Blogs from Ancash, Peru, South America - page 18

***** Preface Erez: ¨Do you have water?¨ Efrat: ¨What´s the time?¨ Erez: ¨15:30¨ Efrat: ¨Not yet¨ This dialogue might sound a bit strange, but it actually happened. This is because getting drinking water during the trek involved filling a bottle with water from the closest river (The water are so freezing that you lose the feeling in your hand for a few minutes after that), and then using tablets to purify it, which takes 0.5-2 hours (depending on the type of the tablet). ***** Trek Math Definition 1: A "Pass" is a locally highest point in the trail (relative to the trail, not to the surroundings), reached by climbing and left by descending. A pass is usually necessary in order to cross a mountain ridge from one side to the other. Axiom 1: High. (We were ... read more

I spent the last few days in day trips around Huaraz. On Tuesday (yesterday) I went mountain biking, with two guys we met on the trip to Laguna 69. Efrat was not feeling well, and I don't think she likes bikes anyway, so she didn't join us. We took a bus up to Punta Callan, which is just a sign in the middile of the road, but there's a great view of the Cordillera Blancas (the mountains around Huaraz) from there. Then we rode down to Huaraz on our bikes, which was really fun. On Wednesday (today) I went to Laguna Churup, another beautiful laguna in the area. Efrat wanted to go rock climbing, so she didn't come, but I went with four other people form our hostel. The way to the laguna is great. It's ... read more

Een week geleden kwamen Marleen en Ramona (nieuwe vrijwilligers) aan in Huaraz. En inmiddels hebben we al heel veel samen ondernomen, dansen in Tambo, onze eerst gezamelijke maaltijd maken (met voor de aankomen de vier maanden genoeg gehakt), kaartenspelletjes in de 13 buhos, hun eerste Spaanse les, nachtelijke avontuurtjes; zoals dat er iets viel beneden en het eerste wat ik daarna hoor is Marleen die zichzelf had opgesloten in haar kamer en die haar deur probeert op te krijgen, we lopen met z´n tweeen zachtjes naar beneden maar zien niks. Even later komt Ramona haar kamer uitgeslopen als backup. We gaan weer gerustgesteld naar bed maar buiten onze kamers staat nu een paraplu en ik noem het een schroevendraaier, onze ´wapens´:P En samen........paardrijden! Op vrijdag hoedjes en een pet gekocht voor ons toen aankomend avontuur paardje ... read more

We´ve been in Huaraz for 3 days already, and still, we didn´t do much, mostly because of Yom Kippur. Efrat decided to fast, so on Erev Yom Kippur (yesterday), we made a Seuda Mafseket (and by we I mean Efrat made it, and I tried not to get in the way), when all the other Israelis, which is almost everyone in the hostel, went to the Jewish House here (kind of like Beit Habad, but not exactly). We ended up with only two Americans, so I explained to them why we're eating at 16:00, and why the hostel is empty. Today, Efrat stayed in the hostel, and I went with two other girls to some hot springs they have around here. It was a nice way to spend the morning. We almost booked ourselves on the ... read more

We got to Huaraz today, after a long night on the bus. Although the seats were comfortable, the guy next to me snored (louder than the bus, that´s saying something), so I didn´t sleep too well. We got to a hostel that was recommended to us by a Belgian guy we met in the Galapagos, and it turns out it´s full of Israelis. There are so many here, that the woman at the grocery store next to the hostel knows how to tell prices in Hebrew. But it´s a very nice place, and there´s lots of people here, so it´s fun. We don´t have any definite plans yet, but we´ll probably go on the 4 day Santa Cruz trek on Sunday. We´ve been too tired to make plans. I took some pictures today from the hostel, ... read more