Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [346]
YUNGAY
043 / pop 12,600 / elev 2458m
Light on overnight visitors, serene little Yungay has relatively few tourist services. It has the best access for the popular Lagunas Llanganuco, via a dirt road that continues over the Cordillera to Yanama and beyond. Surrounded on all sides by lush hills wafting brisk mountain air, it’s difficult to believe the heartrending history of this little junction in the road.
The original village of Yungay is now a rubble-strewn zone about 2km south of the new town and marks the site of the single worst natural disaster in the Andes. The earthquake of May 31, 1970 loosened 15 million cu meters of granite and ice from the west wall of Huascarán Norte. The resulting aluvión reached a speed of 300km/h as it dropped over three vertical kilometers on its way to Yungay, 14km away. The town and almost all of its 18,000 inhabitants were buried (Click here).
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THE ITALIAN CONNECTION
Established by the pioneering Father Ugo de Censi, a priest of the Salesian order, the Italian nonprofit organization Don Bosco, based in Marcará, has a long and active history in South America, particularly the eastern Cordillera Blanca.
Since 1976, enterprising and well-meaning Italians have been working overtime to help indigenous youth of the region. They’ve established the School and Workshop of Carpentry and Woodcarving, where orphans and street children can accumulate free hands-on experience and training in carpentry and woodcarving. The Italians have also been busy founding schools and artisan cooperatives in the area and organizing reforestation and agricultural programs. In Chacas, the best hospital in the eastern Cordillera was built and staffed by this organization and many churches have had extensive renovations paid for through its funding efforts. Oh, and we can’t forget the too-large-to-ignore statue of Christ blessing your journey as you approach Chavín – these guys also had a hand in that.
Three refuges (44-3061; www.rifugi-omg.org) have also been constructed by this organization, all deep within the belly of the Cordillera. Each refuge is heated and has a radio, basic medical supplies, 60 beds, and charges S105 per night for bed, breakfast and dinner (S150 with lunch). Profits go to local aid projects. Refuges include Refugio Perú (4765m), a two-hour walk from Llanganuco and a base for climbing Pisco; Refugio Ishinca (4350m), a three-hour walk from Collón village in the Ishinca valley; and Refugio Huascarán (4670m), a four-hour walk from Musho. Trekkers, mountaineers and sightseers are all welcomed.
The founder of this Andean mission, Father Ugo de Censi, continues to be actively involved at the sprightly old age of 85. He is the parish priest in Chacas.
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Information
Policía de Montaña (USAM; 79-3327, 79-3333, 79-3291; usam@pnp.gob.pe) has two helicopters, search-and-rescue dogs and police officers who have taken mountaineering courses. They often work with experts from the Mountain Guide Association at the Casa de Guías (Click here) in Huaraz. It’s located behind Hostal Gledel.
Sights & Activities
The site of old Yungay (Yungay Viejo), Campo Santo (admission S2; 8am-6pm) is marked by a towering white statue of Christ standing on a knoll and overlooking the path of the aluvión. Flower-filled gardens top the hill, with occasional gravestones and monuments commemorating the thousands of people who lie buried beneath the 8m to 12m of soil. At the old Plaza de Armas, you can just see the very top of the cathedral tower and a few palm-tree tips (one of them remarkably still alive). A replica of the cathedral’s facade has been built in honor of the dead.
If you’re interested in DIY mountain-biking adventures, visit Cycle World (30-3109; Arias Graciani; 9am-6pm). It rents mountain bikes for S30 per day, including