There are a few different ways to reach the start of the trek. The easiest way is to book private transportation in Huaraz. This way you will be picked up at your hostel and the journey will be much shorter, but it is much more expensive. We decided to take the cheaper option of taking public transportation to Pocpa. This way did take a bit longer, but we had no troubles and saved a bit of money.
We decided to start our trek in Pocpa. There are several other places where hikers choose to start like Llamac or Quartelhuain (the first campsite) based on the route or length of trek they are planning for.
Getting to Pocpa was a lot easier than we were expecting. However, I am glad that we bought our first bus ticket the day before to avoid any extra stress at 4am. The bus route to Pocpa included going from Huaraz to Chiquian to Pocpa. We also stopped in Llamac before arriving in Pocpa so these instructions will still work for you if that’s where you choose to start!
We bought our bus ticket for Huaraz to Chiquian the day before at Transporte El Rapido in Huaraz. This ticket cost us S/10 each. I would recommend buying this ticket the day before so you for sure have a spot and don’t have to worry about where you are going in the morning.
We checked out of our hostel in Huaraz at 3:50am and walked to the bus station. The bus we were on left at 4:30am. It was freezing on the bus so bring a jacket!! We arrived in Chiquian at 6:45am. As soon as we got off, we bought our next bus ticket to Pocpa at Turismo Nazario for S/25 each. After grabbing some food, we were on our way again. At one point we were stopped in the middle of the road and everyone planning to hike Huayhuash was charged S/20 each from a local who boarded the bus. When we passed through Llamac, a few people disembarked and us hikers were charged another random S/30 each. We reached Pocpa around 10:30am. As we unloaded the bus, we were charged another S/15 each.
Getting from Huaraz to Pocpa cost us S/35 each for busses plus S/65 each for fees. From here we began our incredible journey!