And the Cat Came Back the very next day

After what turned out to be a 26hr trip we finally made it to Arequipa. On the bus we met a guy by the name of Lavanti from Hungary he asked if we could share a cab and Eve and I said sure, we were glad to have a guy with us on our midnight taxi ride what we did not know what that we had just agreed to a whole lot more than a cab ride.

It started with sharing a room at the hostel so that it would be cheaper, then another night together. After two nights in Arequipa Eve and I decided to take a trip to Chivay to see the condors and the Colca-Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world over twice as deep as the grand canyon. It then came as an unpleasant surprise when Lavanti asked what we were all going to do the next day. We told him what the two of us where planning on doing, he invited himself along. When we got to Chivay and Eve had spoken with the man at the tourist information desk it was obvious that the next morning if we really wanted to see the condors we would have to get up around 3A.M. so that we could take the 4A.M. bus on the two hour drive to the Mirador del Condors.  It was at this point that Lavanti, whom we now called the cat, became truly a bother. He began to complain that that was too early in the morning and that he wanted to be able to sleep in before the hike etc. Eve then told him he could do whatever he wanted but we were getting up a 3 in order to see the condors.  

I'll finish later

Photos

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Santa Cruz Trek day 4

On the final day we walked through two no road access villages to the final one where there was a road. We waited half an hour before a truck came by we got in the back with bags and bags of food and a few personal backpacks and our own gear and we began to drive one of the most highly rated drives in the whole world. It was cramped and cold and generally uncomfortable but my goodness there are not words to describe the differences in beauty and grandeur and magnificence of all the things I saw. I only hope that I am able to hold the images in my mind forever. We then took another cramped ride in a colectivo to Huaraz dropped our things at our hostel and went out for a large dinner at a French restaurant.
It was a great trek!      

Santa Cruz Trek day 3

The third day was UP and UP and UP and UP and UP and Up to the very tippy top of the pass. I have to say if that man had not said on the first day that I could not do it I’m not sure I could have, but every time I thought of quitting that man’s voice saying “es possible por tu and por Ella perro por la sinorita no es posible.” And I would become determined to prove this little insulting man wrong, and in the end I did. We then went Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, over 1000 meters and camped. 

Santa Cruz Trek day 2

The next morning we observed a group of other travelers peeing and pooping into and next to the river we had been fallowing the whole day before the river which was obviously the major source of water to the village we had started our trek in. We all began to fume as one after another they would do this, what made it especially egregious was the fact that there was an outhouse maybe one hundred yards from the river. Eventually Eve was no longer able to hold herself back, she marched over to one of them and explained what it was they were doing and how horrible it was. Tim and I were both quite proud of her for having done something about it.      

We then packed our things, ate our oatmeal, and left. 

Being about 800 meters higher than the day before the temperature was much cooler and the soft breeze that ran through the valley was wonderfully refreshing. We soon reached the first Lake of our trek.  Turquoise and green it was bordered in reads and a family of ducks made their way up it searching for food. We walked on for some time before reaching the end of the lake making our way up and over some rocks and around a large bend in the trail and we found ourselves at the second lake. It was large and completely Turquoise with white granite rocks forming much of the beach the sloping mountains surrounding it were covered in dark green foliage reminding me very much of home. We stopped and ate a bit before going on along its edge and then fallowed the elevated path of granite to its other end. On the far side of the lake there was a slope to climb up, on top of which we were granted our first view of the large step towards the pass. This vista was afforded over a large swamp strewn with streams, cows, and manure. After a bit of mud sinking and Eve fording a glacier fed river we were on our way up the first step. When all was over were ate an incredible meal of spaghetti and went to sleep.    

Santa Cruz Trek day 1

The Santa Cruz Trek is one of the most well know and popular treks in all of South America. It is a Four to Six day trek depending on how fast you go and how many side trips you might take.  

 

We started with the early on Thursday taking a colectivo (or twenty passenger van) and then a taxi to the start of the trek.  We started at a post with a group of locals standing by asking if we needed donkeys to carry our bags when we said no thank you the head guy preceded to tell Tim, well within ear shot of me, that I would not be strong enough to do it that I would definitely need a Donkey to carry my bag over the pass. We then were told we had to pay a toll fee to pass through the 1000ft of town before reaching the National Forest.  We paid and then were on our way however within a few moments we were all suffering from the incredible heat. Eve finally changed into unzipped rain panty and walked on in this fashion despite the looks of other gringos and the incredible number of biting flies. I spent most of the first day sweating out the water Tim was encouraging me to drink and praying for shade from the few clouds in the sky. In the end of the day we camped at a camp site with many other trekkers and slept like the dead. 

Poverty

I have never in my life been so shocked by poverty the people who live near the valley we trekked through don't beg for money of gifts they ask for bread and medicine. How can you say no to someone asking for such bear essentials like Tylenol to lower their child’s fever? 

Three day Trek

The three day trek we went on was gorgeous the first day we spent walking down an incredible valley walled on both sides with massive granite mountains. The field which was the valley had tremendous stones stuck into the ground after falling hundreds of feet off the cliff walls. Down the center of the valley ran a large valley fed by glacial lakes and waterfalls. With in the Valley there were hundreds of Cows and horses left to roam this incredible expanse in freedom.

By the end of the day I was ready to sit down for the rest of my life, with every upward step I thought I might be sick and I was exhausted from our long day of walking. After lots of patience and encouragement from Eve I finally made it to the camp site. Being at 1500 feet however made sleep difficult and we all were frequently awakened. Around 4:30 in the morning Eve woke and was telling Tim to stop making so much noise when she realized the noise was not coming from inside the tent. Tim poked his head out into the darkness with his headlamp to report that we had a cow grazing nearby. By 5:30 we had an entire herd surrounding our tent high up in the mountains. The heavy breathing and occasional calling of the cows made sleep nearly impossible.   

When we crawled out of the tent we found that all the cows were looking at us, creepy is the best way to describe it. We soon found that one of the bulls was rather aggressive as he began running after Eve while she was getting water. Another one a black and white cow soon became Tim’s least favorite as she charged him while he was peeing and thought about doing the same to me. She was also in the habit of knocking the other cows around or running up and stabbing them in the butt with her horns.

After packing up camp we spent the rest of the day looking for a pass we never found, cold from the breeze and light snow we walked back to the valley from the previous night and set up camp on a ridge of soft grass with an incredible view of a glacial lake below us. When the tent was up and dinner was done we began to play a game of cards, a few rounds in and we could hear THEM. After trying so hard to find a place the cows were not we had ended up camping in their bedroom and literally inches from their fighting ground. The trembling earth as they charged one another was quite frightening but as the sun set they soon went to sleep.

 In the morning we saw that it had snowed. A ring of hoof prints was visible encircling our tent along with large patches of grass where the cows had slept in all I counted 19. That morning we packed up and made our way back down the incredible valley and back to Huaraz. We then ate at a French restaurant and crashed into our uncomfortable beds.    

Hi there

     Well I now have a link to photos on my Picasa as I was finally able to get my computer online. Yay!!! Also because of the fact that I spent over $25 dollars on postcards in Ecuador and it looks like I would have to spend a bit more than that to send cards from Peru I do not plan on sending any more to anyone unless they plan on giving me money to do so. Sorry to be stingy but I'm running low on funds. 

      Other than that Tim, Eve, and I went on a hike to a lake high up in the mountains. I have been a bit under the weather and the strain of the hike made me through up so I went back to the small town Llupa that borders the mountains to wait for them. After the sun had moved well into the afternoon I was well into my book and it looked as though it was going to rain I decided I would return to Huaraz and our hostel.  As I had spoken with everyone in the town by the time I left, I had no fear the Tim and Eve would not easily find out that I had gone.  Turns out they were not feeling so well themselves it took them much longer than expected to get back partially because Tim had taken a nap, and because they had taken regular breaks to rest. 

            Today we have spent in bed and at a cafe with Wi-Fi to recuperate before we leave on a two or three day trek in the Cordillera Blanca.

In Peru

We have been in Peru for a little over a week now. our first few days we were in a town called Chiclayo where we stayed with another backpacker named Dan he had been working in the Jungle in Ecuador at a wild life preserve and had a lot of interesting stories to tell. On our first afternoon there we went to a market with everything you could want from flip flops and clothing to meat fruit herbal remedies tricycles cobblers and much, much more we then went for a rather pricey dinner and to the hotel.

 The next day we went on a tour of three museums and an old ruined ruin. it was not the most interesting thing ever and it did for me get some what repetitive but I did learn a great deal about the burial presses with sacrifice of family members from many years ago along with the current system of Peruvian time and it´s great lack of any importance.

We then traveled to a town called Huanchaco known for its beach, read boats, and surfing. We stayed first in an awful hostel called Cherry´s the water was not at first turned on, the room was tiny, and the beds where foam mats on metal frames, not exactly comfy. The first thing we did the next day was move hostels. Tim found a great place run by a collage student and his very old and quite def though incredibly cute grandfather. That day after walking a bit we decided to have surfing lessons I must say though I had a good time I am terrible at this sport. The next day we did little Eve and I both finished our books and Tim had another lesson.

Yesterday we spent our day on the bus very, very, very, very slowly making our way to Huaraz where we are now. It is a friendly town nestled against some of South Americas largest peaks. It is all very pleasant.

Sorry

It's been so long since my last post I hardly know where to begin. We have been all over the place and my parents have come and gone for Tim's birthday. Tim and Eve climbed on Cotopaxi but because I had pneumonia I stayed behind and took another week of classes. We are now on our way to Peru we'll take the night buss out tonight at 11.