UUHOLO blog: Huaraz, Huayhuash trek

After flight from Cusco we had a day in Lima before night bus to Huaraz and we spend that time on Internet, walking through the city, and of course having dinner in one of local pizzerias.
In Huaraz we found some accomodation and booked next trip. 9 days around Cordilera Huayhuash [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordillera_Huayhuash]- sleeping mostly above 4.000m, every day at least one high pass ... sounds good. But there are no groups so if we want to make one just by us two it will cost us arm and leg ... or wait a moment ... we can hire local guy and 2 donkeys and go on our own. Agreed, this is the way to go. At least we use our tent, stove and sleeping matrecess we carry the whole time.
We bought some food and petrol for cooking, and got onto the buses to Llamac next day. From Llamac our trek started and there also finished. I have to say it was excellent trip, and walking without guide (but with a good map) we have made 3 alternative days and enjoyed the mountains in our own rythm, just wanderfull. If your're good in orienteering in map and you like to plan your our tramps and treks, don't worry and just go for the same. It is worth.
In fact we had one small problem. To make sure all will go smoothly we decided instead of cooking for donkey man (they call him ´donkey driver´ in local English), we just paid for his food. But unfortunatelly he didn´t get enough for all 9 days, in fact he had food just for about 3 days, so we had to share some food with him and cook for him as well. But finally at least the agency apologized and offered us a partial refund for the food, so all was ok and we can recommend the ´Huascaran´ agency ;)

The area is somehow safe (as it was not some years ago) but for crossing village land you normally pay around 15./S per person, sometimes more than once a day. The most expensive city (probably because you need to go through there) is Huayllapa where you pay 35./S to some american society, so the question is how much goes to the village itself. It seemed to us a bit as bribe, but if it keeps the area safe, ok. All together we have spend around 150./S per person on those ´fees´

Our trek was as follows:
day 1: Llamac to Quartelhuain
mostly on road
day 2: Quartelhuain to Laguna Mitucocha
alternative way after Chacananpunta pass as shown in map
day 3: Laguna Mitucocha to Laguna Carhuacocha
alternative way around Laguna Alcaycocha - not shown in the map, some cairns can be found but ask lokals at the laguna for a way once they will come for the turistic ´fee´ or go on the normal way
day 4: Laguna Carhuacocha to Huayhuash
alternative way for whole day, as in map, very nice
day 5: Huayhuash to Aqua termales
short day
day 6: Aqua termales to Huancpatay
with side trip to the San Antonio pass (5.020m) with wonderfull views
day 7: Huancpatay to Incahuain
day 8: Incahuain to Laguna Jahuacocha
day 9: Laguna Jahuacocha to Llamac

On all days in the morning agree with donkey ´driver´ on camping place for evening as donkeys go always on the normal way and normally a bit quicker ;)

Map used: 0/3c Alpenvereinskarte - Cordillera Huayhuash (Peru) - Trekking 1:50000
bought for 70./S in Huaraz

Orientation costs:
- donkey $5 per day (x2)
- donkey ´driver´ $10 per day
- renting tent for the donkey ´driver´ $3 per day
- food for 2 ~ 200./S
- petrol for cooking ~ 4 l x 5./S
- bus there and back (both ways) 44./S per person
- turistic tickets ~ 150./S per person

Po letu z Cusco jsme meli den v Limepred nocnim autobusem do Huarazu a ten jsme stravili prevazne na Internetu, prochazkou po meste a samozdrejme i veceri v mistni pizzerii.
V Huarazu jsme nasli bydleni a zamluvili dalsi vylet. 9 dni okolo kopcu Cordilera Huayhuash [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordillera_Huayhuash] - noclehy nad 4.000m, kazdy den aspon nejake vyssi sedlo ... to zni dobre. Ale nikde nemaji zadne skupiny a abychom jednu vytvorili sami dva to se nedoplatime ... anebo - moment ... muzeme si pronajmout lokalniho muzika a 2 osliky a vyrazit jen tak. Dohodnuto, tak to udelame. Aspon pouzijeme, stan, varic a karimatky, co uz s sebou peknou dobu vlacime.
Koupili jsme nejake jidlo, benzin do varice a dalsi den nasedli na bus do Llamac. Z Llamac nas trek zacina a tam take konci. Musim rict ze to byl vyborny zajezd a kdyz jsme sli cely vylet sami bez vudce (ale s dobrou mapou), udelali jsme si 3 alternativni dny a uzili jsme si hory vlastnim tempem, proste parada. Pokud se vyznate v mape a nemate problem si naplanovat vlastni zajezd, nic se nebojte a klidne bezte do toho sameho, stoji to zato.
Ve skutecnosti jsme meli jeden mensi problem. Protoze jsme nechteli nejaka nedorozumneni a popravde jsme ani netusili co pro nej varit, namisto abychom varili pro muzika s osly (oni ho tu do anglictiny prekladaji jako 'ridic oslu'), zaplatili jsme za jeho jidlo zvlast. Ale on bohuzel toho jidla nedostal ani zdaleka dost na celyxch 9 dni, spis tak na 3, a tak jsme nakonec museli delit jidlo a varit i pro nej. Nakonec se ale agentura omluvila a nabidli i castecne vraceni penez za jidlo, takze vsechno ok a muzeme agenturu ´Huascaran´ vrele doporucit ;)

Oblast je to vicemene bezpecna (jakoze pred par lety nejspis nebyla) ale za pruchody osad nebo jejich oblasti se plati normalne okolo 15./S za osobu, nekdy i vickrat denne. Nejdrazsi vesnice (pravdepodobne protoze nejde minout) je Huayllapa kde zaplatite 35./S jakesi americke spolecnosti, takze je jenom otazkou kolik z toho jde vubec vesbici. Zdalo se nam to trochu jako organizovana kradez, ale pokud to udrzi oblast bezpecnou tak budiz. Nakonec za vsechny tyto vstupy jsme nechali asi 150./S na osobu.

Harmonogram naseho treku:
den 1: Llamac -> Quartelhuain
vetsinou po ceste
den 2: Quartelhuain -> Laguna Mitucocha
alternativni cesta za sedlem Chacananpunta jak to je v mape
den 3: Laguna Mitucocha -> Laguna Carhuacocha
alternativni cesta okolo Laguny Alcaycocha - neni v mape, jsou tam nejaci muzici, ale radeji se zeptejte mistnich as ze zastavi u laguny pro poplatky anebo bezte po hlavni ceste
den 4: Laguna Carhuacocha to Huayhuash
alternativni cesta podle mapy, velice hezky den
day 5: Huayhuash -> Aqua termales
kratky den
day 6: Aqua termales -> Huancpatay
s vychazkou na sedlo San Antonio (5.020m) s vyhledem
day 7: Huancpatay -> Incahuain
day 8: Incahuain -> Laguna Jahuacocha
day 9: Laguna Jahuacocha -> Llamac

Kazdy den rano se domluvte s ´ridicem´ oslu na miste pro dalsi nocleh, protoze oslici jdou vzdy po hlavni ceste a taky vetsinou o neco rychleji nez vy ;)

Mapa: 0/3c Alpenvereinskarte - Cordillera Huayhuash (Peru) - Trekking 1:50000
koupena za 70./S v Huarazu

Orientacni ceny:
- osel $5 za den (x2)
- ´ridic´ oslu $10 za den
- pujceni stanu pro ´ridice´ oslu $3 za den
- jidlo pro 2 ~ 200./S
- benzin na vareni ~ 4 l x 5./S
- autobus tam a zpet 44./S na osobu
- turisticke ´vstupy´ ~ cca 150./S na osobu