Cycling The Globe

I don’t do these hostel tours very often, but it turned out that if I wanted to do the hike to Laguna 69 independently the price for the public transport would almost be the same as with the tour.

And so, an early morning I boarded a tourist bus headed for the mountains. In the next seat was Daniel from Norway who was spending a year studying engineering in Lima. Nice to get a chance to speak some Scandinavian again.

The bus took us through tiny mountain villages all the way up to 3600 m where the hike would start. This part of the Andes has a reputation of being one of the most beautiful – the only thing was that thick clouds were hanging over mountains and we even got a bit of rain.

As we got closer to the destination of the day, Laguna 69 at 4600 m, the air got thinner and we had to slow down a bit. No further problems with the altitude.

The clouds parted just as we arrived at the laguna – this was a beautiful place. Most certainly worth cycling all the way from sea level up to Huaraz to be among the snow capped peaks once again. I even felt like doing some more mountaineering, there are several manageable 6000 m peaks in the area, but as I gave away most of my warm clothes in southern Peru I think I will stick to warmer altitudes for now.

On the climb we had teamed up with two open-minded girls from Australia and Canada. Now they wanted to go for a swim in the Laguna, topless, and they needed a photographer to capture the moment. I didn’t say no to that job 🙂

On the way down we got a peek of Huascarán, the highest mountain of Peru at 6768 m. I would say that this part of the Cordillera Blanca lives up to its name – one of the most beautiful parts of the Andes mountains I remember seeing. Most certainly worth all the effort to get here!