Mountain Warriors - breaking and entering!

  Huaraz, Peru
Saturday, December 30, 2006

For the full story of our mountain adventure and his altitude sickness in Huaraz I refer you to jb´s journal below

http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Huaraz/blog-115 824.html

I will only add some extra photos and other details....

In truth we were lucky to make it down off Mount Churup without any injuries. As the four of us slid down the rocks in the dark we only had one torch! Fidel took the lead with the torch on his head and jb following behind, at the back me and Simon took it in turns carrying jb´s bag whilst the other used Simons digital camera screen to shed a little light on our path. A broken bone was never far away from my mind....

It was a great feeling to exit the tiny stone room we shetlered in at 6am the next morning. I hadnt slept much but the views of the surrounding mountians as the sun rose and a good soak for my feet in the ice cold stream made up for the night of discomfort. It had been a very long, exhausting and sometimes scary day but left the three of us with some good strong memories.

feels so good

smokin

Gilf and his wife felt pretty bad when I recounted our mountain adventure to them. We felt a little let down that Fidel wasnt that well prepared, having only one torch and no credit on his mobile in a country with no mountain rescue service. The adventure could easily have been a lot more dramatic....

To make it for this they welcomed us into their families New Year celebrations with gusto. After a free meal and a bottle of wine we joined them in their front room for dancing and constantly flowing beers. As midnight came around a host of people appeared in the street, running round with lit fireworks like nutters...I set off the little squealing rockets I had bought earlier that day but after the excitement of our mountain descent they were a bit of an anticlimax! Simon and I get fully involved with the dancing with the ladies in the family ' young and old. Jb wisely keeps his two left feet planted under his chair....

After another hour or so, JB and Simon have had enough and are ready for bed...I am just getting going. I stay up till the early hours, sharing one glass and many beers with Fidel and the men of the family in Peruvian style and ensure all the ladies will remember my unique dancing style...no doubt the bruises on their toes will remind them for a while! The men are sharing mountain stories to dwarf the drama of our experience.

The next day we have a wander into town to have some food and buy our bus tickets to Lima for the next day. Jb tries the local delicacy of Guinea Pig but I am disapointed that I cant stomach it after the previous nights boozing, I like to try strange foods.

Gilf and his wife drop us at the bus station the next morning and give us each a silver laced ice pick as a parting gift, its a nice touch. When very drunk on New Years Eve, Gilf had been telling me how very happy they were to have us staying. The income we provided for his family meant they could celebrate the New Year with true happiness as business is rare out of the high season. We only saw a handful of other tourist for the time we were there.