lima x2

Daniel and Andre had been talking about going to Lima for a while, but they never fixed a date and kept changing their plans. But it was kinda clear that I would go with them, just for a couple days to get out of Huaraz, see something different and give Lima a second chance.
And then one Sunday afternoon, I just got a text that they would leave in about 30 minutes. I was just starting to make lunch and was a little surprised and not prepared for a departure so soon. But I somehow managed to cook, eat and pack my things within half an hour and off we went.
We were going by car  and the hours passed by quickly – it took us only 5 hours to get to Lima, but 1 ½ hours to get through Lima to the part of Miraflores, where Daniel had an apartment in which I stayed the next few days. It was already getting dark when we arrived, so we didn’t do much more that day except sitting on the rooftop and chatting.
The next day we slept in, and I didn’t really have a plan what to do. But I knew that the beach was close, and in early afternoon Daniel dropped me off there. It was so nice to see the ocean after being in the mountains for so long, and I enjoyed just walking around there for a while. The view from the beach in Miraflores (the Costa Verde) is very nice and you can see lots of paragliders above you and surfers down in the waves in front of you.  Later I went back up into the direction of the apartment, but I also spent some time walking around there. It was right next to Kennedy Park, a nice park with lots of stores and restaurant around it – it was such a different atmosphere than in Huaraz!
When I got back to the apartment I found out that the guys had started drinking, and Andre was doing pretty good in getting drunk pretty fast. I just had a few drinks so I was fine, but we ended up having a little drive around Miraflores in Andre’s huge car, which was quite an adventure, especially when he tried to park it in his condition.
Later at night some friends picked me up, and we went to another part of the city, Barranco, where we walked around a little bit and ended up going to a really nice bar. The decoration was fancy, and I enjoyed that a lot, since there’s not much art and decoration in Huaraz. I also tried Maracuja Sour (a drink with Pisco and, obviously, maracuja) for the first time, and found out that I really like it. I had a very good time hanging out with Miguel and Taya there, and it felt good not only to get out of Huaraz, but also being around other people for once in a while.
The day after that we also slept in (which really surprised me, because compared to Huaraz Lima is very loud and busy), and then Daniel and I drove around for a while. Since it was already more than time for lunch, we didn’t go back to the house, but went directly to a mall on a cliff to have lunch there. After that I spent some time reading and writing on the rooftop, and enjoying my vacation.
The only thing that was a little difficult for me was that I didn’t have a key and didn’t really know the area, so I depended on Daniel, who is a person with his plans changing all the time.
That night though, we went out again and, after getting some cheesecake, we went to the beach and walked around there. There was also a little pier, from where you could hear some dolphins chatter. Surprisingly it was a nice night, even though it was still pretty cold and you’re never really able to see the sky in Lima because of the smog that covers the sky. But just being able to see, hear and smell the ocean made up for that J
The next day I was by myself most of the time, not really knowing what to do. So I went to the beach again, and after that ended up finding a cool park above the sea, which reminded me a little of the Parque Gaudi in Barcelona (I was so enjoying all the artsy stuff here!). After a while, Miguel picked me up from there and we went to his house. There we had Mac’n’Cheese and Chicha Morada (a Peruvian drink made out of purple/black corn) and watched a movie, before I went back to the apartment.
On my last day in Lima, even though I didn’t know it was my last day back then, I went to the Parque Kennedy to figure out what to do and when to go back to Huaraz – the time in Lima just had passed by, without me even knowing what I was doing a lot of the time (I really spent a lot of time just hanging out on the rooftop, or walking around the beach, the park or once also a big Feria Artesana). And since I’d been there for almost a week, I decided to go back on Saturday night the latest. But there was a slight chance that Daniel and Andre would go back too, so I waited for them to make up their minds. That took a while, but at least we spent that day in another part of Lima so I could see some more of the city. We went to the center, had Chifa (chinese-peruvian food) there for lunch and then we drove up a hill, from where you have an amazing view over the city (you’d be able to see even more, if there wasn’t so much pollution…). On our way back we stopped at one of the parks in Miraflores that are above the ocean and watched the paragliders for a while. And I was happy that I finally got to see something else than the area around the apartment J 
In the late afternoon the guys decided that they would go back to Huaraz too, and were first talking about going back that same night. That didn’t happen though, because they also decided to have a party (which costed me one of my shoes, because some drunk person had the great idea to throw it off the rooftop). But surprisingly we really left on Saturday in the morning, and I was kinda looking forward of going back to Huaraz and being more independent again, even though Lima was a nice change of scene  and I liked it a lot better than the first time I was there. I had just been more used to Peru already at that time, and also got to see a very different part of the city, which makes a big difference because the contrasts are huge. It really is incredible how big this city is, and how many parts it has that all are a little bit like their own city.

Back in Huaraz I was happy to have my own house and kitchen and room again, but I was already planning on going back to Lima with Maria some time in November to visit friends.
I had spent a week in Huaraz, gone to school, partied, and also did some hiking, when it was time for Daniel and Andre to leave Huaraz again, but this time for a longer time. On a rainy Sunday we all said our goodbyes, since we knew that we probably won’t see them again. And two days later I got a call that Daniel changed his flight to Canada and was still in Lima – Maria and I were already thinking about going to Lima this week, because we had a lot of school stuff planned for November, and so I decided to go to Lima again, even though I’d just been there. I took a bus over night the same day where I made that decision, and the day I arrived I spent at Daniel’s place again because he was leaving that night – it was hard to believe that this time saying goodbye would be real, because he had changed his plans so many times.
But waking up the next morning, I was all by myself and I was going to enjoy that day just like that. So I got some good breakfast and then went down to the beach and sat there for a while. Later I met up with Miguel to bring my backpack to his place, and together we went to pick up Maria from the bus. It felt good having her in Lima too, and I was really looking forward to the next days because it would again be a whole different Lima-experience. But that night we just stayed in, had Mac’n’Cheese again, and watched a movie.
In the morning on the next day, Maria and I went running for a little bit, and then I showed her around the area where I’d always hung out when I was in Lima the last time. On our way back we took a different route, and of course we managed it to get lost – so instead of being away for an hour, it took us two hours to get back to Miguel’s house and by that time I was already starving and couldn’t wait to have breakfast. After that little adventure and a good breakfast we took the Metro (a bus that has it’s own line on the “Expresa”, and is so independent from the else terrible traffic) an went to the center of Lima.
There everything looks very European, because many of big buildings are still from the colonial times. We went through a park, passed the Contemporary Art Museum of Lima, and then met Ale (another friend) during her lunchbreak. Together we went to one of the big plazas in the center and had lunch at the very same Chifa place I had been two weeks earlier. After that Ale had go back to work and we met up with our friend Kato at the Plaza the Armas – from there Miguel continued being our guide and showed us around the center – the big central market, Chinatown, some more parks and also museums, and after it had gotten dark we went to a waterpark. That was just a park where you could walk around through lit up waterfountains – a nice ending for a quite long day. On the bus back to Miguel’s house we got stuck in traffic (what a surprise!) and I almost fell asleep because I was so exhausted. But that night we still also had to get to Ale’s house since we would stay there for the rest of the weekend.
On Saturday we all slept in, and then enjoyed the luxury of a nice hot shower, and a delicious breakfast that included peanut butter. In the morning I also used the chance of a good internet to skype with my family, and after that Ale took us up on the hill in her neighborhood from where we had a great view over the endless city of Lima and the crazy big houses in the area.
For the afternoon, Maria and I first wanted to go to Barranco, a part of Lima that we had heard of to be very nice and that I had only seen at night before. But, as it happens a lot here, plans changed and we ended up going to the house of a friend of Ale’s, where we started drinking early in the afternoon and then went to the Ex-Alumnos Party of their school. The funny thing was, that that was THE German school in Lima – so everybody there could (more or less) speak German, and we didn’t stand out as gringas at all. There was also German food, like Brezeln and Schwarzwälderkirschtorte,  mixed with Peruvian music and drinking habits. We had a lot of Pisco, danced, and by 8pm we felt like we had partied enough (we already started to get sober again, and I couldn’t even smell Coca Cola anymore) and called a taxi to go back home. There we found the perfect way to end the day and watched a movie, before going to bed – so we managed it to combine a crazy party and a comfy movie night in one day/night.
On our last day in Lima we really wanted to go to Barranco, and so we got up a little earlier and after getting our bustickets for the night, we went there. We met up with Kato again and then just walked around. I liked Barranco a lot more than Miraflores – it has a lot of really nice houses and cool bars/restaurants, and is a little more quiet and not as commercial and touristic as Miraflores.
Since it was a nice day, and you were actually able to see the sun through the clouds, we also went down to the beach and Maria and I went swimming, which was really cool. After that we decided to get some lunch and Ale took us to an amazing restaurant, where we even had to wait to get a table because it was so busy. But the food was delicious, and the decoration of the place was something quite worth seeing.
Before going back home, we decided to go shopping for a little bit, and so went to Miraflores and spent some time just around where Daniel’s apartment was. Then we went back to Ale’s house and everybody got some time for themselves, which Kato and I used to drive up the hill (I was so glad it was a quiet neighborhood with nearly no traffic, otherwise I probably would have crashed the car) in the neighborhood again to see the sunset from up there. But since we got lost a couple times we got there when it was already dark – which was probably even more amazing than the sunset anyways.
After getting back, we had dinner together, and then packed our stuff and called a taxi to take us to the bus station. And, as a nice last adventure, we almost got robbed just two blocks away from the bus. We were waiting at a red light, when suddenly a man came up to the taxi, opened the door on my side and tried to pull me out. While that, another man tried to open the door on the other side, and all three of us were just screaming. Luckily I managed to close the door and the guys didn’t take anything – but that was definitely a little scary and from now on I’ll never forget to lock the door in a car again.
After getting on the bus, we all went to sleep, as far as that’s possible on a bus, and started out journey back to Huaraz where we arrived at 5am the next day.

laguna churup, peru

Having a four-day weekend again, we decided to cross off another point from our To-Do-List and go to the Laguna Churup. Lucky as we are, we got up early in the morning and could already see that it was a foggy day again. But still we left the house to go look for the bus that would take us up to the trail, and surprisingly we found it immediately. There were already some tourists on it, but also lots of locals – the bus was more than stuffed, and still there were more people getting on.
After a more or less comfortable bus ride and a little bit of confusion, we ended up getting off right at the beginning of the trail instead of a little further down as we originally intended. But that was okay, and otherwise we would have missed the local, coming by on his donkey and greeting und friendly.
On the bus were also a French couple and a girl from the States, with who we decided to start the hike. We couldn’t see anything because of the fog, and in the beginning the trail was pretty steep and, due to that and the altitude, very exhausting. A few times we also weren’t sure where to go because the trail would divide and we couldn’t see where each of them went.
From time to time we could hear some water, and after a while we got to a river where the trail divide again. Since the park ranger told us to go left at the river, we did, and it was definitely a good decision (I don’t even wanna know how the right trail would have been in that weather). By then it was drizzling quite a bit and had also gotten pretty cold. But soon we reached some bigger rocks with ropes, and we knew that we had now reached the “climbing part”. The first part was anything but easy because the rocks were wet and really slippery. Each of us almost fell, but it was a little adventure and I liked it J And after that first, difficult part we made a little break to have some water and cookies. There were two more climbing parts, which were a little easier, and after that the trail got kind of lost – but somehow we found the right way and soon we could already see the sign of the lake. But no lake. We knew we were there, but we were only able to see what was about two meters in front of us, so we could only guess that there was a lake. We kept walking along some rocks for a bit, and then sat down a little above the “lake” to have lunch. The big rocks did look kind of cool in the fog, but we still were a little disappointed that we couldn’t see the lake at all.
And then, suddenly, after about ten minutes the fog cleared up and we could see the water – it was so beautiful, so clear and blue and much bigger than we were expecting it to be. Also watching the fog rolling out over the lake was just an amazing view, and we got up to take some pictures and walk around a little more, because we knew it wouldn’t last long. Everything looked so different with less fog that we almost didn’t recognize the rocks that we walked along to our lunch spot. But after a short while the fog really rolled in again, and it was way too cold to sit down somewhere, so we started our way back.
By then a bunch of other people had gotten to the lake, and on our way back down we walked together with a Spanish couple and their guide for a while. The climbing parts were even more difficult going down, and it was kind of cool to have a guide with us for them. It was also amazing to see how easily he got down the parts, where we had difficulties and almost slipped.
The way back down went by fast, and it was cool because we were able to see a little bit of the view that we missed on our way up. And since we were really early, we also stopped at some point close to the end and sat down for a while.
At the end of the trail, we kept walking down to get to a little village where we knew it would be easy to find a bus back to Huaraz. It was a trail too, and after some walking, and some confusion about where we should go, we reached some houses. We didn’t know if that was the village we were trying to find, so we asked someone – and that guy happened to be able to take us down to Huaraz for the same price as the colectivo would have been. So we got into the car, and soon we picked up some other people – we ended up being the three of us plus another guy plus two women who sat in the trunk. But the driver was very nice, and since it had just started to rain we were happy to stay dry in the car.
He dropped us off close to our house, and when we got back we were surprised how early it still was.
For me it was a really great day, and this was definitely the hike I enjoyed the most! We already decided to go again on a nicer day, and I can’t wait for that J

laguna 69, peru

This week, again, we only had very little school. So we decided to go for a hike, since we haven’t done many yet and time is just flying by.
Through our friend from the hostel we booked a bus that would take us to the Laguna 69, one of the most visited lakes in the area. The bus picked us up at our house at 6.30 in the morning and off we went. The bus ride was quite long, a little over 3 hours. First we went up north through a few other towns, and then the way took us up on an unpaved road to the east. We entered the Huascaran National Park, and kept going for another while. The weather was terribly foggy - we passed another one of the best known lakes, the Laguna Llanganuco, but all we could see was white fog and mist.
At the beginning of the trail the bus dropped us off, and a guide from another tour explained us the route and when we should be back. So we were on ourselves now, but everybody told us that the trail was obvious and impossible to miss.
Maria and I met a couple from the states, and with them we started the hike, and kept meeting them every once in a while through the whole tour.
The trail first took us through grasslands with a river flowing through it, and after a while it started to get rocky and it led us upwards. Most of the time we couldn’t see much because of the fog, and sometimes the landscape reminded us of some horror movie. One time we almost got lost, because cows had trampled a little trail through some grasses and it was more visible than the real trail, because for that one we had to cross another river.
We passed another lake, just seeing that there was some water next to us, and we started to get a little worried that the fog would be that bad at our destination too. And also we started to get tired, because we just kept going up and up, and were already at an altitude of over 4000m. We knew we should be there soon, but we didn’t really know when. We were already pretty exhausted, when we met the first people coming back from the lake – and they told us that it was only ten more minutes, and also that the weather wasn’t that bad up there. Our energies came back, and the first glance at the turquoise water was just amazing. The color almost seemed unreal, and the lake was surrounded by snow covered mountains, peeking out of the fog. It was cold, but that didn’t influence our enjoyment for the view – it really looked like the pictures on the post cards, and even way better.
We were the first ones of our group, so we knew we didn’t have to rush to go back. The first thing we did was to sit down and eat – and then we took tons of pictures, hoping that at least some of them would catch the beautiful scenery.
After about an hour we started our way back down, which was (obviously) a lot easier and faster than going up. Again we walked right through the fog, sometimes not seeing more than what was 10m in front of us. It took us an hour less to go down, and again we were the first ones. Waiting in the bus, I already fell asleep – but when we started driving that was just impossible. It felt like the road was way worse than before, and we could not sit still, but were being shook around for over an hour before we finally reached a “real street” again. I fell asleep again and when I woke up we were already close to Huaraz, it had gotten dark and was raining like hell.
We were tired and it was cold, but back at the house we had some tea and food, and were glad we spent the day out in nature. Also we could cross something from our long list of things we still have to do here. And now we know why almost every tourist goes to the Laguna 69 – it was definitely worth it J