The first day in Huaraz, we visited Chavin, a 3,000-year-old temple next to a small village. It's an impressive temple built from stone with a maze of tunnels, chambers and alleys that you can explore (really cool stuff).
We rested for a day before we embarked on our 4-day Santa Cruz trek in the mountain range of Cordilleras Blanca, which is the second highest mountain range after the Himalayas.
Every day, we woke up at 6am and would start trekking by 7am. It's the hardest thing I have ever done. I recently blogged about the hard work required for surfing, well it's nothing comparing to trekking to 4,750m altitude.
It's one of the best things I have ever done in my life.
I was worried about not being able to shower or wash my hair fo 4 days, but that was the last thing on my mind. The weather was so unpredictable that one moment, it's sunny, another it's pouring, then it's hot, then it's cold.
You could be trekking in your T-shirt during the day and you would be sleeping with your ski pants, thermos, beanie, gloves and fleeces at night.
Every step upward required so much strength and determination at such high altitude.
Breathing was one thing, hanging on to dear life was another. There were points when I thought I wasn't going to make it. But thanks to my husband who was my motivational angel and a great team of people we were trekking with, I finally made it.
And once you open your eyes and see what's around you rather than worrying about a shower, the coldness and wetness, fatigue or having a congested nose, it was all worth it.
The beautiful scenery of snow capped mountains, icy water falls, bright and colorful flowers, horses eating grass next to you, cows and donkeys strolling around, gorgeous valleys, river, lakes, trekking on peddles, stones, grass and mud, was just unbelievable.
We saw the Artesonraju which was said to be the Paramount Picture logo! Now that's amazing in itself.
I'm very proud of myself for doing this 4-day trek to 4,750m altitude. It's one of my biggest achievements in life and something I will share with my children.
