Huaraz and White cordillera

After the short coastal 'intermezzo', we reminded ourselves that we wanted to get to know the Andes during our trip and took the next bus back to the mountains. The target was Huaraz, the capital of a region called the Peruvian 'Switzerland'; we thought we actually had seen the Ande's most spectacular face in Chile and Argentina, but the Andes surprised us again with the most beautiful mountain range one can imagine, containing 22 summits over 6000mts and 55 over 5700mts, making it the highest mountain range outside the Himalaya. So we put out our trekking shoes again, and started trekking again; on the first day to start to ''acclimatize'' we went up to 5050mt to touch a glacier... something very special only 1000km away from the equator, yet sad when they told us that it is melting so fast, that they give the glacier only 13 more years (serious global warming).
Next day we returned to hardcore hiking and went to the Huascaran Peru's highest mountain and went up to 4800mt to a beautiful lake, all the time being watched by the majestic 6768mt high summit...the highest mountain we have ever seen in our lives!!
But the area is not only a fantastic from a nature point of view, it is also home to Peru's most ancient civilization. to honor that (and chill a bit) we visited Chavin, a 3500 year old complex of pyramids; what makes this place special and unique is that it has a statue of Peru's oldest god. while the Spanish destroyed all Inca gods they could find, and no statues are left anywhere in the entire continent, this impressive carved block, the mother of all Andean gods, remains still in the chamber where it was erected and has not been destroyed nor moved since 3500 years.Read more