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Published: July 19th 2006
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can u think of a more beautiful dinning room!
group L-R: gabriella, Marcello (couple from Brazil), Hilda and Lynn (from Belgium), Jerome (from France), and me!! 5th July - 9th July
venturing on my own after almost 2 months, i found a hostel called ¨The Way Inn¨. There was only 2 of us in the whole hostel! kinda of strange. spent the day organising the Santa Cruz trek, and trying to sort out my video camera...seems that some sand managed to slip its way through when i was at the sand dunes in Huacachina!
Day 1
less than 5 hours sleep, and i wake to meet my trekking group at 6:30am.
2 girls from Holland- Lynn + Hilda.
1 guy from France- Jerome
couple from Brazil- Marcello +Gabriella
our guide - Roger
our 4.5hour journey to get to the starting point was amazing...the Cordillera Blanco are really an amazing set of mountains that span kilometres. largest being that of Huascaran, standing at greater than 6500m high.
The first day was quite easy...up and down small hills...but you can definitely feel yourself more tired more quickly at these higher altitudes. We passed by one of the Villages, which just happened to be having a fiesta....these things are everywhere. We declined their offer to join them in the music and dancing, and were happy just
Alpamayo
said to be the most beautiful mountain in the world. beacuse of its jagged pyramidal shape...however the most beautiful view is from the other side...which involves another trek! to stand back and absorb the festivies.
Arriving at our campsite around 4pm, i was singing praises that i had signed up with a company- as the guide and cook were setting up the tents and preparing our food, we sat and admired the white peaked mountains around us, as we could hear the gurgling sounds of the river passing by our campsite.
I remained freezing cold despite my 4 layers up top, and 3 layers below! I don´t know if food always tasted better on trekking, but they managed to cook up fried chips, onions and chicken! with soup as entre!
Day 2
Having slept at 7pm the previous night from exhaustion, i still managed to wake up numerous times during the night in my attempt to get comfortable. I realised i don´t enjoy camping if i´m not comfortable and warm. I woke with a neck ache and a back ache from things poking through the thin mat.
This would be the most enduring day as we attempted to hike up and over the pass at 4800m high. It wasn´t so much that my legs were tired as much as it was sheer
shortness of breath from the altitude.. I found that if i stopped, it would be extremely hard to start hiking again, so i used to try and push on...i love the mental challenge of it! Finally making it over that damn pass was something out of a Rambo movie. Had my arms up in the air and jumping! The views over the other side were stunning. No better place than to have lunch with a dining view as this!
The easy descent down that day was cruisy, and we camped in an area surrounded by a valley.
Day 3
Decided to part from the group and make my own faster paced way back to Huaraz. real reason being to catch the finals match the following day! dissapointed to see Italy win! damn! sorry Antonio!
starting at 6:45am, i traversed up the pass to the mirador (lookout) that overlooks towards Alpamayo- said to be the most beautiful mountain due to its almost perfect pyramidal shape which, unfortuntaley, is best appreciated from the other side...have to come back for another trek!
sitting up there, it was memorable to realise that i was the only one in the world to
be appreciatting this beautiful white tipped mounrtain at that point! total silence, and my camera as my only source of disenchanted life to keep me company!
the rest of the day was spent traversing through the passes back to Acachapampa. passing through lakes, high mountain passes, refershing rivers...and cows everywhere (they just lay there in the middle of my path, and part like a sea as i come through. The scorching heat kept me motivated to keep walking just so that i can escape the sun´s burning rays.
Acachapampa to Caraz to Huaraz and i finally made it back to my hostel, where i was to be the only one staying there that night! strange since it was to be fully booked one day after i leave! the hot shower that day was amazing! nothing like hot water to soothe away the aches from the trek, and clean away the grime from lack of showering when camping!
So it was understandable that the subsequent day was spent indulging myself with food and endless rest!
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