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Hola again! I?ve spent a record 3 hours on the internet this evening and have uploaded 120 photos so you can waste time at work looking at them. Aren?t I thoughtful?!
Right so last time I wrote I was about to get on the night bus to Huaraz. That was pretty uneventful though I didn?t get a lot of sleep. We checked into our hostel at 6am and had a few hours sleep before exploring the town. There?s not much in Huaraz, its basically a base for all types of activities in the Cordillera Blanca (mountains). We quickly realised the hoards of people were because of a huge football match between the Huaraz team (Ancash) and a Lima team (Cristal) so decided to join in the fun. We must have been the only gringos in the stadium which was wierd but it was great fun! I think they should have firecrackers, steel bands and drums at English matches, it makes football so much more interesting! I bought an Ancash hat and am now an official supporter - so it was lucky we won 2 - nil!!
After the footy we went to some ruins on a nearby hill - and I must reccommend Carlos, our 10 yr old guide! Very informative and he slowed his spanish down and used appropriate gestures and actions so we could figure it out! Then that eve we met up with two of the guys from the truck because by coincidence they were there that night too. Drank a few too many Avalanches and cant remember a lot!
The next day we went on a day trip into the mountains to a beautiful lake, surrounded by glaciers and snowy mountains, then got a well deserved earlly night! Then on our last day in Huaraz we went on an amazing glacier hike. Hiking uphill at 5400m is pretty tough, my heart nearly exploded, but then when you reach the glacier and start walking up snow you realise theres a whole new level of pain! All I heard was my heart calling for oxygen and Chris shouting "Vamos Vamos!" I couldnt see any reason to hurry! The glacier was so beautiful and so quiet, was really worth it. Oh and especially since the route down the glacier was sitting on my raincoat and sliding very fast!! Yey!
Unfortunately the altitude gave me a cracking headache and made me feel a bit sick so the night bus was not a pleasant experience! We arrived in Trujillo at 7am and I had to go to bed as soon as we checked into our hostel. But I recovered quickly enough and we spent the morning on a tour of the Temples of the Sun and the Moon. They are magnificent Moche temples (100 - 800 AD) built of mud bricks and because of the climate the sculptures and paintings are really well preserved. Our hostel owner is a tour guide so he took us round and I now know so much information I dont know what to do with it! Was really interesting.
And this morning he took us on a tour of Chan Chan, the biggest city in the Americas before the Spanish took over. Again its made of mud but from the Chimu era so the art is slightly different. And it was very impressive, could have housed 60000 people at one time so is immense! After the tour we got a bus to Huanachao by the sea and ate so much sea food I nearly exploded! We saw the famous fishermen on their reed boats surfing the waves - apparently the first surfer dudes!
And now Im killing time before yet another night bus up the coast to Piura. We?ll have to change buses there in order to get to our beautiful beachside destination of Punta Sal. We?ve got 3 days planned there to chill out and catch some rays. And I need to organise my Galapagos trip :o)
I hope all of you are well and having lots of fun. Hope England gets some sunshine soon, I hear its not too great there now. Miss you all lots, write me lots of messages xxxxxx
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