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Cordillera Blanca - Day 2

The second morning in Huaraz we ended up being accompanied by a Peruvian mountain guide who would help us find the colourful lake, Laguna Churup, just above town. Even if we went by local transport the first few hundred height meters this little excursion would be the most demanding physical activity in South America for us. Walking non-acclimatized from 3500 to 4600 m.a.s. with our guide jumping like a mountain goat in front of us was quite a challenge.

Our guide was a really nice guy. He told us a lot of interesting stuff about the area. Among other things he mentioned a Canadian mining company that made everything to exploit the richness of mineral in the area, but made nothing for the native population. We had actually been sitting with a Canadian couple on the flight to South America and the fact that they had taken a private flight from Lima to Huaraz now gave us some associative thoughts.

Finally we managed to reach the lake, where we could enjoy the great views of the nearby Churup peak (see above). Unfortunately, the Alvedon didn't help against the mountain sickness. The local students of the area, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much about the height, having a beach party beside the lake. We stayed for a couple of hours before realizing that the sun would soon turn us into hot dogs. The stroll back to town was quite nice, since we took a different path through some cosy agricultural surroundings and passed a site where the natives had joined for a dance fiesta. At the end of the day we had to decide whether or not to walk the most famous trekking circuit in the area. The height and the natives scared us a bit and we decided to be satisfied with a simple day excursion to this area.

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