From Lima to Huaraz, Peru by overnight bus

After a day of rest in Lima, we checked out late from our hotel (the Sheraton Lima gave us 8pm, which is unheard of and great service) and headed for the station for an overnight bus to Huaraz, northeast of Lima and a climbing Mecca.

Taking a ‘red-eye’ Cruz Del Sur bus was a very different experience for us but not nearly as bad as it sounded. First, the buses aren’t like Greyhounds in the United States — the lower part of the bus was first class, with large leather seats that reclined nearly flat. We slept well for the eight hour bus ride and woke up in Huaraz, in a valley sandwiched between the Cordillera Negra and Cordillera Blanca.

Huaraz, Peru

Huaraz, much smaller than Lima, is also distinctly newer with most buildings made of red brick and with more modern streets, sidewalks, and looked much less beat up. The streets were clean and the air lacked the diesel smoke of Cusco and Lima. Huaraz is famous among the climbing community for its proximity to world-class climbing in the Huascarán National Park, home of Huascarán itself and Alpamayo, one of the most photogenic mountains in the world.

A very beat-up taxi, missing more than a few parts inside and out, took us to Casa de Zarela, our hotel. The hotel was modern and very comfortable and the many pictures of local mountains decorating the walls made it clear that their customers are the climbers and trekkers making their way to some of South America’s best climbing and hiking.

The staff was very friendly from our moment of arrival and offered us our choice of rooms.

It’s a small world

We actually met the owner, Zarela Zamora, in one of our trips to Kathmandu, in a fortuitous meeting set up by our climber/adventurer friend Tony Yeary. The trekking and climbing community is a tight-knit group it seems everyone knows everyone else. We texted Tony after arriving and he recommended that we head over to Cafe Andina near the city center.

But first we had to see the pre-Incan ruins near Huaraz, created by the Wari Empire in the years AD 600-900. Their structures, while smaller than what the Inca’s built, also involved elaborate stone structures. We were able to walk through the ruins, but even more interesting was the Día de Muertos commemoration happening at the neighboring cemetery. Families were having picnics at their loved ones’ gravesites, planting flowers and spending the afternoon as an extended family.

We saw many Peruvian women in traditional outfits walking the road to the cemetery with large bundles of flowers to sell to the families. Their colorful outfits and bundles of brightly colored flowers made Día de Muertos seem far less somber than it could have been.

Cafe Andino

Once back in Huaraz, we made out way to a recommended spot for lunch, Cafe Andino. Not only was the food great, but the cafe itself was artistically designed and included a library, which explained their motto: drink. hike. learn.

The crowd was clearly made up of adventurers enjoying each other’s company and using the free wifi at the same time.

Counterfeit money?

Earlier in the day, after purchasing bottles of water in a roadside store, we were surprised when the clerk came running out to our taxi to tell us that our 5 soles coin (about $1.70) was counterfeit. Evidently, there are problems with fake currency in Peru. When we asked our taxi driver what to do with it, he said, “Give it someone else, just like someone gave it to you.”