Perhaps if you are planning on hiking the Andes in Peru, your trip will take you to Huaraz. Juaraz, the capital of the Ancas region in northern Peru, is known as the gateway to the Cordillera Blanca Mountains and is often referred to as “Peru Switzerland.”
This high-altitude city has become a go-to hub for trekkers heading to Huascaránnational Park to try some of this UNESCO World Heritage Site’s 50 recognized trails. But what you might miss when you stay here when stocking up on snacks and adjusting to altitude is the nearby town of Yongai.
Just 20 minutes by bus from Huaraz (35 miles), Yungai was once the original capital of the region, home to around 20,000 people and was known as the “Pearl of Huaylas Corridor” (named this magnificent valley). Today, it’s easy to pass at a glance.
It looks like other small farming towns in the Andean, with modest homes lined up on steep streets and corn fields that stretch towards the mountains. However, Yungay holds one of the most heartbreaking stories in Peruvian history.
In 1970, a devastating avalanche of glacial cried out from Mount Huaskaran, filling the town of Yonggay and neighboring villages beneath millions of tons of Earth.
“It disappeared in three minutes. In three minutes, the entire town of Yonggay stopped being present,” says Juan Marquez Sanchez, a local guide to the memorial and open-air museum Campo Santo, marking the site where the old town once stood.
On May 31, 1970, just at 3:23pm, the Ancas region of Peru hit a powerful earthquake, causing a devastating avalanche from the snow-covered mountains. What follows is considered to be the most deadly landslide in recorded history.
From the top of Mount Huascalan, Peru’s highest peak, most of the glacier and rock slowly broke, unleashing waves of ice, rock and mud that ran towards Yungai at speeds above 180 mph.
“They say they moved faster than the speeding car. It was a thunderous roar, but it swayed the ground beneath their feet. The avalanches cleaned everything on the road,” says Sanchez.
Yonggay lay directly in the avalanche trajectory, with the town buried under an estimated 5,000-100 million cubic metres of debris, covering the home, sports stadium, churches and thousands of lives.
The exact number of deaths remains uncertain as the records are incomplete and many casualties were not recovered, but official estimates suggest around 18,000 deaths.
Research and survivor accounts suggest that only around 400 residents have escaped from Yungay’s Huascarán Avalanche.
The only survivor of Yonggai during the avalanche was that 92 people visited a cemetery on a small artificial hill above the city. As the muddy streams spiked through the valley, others were able to scramble to the same hill.
Sanchez’s father was among those who became safe on the hill. “He told me how they ran for their lives, climbing as high as possible while the mountains roam behind them,” he says.
“The people on that hill were lucky, but they had to see the town disappear underneath it. The mud was like quicksand, so those survivors were exposed to cold and hunger and had to stay there.”
Over the next three days, Peruvian military and emergency services helicopters flew repeatedly, delivering food, water and medical supplies. The aid was also sent from neighboring Bolivia and the United States.
They were able to save those who were too weak to move on their own, and became the lifeline of those who were stuck until the rescue team could reach them.
Fortunately, around 300 children from the city survived as they were in the circus at a local stadium, which sat on the high ground at the edge of town. Locals say it was the clowns who led them to safety.
Sanchez’s mother survived the landslide when she was only nine years old. “She doesn’t like to argue about it. It’s a very sensitive topic. When we take pictures of Huascarán, the mountains are embarrassing. It means they know what happened and don’t want to show it. They’re hiding behind the clouds.
Today, the old Yungay site is still. After the avalanche, the Peruvian government designated the entire region as a national cemetery, declared it untouched, and banned reconstruction or residence. Only relatives of the victim are permitted to create gravestones in memory of their loved ones.
In 1982, the site was officially opened to visitors as a Campo Santo Memorial and a tourist destination. What remains are fragments of life before the disaster.
A walk through Camposanto is still home to four original lonely palm trees once in the heart of the town square. They were protected by the Cathedral of Yungai, once a magnificent colonial structure. Now, the fragments are scattered throughout the site. Only fragments of the stone wall remain, marking a simple cross where the altar once stood.
“While the trembling was happening, the priest ran to the balcony where people screamed for them to enter the church. He believed it was safer. But an avalanche came and about 2,000 people died there, no survivors,” says Sanchez.
A few kilometres north of the site are Yungay Nuevo (New Yungay). Founded in July 1970, a few weeks after the avalanche, the town was intentionally rebuilt with safer ground about 1.24 miles north, protecting it from future glacial hazards.
Over the past 50 years it has gradually transformed into a new settlement with paved roads, open spaces and improved public services. One of the most important milestones is the opening of a new community hospital.
The four-storey community hospital, which was launched in January 2025, was built with cutting-edge seismic resistance technologies, including advanced drainage systems designed to deal with heavy rain and the effects of El Niño.
The town is also positioned as a hub for adventure tourism, and the natural wonders of the region are at its gateway. Not only does it sit at the foot of Huascarán, it is also close to the turquoise Llanganuco Lakes.
From here you can easily access hiking to Hascaran National Park, including the popular Laguna 69 and Santa Crue Strekking. The Inca abandoned in Chavin de Juantal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is just a few hours’ drive away on the other side of the national park. Yungay offers visitors a peaceful and practical alternative, as it has fewer tourists than Huaraz and affordable accommodation.
Furthermore, money from tickets at the entrance to Campo Santo was sent directly to local development projects, bringing Yungay back to life as the vibrant town it once was.
“Tourism is extremely important for Yungay. It helps us survive and recover. Every visitor that comes to Campo Santo helps our community rebuild and remember,” says Sanchez.
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