Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca

Tim:  Amber and I made a quick return to Lima after our time in the Amazon and continued on directly to Huaraz. From the Lima airport we took a short cab ride to the Plaza Norte Terminal for a comfortable 8 hour bus ride to Huaraz. We arrived in Huaraz at 10 PM. We already had reservations at a nearby Hotel.

The Cordillera Blanca Mountain range is the second highest mountain range in the world after the Himalayas with many mountains over 6000 meters. The city of Huaraz sits at 3000 meters above sea level.

We visited Huaraz at the rainiest time of year. In our 7 days there, it rained during 6 of them. The climbing season in the Cordillera Blanca is concentrated in the winter months of the Southern Hemisphere when temperatures are a little bit colder, but much less precipitation.

The cloud cover was so dense most of the time that we got limited views of the top of the mountains. Having said that, the area is beautiful! And because many of the mountain valleys are lightly populated, this makes for mountains and valleys that are much more accessible than those found in Alaska. Although multi day treks are popular in the Cordillera Blancas, we opted for only day hikes because of the persistent rain. We did three beautiful days hikes into high mountain valleys with the peak of the hikes ending at beautiful mountain lakes. All of our hikes topped out at around 4500 meters (almost 15,000 ft).

Our first hike lead us to a magnificent glacier fed lake with crystal blue water surrounded by jagged 6000 meter peaks and hanging glaciers. Unfortunately, the cloud cover didn't make for the best photos, but it was still a very pleasant experience.

Amber and I seem to do fairly well at high altitude. During our climbs were definitely got short of breath near the top. For the first few days at high altitudes, I usually take a few ibuprofen to avoid the headaches. We spoke with a Swedish couple who were also staying at our hotel. They had done the same day hike that we had done, but the young Swedish man experience acute altitude sickness including profuse vomiting during the hike. I felt fortunate that neither Amber and I have experienced those symptoms.

On our last day in Huaraz we planned another day hike to Laguna Awuac. What we thought was to be a 2 hour leisurely hike was actually a strenuous 4 hour uphill hike of over 1200 meters. We were fortunate as our last day also had the best weather we had had during our time in Huaraz with no rain. There was still a lot of cloud cover so the photos just couldn't do the scenery justice.

Colca Canyon Trekking

Tim: The bus ride from Puno to Arequipa took almost 7 hours. We arrived into Arequipa early in the evening. Because there were six of us in our group we took two taxis to our guesthouse. We found some dinner and I nice Peruvian steakhouse then returned to our Guesthouse for some sleep.

We also arranged for a 3 day two night tour of Colca Canyon said to be the second deepest canyon in the world. The deepest canyon in the world is also located in Peru, but not as accessible as Colca Canyon.

Our tour would begin at 8 in the morning. We would take a small our bus to Chivay, the gateway village to Colca Canyon. On the way we would visit a vicuna reserve, and the lookout of the volcanoes where the road reaches an elevation of 4910 meters or 16,104 feet. This would be the highest any of our group had ever been.

Vicunas are similar to llamas. Apparently there are four distinct animals in camel family in Peru. They are: llamas, alpacas, vicunas, and guanacos. Llamas and alpacas are domesticated while vicunas and guanacos are wild. We were able to see many vicunas along the road.

We reached Chivay in the early afternoon and ate lunch at the recommended Peruvian buffet restaurant. The food was pretty good. Amber was not feeling well at this point and took a nap while the rest joined the tour group for an outing to the hot springs nearby.

The road to the hotsprings was a very bumpy narrow dirt road. It was also raining a fair bit. I noted that in the USA we would never drive a two axel two wheel drive bus down such a road.

The hot springs were lacking. There were only two pools for us to use and they water was not very clean and not very hot. We enjoyed ourselves any way for an hour before climbing the hillside in the rain back to our tour bus.

About halfway back to Chivay, our driver cut a steep corner to sharp and ground out the back of the bus in the muddy dirt road. Everyone had to get off the bus. Once we looked at what happened we realized the bus was pretty stuck and risked tearing the back of the bus off.

Everyone seemed to have an idea of how to get the bus unstuck. Other vehicles came up the road behind us, but the bus was blocking the entire roadway so no vehicles could pass until our bus was free. The woman gathered up hill of the bus while the men collected large flat rocks to but under the low side tires that were high centered. This was complicated by the rain which made the roadway very muddy. After 30 minutes of work, the bus driver was able to pull out of the ditch. When we re-boarded the bus everyone's shoes an sandals were covered in mud and made a mess of the bus floor.

For dinner we went to a restaurant that included cultural dancing. Everyone sat at on both sides of long tables and watched the show. Above us on the wall there was the carcass of a wild cat in a basket nailed to the wall. The wild cat was barely recognizable as a cat only by the texture of the fur and one shriveled up pay that was hanging out of the wicker basket. It did not even appear to be stuffed or taxidermied. It was as if someone killed a wild cat then threw the carcass in the basket on the wall to shrivel up. I tried asking the guide why it was there, but he didn't have an explanation.

The cultural dancing was done by one man an one woman. In Chivay, the traditional dress of the men is similar to that of the woman. The men wear colorful dresses. We were told that this tradition started in colonial times when marriages were arranged by the parents for the purpose of increasing the standing of the family. As a result men would have to disguise themselves as women in order to court woman in secret.

Several of the dances included whippings, The man would whip the woman with a cloth strap that would make a whip snap noise. Then this would be repeated with the woman whipping the man. On of the dances included the man trying to look under the woman's skirt and being smitten. Also man had to try to forceful pick up the woman over his shoulder and run away with her. It was an interesting experience.

Amber:  The next morning we woke up bright and early, had a traditional Peruvian breakfast of jam and bread, and met up with our tour van to head towards Colca Canyon.  It was still fairly misty out, so our guide was not particularly optimistic about us sighting Condors.  We had booked a hike into the canyon, while the rest of our bus were turning around at the condor viewing spot.  When it was clear that none were to be seen, Jerami, Eloise, Dwight, Heather, Tim and I were loaded onto a smaller van and transported to the trail head a few kilometers down the mountain.  Heather had accidentally forgotten her rain coat in the van, but a second group of hikers were able to pull over at our original bus, pick it up for her, and deliver it to us at the trail head.  We had strict instructions to bring lots of water, and it was at this point that I realized that one of my water bottles had rolled out of the side of my pack, and it too was still somewhere on our bus.  Thankfully, Tim shared some of his water.

The deep canyon was filled with fog, so we could not see how far down the steep walls went as we hiked down our trail.  We were all happy to be outside, hiking in the beautiful canyon regardless.  As we went deeper, some of the fog lifted, and we actually spotted a condor!  He was not particularly big, only about 6' wingspan.  Adult male condor's can grow to having a 10' wing span.  He soared above us and dissapeared into some of the caves that peppered the canyon wall.  We saw two different condors, both about the same size, as we hiked down.  The closest we got was about 20 meters from them as they soared up the thermals, letting the up drafts lift them out of the canyon.

We finally reached the river that cuts through Colca Canyon. We had to cross a surprisingly sturdy hanging bridge, and scurry along a very narrow, very high up, steep trail to make our destination for lunch. Only foot traffic and mules (and the occasional cow) make the trail to the small village that perches just up from the river, but we were provided with alpaca, rice, and local avocados for lunch.  Not too filling, but pretty tasty, considering.  We hiked on, and a light rain started.  The trail took us up to a second village, a small, dirty town made of crumbling brick houses and rusted tin roofs, before dipping back down to the river.  This bridge was a lot less sturdy, and Tim of course thought it would be fun the bounce on the bridge, just to make sure that I was terrified as I climbed across the river, some 50' below.

We arrived at our camp by about four. Little bungalow shacks waited for us. It was a little chilly, but the six of us Alaskan's could not resist the beautiful swimming pool.  It was cold and refreshing, and we all decided we deserved a beer for our long days hike!

The next morning, we were awoken at four in the morning to make the dark, steep climb back to the top.  Breakfast was not to be provided, or coffee either, until we reached the top of the canyon.  Talk about motivation!  It was supposed to take three hours, but we made the climb in two and a half.  Dwight had kindly brought, and shared, Laura bars, hence, we all survived.  It was a steep hike, but a beautiful, clear morning.  The view of the canyon, as we climbed up, and once we reached the top, was amazing!

Kalaw to Inle Lakes: Myanmar

Tim:  We enjoyed our three day stay in Yangon. It took the four of us an entire afternoon to make out a rough itinerary for our one month trip only to have it change several times over the next day as we worked to determine the best route. As the roads are not the best in Myanmar so of the bus trips can take a miserable 15 to 17 hours. We decided our next stop would be Kalaw. Kalaw is within 50 kilometers of Inle Lake one of Myanmar’s top tourist destinations. It is possible to trek from Kalaw to Inle Lakes over a three day, two night hike.

We took a night bus from Yangoon to Kalaw. Between the four of us, we would all agree that it was the coldest bus trip we have ever taken. The AC seemed to be turned up full blast the entire trip. I found my self wearing sweater, coat, hat, gloves, and covering myself with a blanket. I was still cold. The trip was supposed to take 12 hours. It actually turned out to be only 10 hours. Our bus left at 5 PM. We expected to arrive in Kalaw at 5:00 AM, but we arrived in Kalaw at 3:00 AM without a hotel reservation. It was freezing cold when we got off the bus; probably around 40 degrees. After checking out three hotels we found a place for $25 per night.

By the time we arrived Ciara was beginning to feel poorly, and by the time we awoke the next morning, I was sick as well. Thus began two days of stomach problems for Ciara and me (Tim). I began taking antibiotics (Ciprofloxin) by the late afternoon. After a few bouts with bacterial intestinal issues, you get better at recognizing the symptoms.

After our third night in Kalaw, Ciara and I were well enough to begin our trek. Amber and Justin were feeling fine. The name of our trekking company was Uncle Sam’s. Uncle Sam himself had given us a very detailed description of our hiking options. Our two nights during the trek would be spent at home-stays  We would hike about 10 miles per day

Our guides name was Sammya. She was just 20 years old. She was originally from one of the small villages near Kalaw. We enjoyed our first day of hiking. The first five miles were a gradual ascent. We hiked about six hours with several tea breaks along the way at locals houses. The locals drink a lot of weak green tea. Towards the end of our hike on the first day we saw many fields of red chilis. Millions of chilis. It was harvest time for the chilis as well and there were colorful piles of the chilis laid out to dry in the fields.

We were fortunate. We also had our own cook traveling with us. Joe was an excellent cook too. For our first lunch we had several cooked vegetables  avocado salad, and fried noodles. Dinner was more vegetables, eggplant, rice, and a fried chicken dish.

We woke at 7:30 the next morning and began hiking by 8:30 after breakfast. We hiked along rolling hills down to a larger village that had a local market. The market saw very, very few tourists so none of the items sold were to cater to tourists. There were lots of dies, textiles, farming tools ( we actually saw a old fashioned blacksmith). There were people selling MSG by the kilo. They just had a big open pile of MSG laid out on their table. There were lots of kinds of small dried fish, curry paste, and betel nut.

After lunch we began hiking again along a larger dirt road. We hitched a ride for a mile or so on an old wagon like truck with a group of locals and their supplies from the market. The truck was powered by a small two cylinder diesel engine that chugged along at no more than 15 miles per hour tops.

We ended our second days hike at another village in the mountains. As we approached the village, we hiked up the road. Villagers were using oxen and carts to haul water from the water source 500 meters from the village. The villages do not have running water. After dinner and a few Myanmar beers, we introduced our guide, cook, and the local family we were staying with the card game spoons. It was an immediate success. There were eight of us playing with another 8 or so people watching. The locals were drinking rice wine which does not taste good. Even the locals were plugging their noses to choke down the stuff. We played spoons for an hour and a half then listened to some guitar playing and singing before going to bed.

Our final day of hiking leads us through the mountains down into the lake valley. Near the end of our hike we saw some of the largest spiders we had ever seen with the exception of tarantulas, and they were everywhere. At the end of our hike we still had to take an hour boat ride across the Inle Lake to Ngungshwe, the main town along the lake. The boat ride was beautiful, and the lake is amazing. Our cook brought along a small bag of crackers which he threw to the seagulls as we cruised across the lake. The seagulls would fly along with the boat just two feet above our heads and catch the crackers midair. The seagulls would squawk loudly demanding more crackers.

We already had reservations for Remember Inn in Ngungshwe for $25 a night including breakfast. Our guide left us after dropping us off at our hotel. We thoroughly enjoyed the trek and it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip here.

Three Day Trekking Continued

Tim:  We had to leave the wedding celibration early, because our transport van had to be at the elephant to return other customers back to Luang Prabang. Our driver along with our guide Khan were drunk from the Beer Lao that was flowing freely at the wedding. Our driver was the less drunk at least and he flew down the narrow road while Khan sang drunk karaoke to the blarring stereo. We made it to the elphant camp in one piece.

The elephant camp was located on the edge of a river, and the scenery was beatufil. Large limestone cliffs and a cave across the river from us had a monastary. We relaxed for the rest of the evening. I was still not feeling well and needed to lay down. Amber, Justin, and Joe joined Khan for dinner with a local family in the small village next to the elephant camp.

We woke up at 9:00 am in the morning. Went for a 30 minute elephant ride into the woods. Amber sat on the elephants neck and I sat behind her in the caboose. After that is waited several hours before riding the elephants again because other customers were taking turns riding the elephants. There were only three elephants.

Amber:  I have to start out by saying, I loved Khan, our local Lao guide.  When guessing how old I was, he said 25!!   He guessed older for all of the guys!  He knew someone that was getting married so invited us to shorten our kayak trip and join him as his guests to their wedding.  Done with rapids for the day, we were happy to crash the wedding!  Not long after arriving, Tim decided to lay down as my symptomes had caught up with him.  On my way to check on him and find a toilet, the middle aged ladies of the wedding found me and drug me back to their table.  Once seated, they provided me with two flimsy dixi cups of ice and Beerlao.  As it turns out, it is rude to not finish the beer in one drinking.  Everyone wanted to toast me, so I double fisted and drank so much beer in that sitting!  I spoke no Laos, and they no English, so there was just a lot of smiling, cheersing, and chugging.  They also decided that I must be quite hungry, so when I wasn't drinking, they were litterally putting chopsticks full of food in my mouth.  It was quite the warm welcome, but I was still feeling well under the weather from the food poisioning I had picked up two days prior, so finally excused myself and joined the guys at the table.  A very short Laos man was sitting with them and when a new song started, he drug me out onto the dance floor.  I was probabsaly a head taller than him, in my still fairly damp cloths I'd been kayaking in, trying to dance.  How funny! 

After surviving the windy road to the elephant camp, we discovered the camp monkey.  Khan demonstrated how nice she was and let her sit on his shoulder.  Convinced that it looked easy and she friendly, I gave it a go.  Khan, as it turns out, has short hair, while my blonde bun on the top of my head drove the monkey wild.  She didn't know if she wanted my hairtye to chew on or my hair, once freed of the tye, to swing on.  Either way there was a bunch of Amber yelping and monkey hair pulling! 

Khan was a little tipsy to be cooking us dinner, so he asked on of his friends if we could join them for dinner in the town adjacent to the elephant camp.  Tim went to bed, feeling worse than ever, while Justin convinced me to "man up" and have another Beerlao and join the family for dinner.  The food was actually amazing.  Khans friends wife had prepaired fresh river bass, dried river weed that pretty much is a nori wrap, a papaya salad and of course stickey rice.  Simple, but so good!  Khan and his friends broke out the Lao Lao (local whiskey) and the karaoke began!  Thankfully, I was able to avoide both the whiskey and the Lao Lao and after a few hours Justin was kind enough to walk me back to the now dark elephant camp.

The next morning Tim's fever had broke and we woke up to the three elephants walking from their place in the jungle they had been kept over night to the river for their first morning dip.  All three elephants were female, ranging from 32 to 40 in age.  Much smaller than African elephants, they were still an impressive sight!  After breakfast we loaded up; Justin and Joe in a platform like saddle on top of one and Tim on the platform with me on the elephants neck.  Khan must have know that the guys were humoring me with the elephant camp part of the treck, so I got the best seat! So much cooler than a horse!  She was huge!  We took the elephants for a short walk through the jungle but had to return them to camp to let a newly arrived group have their turn.  While we waited for more elephant time we got to play more with the monkey and had some lunch.  Finally the group left and we got to take the saddles off the elephants and take them to the river!  So much fun riding bare back on an elephant!  We got to the river and after the teenage elphant handlers had their laughs by throwing dried piles of elphant poop at each other, the elephants and us the boys swam out and the elephants followed.  They ended up with their backs covered in water and Joe, Justin, Tim and I all thought how pretty and amazing it all was.  Then the feisty mahout gave the elephants a command and they all did a duck and shake with their heads!  I am proud to say that Tim fell off faster than I did, but when the elephant completely submerged her head and then began to vigerously shake I didn't stand a chance!  After two dumpings from the elephant I had been tossed enough, the guys wanted to see who could last the longest.  I think Joe won, but was the sorest for it.   All and all, an amaing day and an amazing experiene!

Three Day Trekking, Kayaking, Elephant Riding

Tim: We schedule a three day combination trek from Luang Prabang. This is Amber and my first trek. We were picked up for a guesthouse at 9:00 AM. We checked out of the guesthouse and dropped our bags off at the tour operator's house before setting off on our first day. Khan was our local guide. We were picked up in an old beat up mini van with two other tourists. The two others were on a one day kayak trip. After an hour ride north of Luang Prabang we set off on our hike from the side of the main road. The dirt road was wide enough for a motor scooter or even a small truck. The hike up to the first village took a little over two hours. This was a small ethnic village will around 100 people. We stopped for lunch then walked around the village before hiking another 10 minutes to the next village over the hill. The small children were curious by our presence and followed us around the village giggling.

We took a different less traveled path on the way out of the village. It took about the same amount of time to get back to the main road. We stayed at a home stay near the river.

Amber:  The first day of treking was beautiful but complicated by a little by food poisoning I had picked up from what we assumed were from some fairly undercooked, possibly old pork skewers that we had snacked on the day before after swimming at the waterfall.  Tim, Justin and Joe had tossed theirs after their first bite; I on the other hand, had happily finshed my entire skewer.  We had gone out the prior evening with Joe and Justin and had a few beers and played some cards but when we woke up early to pack our belongings and have some breakfast I could tell that it was definately more than the few beers... and it was going to be a very long day.

Justin and Joe were packed and ready to go as well as the tour company we had booked by the time we were finished with breakfast. We picked up some water and snacks for the road.  I knew that our guide was going to be a perfect fit for the guys of our group when we arrived at the locaion they stored their kayaks and he made some humorous remarks about a lady boy bird.  Tim, Joe and Justin were laughing the whole drive north!  Not only was Khan funny, but he also was a fairly decent cook.  He made us sticky rice, an assortment of boiled veggies and an incredible chile paste for dinner (very common Laos meal).  The chile paste was so good Tim got the recipe; Thai Chilies, salt, garlic, lime, all with a dash of water.  Definately going to be one of the Hillyer specials back in Anchorage in a year when he gets home!! 

After sleeping a little over twelve hours (I went to bed while the guys went to a local pub for a few BeerLaos) I was feeling a little better and up for kayaking.  The hike the prior day had been long and hot with lots of jungle to march through, so if I had managed to do that I was feeling confident that the kayak would be very easy in comparison.  We drove north a little further in search of some white water then carried our double down to the river and climbed on.  It was more of a perch-on style than a ride-in as far as white water is concerned, but we had life vests and dry bags so I was feeling very confident and talking possible a bit too much smack to Joe and Justin about who was going to flip on the first set of rapids.  We set out and the first set we went through were fun; everyone made it with just a little water splashing in the face... or if you were in the front, dousing you completely.  Khan saw where two river currents joined and thought it would be fun to go play in them, we followed suit into the confluence.  The moment the side of our kayak hit the rip, we rolled.  I came up under the kayak and hit my head on it, which was not a big deal as it was very light, but it knocked my sun glasses off.  In an effort to get the kayak off of me, I dropped the paddle which Khan had cautioned us would cost $75 US to replace if we lost/broke.  Tim was able to grab it for me, but in doing so lost his grip on the kayak and got stuck on a back eddy while I got swept down the river.  Khan, realizing I was the helpless one, came to my aid and helped me into the kayak while poor Tim was still stuck in the eddy.  Justin and Joe were able to get him and both our paddles onto their kayak and the rescue mission was complete!   Back on board of our own kayak, we took off down the river and hit a few more rapids, all of which were done successfully and a few that were more technical.  Once we had ran the stretch of rapids, we carried on down the river a ways then pulled out to go to one of Khan's friend's wedding.  It was a traditional Laos wedding, so we were all excited to experence it.

Tim: By the time we reached the wedding, the celibration was already in full swing. There was live music with a singer and a keyboardist. The speakers were large and the music was blarring Laos music with a heavy bass. We were served beef lap, sticky rice, vegetable soup, and lots of Beer Laos. On of the lap dishes was made using raw beef. The beer is usually served with ice in a small glass. The groom introduced himself and insisted on serving us food and beer. We were the only foreigners and Justin and I are about a foot taller than everyone else. Even Amber was taller than all of the men. After a few beers the inevitable happened... We were literally forced to go and dance with the locals. We were physically dragged onto the dance floor. The dancing was done in two lines facing eachother. One side with men and the other with the women. Most of the movement was in the hands, so the hips and shoulders did not move much. Some of the more "happy" people were a little more frisky; shaking their hips as they back into you. It was very fun unique experience. Unlucky for me, I was becoming more ill and had to rest in our truck for a while, but we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.