Jan 2, 2009

HUARAZ

Leaving Huaraz was bittersweet...Sadness gripped me for a bit leaving the city, as Brent and I had come to know a family to the point of being family... La familia Rojas, dueños (owners) of Caroline Lodging, and "corazones grandes". Together we enjoyed daily, delicious Peruvian cuisine prepared by one of the best Peruvian chefs-Anita Rojas. We shared many laughs during fiestas of all sorts, including three birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and numerous Peruvian holidays (seems to be two or three every week). Teo Rojas even arranged for me to stay with his folks for a few days in Lima, to ease process of integrating into the "big city" life, during my hunt for a motorcycle. They treated us like a part of their family from the day we arrived, through the many "wannabe" departures (only to return to warm smiles dawning broken bikes, sickness´, or faulty tires), til´ the day we parted ways for good.

Huaraz is home to a very positive energy that includes not only the people, but the surrounding Cordillera Blancas as well. The view atop Caroline Lodging provides an incredible vista of the surrounding mountains of the Cordilleras, and Huascaran (the tallest mountain in Peru 6768m) Many mornings have been spent there gazing out at these monsters of mountains, enjoying a warm beverage, delighting in their presence. The town prides itself as being the "base camp" for The Cordilleras, and hosts countless tour agencies willing to take you out on what is sure to be the climb, ride, trek or summit of your life. Precaution and patience are neccesarry if you want to expèrience these mountains with a seasoned veteren. On one occasion, as we´ve heard, unknowing tourists got swung on a not-so-good-deal with one of the "wannabe" guide agencies. They found themselves carrying their own gear, not because they prefer to, but because their "porter"- an undernurished, overworked burro, collapsed of exaustion and died. This story is a rarity, as many come back with nothing but positive tales of their adventure, and it is definetly not imperative to have a guide in these parts. We found sufficiancy with a detailed map of the area and young enough bones to handle carrying our own gear on treks of "extreme" nature. (see Cordillera Huayhuash in BICICLANDES)

Huaraz tops the list on my favorite places in South America thus far because of the incredible family we´ve met there, and because of the unlimited amount of things to do in the beautiful mountains surrounding the town. Yep, saying goodbye was bitter, but how sweet it is to hit the road once again after encountering such a miraculous place. Gracias a Dios.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous26.1.09

    soren it so good to see u in your pictures sure miss u glad to see u had a good chritmas and new years. We had a great christmas and new years just as u can remember we brought in the new year with a bang just as u did.

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  2. Excellent Pic mister STURLAUGSON. Saludos of whole the Family

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  3. Hi Friend Soren

    I hope you will be Ok.

    Regards from Antofagasta and the Hello kitty Bedroom.

    I watch the Gift (Miguel&Pat Drunk) in your Blogs.... Excellent


    Regards and Take care

    Pat

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