Today I did a tour to the Llanganuco sector of Huascarán national park. This sector, besides having a few beautiful lakes, also includes Huascarán mountain, offering perfect views like this one:
The right peak is Huascarán South, Peru's highest peak, and the left one is Huascarán North, only slightly lower than its sibling.
I took the picture above from the location where there used to be the town of Yungay. In 1970, a strong earthquake made a piece of Huascarán North break off. The resulting avalanche buried Yungay within seconds, killing thousands of people. The ground today is eight meters higher than it was before the event.
This can be seen very well at Yungay's cemetery, a multi-level structure built on a hill. The first two levels were buried completely, while the upper levels were affected only by the earthquake, but not by the avalanche. The few people who survived were the ones who had been in the cemetery and were able to make it to the upper levels in time.
Proceeding into the national park, there were gorgeous views of several peaks in the Cordillera Blanca:
And then, finally, the perfectly turquoise Lago Chinancocha:
In the evening, I left Huaraz with a night bus. As I am still in the process of getting rid of a cold, I didn't do a single hike in the Cordillera Blanca - what a shame!
The right peak is Huascarán South, Peru's highest peak, and the left one is Huascarán North, only slightly lower than its sibling.
I took the picture above from the location where there used to be the town of Yungay. In 1970, a strong earthquake made a piece of Huascarán North break off. The resulting avalanche buried Yungay within seconds, killing thousands of people. The ground today is eight meters higher than it was before the event.
This can be seen very well at Yungay's cemetery, a multi-level structure built on a hill. The first two levels were buried completely, while the upper levels were affected only by the earthquake, but not by the avalanche. The few people who survived were the ones who had been in the cemetery and were able to make it to the upper levels in time.
Proceeding into the national park, there were gorgeous views of several peaks in the Cordillera Blanca:
And then, finally, the perfectly turquoise Lago Chinancocha:
In the evening, I left Huaraz with a night bus. As I am still in the process of getting rid of a cold, I didn't do a single hike in the Cordillera Blanca - what a shame!
