After a meal last night we farewelled our group and departed a hectic Lima for amore relaxing Araquipa. Our hotel is in a garden setting and very comfortable. We spent today wandering around the main square and visited the Santa Catalina Convent, so interesting. The cathedral was well worth the visit and we followed that with a tour of  the museum where Juanita the Ice Maiden is displayed.
Just put my feet up and are now ready for a beer.
John

Lima

The capital of Peru is the food capital of South America.  We have eaten the most magnificent food here; from the splendid archaeological site of Huaca Pucllana to the new Amazonian restaurant in the Hilton.
There is also less elevated food such as that served by the nuns at the convent of L´eau Vive who support their charitable work by running a cheap restaurant in the convent.

Huaraz

Huaraz is a small provincial town, the capital of Ancash province.  But it's also the climbing capital of the Cordillera Blanca & the centre for trekking & climbing in Huayhuash and the town is thronged with tourists.  Food (& beer) happen.  The picture is of Lucho with his famous hops & coca beer.

Cordillera Huayhuash circuit

It was 12 days and ~140kms. Minimum altitude 4100 mts, maximum 5090 mts. Sleeping at ~4300 mts each night.
The slow acclimatization before hand paid dividends, and we all did very well. Slow but sure oldies!
The area more than lives up to it's reputation as the Himalayas of the Andes - stunning scenery.
The area is inhabited by the Quechua people who speak both Quechua and Spanish.
Although a national park much of the land is privately owned - can't get our heads around that one.
Each night our guide paid a camping fee to the local land owner.
There are many sheep and cattle grazed in summer, so the area is not wilderness as we know it. But the the high mountains are stunning, and the passes breathtaking (literally).
We are on a high - not sure if it's adrenaline produced by altitude, or the litres of coca tea, or the chewing of the coca leaves! (all legal here).
Our guide said he has taken older groups who turned back after the first high pass, so we feel very proud to have completed such a hard trek.

La Cordillera Huayhuash

We have now completed the Huayhuash circuit of 12 days.  We had clear blue skies & amazing mountain scenery walking between 4000 & 5000 m.  The organization of guides, cooks & donkey drivers was superb.

Willkawain.

A visit to Willkawain archaeological site. A pre Inca site dating from 700 - 1000AD.
The buildings have not been restored, they are in original condition.
Also some of the amazing colours of the various varieties of maize.

Largo Churrup

We did a day walk to Largo Churrup 4400mts. It was a tough climb from 3800 mts. Looking down it sure looked more than a 600 mt climb, but I guess the GPS doesn't lie.
We did better than some of the trekkers we saw, but not as well as others - all together we are great for our age (60 to 76).
This was to re-acclimatize after 3 days at sea level, and get ready for the mammoth 12 day trek to Huayhuash starting tomorrow. In Huayhuash we sleep at 4300 - 4500 mts, and climb passes over 5000mts. I think we are all doing fairly well with the altitude. During the day the walking is very slow but ok. Some are coping better than others sleeping - we all wake up gasping for breath at times.
Here are some pictures of the Churrup trek.
No more updates now until after Huayhuash.