Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CHACAS
This ornate mountain town sits atop a hillcrest at 3360m, surrounded by fertile hills and with guest appearances by
the occasional snow-capped Cordillera peak. The charismatic main plaza is dominated by a brilliant church built by
a religious non-profit Italian aid organization, Don Bosco, based in Marcará and established by the pioneering Fath-
er Ugo de Censi, a priest of the Salesian order.
White-walled houses around the plaza look idyllic against the mountain backdrop and many have intricate
wooden balconies and brightly colored doors and window shutters just screaming to have their picture taken. Best of
all, the town is whisper-quiet as there's no traffic to speak of. Look out for the impossibly petite, smiling Andean
ladies who sit meditatively spinning wool on every second corner. This is an excellent place to while away a few
days. The town has few fixed-line phones, yet surprisingly there's
internet
access
( 8am-noon & 2-10pm; per
hr S2)
in the ornate Municipalidad building next to
Banco de la Nación
on the plaza (no ATM).
You can do great two- to three-day treks from here to Huari or Yanama, from where energetic hikers can continue
on to do the Santa Cruz trek (
Click here
).
The friendly
Hostal Asunción
( 79-4482; Bolognesi 370; s/d S25/30, s without bathroom S10)
is on the
Plaza de Armas - a couple of rooms have windows onto the plaza and the place manages to scrape together a certain
bucolic appeal. A welcoming couple - the misses spends her day working the wool - runs
Hospedaje Alameda
(
95-395-5816; Lima 305; s/d 30/40, s/d without bathroom S15/20)
, which offers a cute courtyard and similarly
modest rooms (warm beds!) as well as much nicer, newer abodes with private bathrooms. Both places have hot wa-
ter. Pilar Ames (the owner of El Cortijo restaurant in Monterrey,
Click here
) has the most comfortable digs in town
at
Hostal Pilar
( in Monterrey 42-3813; Ancash 110; d S150)
, with decent modern facilities. This place is used
as part of a local tour and is open only to those with prior reservations.
Idyllic as it is, the problem with lingering here is food: try
Zazón Andino
(Lima s/n; menú S5; closed Sat
dinner)
on the plaza, which is the best (and only?) choice, managing to churn out a few edible
menú
choices served
by an 11-year-old waitress (just go with it).
Transportes Renzo
( 95-957-1581; Lima 37)
and
Transportes El Veloz
( 78-2836; Buenos Aires s/n)
both go to Huaraz (S23 to S25, 4½ hours), the former at 5pm, the latter at 1am and 1pm, via Punto Olímpica and
Carhuaz.
Transportes Andino
(
78-2994; Buenos Aires s/n)
has a Lima-bound bus at 4am (S50, 16 hours).
Combis
for San Luis (S5, one hour) depart from Bolognesi at Buenos Aires, one block east of the plaza, from
where you can catch passing buses to Pomabamba (Chavin Express, S15, four hours), Huaraz (Transportes El Veloz,
S25, five hours) or Lima (Chavin Express, S45, 12 hours).
YANAMA
043 / POP 500 / ELEV 3400M
Yanama is a tiny, mountain-enveloped
pueblo,
where the most exciting thing to happen in
the past decade is a connection to the electricity grid in 2005. The town is about 1½ hours'
