Huaraz: The Freaks Come Out at Night

Huaráz Market

On Saturday and Sunday mornings we headed to Huaráz's Central Market for some shopping. Needless to say, Peruvian markets, particularly in the mountains, are a riot of colors, sights, sounds, and smells, and one is always guaranteed to find something worthwhile.

Heading toward the market, the yellow building on the left.

The boys playing fussball outside the market,
where tables are available for 50 centimos a game.

Shopping for some of the region's famed ham.

Hams, blood sausages, pork leg, cheeses, and honey at a market stall.

Pig heads.

Guinea pigs.

Buying corn.

Ocas (Oxalis tuberosa)

Ollucos (Ullucus tuberosus)

Ajíes and rocotos. Diego was very glad to find these as, he maintains, the ones produced by small farmers taste better and are hotter than commercially-grown ones.

Diego, in the meat and poultry section of the market

Monterey

On Saturday afternoon we headed off to a more leisurely time at Monterey, just outside of the city of Huaráz, for a well-earned soak in the waters of a mineral-rich natural hot spring.

Pali, Mito, and Rafaela

Diego

Monterey is a favorite attraction in the region, as well as the site of a well-known hotel of longstanding, the Hotel Monterey. I stayed at the hotel back in 1973 or 1974 on a trip there with my mother, my brother, my grandmother who was visiting from the United States, and -I think- my infant sister Cristy. We had a great time then, lolling in the hot water in the evenings before dinner.

This time, though we couldn't use the hotel pool and thus went to the public pool next to the hotel, it still brought back pleasant memories of that long-ago trip.

Huaráz (10,100 feet a.s.l.)

We left for Huaráz late Thursday night so as to not use a whole day on the 8 hr bus ride. We arrived in time for breakfast with our old friend Tato, who has also just arrived from Lima the evening before and was about to leave for work higher up in the mountains at the Antamina copper mine.

Our arrival in Huaráz

Benjamin, fresh off the bus

Our first glimpse of the Cordillera Blanca and Mt. Huascarán

Huaráz is a friendly, if drawn out and somewhat chaotic, city. Unlike Cusco or Ayacucho, it doesn't have a historic city center but has grown stretched out along the road through the Huaylas valley. The city was devastated in a massive earthquake in 1970, which damaged some 70% of the buildings and killed 20,000 people in town, as well as virtually wiping out the nearby town of Yungay in a huge landslide from Mt. Huascarán, where only about 400 people out of a population of over 10,000 survived.

Today Huaráz is a vibrant, lively city that feels very connected to the outside world. It abounds in cafés, restaurants, and nightclubs catering to Peruvian and international visitors as well as locals with money to spend. Huaráz is the point of departure for adventure sport tourism, including mountaineering, trekking, biking, and river rafting. However, thanks to global warming, which has melted the glaciers on Mt. Pastoruri, it seems skiing not an option anymore.

In Huaráz's Plaza de Armas

Although we did not plan it that way, we happened to arrive at the start of a week of celebrations marking the 151st anniversary of the founding of the Province of Huaráz and the dedication of Huaráz as the provincial capital. The celebrations included a multitude of parades throughout the weekend featuring dancers in traditional costumes, bands belting out waynos, and frequent setting off of fireworks.

Tonight we leave for an 8-hour bus ride to the north and up the Andes, into the Huaylas valley between the bare Cordillera Negra (Black Range) and the snow-capped Cordillera Blanca (White Range), and a weekend in the city of Huaráz.