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| Huaráz, the trekking launch point |
lmost any time of the year, the mountain town of Huaráz has about 100,000 inhabitants and several thousand tourists. The town exists for gringo tourists who come from all over the world to go trekking in the Andes. It is the launching point from which gringos of all types pay from $40 to $150 per day to "trek" through the glacier-topped mountains. A proper trek usually consists of from one to four gringo tourists, and a small army of local support personnel and animals. A trek - from two to 14 days long - might require one or two guides, one or two burros per tourist, a burro man, a horse for emergency travel, perhaps a cook, and multiple porters to help with all the baggage and gear. More burros and porters are required if the trek includes any significant stops for ice climbing.
The moment you arrive in Huaráz, expect to be surrounded by men, young and old, trying to persuade you to use their services as guides, tour coordinators, cooks, or equipment suppliers. Sales pitches are usually in Spanish with a few English, French, or German words thrown in here and there to try to catch the attention of the gringos.
In Huaráz a typical gringo encounter might go like this, using whatever language they have in common:
"Hello, what treks have you done?"
"I've done (or will do) Punta Yanayacu (or whatever). And you?"
Since I was avoiding all things touristy, I didn't fit into Huaráz. Even the locals didn't quite know how to interact with a gringo tourist who wasn't there for the trekking. It was hard to find South American life and culture in the midst of all the trekking tourism. I was there only two days, just enough time to use the services provided by a medium sized town to do laundry, check email, examine maps, and figure out where to go find real South American culture.
| Note to fellow travelers: Toilet Paper 2 No matter how touristy a place is, don't expect there to be any toilet paper in the bathrooms. Whenever I forgot this, I'd have to fish around in my backpack, tear out an unused page from my journal, then finish the paperwork. NOTES INDEX |
My fondest memory of Huaráz was the little restaurant I discovered a few blocks outside of the touristy part of town. In a little cobblestone side street I happened upon a little restaurant called "Tío Sam." I took almuerzo there both afternoons that I was in town, and didn't see a single other gringo in the joint. The meal was huge and homemade - a delicious gigantic bowl of soup, followed by a plate piled high with chicken, rice, fresh fruit, and vegetables. Even with a 620 ml bottle of Pilsen, it came to the equivalent of about US$3 and I was stuffed for the day.
"Tío Sam" means "Uncle Sam" in English. I asked the woman who ran the restaurant if the restaurant was named Tío Sam because of the pun in English. She smiled and explained that there was really a man named Sam who started the restaurant, and he was somebody's uncle. My Spanish wasn't good enough to follow all the details. If I understood her correctly, it wasn't until after they had opened the restaurant that they understood how the term "Uncle Sam" was used in The States. I enjoyed hanging out there for a long leisurely lunch, watching local people and dogs pass by in the cobblestone calle outside the front of the restaurant, watching and listening to the locals who met there for a slow social lunch. It was a delightful slice of life away from the tourists.
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