Huaraz, Peru

Huaraz is a beautiful place for trekking and mountain climbing, exploring glaciers and camping amongst the stunning mountainside. Not ideal if you’re trying to recover from a knee injury.

As the anti-inflammatories begun to wore off, I soon realised I’d need to spend a bit of time resting my knee. I couldn’t be going out on 4 or more day treks as I’d initially planned, so I was limited to picking a few one day tours that would put little strain on my knee.

Sunday I spent at Chavín de Huántar, an archaeological site from the pre-Incan Chavín culture of around 900BC containing ruins and other artefacts. Then on Monday I went out to see the Pastoruri glacier. Located in the southern part of the Cordillera Blanca, it sits on a peak of around 5,250 metres above sea level. The rest of the time I spent relaxing in a family’s home which they use as a hostel, watching TV shows or walking around the city centre and cafe hopping.

So, my time in Huaraz was relatively quiet considering the activities on offer. But I had to sit this one out and rest up for my next big experience - the Galápagos Islands, in 12 days.