Remember that time our smart phone maps casually led us into the
very rough and rugged Canon del Pato? I do.
very rough and rugged Canon del Pato? I do.
In the town of Caraz we saw children making these elaborate Jesus sawdust murals on a Sunday morning.
We stayed in Parque Nacional Huascaran for a couple nights. Mount Huascaran is the highest peak in Peru at 6700m. The campsites are at well over 4000m, but below the snow line which is at around 5000m. This altitude makes for thin air and gaspy breathing.
Sadly, an earthquake struck this area in 1970 and killed over 80,000 people. The town of Yungay, on the side of Huascaran, was completely buried killing all 20,000 inhabitants. There was not much left except for the spire of the cathedral poking out of the rubble. The town of Yungay was rebuilt 2km away, and we hope it never suffers the fate of its predecessor.
The Gladiator had a few tricks up its sleeve for our trip through the mountains. After seven months of not so much as a flat tire, we had four of them in three days. Two struck at once forcing us to taxi to the next town and get them patched. The van now has four brand new tires. Those mountain roads were pretty rough for the ole Gladiator, but nothing is gonna stop us now.
The road to Chavin...windy and epic
Windy and epic roads lead to four flats in three days. Time for new tires.
We also visited the archeological site of Chavin de Huantar. This ancient city was built in 1200 BC and was a centre of power and religion. There are extensive tunnels to check out. Apparently the priests used to dose citizens up on hallucinogenic san pedro cactus juice and send them into the tunnels. Inside they had highly polished rocks and elaborate water canals set up to reflect light and noise and disorient these people. People came out even stronger believers in whichever gods the priests wanted them to believe in.
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