Four days in a paradise

How amazing was my experience of doing the Santa Cruz trek in Cordillera Blanca! I definitely don't regret buying a guided 4-day hiking trip from Galaxia Expeditions. Actually I was planning to do it in three days, as I'm short of time, but I was enjoying it so much that I didn't want to go earlier than the rest of the group. Our group was really nice, a mixture of Europeans, an American and a Japanese photographer, a total of 6 people aged 28-44. We were attended to by a crew of three: Vicente was looking after the mules that carried our tents, food and backpacks; Umberto cooked us real restaurant food in challenging conditions and Lucas, our guide, was the coolest, sportiest and most handsome youngman with a lot of patience. "This is a dream, this is a paradise!" I heard people saying while we were walking in the valleys surrounded by majestic mountains, some of them snowcapped. The highest point was Punta Union, 4750 meters. Luckily I was already acclimatized! There were cows, horses and mules grazing free the pastures in the valleys. Several times I tried to approach the cows and beutiful little calves, but they always went away. We also saw several lagoons, one with a glacier behind it - maybe the last glacier I see on this trip. Every night there was a small river with cold water where I'd dip myself into to wash away the sweat, dirt and sunscreen - and maybe also to show that I'm a tough girl from Finland. The weather was perfect: beautiful sunshine every day. Only the nights were a bit too cold: the first two nights the temperature dropped below zero and there was some frost. Drinking bottles filled with hot water that I put in my sleeping bag helped a bit (great idea, I'll start doing that in Finland, too!), but it was still difficult to sleep.A view on the way back by minibus from the mountains to Huaraz:
Back in the busy city of Huaraz:

I recently read that a bus with 60 passengers had been robbed in Lima. I normally avoid travelling at night time, although not so much for the safety, but to see the landscapes. From Huaraz I took a night bus to Trujillo, and was definitely safe with Movil Tours. Our passports were checked before entering the bus, there was a security guy with a metal detector at the entrance, and when everyone was sitting in the bus, we were videofilmed. At a police control point the bus stopped and the ID cards of the Peruvian passengers were collected for a check-up. Later I read in Movil Tours' brochure that they also have a satellite tracking of the buses and they do alcohol tests to the drivers every day. Some other bus companies take the fingerprints of their passengers.

I travelled to Trujillo in order to visit the nearby seaside village of Huanchaco. The day was cloudy and grey, as if reflecting my sad feelings after having to leave Huaraz after such a wonderful time spent there. I spent my day in Huanchaco walking on the beach observing the big waves break, crabs hide in the sand and surf school students practise near the shore.