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No one should come to the Callejon de Huaylas without visiting the northern valley towns, and many travellers will want to use them as bases from which to explore one or more of the ten snow-free passes in the Cordillera Blanca. Simply combining any two of these passes makes for a superb week's trekking. Travelling north along the valley from Huaraz you'll immediately notice the huge number of avocado trees, particularly when they are in fruit during the rainy season (Nov-Feb). One of the first villages you pass through after leaving Huaraz is called Paltay , which, unsurprisingly, is Peruvian for avocado. Just outside the village, the roadside is lined with a number of ceramics workshops, which sell good pottery. Throughout the valley, you'll notice on the pantiled roofs of the houses an abundance of ornate crosses, which represent Christ's protection against demons, witchcraft and bad spirits, a local tradition that also involves the house being blessed by a priest at a communal party during the final stages of construction. Further along the valley are the distinct settlements of Yungay and Caraz . Physically they have little in common - Yungay is the tragic site of several catastrophic natural disasters, while Caraz has survived the centuries as one of Peru's prettiest little towns - but both are popular bases from which to begin treks into the Cordillera Blanca . The highest range in the tropical world, the Cordillera Blanca consists of around 35 peaks poking their snowy heads over the six-thousand-metre mark, and until early this century, when the glaciers began to recede, this white crest could be seen from the Pacific. Of the many mountain lakes in the range, Lake Paron , above Caraz, is renowned as the most beautiful. Above Yungay, and against the sensational backdrop of Peru's highest peak, Huascaran (6768m), are the equally magnificent Llanganuco Lakes , whose waters change colour according to the time of year and the sun's daily movements, and are among the most accessible of the Cordillera Blanca's three hundred or so glacial lakes. Fortunately, most of the Cordillera Blanca falls under the auspices of the Huascaran National Park , and as such the habitat has been left relatively unspoiled. Among the more exotic wildlife that hikers can hope to come across are the viscacha (Andean rabbit-like creatures), vicuna, grey deer, pumas, foxes, the rare spectacled bear, and several species of hummingbirds. All of these animals are shy, so you'll need a good pair of binoculars and a fountain of patience to get close to any of them. The number of possible hikes into the Cordillera depends more than anything on your own initiative and resourcefulness. Maps of the area, published by the Instituto Geografico Militar, are good enough to allow you to plot your own routes, or you can follow one of the standard paths outlined in books such as Backpacking and Trekking in Peru and Bolivia by Hilary Bradt or Trails of the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash of Peru by Jim Bartle. The most popular hike is the Llanganuco to Santa Cruz Loop , which begins at Yungay and ends at Caraz.
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