we were quite excited. We snapped a few pictures, including one of a lama hanging around, and as we continued, had a hard time not turning our heads to the right to get another glimpse of the white powder on black rocks.
Late afternoon, we reached the town of Huaraz, nested in the valley between the Cordillera Blanca, with the snow capped mountains and the Cordillera
Negra, without snow. We found our accomodation pretty quickly as a jeep stopped by us on the stree and offered to lead us to the guest house of his father-in-law which was perfect. We settled in quickly and went to explore the town, in search of outdoors activities for the next few days. The Cordillera Blanca is the second highest mountain range in the world after the Himalayas and a world class location for trekking, climbing or mountain biking. We could not believe it when we were told that it has more than 20 summits over 6,000 meters (almost 20,000 feet). After going to a few agencies and learning (as well as observing) that the rainy season meant a few hours of rain in the afternoon, we got convinced to undergo a 4-day trek in the mountains: 4 days of walking and 3 nights of camping. Seemed like an exciting adventure in an incredible area.
Getting mentally ready for four days in the wild
The guide we found told us that he would need a day to get a group ready for the 4-day trek and that it would be better for us to also wait a day so that we could get used to the altitude. The next day, he had a tour leaving to visit the ruins of Chavin de Huantar and he would be happy to offer us the bus ride and the guide with the group that was already scheduled to leave. That was quite a change for us to be part of an organized tour and ride in a big bus with lots of other tourists. The drive to Chavin was pretty long but our guide was entertaining, telling us some good stories about the area and Peru. For our first break, we stopped at Lago Querococha, at almost 4,000 meters. There were stunning views of the nearby mountains and we enjoyed a short walk close to the lake before getting back into the bus. We had another 2 hours before arriving in Chavin.
Finally we made it, after a long and slow drive on dirt roads. It is without a doubt more fun on a bike than in a bus. Chavin is actually one of the oldest civilization on the continent, much older than Machu Pichu, and people were coming from as far as Ecuador to the temple city and make offerings to the Gods. The site was showing amazing knowledge of civil and hydraulic engineering as well as astrology. It had survived all the earthquake and other natural disasters for more then 3,000 years. Our guide was telling us captivating stories about this civilization, leading us through the main plaza, and finally up to the main temple where we could walk in elaborate underground galleries. The site even had some of the original faces carved along the walls of the temple, meant to scare the people that were coming from far away. We were captivated by Chavin but also by the natural beauty around it of the Cordillera. We did not even complain too much about the long bus ride back. 
So excited by the view of our big summits
After lunch, the climb got steeper and we had to put on more layers due to the cold. The dry heat from the morning seemed a distant memory, especially when we hit the cloud line where it was both cold and misty. It worried us a little: would that mean that we would not get the see the high summits? We were after all in the rainy season and may have to do with the bad weather and no visibility. Suddenly, the clouds opened up and we entered a green flat plateau. No more curves: the road was now flat and straight, with a few hills on the side. With the fog gone, it also became warmer and we had to stop again to remove some layers. This is when we saw it from a distance between clouds: our first snow covered peak. Incredible, we hadn't seen snow since Alaska so we were quite excited. We snapped a few pictures, including one of a lama hanging around, and as we continued, had a hard time not turning our heads to the right to get another glimpse of the white powder on black rocks.Late afternoon, we reached the town of Huaraz, nested in the valley between the Cordillera Blanca, with the snow capped mountains and the Cordillera
Negra, without snow. We found our accomodation pretty quickly as a jeep stopped by us on the stree and offered to lead us to the guest house of his father-in-law which was perfect. We settled in quickly and went to explore the town, in search of outdoors activities for the next few days. The Cordillera Blanca is the second highest mountain range in the world after the Himalayas and a world class location for trekking, climbing or mountain biking. We could not believe it when we were told that it has more than 20 summits over 6,000 meters (almost 20,000 feet). After going to a few agencies and learning (as well as observing) that the rainy season meant a few hours of rain in the afternoon, we got convinced to undergo a 4-day trek in the mountains: 4 days of walking and 3 nights of camping. Seemed like an exciting adventure in an incredible area. Getting mentally ready for four days in the wild
The guide we found told us that he would need a day to get a group ready for the 4-day trek and that it would be better for us to also wait a day so that we could get used to the altitude. The next day, he had a tour leaving to visit the ruins of Chavin de Huantar and he would be happy to offer us the bus ride and the guide with the group that was already scheduled to leave. That was quite a change for us to be part of an organized tour and ride in a big bus with lots of other tourists. The drive to Chavin was pretty long but our guide was entertaining, telling us some good stories about the area and Peru. For our first break, we stopped at Lago Querococha, at almost 4,000 meters. There were stunning views of the nearby mountains and we enjoyed a short walk close to the lake before getting back into the bus. We had another 2 hours before arriving in Chavin. 
Finally we made it, after a long and slow drive on dirt roads. It is without a doubt more fun on a bike than in a bus. Chavin is actually one of the oldest civilization on the continent, much older than Machu Pichu, and people were coming from as far as Ecuador to the temple city and make offerings to the Gods. The site was showing amazing knowledge of civil and hydraulic engineering as well as astrology. It had survived all the earthquake and other natural disasters for more then 3,000 years. Our guide was telling us captivating stories about this civilization, leading us through the main plaza, and finally up to the main temple where we could walk in elaborate underground galleries. The site even had some of the original faces carved along the walls of the temple, meant to scare the people that were coming from far away. We were captivated by Chavin but also by the natural beauty around it of the Cordillera. We did not even complain too much about the long bus ride back. In the bus, we 
met a very fun couple from Spain, Niko and Estelle. She actually had a French mom and Spanish dad and so we could enjoy conversations in both languages. It made the bus ride so much faster. Back in Huaraz, we walked to our agency and checked if we were all set for trekking the next morning. Bad news: the two people that were supposed to go with us suffered from food poisoning and could not make it. If we could wait another day, he would certainly be able to find other people to go with us and keep the cost at a reasonable level. Not a problem since we have time and there is so much to do around here. We took one bike the next day and 
rode up a dirt road from Marcara into the mountains. We were in the middle of nowhere, enjoying views from the Cordillera. A few miles later, a deep valley opened up in front of us where the Indigenous were cultivating crops. We actually saw a lot of them, working in the fields, washing clothes in the river and looking after their sheep and cows. The women had again these bright clothes on, with a big hat. The best part of our escapade was our lunch, very simple: fresh bread, little avocados and bananas. We chose a spot on a hill, with a big rock to relax on, facing the mountains. This is actually when the sun shone brighter and the view opened to the nearby snow caps. We had a sight we had been waiting for with anticipation and our patience had paid off: during lunch, the sky had completely opened up and we enjoyed the best view ever!
met a very fun couple from Spain, Niko and Estelle. She actually had a French mom and Spanish dad and so we could enjoy conversations in both languages. It made the bus ride so much faster. Back in Huaraz, we walked to our agency and checked if we were all set for trekking the next morning. Bad news: the two people that were supposed to go with us suffered from food poisoning and could not make it. If we could wait another day, he would certainly be able to find other people to go with us and keep the cost at a reasonable level. Not a problem since we have time and there is so much to do around here. We took one bike the next day and 
rode up a dirt road from Marcara into the mountains. We were in the middle of nowhere, enjoying views from the Cordillera. A few miles later, a deep valley opened up in front of us where the Indigenous were cultivating crops. We actually saw a lot of them, working in the fields, washing clothes in the river and looking after their sheep and cows. The women had again these bright clothes on, with a big hat. The best part of our escapade was our lunch, very simple: fresh bread, little avocados and bananas. We chose a spot on a hill, with a big rock to relax on, facing the mountains. This is actually when the sun shone brighter and the view opened to the nearby snow caps. We had a sight we had been waiting for with anticipation and our patience had paid off: during lunch, the sky had completely opened up and we enjoyed the best view ever! We rode back to Huaraz, enchanted by the wonderful weather. As we had noticed earlier, our rear tire was leaking air, probably from the nail we had had in it a few days ago. We stopped at a tire shop and put a more durable patch. We also got back later to the same place in order to have Chad's tires replaced as they were both done. Back at our hotel, the clouds started to come in and we had our expected hour of afternoon rain. Funny it is so predictable! Later tonight, we will go back to our travel agency and hopefully we will be on for our 4-day trekking starting tomorrow. The nice Spanish couple we met in the bus may even join us. We will now more in a few hours: hopefully we will get away in the remote mountains for a few days.
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