Page 14 - 2002 AMA Winter

EXERCISE SHRIVENHAM SIERRA
fountain of all local knowledge including ANACCOUNTOFTHEEXPEDITIONguides, arrieros (mule handlers), porters, mule hire, routes and drinking holes! Huaraz was a great improvement on Lima
“ SPOONS, LIGHTERS AND VIBRAM SOLES”
By Major Ian Comber
with all the facilities centrally located and a friendly local population. Our last night in Huaraz before departing for the mountain was spent quietly (in Bar Extreme listening to Nirvana). We recovered to Jo’s Place for an early night but the South American experience conspired to prevent too much sleep - car horns, engine noise, rabid dogs, chickens, drunks, school children all joined in the nightly soundtrack.
lying dead in the road having been run
over by a bus. The bus was still on top of
him as we drove past! We awoke early to
mist and drizzle Lima is overcrowded and
fairly dirty and it didn’t help that we were
introduced to the Monday morning rush
hour. Most journeys are best completed
by taxi to cover the large distances and
avoid the endless stream of beggars; they
are very cheap and it also reduces your
dition The journey to Peru via America intake of smog. We spent a day in Lima is start of the trek up to Huascaran base
The following is an account of an ascent of Huascaran Sur (6768 metres), the highest mountain in Peru, located in the remote Cordillera Blanca region.
Standing in Gatwick Airport security area being informed by American Airlines that all our aired and empty Sigg bottles were being confiscated and destroyed is probably not the best way to start an expe­
The next morning we set off in a taxi (minibus) with a large amount of kit and travelled to the tiny village of Musho which
was long and tiring and our first experi­ ences on our taxi ride through Lima involved having the windscreen washed by a man high on drugs and witnessing a man
relaxing before setting off on the long 8 hour bus journey to Huaraz the next day. We used the Cruz Del Sur company who arranged the trip like an airline flight
camp. As we arrived we were immediately accosted by the head arriero and loads were weighed, packed into plastic sacking and loaded onto six mules, all looking par-
HHHY MOUHUimm )
complete with stewardesses, "in-flight" meal, films and an extra payment for excess baggage - the first time that I have ever paid it for a coach journey. The coach was half empty so I am still mystified as to the logic of this policy! We also played a game of bingo en route - bizarre!!! The trip was interrupted on the outskirts of Lima when we drove into a full-blown riot. A number of bricks were hurled at the bus but the windscreens took the impact and the driver managed to reverse down a side street. It delayed us for an hour whilst the police tear gassed the crowd and made random forays with armoured personnel carriers, but it turned the trip into a full South American experience.
The city of Huaraz is at at 3000 metres altitude above sea level (and helped the acclimatisation process). We spent the next day getting provisions - food, fuel (benzine) and replacing the fuel bottles that American Airlines had kindly destroyed for us. We stayed at Jo’s Place, a really nice hostel run by an ex-pat Brit who was the
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