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Published: April 13th 2009
Chachani ascent
Chachani - 6090mAhhh, We go home tomorrow! It is hard to believe that our long planned round the world trip has come to an end so quickly. I have just been saying to gemma that it seems like we have only just set off. It really feels like we are about half way through our travels; not at the bloody end! 8 months and 16 countries later but right now I want to do another 16. We have totally missed Africa; what about India?! It is good job that we are both teachers as this trip has not sated my travel bug at all. If anything I have it worse than ever. Alas if it wasn´t for my extremely slim bank account I would want to be carrying on.
However, of course, part of me is looking forward to getting home. I can´t wait to see friends, and yes family, (Mum, dad and Coiln if you read this) and I´m actually looking forward to going back to work as well, although I´m not sure how long that feeling will last come Sunday night. I miss the BBC, the paper, and playing playstation. I can´t wait to have a Chinese and go to
a proper pub and have a pint - in a pint glass. Also I won´t have to be pàcking my rucksack every morning either!
The last couple of weeks here in Peru have been great and the country has given us a nice ending to the trip. Machu Picchu was awesome and we have made quick progress from there to Arequipa, Nazca, Pisco and then on to Lima.
In Arequipa I joined a two day tour to scale Chichani: a 6075m peak. I can honestly say it was the hardest thing I have ever done. The sudden change in altitude and lack of air whilst trekking with equipment, crampons and ice axe was so difficult. Sleeping in the tents the night before was impossible. It was very cold but I just could not sleep, due to the altitude apparently; however it didn´t really matter as we set off for the summit at 1am. It took us nearly 5 hours to ascend 1000m - slow. One German lad was vomitting all the way up.
From Arequipa we spent a night in Nazca and took a flight the following morning to view the lines in the desert. There is
a huge spider, dog, hands, monkey and an alien man! They are quite amazing considering that the people who made them 2000 years ago had no way to actually view them from above. Unless, of course, aliens helped them!
We visited Pisco next. An earthquake made a big mess of the place 2 years ago and they are still rebuilding now. We decided to take a trip to the Ballestas islands (aka the Poor man´s Galapagos) and got to see Sealions, penguins and a bottle nose dolphin.
I am preoccupied thinking about my next trip. Firstly, cycling from Lands end to John O Groats sounds like a nice summer activity. We missed a big chunk of South America so I need to head to Patagonia. Africa has to be a must very soon. I haven´t ever been skiing. India sounds nice. Gem wants to go back to Thailand. I have always wanted to go to Canada. What about a roadtrip, or better still a motorbike trip in the states.....
This travel bug thing is never going to go away, and I don´t want it to!
Allan
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