At such great heights

Having extensively enjoyed exotic beaches and temperatures in the past months, it was about time for a new challenge: the Peruvian mountains and highlands. The low temperatures at night and the early mornings imposed a significant wardrobe change but luckily the sun often followed us to our desolate locations.

In Huaraz, situated at about 3km altitude and surrounded by the Cordillera Blanca y Negra, we made a one-day mountainbike trip to acclimatize to the lack of oxygen. Deciding we were ready, the next day we left on a four day trek leading us to stunning views up to 4800m and amazing high-altitude lakes. One of the mountains we passed, Artesonraju, is rumored to be the inspiration for the Paramount pictures movie starting sequence. Oddly, the following stunning photographs still fall short of describing the whole experience...

In an attempt to spread the fame of Belgian travelers worldwide and in order to push the limits of what might be accepted as sane behavior, Dimitri decided to change into his bathing suit and jumped into an ice-cold lake at 4450 meters. It cannot be proven whether it was a coincidence or whether it were the screams of this self-inflicted torture that caused the sudden stream of avalanches on a nearby mountain-top, however we are certain that the story of the agonizing 60 seconds and the crazy Belgian who endured them will be told among travelers for generations to come.

Insane Belgian

South of Lima, close to Arequipa, awaited our next challenge, the deepest canyon in the world: the Colca Canyon. On our first day, we were somewhat worried about the views: we descended the canyon being completely surrounded by white clouds limiting our view...

Artist rendition of the view during the descent

Our worries soon were replaced by wondrous joy when we entered a local village, Cosninhua which happened to host their annual traditional feast. As we entered the village, as if on queue, the local band initiated the melody which would last throughout the afternoon and night. A non-stop train of dancers, males and females in traditional dresses, enticed us to join them on their quest of honoring Maria and asking her to bless the village.

This amazing experience came with a vengeance though: hangover or not, the next day we had to climb from the depths of the canyons to the very top. As we kept looking up to the top, it never seemed to come any closer. The effort was absolutely worth it though as we consider the trek, more in particular the traditional feast to be a highlight of our trip, never to be forgotten.

Graham