Huaraz en Chavin

Tuesday the 19th of October 2010
Upon arrival in Huaraz, we were welcomed - like always in Peru - by a number of guys that try to drag to a certain hostel or sell you a tour of some kind. We are not great fans of these "fixers", but nevertheless decide to follow Max to a hostel he proposed. The second one he showed us, pleased us and we were set for the night. Max also came up with an interesting proposition regarding the Santa Cruz trek in the cordillera Blanca that you can do from Huaraz. We decided to sign up for the trek and managed to achieve a good deal that also included a day trip to the ruins of the Chavin of Huantar. A culture that is several 1000 years older than the Inca civilization.
With our first real trek coming up, we decided to do some gear-shopping in the afternoon. After some negotiation I bought a "North-face" fleece and rain-jacket for 150 sol (50$). It is doubtfully the real stuff, but after the first tests that by now have been performed, I do not complain.
We finished the day with some grocery shopping at the local food market that we found much less appealing and structured than those we had seen in Ecuador. The guinea pigs, goat-head, entire pigs and their intestines made it nevertheless worth the visit.

Wednesday the 20th of October 2010
Little is known about the Chavin culture. The same is true for the ruins of this civilization found near Huantar, which makes a visit to these ruins even more mystical and interesting. To reach the ruins from Huaraz we had to cross the first ridge of the Andes that consists of three ranges here. We did this in a mini-van accompanied by a local guide (Spanish only) and about ten Peruvian tourists. The 3 hours ride was luckily interrupted with a few stops. The first one at the beautifully bleu Querococha lake at an elevation of 3980m above sea level. The lama's made the picture complete. Later we passed a tunnel that brought us to the other side of the mountain range where the weather was much less pleasing. We therefore rushed to the ruins in an attempt to beat the rain. The fact that you realize that the ruins you are looking at are the oldest found on the continent makes the visit rather special. I was particularly intrigued by the hydraulic systems the guys had designed. They would divert a river into a system of hoses and tubes (all out of stone) that had several openings to the top. The whole thing acted as an oversized flute that was used to signal the people living in the area or to scare off enemies. We had a close look at the main temple and descended in the tombs of the complex before leaving the site after a visit of about 1.5h. The 3h ride back to Huaraz was exhausting, but gave us a first impression of the incredible scenery of the high Andes. Back in Huaraz we did not wait too long to go to sleep. The next morning we would leave for a 4 day trek in the Andes and we would better be fit.