Adventure Log #8: Last Week in Huaraz

The time has come. It is our last week in Huaraz. On Monday we did a smaller hike to a Mirador or viewpoint of Huaraz. It was supposed to be a loop hike but the trail we were taking was in bad condition. So we turned around and returned the way we came—overall great views.

On the 4th we embarked on our last hike in this region of Peru. It was an overnight hike and one of the hardest of the entire trip. The first day consisted of a 3-hour hike with an elevation gain of around 900 meters.

After the first day, we stayed at a nice refuge with a 3-course dinner. It is called Refugio Peru but also the Pisco campsite. Pisco is the mountain that is popular to climb here and it reaches heights of 5752 meters.

There was one problem. It was a hassle to get a reservation for this refuge. The owner told us to wire them money from a bank but the bank had a 50+ person line. We went to a tourism company that swore they could sell us a spot. When we arrived they had no contact with the company and we had to pay in cash still.

We were able to get our money back from the tour company thankfully but we were close to running out of money on the mountain.

After this, we went to Huacachina, which is 4 hours south of Lima. This is a small desert oasis that is a popular tourist attraction. There is a small lake in the middle of the town and it feels as if you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. Here we went on a buggy tour and did some sledding down the dunes.

We’re headed to Cusco now for 9 days and then after that, we will be doing a 5-day trek to Machu Picchu.