Northern Peru

Huascaran

We have fallen in love with the mountains of Peru.  You expect to fall in love with Machu Picchu, but it is the in between places that are the most enchanting:  the towns integrated into ancient ruins, which are run like little stores rather than the big production of the Cusco sacred valley with its expensive integrated tickets and fashion shows on the train.  When we were in Huaraz, I took a tour to the ruins of Chavin de Huantar, I was the only non-Peruvian on the bus.  We drove up over a mountain pass, stopping at a little lake where I bought a cup of coca tea with honey. As we drove up above the pass, everyone crowded to the left side of the bus to take a picture of the Peru shaped mountain side.

Chavin

The three sacred animals:  snake, puma, condor

Snakes on the steps

Underground passageway

Chavin, dating from 800 BC, was for a long time the oldest archeological site in Peru (more recently discovered Caral, 2600 BC and Sechin, 1600 BC are older).  Chavin is an incredible complex, with beautifully carved gargoyle type heads, (most now in the museum in town).  There is an extensive indoor area with ventilation and light where you can still imagine living.  A collection of musical horns made from conch shells from the Amazon basin were recently excavated.

The one gargoyle at the site rather than the museum

From Huaraz, we went up the valley a bit further to Yungay, where Luc tried to ride up a beautiful pass, but turned back because of poor roads and threatening rain.  I drove up a steep 2 k or so, found a parking lot across from a church and opened my book.  Soon a station wagon showed up, a dozen or more uniformed school children appeared and folded themselves in, and when the teacher arrived and squeezed into the back seat, they set off down the hill.  In the distance I could see the monument of Yungay, where over 20,000 people were killed in a mudslide in 1970.  Luc talked to an older man at the roadside who explained that at that time, he and his family had been in another town for about 8 days, where he had found work.

Twisty Roads

Yungay road

Monument in the distance - 22,000 killed in a mudslide

Luc back from the mountain ride

 This valley is another place I could spend several months.  There are great bikes and hikes, rock and ice climbing, and many of the other activities for tourists that are associated with an "adventure destination".  However, this valley seemed more genuine and livable than the Cusco area.  It is agriculturally rich, with slight changes in altitude making it suitable for many different crops.  When we camped in Caraz, they were farming corn, carnations and blackberries next to our campsite.

Another Overlander

AdventureTrio from California

Huaraz

Mountain Shepard

We headed back to the coast, and have returned to several places we visited when we first arrived in Peru.  In Huanchaco, near Trujillo, we met the adventurous Lally family, moving back to Ireland from Seattle with their 3 kids - taking the long way home.  We enjoyed our time with them!

High water in Huanchaco main street

Brendan loads the car

Lallys and friends on their long way home

Now we are in Zorritos, Peru near Tumbes, at the border with Ecuador.  We are camped right next to the beach, and again have extended our stay because it is so beautiful here.  Yesterday, I spent the day in a hammock with a book - my head thousands of miles away. Today I will spend the day here: running on the beach, looking for crabs skittering sideways in the sand, and working on how to get back home.  The Italian ferry that ran for a while between Panama and Colombia across the straights of Darien has given up and gone back to Italy.  We may skip Central America this trip and ship from Colombia to California or Texas.


Meanwhile, Luc is fishing for dinner.

Last beach in Peru

A little dinner?