Huaraz is in
north-central Peru, about 420 km north of Lima, and at an altitude of
3,052 metres (10,013 ft). It is the largest population center in the
agriculturally important Callejón de Huaylas valley. The Callejón (in Spanish
roughly meaning large valley or corridor) is a north-south valley bounded on
the east by the Cordillera Blanca (permanent white snowcaps and glaciers) and on the west by the Cordillera
Negra (no permanent snowcapped peaks or glaciers, hence
