Altitude gave me a headache. Bank stole my dinero. Got parasites from something I ate. Bus ride there scared the living shit outa me. Couldn't wait to leave...

If you've travelled all the way to the Andean city of Huaraz, you might as well get right up into the mountains. Just half an hour uphill from the city centre and yet deep in the Andean countryside lies the Way Inn Lodge. Billing itself as 'a self-sufficient mini eco-village in the Andes' the lodge lies right on the edge of the glacier-strewn Hauscaran National Park at the ear-popping altitude of 3,712 metres. There's accommodation in lovely dorm rooms, private doubles, or even in a cave! It gets pretty damn chilly up here at night but the English owners have draped big down sleeping bags on all the orthopeodic beds. You can also camp on a nearby grassy patch if you want to save a few soles. The showers are surprisingly piping hot too! There's no shops around (just quaint Andean abode mud houses and lots of dogs and cattle), but the lodge whips up divine (and nutritious) home-cooked meals for both carnivores and vegetarians.
The day hikes from the lodge are great - to turquoise glacial lakes, through narrow valleys, past rushing rivers and alongside traditional villages. Paragliding lessons are also offered. I'd highly recommend this place to anyone. Check out http://www.thewayinn.com/lodge.htm

If you find yourself in the Andean city of Huaraz having climbed every mountain, straddled every glacier and biked every valley, then you might want to think about volunteering in the local community, helping children from impoverished families. It's no secret that Peru is a seriously poor country and many children of school age end up working in the streets or in mines to help support their families.
Seeds of Hope is a small Huaraz charity which works with kids, helping them to remain in and enter school. Volunteers (that's you!) help prepare nutritious meals for the children (aged 5-18), teach them about personal hygiene, help them with their homework and bring them up to an educational level that allows them to enter school (many of their parents are illiterate or too busy working to help). As well as a good feed, the kids are often given uniforms and materials to study with.
As a volunteer, you'll not only get showered in hugs and kisses by the darling kids, but you'll get to practice your Spanish, a free lunch and internet access. There are two shifts a day - one from 9.30am to 11.30am and then 3am.5pm. And the experience is a darn site more gratifying than climbing a mountain! http://www.peruseeds.org/index.htm