So it was ´Hasta Luego´ Huaraz as we pedalled further up the Santa Valley and past the rest of the splendid Cordillera Blanca. The midpoint of the leg was Chiquian, the village used to start the 10 day trek around the next mountain range: the Cordillera Huayhuash. (This is the location of the mountain Siula Grande in the Joe Simpson epic ´Touching The Void´.) Sadly the trekking season had concluded, but the scenery even from a distance was tremendous. The road then crossed the Andes by the Yanashalla Pass at 4700m; about the height of Mont Blanc. This is the continental divide so now we´re on the East side of the range. Liz took the climb in her stride but Clive was puffing like a steam train by the top. (My excuse was the air pressure is at less than 60% at that altitude!) Then it´s been generally downhill to the low and warm city of Huanuco for a breather and, after touristy Huaraz, a return to mainstream Peru (i.e. no other gringos about). Tomorrow we return to the altiplano and mines of Cerro de Paso at 4300m. Brrr!
(Hint - Click on the photos to enlarge them.)
1 comment:
Hello
The notice is pretty unequivocal - you can't say you haven't been warned! Enjoying the blog enormously and if I haven't posted recently it's because I had a password malfunction and was too thick to reset it.
I saw the same mountaineering doc this week featuring Joe Simpson as a previous blogger: very affecting. Drink a toast to JS as you pass by, have fun and take care,
Ruth
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