Huaraz - Punta Olympica

ihana.com - big trip - diary - peru - june 2003

Friday 20 - Saturday 21 June

We decided to take another trip into the mountains to get to know the area. This time the target was Punta Olympica, reported to have some of the best scenery around. We managed to find the right way after taking a sizeable detour along a very little used dusty track through tiny rustic villages where the locals were very surprised to see the landy.

The day turned out to be a bit grey, but we thought we might as well go to the top of the pass anyway to see what it was like. The road isn't the best with lots of jangling about and loads of tight switchbacks; the landy handles it with consummate ease but its hard for the passengers. Predictably the view was fairly obscured by cloud but one patch of sun did poke through to light up a section of snow covered mountainside.

Back in Yungay we visited the camposanto. This is located just outside town and is the former site of the village of Yungay. The original village was totally destroyed in 1970 when an earthquake dislodged part of the glacier on the Huascaran mountain. The glacier piece caused a massive mudslide which wiped out the whole village and killed 20,000 people. All that remains in the camposanto are some of the palm trees which were in the main square and a rebuilt facade of the old church.

After three full days in a row cramped in the landy its high time for some healthy activity...

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