I'll try to update this page as often as possible, but most of the trip we won't have Wifi, so news will be limited.
You may receive news from Attitude Montagne on their Facebook.
I'm talking about a trip to Peru, not wifi, Attitude Montagne, what's all this about?
The journey:
I'll be in Peru in early July for a mountaineering trip organized by Attitude Montagne: the Peruvian Trio.
We land in Lima and take the bus to Huaraz. From there, we'll head for the start of the trek to our base camp for 3 summits: Urus Este, Ishinca and Tocllaraju.
The schedule should look something like this:
- Flight from your home town/Lima
- Bus to Huaraz.
- Acclimatization in Huaraz 3100 m.
- Reach base camp at 4200 m. (Probably the end of wifi and news)
- Rest at base camp.
- Departure for Urus Este 5420 m.
- Rest at base camp.
- Departure for Ishinca 5530 m.
- Rest at base camp.
- Ascent to the Tocllaraju advanced camp
- Overnight departure for the summit of Tocllaraju and descent to base camp
- Back to Huaraz (Wifi and news are likely to return)
- Extra day
- Day trip to Huaraz and departure for Lima.
- Return flight.
For more information, or if you're tempted by the same experience, go to here.
Travel Diary
06/29/2023 - Preparations
A mountaineering trip requires a lot of equipment. You need to have everything you'll need, but not too much, as we'll also have to pack everything into our luggage and carry it to base camp.
07/01/2023 - Departure
It's departure time! We're in the departure lounge, heading for Lima. We have a stopover in Miami.
Four nice pieces of luggage weighing 22-23kg, we're within the limit! We're just waiting for the flight. For the moment it's on time.
9:45pm - I spoke too soon...
We had to leave at 6.10pm. At 9:45pm we were finally on the move... We had a problem with the gangway, then thunderstorms delayed the end of baggage and fuel loading. Then another problem with the gangway. We hope it won't be a problem for our connecting flight. We had a 3h45 stopover... We're approaching the same delay. Fingers crossed, we finally left at around 9.45pm, i.e. 3.5 hours behind schedule.
02/07/2023 - 00:40 - short run through Miami airport
Finally landing, we run around the airport a bit, fortunately our arrival gate and the next boarding gate are not so far away.
At 1.05am we're seated on the plane, for a scheduled departure at 1.30am.Sorry Miami, we won't be able to discover your airport until we return.Now it's a little less than 6 hours flight to Lima. We should arrive at 6am.
02/07/2023 - 8:00 am - arrived in Lima... But some luggage is missing.
We arrived safely in Lima, but the problem is that we only have three bags instead of seven... We're waiting to find out what we can do about the remaining luggage.
In the end, we have 3 bags out of 7. If all goes well, the other luggage should be delivered to Huaraz tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Waiting for us at the bus terminal, we have a couple of hours before catching the bus to Huaraz. A journey that should normally take 8 hours.
In the meantime, I spilled Simon's coffee. After the loss of his suitcase, the day doesn't get any better, and we hope it will get better afterwards.
02/07/2023 - 10:30 a.m. - bus to huaraz
We take the bus for about 8 hours to Huaraz. The bus in Peru is very spacious and comfortable, better than on a plane.
We even have screens, but everything is in Spanish (with English subtitles, but I have trouble with Thor speaking Spanish).
The first landscapes are very desert-like, you can see sand dunes and the sea, but everything seems desert-like apart from the fields you come across.
After about three hours on the road, we leave the seaside and head for the mountains and Huaraz. 204km to go, estimated time: 5h.
Arriving at huaraz, 3100m, at around 6.15pm, we split into three cabs with all our bags to get to the hotel. We can't wait to relax for a while.
After all that driving, we head off to the Trivio restaurant for a well-deserved meal.
It's the end of the first part, full of twists and turns. We're hoping for a happy ending with all our luggage tomorrow.
In the meantime, it's time to go to bed for a well-deserved night. (except that there's a party at the hotel after all... We hope to be able to sleep through the noise.
(check out Costadelhoratio or studiohoratio on instagram or Facebook for short video stories)
03/07/2023 - breakfast in huaraz
Woke up around 7:30. The night wasn't bad, the plugs were effective against the noise of the party and I crashed like a rock. The altitude is starting to take its toll, and I got up three times during the night to go to the toilet.
This morning we met up with everyone else at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast in Huaraz at the California café, where we ate very well! I recommend it. Their passion fruit juice was very good and I tasted my first coca leaf tea.
We make a few purchases in town, including water, as the water here is not really drinkable for tourists, before returning to the hotel for a short team meeting at 11am.
We meet the Peruvian guides who will accompany us during the briefing. Because of missing luggage, Simon and Dominic will have to wait for the luggage and join us as soon as they have it.
03/07/2023 Short visit huaraz
After the briefing, we set off for a stroll around town. We visit a small market. We find coca leaves to chew, supposedly good for altitude sickness, but very bitter and not very good. It's better as an infusion!
The city is bustling with activity and the sun is beating down hard. But it's still cool in the shade, which is very pleasant. There are lots of dogs in the streets, reminiscent of Nepal.
We return to the hotel and head off for a drink and a bite to eat in a café, before setting off again to explore the city.
We visit a number of local craft stores to get a feel for the souvenirs, before heading back to the hotel. It's time to start packing and relax for a while.
Tonight we're off to eat at a restaurant that has board games. We play a little uno or jenga while we wait for our orders.
Then it's back to finish packing and go to bed early.
Tomorrow's program is to leave at 8am by cab for the start of the trek. Then 4 to 6 hours of trekking to reach the base camp. For the trek, we'll be accompanied by mules to carry the bulk of our equipment.
We'll just have to carry our daypack. This will also be the beginning of the end of Wi-Fi, probably until we return to Huaraz.
Follow attitude montagne's Facebook page, they should have some news for us during this period.
07/13/2023 Return to civilization
After 8 days off the grid, we're back in Huaraz.
We actually got back yesterday, but I haven't found the time to write. We arrived in the afternoon, after a 3-hour trek back from base camp to our cab bus. Then a 1h30 bus ride to our hotel.
After a little rest at the hotel, we had an aperitif at the hotel. Then we went to eat at Patrick's crêperie. It was very good and comforting! We then went to several bars to finish off the evening.
Waking up this morning was a bit of a struggle, a rather short night's sleep. But we went back for breakfast at Café California.
This afternoon, it's rest, final shopping and packing for the return to Lima and then Montreal.
If you haven't been following the mountain adventures on attitude montagne's Facebook or instagram, I'll be doing more detailed posts on each climb in the coming weeks.
07/15/2023 Return to Montreal
Not much news, since yesterday we've been out of town.
8 hours by bus, a bit of cab in a rather chaotic Lima, then 5 hours 45 minutes by plane and we're in Miami. We're waiting for our flight to Montreal, scheduled for about 3 hours 45 minutes from now.
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