Huascaran is a popular area for hikers. The regional centre of Huaraz is well-geared to serve them, and it is a pleasant place to stay for a couple of days. I encountered many Swiss travelers here - mysteriously attracted to a landscape that is quite similar to that in their home country. Huascaran's forte clearly is the beauty of its snowcapped peaks.

For a non-walker, the easiest way to see the National Park is to take a tour from Huaraz to the Lagunas Llanganuco. This kind of tour is conducted daily. Like other organized day tours that I have taken in Peru, they try to take in too much in a too short time span. The guides only speak Spanish but are pretty knowledgeable.

The Huascaran peak was hidden behind clouds for the first part of our tour. There are supposedly great vistas from the towns in the valley below. One of these towns is Yungay, forever connected to the mountain after an earthquake and a consequential avalanche destroyed the village in 1970. They now have turned the location of the former village into an impressive place of remembrance.

After several stops in the valley, we finally reached the first of the Lagunas Llanganuco. It's a pretty turquoise glacier lake. There are some short walks in the area that let you come close to the plant life here. The lake is partly surrounded by the typical Polylepis Forest. Animal life is much more scarce.

On our way back the clouds finally left, and we had good views of the Huascaran and the surrounding peaks.

There's another WHS close by, Chavin. En route from Huaraz to Chavin, you will pass a different part of Huascaran National Park. The views of the snowcapped mountains are not so great here, but it shows the high-altitude plateau really well. And there's a great blue lake here too, Lago Querococha.