Cordillera Blanca - Part 1 - Road to Huaraz

For my last big trip of the year, 2014, I decided to go to Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca. Part of the Andes the Cordillera Blanca extends some 200 kms and has over 75 peaks over 5000 metres (16400 feet) - compare this to Ben Nevis, the tallest peak in the British Isles which stands at 1345 metres (4400 feet)! Most of these peaks have snow on them all year round, and winters at that altitude get very cold, so I was a little concerned as I did not have any really cold-weather gear, nor knew how Oli's knobbly tyres would stand up to the roads if we found any ice!
Huaraz is the main city in the Cordillera Blanca and a very popular tourist destination, and I was informed that many mountaineers use the peaks in the area as training for trips to the Himalayas and Mount Everest!

Huanchaco to Huaraz

Huaraz is the capital city of the Ancash Region and home to some 125,000 people, and as it sits at over 3000 metres (9800 feet) above sea level I did have some concerns about altitude sickness. Usually you should go gradually above around 2400 metres, dropping back at night to allow your body to acclimatise, but other than continuing through Huaraz to other small towns at lower altitudes I didn't really have a choice - so decided to take a chance, but did book 5 nights in case I had to spend time acclimatising.
As is the case when travelling almost anywhere from Huanchaco I had to start on the Panamerican Highway! The highway by-passes Trujillo, but to the South passes through an industrial area, so is very busy for the first 20 kms or so, but then returns to being the same boring highway - miles of sand hills and nothing much else to see. The first 200 kms of the 350 km trip was like this - mind-numbingly boring, but once you turn away from the coastal highway and start climbing the scenery become much more interesting.

Still not very pretty close to the road ...

... but the distant mountains looking very appealing

This is typical scenery all along the Panamerican Highway through the coastal desert!

The route climbed gently at first and the sand gave way to vegetation -

My route was taking me higher

and the route started getting steeper -

Decent road surface

Beautiful mountain streams along the way

Looking down on one of the small towns I passed through

and the hairpin bends started as I climbed more, through agricultural land 

Fields laid out on the mountainsides

- and it started getting colder the higher I climbed! Suddenly as I crested a pass which was over 4000 metres above sea level (over 13000 feet) I got my first sight of the snow-capped high Andes peaks!

First sight of the snowcaps

High peaks of the Cordillera Blanca

My first snow in South America

At this altitude exposed on top of the pass it was very cold, so I soon pressed onward, following the tight hairpins towards Huaraz. Traffic, as it had been on all my travels away form towns, was very light and the decent road surface, along with the amazing scenery made the trip very pleasant.

Soon Huaraz appeared nestled beneath the mighty snowy peaks

It was very tempting to keep stopping and taking photos as each new vista unfolded, and my next stop was a viewpoint overlooking Huaraz.

Huaraz

Huaraz Panorama - showing the hairpins I still had to navigate.

Although nestled in a valley, surrounded by mountains, Huaraz is still 3000 metres above sea level!

Looking Southwards

There was a large 4WD camper truck parked at the viewpoint, and while I was taking photos I was hailed by a man sitting under an awning beside it. He spoke in English and turned out that he and his wife (Austrians) were travelling South America in this beast of a vehicle and planned to paraglide in as many countries as possible! He showed me round the motorhome, which was like a Winnebago on steroids, but he explained that a lot of the storage was taken up with his paragliding gear so they had less "living" space than usual on a vehicle this size! His wife had cycled into Huaraz to shop for groceries and should be on her way back - and, in fact, I passed her on my way down. The road from the parking area to Huaraz is about 5 kms, extremely steep, and full of hairpins, so I was really impressed at how she was riding up. We chatted for a few minutes, but I needed to get on and find my hostel, so we wished each other well and parted company.
As already mentioned the road down into Huaraz is steep and twisty, but fortunately my hotel was not that far from where the road arrives in Huaraz, and I found it very quickly. The parking, however, was not on site, but in a locked area in the next street, so after unloading and being showed to my room someone walked me round to leave Oli.
I had booked a single en-suite room but the one they showed me had 4 beds in it, though I did have it to myself the whole length of my stay, and the tariff behind the reception desk showed the price as around 5 times what I had been quoted (and had the booking form to prove it!) on Booking.com, so I was a little concerned about what would happen on checkout when I came to pay, but my concerns were unfounded and I was charged the booking price.
As I unpacked I found that I had left the charger for my Netbook behind, so headed out to see if I could find something suitable - but like an idiot did not take the Netbook with me, so it took two trips! The short walk to the electrical store had left me a little breathless, as I had expected at that altitude, but I still felt fine so after a short rest and taking a picture of the sunset from my window (not a great view from it) I went for a short walk again and some dinner before turning in for the night.

Sunset over Huaraz

Total distance travelled 350 kms (193 miles).