Laguna 69 and Chavín

Because we had to be in Lima to get Léa's mom from the airport on the 8th of November, we just wanted to stay one night in Huaraz. So we took a night bus from Trujillo. By that time we didn't know, we would expand the stay and would have amazing experiences over there. 

As we get out of the bus very early in the morning at 5:00 a.m. to get our backpacks out of the luggage room, I saw that my backpack's rain cape wasn't really attached to it anymore. As I received the bag, my water bottle was gone and at the top where I always locked two pockets there was no lock anymore. I directly checked if my wallet with some euros, ID, driver license and other cards was still inside the pocket. Well, it wasn't. After asking the bus drivers and after they were totally denying that something could have happened and not helping at all, I got quite angry with them. Finally a woman helped out and we figured out the only thing we could do in that moment was to go to the police. Over there the police man told us we had to go to the tourist police, which was at the main place and was still closed. So we sat down on the plaza and waited. When I was about to get something out of my little bag I felt something in my secret pocket. It was my wallet... Directly I felt so dumb and sorry for the bus drivers because I was yelling at them... In English! I was relieved and happy, but the fact was, that my lock was still gone. While thinking of stuff that could have been in that pocket which could have been gone by then, a guy came over to us and started a conversation. By asking in which hostel we are staying, he offered us to stay at his hostel which was cheaper and very nice, like he said. Because a free ride was included we went with him. In the hostel he showed us some treks and sights that we should do in Huaraz. As we revealed to him, that we have to be in Lima on the 8th of November, so in 6 days, he created a strict and tough schedule for us. First, we should take the tour to the ruins of Chavín in one hour, coming back at 18:00 pm, starting next morning at 5:30 am to the one day trek to the Laguna 69, coming back at 18:00 pm, starting next morning at 5:00 am to the 3 days trek of Santa Cruz, coming back on the 7th at 18:00 am and then directly taking the night bus to Lima. Everything including hostel for 140€! Well, we said yes. And by that, the little unmistakable trouble with my backpack and the wallet, offered us the possibility for the next amazing 5 days. Without this incident we wouldn't have spent time on the plaza and probably wouldn't have met the guy. 

At the ruins of Chavín we were amazed by the incredible intelligence of architecture with which the native people built their temple. It is completely earthquake secure, had an underground tunnel system and everything was built in a way that it centered to one point of the place. 

On the next day after a long ride we started the trek to the crystal turquoise lake Laguna 69 up in the mountains located at 4600m. Because we had to be in Lima to get Léa's mom from the airport on the 8th of November, we just wanted to stay one night in Huaraz. So we took a night bus from Trujillo. By that time we didn't know, we would expand the stay and would have amazing experiences over there.

As we get out of the bus very early in the morning at 5:00 am to get our backpacks out of the luggage room, I saw that the backpack's rain cape wasn't really attached anymore. As I got it, my water bottle was gone and at the top where I always locked two pockets there was no lock anymore. I directly checked if my wallet with some euros, ID, driver license and other cards was still in one of the pockets. Well, it wasn't. After asking the bus drivers and after they were totally denying that something could have happened and not helping at all, I got quite angry with them. Finally a woman helped out and we figured out the only thing we could do in that moment was to go to the police. Over there the police man told us we have to go to the tourist police, which was at the main place and was still closed. So we sat down on the plaza and waited. When I wanted to get something out of my little bag I felt something in my secret pocket. It was my wallet... Directly I felt so dumb and sorry for the bus drivers because I was yelling at them... In English! But the fact was, that my lock was still gone. While thinking of stuff that could have been in that pocket which could have been gone by then, a guy came over to us and started a conversation. By asking in which hostel we are staying, he offered us to stay at his hostel which was cheaper and very nice, like he said. Because a free ride was included we went with him. In the hostel he showed us some treks and things that we should do in Huaraz. As we revealed to him, that we have to be in Lima on the 8th of November, so in 6 days, he created a strict and tough schedule for us. First, we should take the tour to the ruins of Chavín in one hour, coming back at 18:00 pm, starting next morning at 5:30 am to the one day trek to the Laguna 69, coming back at 18:00 pm, starting next morning at 5:00 am to the 3 days trek of Santa Cruz, coming back on the 7th at 18:00 am and then directly taking the night bus to Lima. Everything with hostel for 140€! Well, we said yes. And by that, the little unmistakable trouble with my backpack and the wallet, offered us the next amazing 5 days.  down the hill again. But this time about 10m further. We also had to ascertain that we couldn't do anything for her. The hill was too steep, nobody else than us around and she laid way too far away. Reluctantly we had to continue...

While walking up to the Laguna and while it got higher and higher I started to get problems with the altitude. First it starts with a pain in the neck and then walks up the head till the jaw and at one point your whole head hurts. The motivation to walk further up gets less and less, because you know up there it will get even worse, not forgetting the respiration problems, and the only solution is going down. But I continued and finally we reached the beautiful turquoise Laguna 69 with its glacier and mountain surrounding. After having lunch, taking photos and enjoying the view, we hiked back to the bus, arrived in Huaraz again and went to bed to get ready for the Santa Cruz Trek...