Today we have our first acclimatisation day on the Pastoruri glacier at 5,000 metres.
Pastoruri Glacier
Breakfast starts at 7.30 am, and we are scheduled to be picked up between 8 and 8.30 am, so we have plenty of time. Eggs, bread, butter, jam, fruit salad and coca tea.
Tips. To avoid altitude sickness or soroche, it is advisable to drink coca tea and/or muña tea (similar to mint).
In Peru, you sometimes have to be patient. We were told that we would be picked up between 8 and 8.30 am, but it is 10 am when they come to collect us. We are travelling in a bus for 25 people and it seems that we have accumulated delays from everyone else until the bus is full and we are the last ones.
From Huaraz to the Pastoruri glacier, in the Ancash region of the Cordillera Blanca, it is almost a 3-hour bus ride. The paved part of the road is under construction and it is difficult to make progress.
We stopped in Catac at the Paraíso Recreo Campestre restaurant, where you can reserve food for the return trip. We had coca tea for 3 soles.
We continue to the entrance of Huascarán National Park, where we have to pay a fee of 50 soles per person (if you are a foreigner; nationals pay less).
Our guide collects the money to make the joint payment, and we continue on our way, now on a track, which is in better condition than the road.
First stop: a sparkling water lagoon with views of Mururraju peak.
Mujurraju peak
Second stop: Puya de Raimondi forest. These trees are endemic to the Andes region, growing at over 3,800 metres and only flowering once in their lifetime, estimated to be at 100 years, before dying. They can grow to over 12 metres in height.
Puya de Raimondi
Third stop: Cerulean Waters Lagoon.
Blue water lagoon
Fourth stop: Pastoruri Glacier. The bus does not go up to the glacier, but stops at a small souvenir market. From here, there is a short walk of almost two kilometres.
Many people ride horses (20 soles) even though the distance is short, as we are at an altitude of 4,800 metres and as soon as you start walking, your heart starts racing. We want to acclimatise, so we walk up.
The path is easy and well marked, and in just 40 minutes we reached the base of the glacier.
Pastoruri Glacier
The Pastoruri Glacier is impressive; it's incredible that we can get so close. The snow-capped mountain that gives it its name is 5,200 metres high.
A lagoon with beautiful views flows from the glacier. In the last 20 years, the retreat has been enormous; before, the tongue of the glacier reached the market stalls area.
Pastoruri Glacier
Interesting facts. In Peru, the acclimatisation system is very different from that in Nepal. In Peru, they estimate that you can stay at altitude for between two and two and a half hours without prior acclimatisation because you then descend quickly in a van or bus to an altitude below 3,500 metres, thus reducing the chances of developing oedema. For a Nepalese person, it would be unthinkable not to acclimatise by walking no more than 500 or 700 metres of elevation gain from an altitude of 3,000 metres.
We enjoyed about twenty minutes on the glacier and started our way back to the bus.
Once outside the park, we stopped to eat at Paraíso Recreo Campestre in Catac, where we had two soups that would wake the dead, one chicken and one lamb, for 42 soles.
Around 7 pm, we arrived back in Huaraz, tired and eager to have a light dinner and go to bed.
Lagoon
Tour to Glaciar Pastoruri 14$/pax with Franpisco Adventure
Lunch Paraíso Recreo Campestre restaurant at Catac, two soups 42 soles
Accommodation Sunrise Guest House double room with bathroom and breakfast, $13.66 per night for two people
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