Siam De Los Andes is one of the best Thai
restaurants in all of South America. In fact it is one of the best Thai
restaurants that we've tried outside of Thailand and that is saying a lot as
we have tried many. Siam de los Andes is run by the famous Thai climber
Naresuan and
this restaurant is very popular with climbers. It is located on the corner of Gamarra &
Morales at Av Agustin Gamarra N 560.
Naresuan has taught the locals how to cook excellent Thai food. He
divides his time between Columbia and Huaraz - spending the summer months in
Huaraz. If
you want authentic Thai dishes eat here. The prices
are not cheap, but
the excellent food, nice atmosphere and friendly staff is worth it. When
there are climbers eating here its a good place to catch up on the latest
climbing routes and conditions. If you are interested in having a personal
guide for parts of Columbia including the infamous Darien Gap - please talk
to the owner of this restaurant,
Naresuan. Phone:
043-509173
Recommended Hostel
The Cabana Hotel is a small family run hotel/guesthouse. You can enter one
of two ways, either through a gate on the main street into the family's
living room where you will proceed to your room, or through a main gate that
leads directly into the guesthouse quarters. This is a great place to stay
for climbers - there are pictures of nearby summits and climbing photos in
the main family living room. You can leave some of your gear in their
storage room if you plan on returning. The staff here is very friendly.
Private hot showers, TV's in the rooms, free use of a kitchen, a garden, a
roof top patio with excellent views of Huaraz and the Huascaran range in the
distance. All of this makes this guesthouse Dave's choice when staying in
Huaraz. Laundry services provided for additional fee. Spanish speaking
staff. Cost per night per person is about $5. Ask for Senora Flor. Located at
Jr. Jose De Sucre 1224 PHONE 043 423428 Email:
cugovica@yahoo.com or visit their
informative website at:
www.huaraz.org/lacabana
Also note as you walk out of the Cabana Hotel there is an extremely cheap
restaurant about a block to your right hand side. Dinner typically will be
around 3 or 4 soles and there is usually so much food that you cannot eat it
all! The restaurant advertises "economical meals"!
Transportation Huaraz is an 8 hour bus ride from Lima (400 km). Cruz del Sur
www.cruzdelsur.com.pe is one of the
higher end bus companies that makes this round trip ride - they have two bus
stations in Lima and one in Huaraz. Their main bus station (the terminal
station) which offers trips to Huaraz is located on the busy Avenue Javier
Prado 1109 in Lima. We have used their services many times
throughout Peru and can recommend this company.
Downstairs seating has less seats and is more expensive - the cheaper
seating is upstairs. Typically all their seats will recline very far so that
you can actually sleep at night. Their Lima to Huaraz and vice versa trips
all leave around 10 to 1030pm at night and take 8 hours. It is recommended
you arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled departure. Typically it is a
good idea to purchase your tickets at least several days before you want to
leave. There are some bus companies
that advertise making the trip to Huaraz in 6 hours from Lima but that is just
downright dangerous. There is now also a scheduled flight from Lima to Anta
(near Huaraz) but as of press time there are no details yet available.
Banks
There are several banks in Huaraz as well as 24/7 ATM's - most of these are
located close to the main Plaza del Armas. We've used a variety of ATM cards
during our trips to Huaraz and never had any problems with the ATM's in
town.
The following websites provide additional sources of information for
travel in Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca region. These include local
climbing guides and climbing companies.
