Quito on election night

Just a quick one - I arrived in Quito today, inadvertently managing to time my arrival at the same time as the presidential elections. I got into my hotel, turned the TV on, and every channel was showing footage of a press conference and public celebrations in the centre of Quito following exit polls which currently suggest the left-wing guy, Correa, has won. So I thought I´d pop down and join in the fun! A quick bus ride later I found myself in Parque La Carolina, and the crowds weren´t hard to find - I simply had to follow the noise and shouts of "¡Correa, Presidente!, ¡Correa, Presidente!".

I picked up a couple of photos of the madness:





The election campaign has been a bloody one, with its fair share of controversy. Correa is a renowned anti-American and once called George Bush a dimwit! The usual promises to increase employment and reduce poverty have been the central theme through the campaigns of both candidates; I wonder if Ecuador will see these come to fruition this time, or will it suffer at the hands of more corrupt politicians?

Baños and the upper Amazon basin

I left Cuenca on Wednesday evening and arrived here, in Baños, on Thursday morning. Baños is a tourist hotspot, popular with both Ecuadorians and foreigners, due to its idyllic location in the central highlands. It´s name literally means `baths´ - it is named after several nearby hotsprings. Baños sits in the shadow of the huge and humbling Tungurahua volcano, which gave the town some trouble in 1999 when it decided to erupt after years of dormancy. This seriously damaged the tourist business here, as all the locals had to move out for some months, but the town seems to have recovered. Even now, seven years on, there is clear evidence of the lahars caused by the eruption. This is Tungurahua (hovering over images will give you some extra descriptions):



On Thursday afternoon I walked up to Bellavista, an appropriately named building on a hill overlooking Baños. This was the beautiful view of the town that awaited me:



One of the main reasons I wanted to come to this area was to do the recommended bike ride from Baños down to Puyo. Puyo lies 60km by road to the east of Baños, and about 850m lower in altitude (Baños being at 1800m, Puyo at 950m). The setting of the two towns couldn´t be much more different. Travelling this relatively short distance takes you from the highlands, right down into the Amazon basin. Puyo is the gateway for the Oriente, basically the jungle area of Ecuador. The bike ride was amazing, and hard - there was more down than up but there was plenty of up! This is what the upper amazon basin looks like, on the road between the two towns:







The best part of the journey was the impressive Pailón de Diablo waterfalls near the village of Rio Verde. These falls were about 20km east of Baños, a short walk from the road, and are apparently one of the most impressive waterfalls in Ecuador. I walked right up to their base, and the noise from the water here was deafening. The force of the water crashing into the pool at the bottom sent rain flying upwards!



Near to the waterfall was an authentic jungle-style rickety bridge:



There were several other waterfalls en route, including several that dropped straight onto the road.



The whole journey to Puyo took about 4 hours, and the bus shamed me by climbing back up to Baños in only one hour. It was a very worthwhile journey. Today I plan on some serious hammock time, before catching a bus to Quito tomorrow.

Parque Nacional Cajas

I´ve just got back from four days of hiking in Parque Nacional Cajas which I´ll talk about in a bit. First of all, I thought you may enjoy seeing a picture of the Peru-Ecuador border which I travelled over last Tuesday



and a couple of pictures of Cuenca, the town I´ve been based in for the last week. It´s a beautiful city!





On Saturday morning I got on a bus bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador´s largest city and got off after about an hour at Laguna Toreadora, the ranger station for Cajas. Here I bought a tourist permit for $10 and hiked up the road to the start of the trek at Tres Cruces. I was following the trek plan described in the Lonely Planet book that I used for my treks in Peru, but I decided I´d like to spend 4 days instead of 3 in the park so my plan was to explore the area around one of the central lakes for a day or so, in between the described second and third days of hiking.

I mentioned before that Cajas looks like the Scottish highlands. It does (in fact it looks quite like parts of Snowdonia and the Lakes as well) until the point where you find the following three things: llamas, puya and cloudforest!



The puya is a plant related to the pineapple that is characteristic of the Andes. The picture below shows a typical puya, although I found much bigger versions of this plant. Generally they live for about 30 years and flower just once, when they send a massive shoot up 10m into the air.



Cloudforest is home to a huge diversity of wildlife, including bespectacled bears (the species that Paddington was based on). Unfortunately I didn´t see any such bears, I was more interested in trying to work out how to clamber over and under the branches with my large rucksac! The mist that flows through these forests adds a mystical element to the atmosphere.



This was the view from my first camp spot, on the morning of the second day:



On the second day I climbed over two mountain passes to reach another lakeside camp spot, here:





On the third day I decided to explore a side valley, climb up a small peak and then head down to the final campsite near some Incan ruins and surrounded by waterfalls.





This morning was the last part of my trek, I walked passed this impressive looking lake:



and on to the road that would take me back to Cuenca. I was waiting for a bus by the road, when a policeman offered me a free lift! I´m not one to turn down a free lift, but I was rather disappointed that he didn´t involve me in an exciting police chase. Still, I saved $2 so I can´t complain.

I´m quite tired now and I´m going to chill out here for a couple of nights, before moving on to Quito, perhaps via Baños. I´ve heard that there´s an excellent bike ride to be done from Baños down to Puyo - it´s about 60km along and 1000m down, and takes you pretty much from the Andes to the Amazon basin. I´m keen to get to Quito quite soon though, so I can try to sort out some volunteering. In the mean time, I´m waiting for my tent to dry (perched up on its end in my cheap hotel room) and my clothes to wash themselves (I´m going to leave it till I get back to my room in ten minutes to see if this has happened; if not I´ll resign myself to the fact that a laundrette trip may be in order).

Into Ecuador

I´m very pleased to say that my first land border crossing went flawlessly. Yesterday morning I peeled myself away from the hammocks and sandy beaches of Máncora onto a combi headed for Tumbes, the last major town in Peru before the border. Tumbes, with its incessant heat and mosquitos isn´t the sort of place to hang around in, so I jumped on a bus straight through to Machala, Ecuador. The immigration offices for both countries aren´t at the border itself, but several kilometres behind the border in both cases. I was cleared out of Peru (and successfully avoided a local man who wanted to charge me for filling in my Ecuadorian immigration form), and got back on the bus. The border itself was simply a bridge over a dried canal in the middle of a town. There was no security at the bridge and the local Peruvians and Ecuadorians seemed to have an agreement whereby they could just walk between the countries without a care in the world.

A few kilometres into Ecuador, on the far side of the town, was the Ecuadorian immigration office. I had taken my buff (funky coloured hat thing) off especially, in an effort to look more respectable. Officially, Ecuador requires that you have in your possession a ticket out of the country, and $20 per day in funds, but they virtually never ask for this unless you turn up looking particularly stoned or bedraggled. I had no problems, and the chap even gave me 90 days which I was very pleased about (the guidebook mentions most people only get 30).

I arrived in Cuenca, Ecuador´s third largest city and base for the southern highlands, yesterday evening. Myself and a couple of Canadians found a hotel and somewhere to eat; I have just found a far nicer hotel for 50 cents less, which I will promptly move in to. Ecuador is completely dollarized which makes things easier in some sense, but I´ve become so used to the Peruvian sol that I keep on converting back to soles in my head to determine whether things are good value or not. They plumped for the dollar in 2000 or so, after their currency had devalued to just a third of what it was in only a year.

I am in Cuenca because it´s a good base for a trek I want to do in Parque Nacional Cajas, which looks to me uncannily like the Scottish highlands. Mike and Rachael from Máncora may join me for this trek in a few days, having elected to soak up some more sun in Peru before dashing to Ecuador. For the next couple of days, however, I plan to stay here and acclimatize whilst exploring the beautiful colonial centre of Cuenca.

I don´t have a very structured Ecuador plan, only that I would like to do this trek, and I would like to see Quito (the capital) which sits about 20km south of the equator. I just can´t justify (let alone afford) the $900+ that a Galápagos trip would set me back, and besides I don´t have much time. How long I stay in Ecuador all depends on whether I find volunteering in Quito...I should think any length of time between two weeks and two months for the whole country is appropriate. Afterwards, I plan to spend some more time in Peru (to see Machu Picchu and other parts), before heading down to Bolivia and then Chile. My only time constraint in this continent is my flight out in three months time, and I am finding that there is more and more to do in Latin America. I promise more photos next post.

The north coast

I left Lima on Monday night to explore some of Peru´s north coast before crossing the border to Ecuador, which I expect to do at the beginning of next week. I´m currently in Máncora near the border, and earlier in the week I spent a few days in Trujillo, Peru´s third largest city. The north coast of Peru has been largely undiscovered by tourists, which makes it a nice break from the well carved Lima to Cusco gringo trail. Life is more laid back here.

Trujillo is about halfway from Lima to Ecuador, situated in the coastal desert. It´s not until you step off the nightbus into Trujillo´s surroundings that you really believe it´s situated in desert. The city is flanked on one side by the Pacific ocean, and on the other by huge sand dunes rearing up to the Andean foothills. It´s quite a sight. The area receives just 6mm of rain per year, unless it´s an El Niño year, where it receives rather more. The impact of El Niño on the area is incredible - every few years when it hits, bridges in the area are washed away and many towns on the North Coast are partially destroyed.

Trujillo is situated near the ancient Chimu city of Chan Chan, the biggest pre Columbian city in the Americas. I stayed at a guesthouse run by a lovely Peruvian lady and her English husband, who provide excellent tours of Chan Chan and the nearby Pyramid of the Moon, a Moche monument. Here are some photos.













On Thursday night I took a bus to Máncora and arrived here yesterday morning. It is permanently sunny here at this time of the year, indeed most of the year, being so close to the Equator, and is a popular holiday resort for Peruvians. Yesterday evening those of us staying at my hostel went out for some food and drinks, which was good fun. All the food here is fresh, probably pulled out of the ocean only a few hours before.





I am going to stay here for another couple of days, making the most of being near the beach, before heading to Ecuador for more trekking (and volunteering if I can find it) in a few days. Thanks to all of you for your emails and blog comments; it´s really great to hear from you.

Mountain biking in Huaraz, and Lima

On Saturday I went mountain biking with Julio Olaza, the local trails guru. He´s quite famous in the area and knows the singletrack in the surrounding mountains better than anyone, according to Lonely Planet. It was a splurge at $48, but you have to do these things sometime don´t you? Besides, I have been spending well under a tenner a day so far so I thought I´d treat myself.

It was my last day in Huaraz but I wanted to fit some biking in as I´d heard it was a world class location for it. Julio´s driver took us 1000m up into the Cordillera Negra, an arid set of hills which protect the snow on the Cordillera Blanca from melting in the warm pacific winds. The town down in the valley that you can see in the picture below is Huaraz. It´s about 30km away and 1000m down. That got me grinning.





The first few kilometres were double track, a good warm up for what was coming next. Then Julio took me down 18km of singletrack, virtually all down hill and nice and dangerous! There were some really rocky sections, lots of startled looking locals and the occasional pig sitting in the middle of the trail. There were views like this most of the way down.





I´m looking forward to what mountain biking I may find in Ecuador, and Cusco in Peru later in the trip.

Later that day I got on a night bus to Lima, and managed to stay here a whole 36 hours before deciding to get out again. It´s not so bad, it´s just more expensive than the rest of Peru and not nearly as exciting. I´ve got a bus to Trujillo in an hour. It´s nearly half way to the Ecuadorian border and has lots of ruins and beaches and things. I´m heading to Ecuador but taking my time about it - on the way I plan to shock other travellers and locals by trying to tan my pasty skin. Perhaps I´ll learn to surf too. Somewhere up the coast is the 'longest left handed wave in the world' apparently.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of pics of some nice parts of Lima.

Photos of Huaraz and the Huayhuash

Below is a photo of myself, Ofri, Nelly and Eyal in Nelly´s living room last Friday, just before I departed for my trek. Notice, I am the tallest for a change!



Peru has gone election mad lately, with the keenly anticipated ballot on the 19th of November. Everywhere you go, even in the smallest rural villages, you see candidate posters and slogans painted on walls. Two of my favourite candidates are below. I particularly like this jovial looking fellow



and this trustworthy looking chap.



I hopped onto the bus to Chiquian and took these pics the following morning, just before I found my way to the start of the trek at Pocpa.





My first night of camping in the Huayhuash was here, just north of Quartelhuain, with Rondoy (5870m) behind.



On the second day of trekking I got closer up to the mountains. This is Jirishanca (6094m), in the evening from my campsite (southern end of Laguna Mitacocha) and then the next morning, in the stunning sunshine.





Lastly, here are four photos from my third and final camp, at the Eastern end of Laguna Carhuacocha. The first shows Siula Grande (6344m, made famous by a certain mounaineering book and film) and Yerupaja (6617m, Peru´s second highest). The second overlaps, showing Yerupaja and Yerupaja Chico (6089m). The third overlaps again, showing Yerupaja Chico, Jirishanca and Jirishanca Chico (5446m). I quickly snapped the fourth as the sun set behind Yerupaja Chico.

Cordillera Huayhuash

I'm back in Huaraz again, having just spent several fantastic days down in the Cordillera Huayhuash.

The Huayhuash is a remote range of mountains within the Andes that contains Yerupaja, Peru's second highest mountain (6700m ish). It is wilder and rougher than the Cordillera Blanca (which contains the Santa Cruz trek, see my previous post) and is less well known to trekkers. Huayhuash is pronounced "why wash". I didn't need telling twice!

I knew that the best season for trekking was May to September, but I thought it was worth a go anyway. On Friday I caught a bus down to Chiquian, in the hope of finding good weather and other companions to trek with. I found neither. However Saturday morning brought blue skies, so I hopped on another bus to Pocpa, the start of the 8 day circuit.

I'd already decided that I wasn't going to do the full 8 days, because I was solo and the weather was bound to be bad at times. From the map and the guidebook I had determined that after 4 days I could exit to a village called Queropalca, the only village on the East side of the range. I had packed 8 days worth of food in Huaraz, so my pack was a little heavy, but I looked forward to the prospect of eating 8 days worth of food in 4.

The first day of trekking was really boring - just walking along a track to the start of the trailhead proper. It took me past a few tiny villages and to be honest, I didn't enjoy this day at all. I'd heard from a local that there were thieves in the area, and I didn't like the idea of losing all my gear, money and passport in such a remote place. I just tried to look hard and scary whenever I passed groups of locals - in fact I think the sight of a gringo with blond hair took most of them aback to the extent that they forgot to rob me. I was feeling much better by the time I was in my tent in the mountains that evening. The mountains scared me less.

The next 2 days of trekking were absolutely spectacular. Virtually all of the trek was above 4000m; I think I reached about 4850m. I saw several huge Andean condors on the route - spectacular birds with up to 3m wingspan. I was humbled when I saw an avalanche fall off Yerupaja. I had a scary moment when it started hailing three quarters of the way up some steep fine scree and I thought it was all going to slide off. But it didn't, and the views that were afforded from the pass to which it led made it all worthwhile.

The weather was almost brilliant. Unlike in the UK, the weather in this part of the Andes is predictable to some extent. At this time of year the weather seems to follow a pattern. It is dead clear in the morning, it rains hard for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then it clears up again in the evening. This meant that each day I had some spectacular weather and brilliant views. When I get back to Lima in a few days and find my USB cable I'll put some photos up. The lakes, glaciers and peaks come together to form a stunning backdrop.

During this time I became proficient at outstaring and outbarking pissed-off dogs. There are so many of the beasts! If you go anywhere near a campesino's hut, a dog will come and have a go at you. I find that a mixture of ignoring them, barking at them and pretending to throw rocks at them does the trick.

During my four days of trekking, I encountered no other trekkers or mountaineers. I was quite suprised by that, but not put off. It was fantastic to have the mountains to myself - it only enhanced the wilderness experience. That's not to say I prefer to hike alone - in general I don't. But it's good to get out there on your own from time to time.

The journey back is another story...