La Laguna de Churup

It took two days and four buses to get to Huaraz, Perú. Still in the south of Ecuador, our first bus delivered us to Loja, a city from which we could find a night bus to take us across the border. This bus drove through the night to the border town of town of Macará, and at 5am we reached the border. After a rough couple hours of being almost asleep but not quite, I exited the bus with everyone else to receive an exit stamp. With a fresh stamp officially ending my travels through Ecuador I walked across a dark bridge into Perú. Our bus met us on the Peruvian side of the border, we loaded back in and I finally fell asleep until we arrived in Piura. We walked through the city from one bus terminal to another, looking for a bus that would take us farther south to Trujillo. We found the bus, conveniently leaving in just ten minutes. 

I had heard buses in Perú were nice, but this bus was crazy. It was like an airplane. As we boarded we were greeted by the driver. A stewardess directed us to our correct seats and then as the bus took off, welcomed everyone aboard, explained details of our journey including the beverage and meal service included. Every seat was also accompanied by a blanket and small pillow. Sever hours of podcasts later, we arrived in Trujillo but decided to spend our four hour layover in a surfing town just half an hour west of the city. A surfing town called Huanchaco. 

Three buses in and almost 28 consecutive hours of sitting on a bus, it was incredibly refreshing to spend the evening by the ocean. We walked on the beach, said hello to the Pacific, watched some surfers and  the sun set. Best of all, we enjoyed delicious vegan food served by Moksha Yoga and Surf Hostel.

On their menu they have a genius option, a plate that gives you a sample of each main entree. Genius because it was impossible to choose between their enticing options. The red pumpkin curry really stole the show for me, but all their food had an amazing home cooked quality that left me extremely satisfied. With an hour left before we needed to head back to Trujillo to catch our fourth and final bus, we treated ourselves to wine, cake and a good old chat. Full to the brim and felling nicely rejuvenated, I was ready for our last bus: a night bus traveling to Huaraz. We taxied back to Trujillo, boarded the bus, settled in and turned on another podcast. 

At 5am the next day the three of us arrived at our destination after almost 34 hours, four buses and two days later. We found a taxi to take us to our hostel, one recommended to us by a fellow traveler with a climbing wall. 

Once settled our German friend went straight to bed, while Marloes, the dutch gal, started talking about going on a hike. Despite tossing and turning all night on the bus, I didn’t want to sleep and wake one more time. Instead I tied up my hiking boots and the two of us set off. First, to find some breakfast and secondly, to find a bus that would take us to our hike. 

By 10am we made it to the trailhead of a hike up to La Laguna de Churup, a lake hiding at the bottom of a mountain. As we started walking I felt unbelievably slow and stiff from lack of sleep and sitting on busses for hours on end.

The hike itself was also tougher than we had expected. Not only longer and steeper, but in two places there were chains attached to rocks that we had to climb up, hands and feet. These two parts were good fun, but after a night bus they were pretty exhausting. 

Finally after climbing along the left side of a waterfall, up and over some boulders, we made it to Lake Churup. Like every hike, reaching the end made me forget about any moment of struggle on the way up. We climbed up a little higher to a nice big boulder, the perfect place to admire the view while eating some snacks.

We sat considering if we would hike up higher to a small lake just one more kilometer away, but several huge claps of thunder made the decision for us and hurried us on our way back down. 

Big grey clouds full of rain and thunder surrounded the sky around us, threatening to soak us the whole walk back to the trailhead. Yet, despite rain pouring down all around us, we only received a little sprinkling of rain for a few moments. Out luck continued as we found a van with four seats left waiting to fill up and then head back to town. We hopped in followed by a french couple a few moments later and off we went.

It was almost 6pm when we made it back to our hostel, a much longer and more exhausting day than I had anticipated. We made a quick dinner together, and while we ate decided to go to Laguna 69 the next day. The hike requires a 4am wake up call since the drive there takes a couple hours. So, exhausted from travels and a beautiful day of hiking, I went to bed at 7:30pm. 

Stay Tuned, 

lil