Cordillera Blanca
A multi-day hike in Cordillera Blanca, altitude sickness, and saying goodbye.
July 29, 20:28
I just crawled in my -15 degrees Celcius sleeping bag, fully dressed: I’m wearing my warm hiking socks, runners’ leggings (in which I even go running when it’s freezing), Mike’s long-sleeve, and my Peruvian sweater made of alpaca wool. Our first camp is at 4200 meters altitude, in the middle of the Andes, with views of snowcapped mountains. According to our briefing, it can get -8C at night. So let’s hope I stay warm during the night. We arrived here around 14:00, quite early. We spend the afternoon lying in the sun, enjoying the view and talking to each other. We are only six people, and most of us already know each other, so that’s super nice. Also, my stomach is getting a bit upset, which might be because of the altitude. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get any worse because I don’t want to leave this tent in the middle of the cold night to go find a natural toilet in the dark.
First day hiking at Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
July 30, 20:18
When I wasn’t feeling well last week, Mike and I joked about me needing to shit my pants in the mountains. And it nearly happened today - it wasn’t as funny anymore. Although I might have had the most insane view on my natural toilet, I would have preferred to feel better.
So yeah it did get worse. During almost the whole hike I felt bad. Stomach problems, nausea and a massive headache. But it was still a really nice hike and super beautiful, so I enjoyed it, despite it all. We went up to 5080 meters, which probably explains my sickness. Now I just hope for a good night rest so I will hopefully feel better tomorrow.
Camp set up in Cordillera blanca, Peru.
July 31, 14:26
We just arrived at our camp for today. Alex, Julia, Chris, and I went to the ‘first’ lake, close to the camp, where we each chose our little spot for some alone time. It’s funny cause you think when you go hiking, you have a lot of time to think about your life, but here I am so focused on the hike itself that I don’t think at all. (Which is good to practice mindfulness, I guess.) However, I did notice one thing, and that’s that I miss Mike. I miss our talks and how good I feel when I am with him. I didn’t expect this at all cause I love my solo adventures and being on my own. But he might be one of the very few people that I would prefer to be with over being alone. And the other people are family or friends for so long that they feel like family, so… yeah.
Anyway, I still have a very bad headache, and my stomach problems are not over. But luckily, it’s ten times better than yesterday, so it’s a win for me. Now, I am enjoying the view and looking at the stream of water that drips from the snow into the lake in front of me, and then into the waterfall behind me. Crazy to think that all the water streaming down these mountains comes from here. This is where it all starts.
16:04
We just walked to a viewpoint, and this is insane! From here we can see ‘our’ lake next to snow capped mountains, another lake with crazy waterfalls, a panoramic view of the Andes and the snowy top of the highest mountain in Peru: Huascaran! Just crazy! It doesn’t even look real! This makes all the effort worth it! Insane!
View during hike in Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
August 1, 11:44
Back in Huaraz! God, I am TIRED. My body is physically exhausted. I don’t think I have ever felt this way. This morning, we woke up at 3:30 with cocoa tea to start our hike to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain next to us. It was a difficult one-hour climb to 5000 meters in the dark. Of course, I wasn’t prepared, so I didn’t have a headlight, which was part of the difficulty. But luckily, Chris, who sometimes works as a guide in the mountains in France, took the lead. He shined his headlight behind him so I could actually see something and ensured we took enough little breaks so I wouldn’t feel as bad as last time hiking at this altitude. So I’m very grateful for his help. And the view was so worth it! Just amazing to see the colors of the sky changing while having a 360 panoramic view. Absolutely a moment I will never forget. But, right now, I'm also really happy to be back cause this whole hike was way harder than I thought it was gonna be.
Sunrise view, Peru.
August 2, 11:28
We got invited to go rock climbing today. Can you imagine? Me neither, so I politely declined. My body needs a day of rest, desperately. I did look at possible hikes to do for Cusco. Cause even tho this was one of the hardest things I have ever done, in hindsight it was also a lot of fun. So, I will definitely do it again. And I think it’s gonna be the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu.
August 3, 17:00
Today, I said goodbye, and normally, I can handle those quite well, but this time, it was a bit harder. I loved spending time again with Alex and Julia, especially during the multi-day hike. It felt like our bond got even stronger during this time than the whole month in Ecuador. Funny how that goes. Shows that it’s more the quality that matters than the quantity of time you spend together.
We had our last lunch together cause tonight they are going to the coast of Peru, and tomorrow Mike and I are going in the direction of the Amazon. These are our last moments in the Andes of Northern Peru. So we said our goodbyes, and hopefully, I will see them again somewhere in the future, somewhere on this earth.
Alex and Julia during our multi-day hike in Peru.
August 4, 17:58
On the move again! We visited a glacier in the middle of the Andes. It's so funny cause it’s a busy tourist attraction, but only for Peruvians, it looked like. Now, on our way to Huallanca. We just stopped so Mike could warm his hands at the exhaust of the motorbike cause it was COLD. But the sunset is very pretty, so that makes it a lot better. We still have to drive maybe one and a half hours to the destination, so it’s gonna be a hard ride. It’s really nice to be on the move again, but I am also getting a little sick of the mountains. I know, it’s beautiful and all. And I am very privileged to be here. But I am cold, and I want to go to the beach.
Glacier Pastoruri in the distance, Peru.
