First weeks in Perù

Time in Perù goes fast.
More then two weeks are already passed and I still didn't have the time or the energy to sit down and write a little bit. I also wanted to upload more pictures but our Internet connection isn't that good.
Right now I'm at the bus station, waiting for my 7 hours bus to Trujillo, in the north of Perù. My plan is to visit tomorrow Chan Chan, an archaeological site and in the evening take another bus to Chachapoyas (15 hours). If I will not write during these bus trips, I'll have no excuse...
For who is wondering how is possible to spend so much time on the bus, I can say that these are no regular buses we are used to. They are cama or semicama bus, this means that the seat can be adjusted to a bed. Besides this, they also serve meals and drinks on board (everything included in the price).

After one day in Lima, I spent two weeks in Huaraz, a little city used by most of the travelers as a base for treks and climbs in the near mountains: Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash.
The city is situated at 3090m on sea level. As soon as I arrived in Huaraz I booked some day trips to acclimatise to the altitude. The first one was a trip to the glacier Pastoruri, at 5000 m. We spent some hours on the bus (the landscape was absolutely amazing, I really enjoyed it), then we had to hike for about 1 hour to get to the glacier. Who wanted, could ride a horse. I didn't even think about it and I started walking. 10 minutes later, I begged for a horse... But they didn't allow me to take one (I had to ask for a horse at the beginning, like everyone else). So I put together all my energy and I continued walking... Slowly, very slowly... I almost gave up, but eventually I arrived to the glacier (as you can see from the pictures I uploaded in one of the first posts). I didn't imagine it could be so hard to walk at this altitude, breathing was really hard and the heart beats faster.
Another day tour was at the Chavin archaeological site. The tour was very interesting and even if the guide spoke only Spanish, I could understand almost everything.
Before the BIG trek (I'll talk about it later) , I decided to take another day trek to acclimatise to the altitude: Laguna 69. It's a 5 hours hike that lead to a blue-green laguna. The weather wasn't our friend: during the hike it snowed and rained. Then the sun appeared and it became suddenly hot. Then it was windy, and again rainy. Unfortunately I didn't get to the laguna... 20 minutes from the top, I felt really bad, I threw up and I laid down for a while, till when I realised that the best thing to do was to start going back to the bus (about 2 hours walk). I felt like Tom Hanks when he realized he wouldn't land to the moon (Apollo 13)...
The day after I had to leave for the BIG trek: the Huayhuash circuit (8 days, 144 km). I woke up thinking to I postpone the trip because I was still feeling bad and weak. On the other side I really wanted to do this trek, so I decided to ignore my health conditions and I left as planned.
For months I dreamt about the Huayhuash circuit. They said this is the second best trek in the world, even if no one knows which trek got the first place.
The landscape was absolutely amazing. To describe the atmosphere of this place is very hard: very peaceful and at the same time very energetic.
But what made everything to be so special is the people I met during this trek. My group was formed by 7 people: 2 from Israel, 3 from Argentina, 1 from Galles and me. All together we spoke 4 different languages (Spanish, Italian, English and Hebrew) but we didn't have a common language that everyone could understand. Language wasn't a problem and we got very close to each other immediately. We had lot of fun, we helped each other, we learned a little bit of Spanish, talked about our countries, traditions, we sung together. This tour wouldn't have been the same without this wonderful group of people. We were also lucky enough to get the best guide: a young Peruvian guy, very responsible and caring. During these days we shared nice moments also with other Israelis from another group.
The weather conditions were very extreme: most of the time it was sunny, but we also slept and hike under the snow and rain. During the night the temperature dropped down , even changing clothes was a real challenge (and I'm not talking about going to the toilet...).
During this 8 days we  hiked between 4200 and 5020 m and the altitude had effects on almost all of us. I felt really bad the first day of the trek, with strong stomachache. Because of the altitude, it was very difficult to breathe and even simple movements required a big effort.
Everyone gets used to altitude at different levels, probably I didn't get used to it at all and  hiking was very hard for me. I must admit that sometimes  I just preferred to ride a horse, instead of walking. In this way I also enjoyed more the landscape.
The tour was very well organised. We hiked with our daily backpack and when in the evening we got to the camp, everything was ready: our tends, our shared tent (where we spent most of the time before going to sleep), the kitchen tent. Our guide was also our chef: he was used to prepare us breakfast in the morning, popcorn and tea in the evening as soon as we get to the camp after one day hiking, a soup and a second dish for dinner.
The day I was feeling sick the guide was really worried about me and when we got near the camp, he asked me if he could leave me alone and run to prepare a "magic" infusion for me. We were 5 minutes from the camp, so I wasn't worried at all to be left behind. But something that I didn't expect happened: one dog attacked me and in few seconds he was helped by other 5 dogs. Fortunately a woman that was living there run to help me and at the end I went out from this bad adventure only with a damaged backpack and a ripped jacket. As soon as I got to the camp everyone came to congratulate with me for finishing the first day hike, but because of the trauma (it was really scaring) I immediately started crying. The trauma persisted for all the period of the trek: on our way we met dozens of dogs, and in particular in the night I got little bit scared every time I heard them barking. But I must also write about another dog we met during the trek. He was a black dog, we met him for the first time on the second camp. He just came and asked for love. He wasn't one of the most beautiful dogs we met, but for sure he was the most lovely one. After that night, he followed us for more than 100 km! The Argentinans named him Paturro. He was the first one you met in the morning, a good company during the hike and a patient dog during the evening (he never enter in the tent begging for food, he always waited in silence). The last day was very sad. When he realized we were leaving on the bus, he just laid down with a sad face. I don't know his story, I hope he's doing fine, he was very far away from the place we met him the first time.
With all this talking about dogs, I was forgetting to say that the "magic" infusion worked very well. I don't know exactly what the guide put inside, but I was very happy it worked.
One of the most challenging hike was Passo Sant'Antonio: two hours hike to get to 5020 m (we started at 4300 m). The high slope made this hike very hard. Step after step, gathering all of energies. It's started snowing (why not?) but we didn't give up. They say that from this passo you can see the best landscape of all the trek. Unfortunately when we got there, the beautiful landscape was hidden by clouds and fog.
We spent days going up and down the mountains, surrounded by wonderful landscapes , enjoying every minute of this trip.
But I must admit that after 8 days sleeping in the cold, using improbable toilets, no showers, walking till finishing all the energies, eating popcorn and drinking maté de coca, i was happy to go back to civilization. After the first the first shower I felt reborn. This sensation didn't last long and I'm already looking for the next adventure, this time in the jungle...