Life is full of strange coincidences and spooky timing, is it not¿

Miss Jen Duffy, you are the Madonna of the meaningful synaptic bleep, and it is a true delifght and a wonder to see traces of your good self here on my blog. Huaraz is not the same without you. Mind you, all of South America is not realy the same without you ... haven´t seen a Smurf (for one thing), nor any sign of green vomit or Kermit and the devil. That could all change soon though, because - just for one more time - I´m back to Vilcabamba - just can´t get enough of that cocktail with the cactus and the chuppa chupps in it! 

What news oh acrobat of the waterfall¿  Still Asia-side&# ... Read More »

If you want an unpredictable, streamy, dreamy ride through the smoke and mirrors corridors of the universe, then hitch a ride from the Andes to the Amazon, it´s the Bermuda Triangle of Chaos ... where strange things disappear and even stranger things are simply just true.

I was reminded of Alices´adventures in Wonderland by William on the plane (thank you William, this was just one illumination you gave me and I hope we get to meet again so there may be more) ... for reasons involving tea parties and madness ... and today I feel like I have slipped another notch down my own rabbit hole to find yet another eccentric dimension of reality - one that had been missing for a long time back in the more solid ... Read More »

This morning we met up with Gudrun again and took a taxi ride (tuk tuk thing) to the markets where we bought some fruit & vegetables for lunch.  At the market we also bought 2 turtles which were bound up and being sold to be eaten.  Of course we didn´t want to eat them for lunch.  The poor things were dehydrated and scared.  Gudrun said the one which was tied up with sticks and string had obviously been like that for days.  It was sad.  We took the turtles with us on the boat across to her rescue centre and splashed some water on their head to give them a drink.  They both came out of their shell and started roaming around the boat which was pretty cool.&am ... Read More »

This moring we all woke up felling positive and looking forward to the day. Yesterday was one of the hardest days so far for me...climbing San Antonio pass was more challenging than I had envisaged. Nonetheless we all did it as a team, and today was meant to be no where near as physical. The trek today took us through a valley, along a massive rivier and culminated in a town called Huaeyappa.
The terrain out of camp quickly flattened and transformed into meadows scattered with large boulders and cute little glacial streams. We walked or rather meandered for a few hours through this terrain and after a while the scenerey started to change, in what could only be described as quiet english country side. Trees started popping up, wh ... Read More »

My green slime and I havejust watched the Andes slip away under the wing of a tiny plane on our way our of Huaraz and onto the Amazon.

: (

Not sure how the team feels about it, but I was sad not to have more time in the mountains, and another chance to trek... even though the Huayhuash has left me with a blistered eyeball, burnt lips and a deeply imbedded green slime situation which has given me unusual expertise on the quality of Peruvian tissues (mostly only good for one blow, no sneezing, and a touch rough on the skin which is why I have lost about half a pint of blood since coming off the hills). Not that I´m complaining. I love those mountains, and that crazy rubble-strewn town with ... Read More »

Today is my 37th birthday and I had breakfast in the Andes and dinner in the Amazon. What a cracker of a way to spend a birthday! Nat, Chloe, Lissy and Jade are all excellent at this birthday business. They organised cake at our farewell to Huaraz dinner with guide Zac and cook Abraham last night. And they showered me with some local gifts this morning at breakfast. I am really grateful to them for putting in such a great effort and it certainly made the day feel even more special.

We spent most of the day in transit from Huaraz to Iquitos. A small 20-seater or so airplane out of Huaraz to Lima and then standard issue plane to Iquitos. Apparently the airport in Huaraz is new, according to Jade it didn´t loo ... Read More »

Last night we changed tent buddies - Chloe and I were now budding up! I was secretly grateful that I was still in the bigger tent, although I knew my time would come. By the time we had started walking this morning the sun was up, which was fantastic because it meant I was warm and that I could shed a few of the layers of clothes I had on!

My knee injury was starting to get noticable in the mornings...I had a small amount of niggling pain through out the night. I tried to put the pain out of my mind. I had walked well yesterday, and was feeling good, so I was confident that today would go well too.

The first part of the walk (there are may parts of the walk...) had quite an up slope. The track t ... Read More »

This morning I woke up feeling different.Not only because my stomach no longer had cramps, but today we were starting our journey into the Huayhuash. The whole point of today was to get to our first camp site for the trek. It was a 5hr bus trip into the Andes! Zac, our guide and Abraham (our cook) were with us for the bus ride, so it was a good opportunity to get to know them before the trek.

Once we left Huruaz, the scenery quickly changed from mud brick buildings into sparse medows and distant snow capped mountains -it was beautiful and I felt a sense of excited apprehension about the up coming days in the mountains. We passed through little towns which were built into the sides of massive mountains; over muddy gla ... Read More »

It´s about five hours since our team of sweaty, greasy, sun-struck and wonder-lusted Girls on Top made it back to the beeping, bleating, tooting, spitting town of Huaraz with its miracles including laundromats, taps, pillows, coffee and vegetables. The shock of ´reality´ has jolted me, as it always does, into a sort of sleepy overwhelm and shopping madness... the man-made world seems so insane after the infinite silence of the hills where everything necessary is so much quieter, and subtler, and gentler. In a mad scramble to make it all make sense the best thing to do seems to be to spend money - or walk fast -or look at magazines - it´s simply just Too Much to stay moving at mountain pace and watch the helter s ... Read More »

After a very comfortable stay in the cutest hotel in Chiquean, it was time to head back to Huruaz. Before breakfast, I got up early to sit out in the sun and enjoy the beautiful garden...I was quickly found by the resident dog - a rather large golden retriever who reminded me of the big white luck dragon, Falkor, out of the Never Ending Story. He made me shake his paws a few times, than ran away to play with the cat. It made me smile though, such a simple gesture brought such delight to him. And that was typical of our time in the mountains, everyone was always so happy!!

After breakfast and a change of tyre for the bus, we loaded our gear and started on the 4 hr journey. Everyone was surprisingly sleepy...I guess aft ... Read More »

 Well I made it!!! I am very proud and excited to say that I managed to stay with the trek and to really enjoy it. After my last blog my attitude changed and I was actually enjoying myself. Yes there were still some hard days and yes I still struggled but there was a different attitude about it!!! I was happy to be there and happy to be in the team.

Today we packed up our last tent, sleeping mat and bag, strapped our bags on and headed for home. We had a lovely stroll (well kind of a stroll pushed by Zac into a trot) around the edge of the mountainside, where my footsteps weren´t being watched as my eyes were looking for the perfect stone. (There were so many minerals in the mountains that all the ... Read More »

Today I have bragging rights on 2 accounts so I´ll be taking advantage of
themn in my blog.

The pass today was  difficult as usual, and glorious views as usual.  At
the pass I took an alternative route from the rest of the Girls, and
walked along a ridge with Zac (our wonderful guide), with superb views on
either side.  Snow capped peaks.  The others hiked straight into camp.  It
was an incredibly difficult descent off the ridge and into camp as it was< ... Read More »

Today was a tough day at the office. 6 hours walking, 5 of which were uphill. I physically felt better today that I have done all trip (great, day 10, now I acclimatise! better late than never). From my perspective it was a good day. However we all found the endless ascent difficult, especially after our luxurious night in a bed last night and a few drinks to celebrate being in a town. I did however have a hissy fit at the ¨fake pass¨ie. the saddle of a mountain which begins the pass but is not and let me be clear is NOT the pass. I was so sick of walking uphill by that stage that I had to express my fustration to the landscape (and Lissy). These Andes are mountains that just keep on giving - just when you think you are n ... Read More »

It´s hailing.  Or rather it´s snowing giant snowballs the size of frozen
peas and corn.  The snowman ´Nuevo´, made by Chloe, Zac and Jade has now
fallen in the storm.  But Zac is relentless and has not only restored him,
but gave him legs to stand on!  We are warm and dry in the mess tent,
drinking anis and chamomile tea, and munching on fresh popcorn.  Life
surely is tough.

Not much to report.  We gunned it into camp today, arr ... Read More »

Wow this was a big decision to make, I had to decide that I could and wanted to continue on. I had to fully appreciate why I am here. I wrote this letter on our free day at the hot springs. Contemplating my true reasons for being here...

I do want to be here. Why do I want to be here? Because I chose this. I chose to be in this beautiful countryside. When I first found out I had won I ran into the mailroom and jumped around yelling `Im going to Peru, Im going to Peru`. This is not a trip I would of organised on my ow ... Read More »

Today we hiked to a peak of 4800m.  I guess we were all pretty proud of ourselves by the top.  The views along the way were unbelievably  stunning -  pristine torquoise lakes and small avalanches occurring in the peaks around us.  Another condor.  A muddy boot.  A horse that worked twice as hard as all of us.  A touch of snow.   Constant temperature changes.  And a few nasty gusts of wind.

I mostly enjoyed the day, although now in the late afternoon, I feel more tired and so ... Read More »