Tom's Adventures in South-America: november 2013

As much as I love the mountains and as much as I felt home in Huaraz, after a month in the Cordillera Blanca it was time to move on and go explore some more of Peru. The plan was simple and straightforward: traveling from North to South -from Trujillo to Arequipa- along the Panamericana (Coastal Highway) by bus. On my way I discovered the pre-Inca cultures of the Moche and Chimu around Trujillo, I passed quickly trough Lima, relaxed and went sand boarding in the Huacacina oasis in the coastal desert, gazed at the mysterious Nazca lines from a small plane and enjoyed the warm weather, atmosphere and company in Arequipa!

Trujillo is located a bit north of Lima and is surrounded by Moche and Chimu archeological sites, cultures which preceded the Inca era and upon which the Inca culture has been built. If Francisco Pizarro would have arrived 100 years earlier in South-America, we would not be speaking about the amazing Inca empire, but about the Chimu culture and their great knowledge and technology (which was later further enhanced by the Incas). Plenty of archeological sites are open for the public, while they are still being excavated. The Moche and Chimu cultures are characterised by their temples or 'huacas' as they are called in the Quechua language...

Huaca Arco Iris, the rainbow temple, from the Chimu culture.

The ruins of Chan Chan, an adobe city built by the Chimu kings.

'Corredor de peces' in Chan Chan, more than just decoration it is believed that these fishes represent the two sea currents which meet at the Peruvian coast: the warm El Niño current coming from the north (fishes swimming from left to right) and the cold Humboldt current coming from the south (fishes swimming from right to left).

Sunset at the Huanchaco beach, the typical fishing boats are drying on the beach.

Huaca de la Luna, a Moche pyramid with impressive friezes in the original colour!

The outside of the Huaca de la Luna pyramid...

Huaca del Brujo, a Moche pyramid where excavations only started in 2005. This pyramid housed the tomb and mummy of La Señora de Cao, a female Moche governor. The mummy itself is very well preserved (tattoes of spiders and snakes on her arms can still be seen) and is shown in a small museum on archeological site... very impressive pyramid and museum!!

Huaca del Brujo. When things went wrong for the Mochicas, eg an El Niño period, they would organise one-on-one fights between the noble youth. The losers would be stripped and given a San Pedro drink, which, in addition to being hallucinogenic, is an anticoagulant and apparently beats Viagra hands down! A win-win situation for a happy-gory sacrifice!!

Huacacina oasis, perfect for a day or two relaxing...

... and sand boarding in the surrounding dunes!

El Mono, the monkey, my favourite figure of the mysterious Nazca lines!

The Colibri, the figure which probably suffered least from erosion, hence the very bright lines.

After a ride in the night bus from Nazca to Arequipa our bus get stranded. The Panamericana is blocked about 40km away from Arequipa. People are protesting against the government...

Together with a Colombian guy I follow the advice of the locals, we pack our bags and start walking, passing the immense queue of buses and trucks. One hour later we arrive at the place of the protest and, being two tourists walking with big bag packs, we attract the local press and get quickly surrounded by cameras and microphones... It is here in the little village of Joya that I give my first interview in Spanish ;-) Half an our later we are out of the mess and can catch a local bus to Arequipa.

All the hassle to arrive in Arequipa was for sure worth it! Although the second biggest city in Peru, it has a very nice and cosy town atmosphere and they have good weather all-year round. Furthermore there is the Colca canyon, the second deepest canyon on Earth, a few hours away. It's in Arequipa that I meet up again with Martina, the Czech girl with whom I climbed Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador already more than a month ago. She is traveling now with her friend Julia and I must admit, the two girls just spoiled me during the one week stay in and around Arequipa: funny, good looking and sportive travel partners, awesome guides (they planned our trip to the Colca canyon already ahead), amazing selection of food, and partners in crime for some crazy parties in Arequipa!

The cathedral of Arequipa with the Chachani volcano in the background.

Little streets of Arequipa...

Plaza de Armas in Yanque, a little village on our way to the Colca Canyon.

Bright halo around the Sun while we are in the middle of the 1000m drop to the bottom of the canyon.

Colca canyon scenery...

Almost at the Colca river, after a1000m descent!

Anybody a tuna sandwich for lunch? Claro que si!

Going up again after having spent a nice afternoon and night at the oasis at the bottom of the canyon. Looking back at the oasis with its few hostals and swimming pools :-)

The hats in the Colca canyon our for sure different than the ones from the Cordillera Blanca!

Also the little girls are wearing hats...

Our reward after three days Colca canyon: Alpaca steak and Chilean red wine in one of the best restaurants in town. We deserved it!!

But also on the market you can find superb food: ceviche, stuffed pepper, chicken... and a bit less pricy than the evening before.

After the wonderful ascent of Nevado Pisco and a couple of days of well earned rest in Huaraz, I find myself in a taxi heading to the rock climbing paradise Hatun Machay. Together with me in the car are Korbi, my German climbing buddy from Pisco, and Fede & Sandra, a Spanish couple we met in the basecamp of Pisco. Hatun Machay - which in Quechua language means Big Cave - is a mystic rock forest situated 100km south of Huaraz in the Cordillera Negra at an altitude of 4300m... a real challenge for the endurance when climbing longer tracks! In the past people have lived in this area, the stone carvings in some of the caves are the silent witnesses, but now it is a remote area where only a few campesinos (farmers) are living with their flocks of sheep and there is a Refugio where the climbers can stay. We brought food for 5 days and the great variety of tracks kept us busy climbing for 5 days in a row :-) I was happy to be able to climb some 6bs and 6cs on-sight after almost two months of not having done any rock climbing... the last day we even climbed two beautiful 7a cracks, in both of them I needed a rest though. The evenings in the Refugio were very cosy with a fire and everybody cooking together. There were also a couple of other climbers from Argentina and Colombia and all together we had a great feast on the last evening: we bought a sheep from one of the campesinos, had it cut into pieces, marinated it and prepared in the oven... njammie!!

Back in Huaraz, having breakfast under a clear blue sky with a view on the snow-capped mountains of the Cordillera Blanca, it started itching to do one more mountain... I had no problem at all to convince Korbi to join me also on this next trip, a trip up to Quebrada Llaca - the valley closest by Huaraz - and to Nevado Vallunaraju (5860m)! To climb this mountain we made a high camp on the morene at around 5000m which allowed us a later start in the morning (at 3am instead of 1am) and thus a couple of hours more sleep :-) Lucky as we were, we had again beautiful weather, perfect snow and ice conditions and we were the only two people that day navigating through the impressive crevasses on the mountain! Another summit also means another celebration party... and this one was a very special one. Percy, a mountain guide with whom we talked a lot the days before climbing Vallunaraju, invited us for the baptism party of his daughter Lucia. Peruvian hospitality at its best!!