30 June: Dr. Seuss Plants and Glacier near Huaraz

We signed up for a tour to the Pastoruri Glacier. It was a relatively short distance--only about 2 hours by bus, so we didn't have to leave until about 9AM.  On the way we stopped at a grove of Puya raimondii plants, also know as the queen of the Andes, the largest species of bromeliad which reached up to 50 feet in height, an endangered plant native to only certain areas in the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru.

Puya Ramondii less than 40 years old

Puya Ramondii between 40 and 100 years old

The next stop was in front of a pond which was supposed to reflect 7 colors. The more interesting thing was the alpacas waiting to take pictures with tourists. 

At the top was the short hike to the glacier--only about a km without the steep climb of previous hikes although it was still high altitude, around 16,000 ft.
The glacier used to be more than double the size. Now it has shrunk so much that there is more water than ice, and it is roped off since it is no longer safe to climb. It rained a little on our walk but wasn't too bad.

When we got back to our bus, it started snowing so hard that we left in close to white-out conditions. But that was short lived, and we were back to overcast skies.

We took the overnight bus again, leaving Huaraz at 10:20 pm and arriving in Lima around 5:30 am.

29 June: Laguna 69

One Saturday we took the tour to Laguna 69. (another interesting blog)We had been debating between that and Laguna Perron. Laguna 69 was a considerably shorter bus ride which made the decision for us. It was a decent walk, fairly high altitude but not too strenuous to the lake and not too crowded with people.

The tour stopped briefly at the Chinancocha Lake. Although the same beautiful turquoise we had already seen a couple of times and much larger than Laguna 69, I found it less interesting, partially because of the surroundings and probably because it was no challenge to get to it--climb out of the bus and walk a few feet. 

The next stop was the trailhead. This was a reasonably strenuous hike and would have been much more difficult if we hadn't already become at least partially acclimitized to the altitude--15,000 feet was still difficult. 

The first part of the hike was very easy, hiking along a river. A grove of paperbark trees which apparently grew only in Peru, Canada, and China were at the first area. 

The very start of the trail wound past this waterfall

We made new friends along the way

The second part of the trail was a series of switchbacks which went past a smaller pond. Off to the left was a huge waterfalls. Tall glacier covered mountains surrounded us. 

After the pond was another flat grassy section. The final section of the trail were steep switchbacks on gravel.

Just over the top of the last rise was an incredible view of Laguna 69. A waterfall trickled water into it from an extensive glacier above. 

It took us about 3.5 hours to climb up; we spent about a half hour there--eating our empanadas near the edge of the lake and exploring. Going down was far easier, only a couple of hours.

28 June: Overnight Bus to Huaraz

On the evening of the 27th we went to the bus station. We had chosen to travel first class in the Cruz del Sur bus. It started from the bus station closer to Mireflores and then came to the north plaza, closer to the airport where we were waiting to get on. The bus was a double decker. We had very comfortable seats in the lower part that went almost flat. There was a narrow isle down the middle of the VIP seats, 1 seat on the right and 2 on the left.  The bus left around 11 PM, driving all night through some very mountainous terrain and arrived around 5 AM on the morning of the 28th.  I don't remember what we paid, but it was amazingly cheap and very comfortable, all things considered. In retrospect I probably would have considered taking the overnight bus to Cusco also.  (pictures of the bus from Cruz del Sur website)

We arrived in Huaraz around 6 AM and walked to Churup Guest House . Although the check out time wasn't 1 PM, the proprietor showed us to our room right away. It was clean and very nice. Another good choice in lodgings and one we recommend. The breakfast was really good, and the place was really interesting. We had expected to have to wait several hours before we could take a shower or change or nap. 

We decided to take the day off and just walk around Huaraz rather than doing yet another hike. We had been so busy doing things that it was time to take a break.  And the guest house was comfortable enough that it was nice to lounge around for a change.

27 June: Swimming with Sea Lions in Lima

We took an Uber to Mar Adentro Excursions where we met on the dock at 10AM. 

Our boat took us out to the Palomino Islands.

 We saw Humboldt penguins on the way out and heard the history of the islands we passed

, but the highlight by far was donning a wetsuit and jumping in the water to swim with the sea lions. 

This was a highlight of our trip--the tour was great. The only negative was that the wetsuits didn't fit great, but they worked well enough for our purposes and at least everyone who wanted one got one.

In the afternoon we went back to central Lima where we had lunch at Samadhi Veggie Food (strongly recommend) and toured the San Franciscan Monastery catacombs.

26 June: Rainbow Valley

We arranged the night before with our driver to go to Rainbow Mountain which first opened to tourists in 2016. Before that it had been covered in layers of snow and ice.

Initially we debated whether we would be too tired to go, but we were really glad that we made the push to get there.  

Our driver picked us up again from the top of the steps. We left quite early for this 4 hour drive, partially because we had to catch a plane back to Lima in the afternoon and partially with the hope of avoiding some of the tours. Although we spent more time in the car than on the mountain, the drive itself was quite beautiful.

Our hike up Rainbow Mountain involved the highest altitude yet--about 17,000 feet. (to put this in perspective, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states is 14,500 feet; Mt Everest Base Camp in 17,600 feet) The walk was quite easy after the more strenuous days we had already done--only 7 km of which only the end was a steep climb. The summit was extremely cold and windy, more biting and bitterly cold than what we experienced on the Salkantay trek.

from the end of the trail looking back

We walked up to the main area and took pictures with all the alpacas that were hanging out in various places. 

some people took horses to near the end of the trail--ending right before the more difficult upward climb

Then we walked over to the back of the mountain, the Red Valley.

We had to pay 10 soles at the parking lot, then another 10 when we decided to take the trail over the mountain, and finally another 10 once we were on the other side of the mountain. Apparently all of this is private land with multiple parties getting their cut. The first part was completely worth doing, and the Red Valley was worth seeing since we were already there, but wouldn't be worth a separate trip.

When we got back to Cusco, we ate at Organika one last time:



Our flight to Lima left at 7 PM and arrived after 10. Initially they said that it was be much later so we went back to the airport lounge. Then we checked it about a half hour before they said and discovered that it was leaving in 3 minutes, so we rushed out and were one of the last people to make the plane. 

We stayed at the hotel Holiday Inn in Lima which had free shuttle service. We were told that the free shuttle might take a very long time and that we could hire a taxi. After less than 5 minutes the Holiday Inn driver found us and drove us to the hotel which was across the street and which we could have easily walked to had we known where it was.  It was lovely to have unlimited hot water shower with good pressure and good mattresses.