Let's Count How Many Gringos We See!

Sunset heading to Barranca from Lima

The search for ruins with Briana in northern Peru definitely took us off the gringo trail. To have a little fun, we decided to count how many other gringos, or potential gringos (we didn't exactly go up to them and ask them where they were from), we saw along our journey north. We weren't even taking busses anymore because they didn't run in the routes we were going. Mode of transportation: collectivos. Cabs that takes 4-5 people from one destination to another, generally a long distance, for a really cheap fare. I totally loved it! I felt safer in those cabs hanging out with old peruvians than I did in the big buses, whose driver's sobriety was questionable. Looking back, my parents probably would have completely flipped their stuff if they saw some of the conditions we were traveling in, but hey, it's south america after all. It's all part of the adventure!

Barranca- Gringo Count: 0

That's right, three days and two nights and we did not see another white person. The looks we were getting from people definitely made it seem like we were the only tourists that had passed through there in a while. The whole town in general was reaaaalllly sketchy and unsafe for foreigners. Every time we left the hotel, the owner would call a mototaxi for us and tell the driver that he wanted him to deliver his cousin(me, because I look more latina then Briana) to whatever location haha. It was a nice gesture though and I appreciated him for it.

Pyramids!

So why were we even in this sketchy town? To see Caral, the oldest city in the America's! Caral was really cool and a totally different experience than Machu Picchu. It is still being excavated and there has been like zero reconstruction on the buildings. For some that just means it looks like a pile of dirt/mud/clay/rocks, but for me it was totally rad because those were like the actual things that people used thousands of years ago. Like, that is where they walked and that is where they made human sacrifices and you know that no one has really touched it since then. 

Huaraz- Gringo Count: 8 (That's two hands!)

Normally this trekking center lodged in the middle of the cordillera is full of gringos, but we were there for low/rainy season. When I say rainy season, I mean rain every single day, who knew? We sure didn't, but we didn't let the rain stop us from adventuring! 

Where the shamans would get a little crazy with the san pedro cactus

First up were the ruins at Chavin de Huantar. Yeah, ok, I am a little obsessed with ruins, I'll admit it (Mexico is next!). We thought the ruins were close to town when it reality it was quite the opposite. We spent 3 hours riding in a mini-bus going about 5mph because every other 5 feet there was a giant pothole. 3 hours! I was expecting like 30 minutes. The scenery was really pretty though. I finally learned my lesson about how close to look out the window after the 3rd time my forehead made contact with the glass due to the potholes and unexpected bumps in the road. The ruins at Chavin were really cool because we got to walk inside the main pyramid. basically a labyrinth of corridors with windows that look into other passageways or secret rooms. On the tour of Chavin is where we met Tomas, an Austrian living and working in Ecuador. I totally love that part of traveling, meeting new people and making new friends. 

Lago 69

Our second full day in Huaraz we went hiking in the cordillera to Lake 69, why that is it's name I have no idea. We were all together at the start of the hike, but as the incline continued and got steeper Tomas and Briana kept a quicker pace. I was just taking a lot of photos ;) Honestly though, when you are hiking up from 4500 meters to 6000 meters above sea level it's hard to get oxygen in your lungs. I am really proud that I finished the whole thing though, it was incredible! The views of the mountains were breathtaking and there were these two giant waterfalls that kept coming in and out of view. Lago 69, though, just wow. The lake was the most turquoise water I have ever seen, not transparent though, just like pure glacial melt. So freaking cold!! I was really tempted to jump in, like really tempted, but I had no change of clothes and walking back in wet clothes did not seem appealing at all. The three dutch guys we were with though did a couple laps. Nuts. Looking back on the vacation, I think that was one of my favorite days, even if the altitude totally kicked my ass.  

Casma- Gringo Count: 4

Totally looks fake

Before we were headed to the beach, we had one last stop to make and one last set of ruins to see. In actuality, the ruins of Sechin and our stay in Casma totally could have been skipped. The site way super tiny and not terribly exciting. They had an on-site "museum" which was so terribly underfunded and horribly put together. Nonetheless, Sechin did have it's own vibe like all the other ruins did. From the top of the "viewpoint", it looked like a little toy or some kind of diorama. They best part about going to Sechin was that we got to ride in a mototaxi on the freeway! That was also terrifying when the semis started rolling through. If I could change anything about my trip, I probably would have skipped Sechin. I am making it sound horrible and it probably would have been a lot better had I not been incredibly sick. Sometimes you eat a piece of lettuce without thinking about it, and then boom you realize that the lettuce was probably rinsed with Peruvian poop water, and then the next day (or possibly that night) your stomach is majorly protesting. Good thing I went to the doctor before I left the states and loaded up on meds for that kind of stuff.  

To sum it all up: 1 week, 3 ruin sites, 1 hard ass hike, and 12 gringos. Next we headed to Huanchaco/Trujillo, our last destination in Peru, where we lost count of the gringos after 5 minutes.