Welcome to Huaraz, nothing is forever

I arrived in Huaraz at 6am this morning, and I discovered once again that in this part of the world, things change very quickly. Some places move. Other places close down. Out-of-date Lonely Planet guides can't keep pace. And at the break of dawn, after spending the whole night on a bumpy bus, it's all just a bit too much to handle. Welcome to Huaraz — can I sleep now?

First of all, since my LP guide was written, the Movil Tours bus terminal has moved. Used to be near the centre of town, now it's miles away. When I arrived and got off the bus, I started walking towards where I assumed the central Plaza was, based on where I assumed I'd arrived at within the city. Anyway, all these assumptions were wrong. I soon worked out that I wasn't where I thought I was, and that I wasn't going where I thought I was going. Had to resort to a taxi to get me back on track.

Second, I arrived near the city centre; and it turns out that Casa de Guias — which is listed in my LP as having dormitory accommodation — no longer has any rooms. Hasn't had any for years, in fact. So I was forced to accept lodging elsewhere, for the morning, at a very crappy place across the mall from Casa de Guias. Thankfully, I found a much better place to stay, a bit later in the morning; and I got out of the crappy place, only having to pay half-price for a day's board there. But it would have been easier if I'd just known about the changes in the first place.

So that was my morning of surprise and confusion, as my welcome to the city of Huaraz. Nothing is forever around here.