After a short stay in Lima, we moved on to Huaraz in the Peruvian Andes for ten nights. We took a very comfortable, eight-hour bus to get there where we watched several Hollywood movies in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. I don’t know Spanish so I wasn’t a huge fan, but Therese enjoyed trying to follow along. We ended up taking a lot of busses as we traveled around the country, and it was a great way to travel when flying wasn’t an option.
Huaraz was quite a change from the sea level capital because its elevation is around 10,000 feet. It’s known for its hiking and it did not disappoint. We actually liked the town a lot even though some people find it too touristy and dirty. It definitely has a few tourist blocks with some good restaurants, but outside of those areas, you wouldn’t notice that it’s a popular tourist destination. Therese liked to say that it was a big city (even though it’s not that big) with a small-town feel.
As was the case in Lima, the weather was a lot colder than what we were used to in Southeast Asia. But it is winter after all so that was to be expected. During the day it was actually nice, with temperatures in the 60s, and it only dipped into the 50s at night. But the problem is that the apartments we’ve been staying in don’t heat up at all during the day so it’s constantly cold. Thankfully, most places have had portable heaters, but they can only do so much.
After a few days of acclimatizing we were ready to go on our first hike. Or at least I thought I was ready.
