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

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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

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Laguna Mitucocha
Laguna Carhuacocha
Laguna Mitucocha back from the pass|Laguna Mitucocha ze sedla
Laguna Quesillocha & Laguna Siula
Evening in Huayhuash|Vecer v Huayhuash
San Antonio
Laguna Susucocha

Macchu Piccu

Ok so the Inca trail we have done was not part of the ¨commercial Inca Trail¨, but part of the historical Inca trail. The whole Inca Jungle Trail was not bad, but 1st day on bike was on dusty road on creepy bikes, 2nd day was quite nice walk (partially on Inca trail) with thermal pools at the end, and 3rd day was firstly in taxi (we have turned down the option to walk for 4 hours on dusty road and negotiated the price for taxi to 10/.S instead of 20 they´ve asked for) and then 3 hrs or so on the train rails to get to the village Aqua Calientes.

After we arrived there we have found out how ¨clever¨ are locals in getting more and more money of turists. Whatever you buy in the village (from food or meals, to the hotel stay), you have to pay 10% extra tax to the village (or city), if you want to take bus in the morning to the Maccu Piccu (15min ride or 1.5hr walk) you should pay US$7 one way. So we have walked up the Potukusi hill with the view of the Machu Piccu. Nice walk.

Following day we woke up at 4am and about half past we started walking up to the Machu Piccu. It was going quite well and just a moment after 5:30 we were up next to the gate, around 20th in the row. At about 6am the gate was opened, we got in, booked the trip up to the Waynapiccu hill for 11am and started the tour. We spend on Machu Piccu the whole day, and we left around 4pm to get down to the willage just in time to buy some food and souvenirs and get the overpriced train and then bus back to Cusco, where we have arrived in late nigth.

In Cusco we have left some money to the lady in the hostel agency to organize flight tickets for us to fly next morning to Lima, so we were hoping to find them there. Yes we have found tickets there and also the bill. With the provision to the lady we got around $6 cash back ?!? Oh yes this is Cusco. But anyway early next morning we left Cusco on the plane to Lima.

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Takze ten Inka trail co jsme sli nebyla cast ¨comercne chozeneho Inka Trailu¨, ale cast historickeho inka trailu. Obecne cely Inka Jungle Trail nebyl vylozene spatny, ale prvni den byl po prasne ceste na kolech v katastrofalnim stavu, druhy den docela hazka cesta (castecne po Inka trailu) ukoncena termalnim koupalistem, no a treti den (pote co jsme odmitli slapat 4 hodiny po prasne ceste a usmlouvali taxi na 10/.S na osobu namisto 20 ktere chteli) a pak cca 3hodiny po kolejich az do vesnice Aqua Calientes.

Jakmile jsme tam dosli, zjistili jsme jak ¨vynalezavi¨ jsou mistni v metodach jak dostat z turistu vice penez. Cokoliv si ve vesnici koupite, od jidla pres ubytovani az po suvenyry, musite zaplatit navic 10% dan vesnici (nebo mestu), pokud chcete jet na Machu Piccu autobusem, zaplatite US$7 za jednu cestu. Takze jsme se rozhodli se rano nahoru projit a jeste pred vecerem jsme si vysli na kopec Potukusi na vyhlidku na Machu Piccu. Hezka vychazka.

Dalsi den jsme vstavali ve 4 rano a pul hodiny nato uz jsme byli na ceste nahoru na Machu Piccu. Slo to kupodivu docela dobre a chvili po 5:30 jsme uz byli nahore u vstupu, priblizne 20ti v rade. V 6 rano se vstup otevrel, my jsme se dostali dovnitr, zamluvili si turu na kopec Waynapiccu na 11am a zacali turu. Na Machu Piccu jsme stravili cely dena dolu jsme sli az ve 4 odpoledne, prave tak si koupit neco na jidlo a nejake suvenyry pred odjezdem predrazeneho vlaku a busu do Cusca, kam jsme dojeli az pozde v noci.

V Cuscu jsme nechali nejake penize pani v hostelove agenture, aby nam zaridila letenky do Limy na dalsi rano, tak jsme doufali ze je tam najdeme. Listky tam byly a ucet taky. Celkem vcetne provize pro agenturu jsme dostali zpatky asi $6 ?!? No to je proste Cusco. Kazdopadne, druhy den rano jsme odleteli do Limy.

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Start|Na startu
Second day - stop in ´Monkey House´|Druhy den - zastavka v ´opicim dome´
On the left side on the hill is the Inca Trail|Nalevo v kopci je Inka trail
Thermals|Termaly
Hours on the rails|Hodiny na kolejich

Aqua Calientes
View from Potukusi|Vyhlidka z Potukusi
Machu Piccu
City gate|Mestska brana

Cusco

So we are in Cusco area now. We have arrived 2 days ago early in the morning. After organizing accomodation we got onto afternoon round-the-city trip and bought Sacred Valley [http://www.cusco.net/maps/sacredv.htm] trip for next day, all together of course together with "Boleto Turistico" (the turistic ticket of the Cusco for s/130) that covers entry to most of the the attractions around the city.

For following 4 days we have booked Jungle tour to Machu Piccu, that we have started just today. After a bit late start (each part of the group was said different excuse) and 3.5hrs in the car we have started cycling day and have descended something between 2.500-3.000m (altitude information vary in maps) on bikes on the dusty local road. Tomorrow we are supposed to walk for most of the day on the commercial Inca Trail with stop in thermal pools, and next day another walk to village Aqua Caliente, just below the Machu Piccu. On Friday morning we will start really early the way to the entrance to Machu Piccu ... but more in the next post.

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Tak uz jsme v oblasti Cusco. Prijeli jsme brzo rano predevcirem. Po zarizeni ubytovani jsme odpoledne vyrazili na turu po mestskych pamatkach a na dalsi den jsme si koupili turu do Sacred Valley [http://www.cusco.net/maps/sacredv.htm](Posvaten udoli), samozdrejme s potrebnym "Boleto Turistico" (turisticky listek mesta Cusco za s/130) ktery plani na vstup do vetsiny pamatek v okoli mesta.

Na nasledujici 4 dny jsme si koupili turu pres Dzungli na Machu Piccu, a tu jsme zacali dnes rano. Po opozdenem startu (kazda cast skupiny slysela jinou vymluvu) a 3.5h v aute jsme zacali cyklisticky den a sjeli jsme po mistni prasne silnici o nejakych 2.500-3.000m dolu (vyskove informace jsou se v mistnich mapach lisi). Zitra bychom meli jit vetsinu dne po casti komercniho Inka Trailu se zastavkou v termalnich bazenech, a den na to uz bychom meli dojit do vesnice Aqua Caliente, prave pod Machu Piccu. V patek brzo rano vyjdeme ke vstupu na Machu Piccu ... ale o tom se doctete az v dalsim zapisu.

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City tour evening|Vecer na primestske ture
Inka´s temple and terraces in Pisac|Incky chram a terasy u vesnice Pisac

Arequipa and Colca Canyon | Arequipa a Kanon Colca

From the lake Titicaca we went deeper to Peru, to Arequipa, 2nd largest Peruvian city. We have spend day relaxing, walking around and getting informations about Colca canyon, believed to be 2nd deepest canyon worldwide. Because it was Tuesday, there was evening tour in the Arequipa Santa Catarina Convent [http://www.perutravels.net/peru-travel-guide/arequipa-santa-catalina-convent.htm] which was really nice experience.

Following day we took bus from Arequipa to Cobanaconde and from there we started 3 days treking in the Colca Canyon [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colca_Canyon]. First day we took first morning bus a to the Cruz de Condor wievpoint, where we watched Condors until late morning and from there we have taken unmarked route (30 minutes on the road, then following the water channel around the hill and finally some path down) to San Chuan de Chuccho and then another 1/2hr up to Cosnirhua. Second day over the hills to the Llahuar lodge. This day we also choosed (this time by mistake) less used path, too much to the left, and I must admint that balancing on snady ramps through slips maybe hundred metres above the ground was on several places not very pleasant. But finally in the lodge we went to termal pools just next to the river and after more than 3hrs in the water and good dinner was the day considered good and nice. Last day we had to wake up early and walk quickly up around 1.500 meetres of altitude difference to get on the bus from Cobanaconde at 2pm. Having Jana almost running up, the mission was accomplished and we even made the earlier bus at 12pm. Which means that we got to Arequipa on time for the night bus to Cusco.

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Od jezera Titicaca jsme jeli hloubeji do Peru, do druheho nejvetsiho mesta Peru - Arequipa. Prvni den jsme stravili relaxovanim, prochazkam mestem a zjistovanim informaci o moznostech trekingu v Colka kanonu, udajne 2. nejhlubsiho na svete. A protoze bylo prave utery Santa Catarina Konvent v Arequipe [http://www.perutravels.net/peru-travel-guide/arequipa-santa-catalina-convent.htm] poradal vecerni prohlidku, cehoz jsme vyuzili a opravdu to stalo to zato.

Dalsi den jsme prejeli autobusem do Cobanaconde a odtamtud jsme uz zacinali 3-denni treking v Colca Kanonu [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colca_Canyon]. Prvni den jsme nasedli nma prvni ranni autobus a nechali se dovezt na vyhlidku Cruz de Condor, odkud jsme az do pozdniho dopoledne sledovali a fotili kondory krouzici pod nami ale i kolem nas. Odtamtud jsme se po neznacene ceste (30 minut po silnici, pak podel vodniho kanalu okolo kopce a nakonce dolu pesinou) dosli do San Chuan de Chuccho a po dalsi pulhodine nahoru do vesnice Cosnirhua. Druhy den jsme sli pres kopce do lodge Llahuar. Ten den jsme si take vybrali (tentokrat omylem) neznacenou cestu, sli jsme prilis nalevo, a musim priznat ze balancovani pres odtrzene svahy po uzkych a pranych rampach mozna sto metru nad rovnou zemi bylo na nekterych mistech velice neprijemne. Nakonec ale po vice nez 3 hodinach v termalnich bazenech dole u reky a dobre veceri, byl den prohlasen za povedeny. Posledni den jsme stavali brzo abychom stihli vyslapnout vyskovych 1.500 metru vcas a abychom stihli ve 14:00 autobus z Cobanaconde. Jana pelasila nahoru jako motorova mys, takze jsme nakonec ukol splnili a dokonce stihli uz drivejsi bus ve 12. Coz znamenalo, ze jsme se dostali do Arequipy vcas nato abychom chytli nocni autobus do Cusca.

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Santa Catarina Convent in Arequipa|Santa Catarina Konvent v Arequipe
Santa Catarina Convent in Arequipa for 2nd time|Santa Catarina Konvent v Arequipe podruhe
Condor 1|Kondor 1
Condor 2|Kondor 2
In the canyon|V kanonu
Sunset in termal pools|Zapad slunce v termalnim bazenu

Puno

After Isla del Sol we left Bolivia and on the way to Arequipa (Peru) we stopped in Puno to change buses and during the 4 hour stop we´ve visited floating islands, islands that are made by people living on them.

Short stop = short text :)

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Po navsteve slunecniho ostrova (Isla del Sol) jsme opustili Bolivivi a po ceste do Arequipy (Peru) jsme zmenili autobus a v ramci 4-hodinove zastavky jsme navstivili plovouci ostrovy, ostrovy ktere jsou postaveny lidmi kteri na nich ziji.

Kratka zastavka = kratky prispevek :)

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Local boat on islands|Mistni lod na osrovech
One paddle was abndoned, so Jana helped|Jedno padlo bylo volne tak Janca pomohla
Houses on islands|Domky na ostrovech