Semana Santa in Ancash

As she sat in the combi on the way to capitol city Becca felt two things; 1) a rush of excitement that her very first vacation was finally starting and 2) a horrible need to urinate and an intense wish that the altitude medicine she’d started that morning didn’t double as a diuretic. 

After possibly the longest hour and a half she’d ever spent in a combi and a half speed walk/half jog to the bathroom in the post office while carrying two huge backpacks, Becca was finally on her way to meet Jane, who’d taken a bus from her site in Tumbes the previous night, have dinner and get on a bus to Trujillo.

They dined on giant burgers, soda and chocolate cake and waddled onto the bus feeling a little nauseous but mostly excited. The four hours to Trujillo were quiet. Becca stared out the big windows, watching the light fade from the earth as they traveled south out of Lambayeque and into La Libertad finally arriving at the capitol city there, Trujillo. Trujillo was touted as a beautiful but dangerous city, particularly at night, so Jane and Becca decided on a more expensive but safer taxi to take them to their connecting bus station across town. There they met up with Sophia, Alice and Geraldine and boarded their bus to Huaraz, Ancash, where a wonderful vacation from the heat, dust and work awaited them. 

It should be noted that during the seven hour, overnight bus ride, Becca had to buckle herself in tightly so she wouldn’t be thrown to the ground on their commute through the Andes, she awoke twice convinced that she had frostbite and at least five times certain they were about to plummet to their deaths over the edge of the some thousand foot cliff. Suffice it to say, her sleep was less than peaceful.

They arrived just after five in the morning and in the dark, cold early evening Becca promptly put on most of the clothing she’d packed and wondered when exactly she had lost her ability to cope with the cold.

“So does anyone know the phone number of the hostel...?” Geraldine asked as they stood in the bus station looking as rumpled as they felt.

“Or the name of the hostel?” Sophia asked. They looked at each other and laughed at their complete inability to be grown ups.

After some creative finagling, checking in to their room, sleeping for a few hours, and eating breakfast, the girls met up with Becca’s site-mate, Lily, her brother, Chuck, and his girlfriend, Sue and headed out to explore the city of Huaraz.

They chatted with Chuck, Sue, and Lily about their adventures in the previous days, and then visited the archaeological museum which featured a beautiful garden of sculptures. Afterward they headed off the chancos, or hot springs, just outside of Huaraz. However, while they envisioned deep caves with natural hot springs, what they found was a long building surrounded by a fence with closet-like rooms that had been constructed. They also discovered that the cost was five soles per person to enter a room with a hot spring. Standing in the sprinkling rain and peering creepily into the fenced off area, they decided it might be more fun to walk the two miles back to town along the river. They were right.

Upon return to Huaraz, the group headed directly for a restaurant they’d discussed and chosen on the way. They navigated through the crowded, damp streets in one mass group until Sue came to an abrupt stop and stared into a restaurant.

“It’s the crepe place,” she said and turned to the confused group.

“Oh yeah we’ve heard about this place, apparently they’re amazing but rarely open,” Chuck explained.

“You kind of have to go when you happen to stubble upon it,” Sue added. The group looked at each other for a moment but it didn’t take much to sway an already hungry group standing outside in the rain. That night they dined on delicious crepes and creamy soups of epic proportions, happy to have stumbled upon such a little blessing by chance.

Later in the evening, they realized not everything would be so easy. Planning a trip out to a glacier required a tour agency and some serious bargaining skills. The groups split into two. Becca, Lily, and Sophia tried to talk one company down and they felt pretty good their price. That was until Alice walked in touting a better offer for fifteen soles less, the girl had serious skills. After what felt like days of bargaining and making reservations, they had their plans, their tickets, and a wake up call for five.

Cold, tired, and quiet they convened in the hallway of the hostel the next morning and went out on a search for coffee and breakfast. Only when they’d found at least one cup of coffee per person and adequate breakfast foods did they make their way to the tour bus which drove them hours through the stunning scenery of Ancash. Finally they reached the end of the road. Some decided to take horses part of the way, while Becca, Lily, Geraldine, Chuck and Sue began the forty minute hike to the glacier. At 16,000 feet, it was a rough one, but the group took it slow and eventually reached the huge glacier. 

A day of pictures, amazing natural sights and hiking behind her, Becca and the group headed off to a pub in Huaraz where they sat bundled up, playing cards and drinking delicious home brewed beers. 

The following day, the group awoke early again, acquired coffee and breakfast and then took a car to Llanganuco, a glacial runoff lake that changes colors depending on the temperature and time of day. They sat by the lake for a while, soaking in the beauty of it and then hiked a couple of hours down through the forest all the while snapping photos and chit chatting about everything from skin diseases to YouTube. By the time they reached Huaraz that evening, they were all hungry, cold and exhausted and so ended another night in a cafe with good food, good beer, and good conversation. 

The last day of the trip was Easter and involved a lot of processions and services in and around the city center. After saying goodbye to Chuck and Sue who were returning to the US, the group decided to relax for the day. Becca wandered around Huaraz for a while, bought some local cheese for her host family and purse for herself, and then hung out with some volunteers from the region and ate home made carrot cake with them.  On the way back to the hostel, Becca, Sophia and Alice stubbled across a party in the street. Alice and Becca were invited to dance huayno and both accepted while Sophia filmed. Neither could have looked any sillier, but everyone told them they would get it eventually.

Unfortunately, the relaxed tone of the day was obliterated when the group reached the bus station that evening to board their night bus home. All of the buses were running late and there were so many people crammed in to the tiny station that Becca had to shove through just to get her bags checked and herself on the bus. Finally though, they all made it on. When they reached Trujillo, Becca and Lily said goodbye to the other volunteers and boarded their bus back to their site, hardly believing the wonderful week of vacation was over.