The rest of my trip...

As you probably know, I am home now. If you want to hear about the rest of my trip then you can come and see me, and preferably buy me a beer. For a 6 pack you can hear it twice.

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Misti Mountain Hop...

When you stay in Arequipa you are always in the shadow of El Misti volcano. Thats why it must be climbed, its always in your face, asking you why your too scared to climb it. So on Saturday I gave in. Misti is 5822m high so I wasnt expecting to enjoy it. I was right not to.

Day 1 starts at 7am in a beaten up 4x4 (this is Peru) and a bumpy ride for about an hour to the outskirts of Arequipa. Now I never get car sick but this journey was bad, it was far worse than the earthquake that I will tell you about later. The 4x4 stops at the end of the road 3400m above sea level, this leaves a 2422m vertical ascent to the summit, that doesnt sound fun does it? I looked around at my fellow trekkers and we all appeared to have some sort of mental issues. I was just trying to prove the volcano wrong, it seems I´m quite stubborn with volcanoes. We had to trek to 4400m to set up base camp and we had to carry everything, I had 5 litres of water, a tent, a sleeping bag and funk loads of clothes so my bag probably weighed about 8kg.

The first to drop out were the Belgians. About 1 hour into the trek the two Belgians began throwing up, at 3600m the altitude can be a real problem and the colour, frequency and smell of their vomit suggested they were in trouble and were sent back to Belgium. This isn´t an encouraging thing to see 1 hour into a 2 day trek so everyone was a bit apprehensive. The paths at this stage were not that steep because we were still not at the foot of the volcano, they were winding up and through the undergrowth, you have to keep your head down otherwise you realise what you are doing. Lunch was crap, I forgot lunch. I had 6 cereal bars to sort me out for 2 days, what use is a degree if you make decisions like that? What a waste of time. Luckily the evening meal was sorted by our guide, otherwise I would not have made it.

It takes 6 hours to trek to base camp at 4400m and it is a frustrating 6 hours, at that elevation it feels like you are gaining no ground on the summit. The ground is awful for trekking as it is mostly volcanic ash and pummis so its like trekking in sand. Its good on your knees and ankles though so the pain is mostly psychological, you know the sort that haunts your dreams for ever.

On day 1 you race the sunset because the second the sun goes behind the volcano the temperature plummits. Luckily wer beat it and you are rewarded not just by the temperature but by the stunning views of Arequipa at sundown. At4400m you can see the whole city sprawled out over the valley. We quickly set up our tents so we had a refuge from the cold as the sun went down. Another great sunset in the bag. If you can bear standing outside you get a magnificent view of the city by night with all the flickering lights, also, if you are near an astronomy geek he can show you the Southern Cross, its pretty cool. Bed time was 7pm as we had a 2am start on day two.

We were greeted by Day 2 with fits of shivering, swearing and coca tea, well not fits of coca tea, just cups. Guess which one of them made me feel better? Swearing. After ONE jam roll, how are you sposed to climb a volcano on one jam roll...anyway we had another 1422m to ascend, another 6 hours. At 2am there is 4 hours of darkness to compete with and I didn´t have a head torch, I seem to be building up an archive of stupidity. I had to stick close to the guys in front of me in order to see where i was walking. Day 2 is when the altitude really makes a difference. Every 5 steps you are breathless, though complete darkness helps you concentrate on just climbing, its easier when you cant see how far you must go. We did have rest stops but it was so cold that you needed to keep moving, plus our water had frozen so drinking wasnt fun. At 5000m was the highest I had ever been in my life which felt good. Unfortunately we had another drop out. The thin air combined with exhaustion is too much sometimes. So he headed for base camp and we continued towards the summit that never gets any closer. The sun appeared to be thinking about coming up at about 6am but it was still -8 degrees according to the thermometer. I wont lie, the last 600m ascent was awful. I honestly didnt think I was going to reach the top, you really have to summon some un used energy from the depths of your body as I had run out of food and my water was frozen. Just as the sun rose above the crater we made it to the edge. We only had another 40 minute acsent to the highest peak, we had a lie down on the pummis to gear ourselves up, no one really wanted to do it but we had come this far. After cursing the cold for 12 hours we were now cursing the heat because the sun had his massive hat on and was torching us. At about 10am we all collapsed under the iron cross (it was exhaustion not religious submission) at the summit of Misti, 5822m (19,000ft). The views are stunning, Chachani mountain to the left, Picchu Picchu volcano to the right, the steaming crater behind and Arequipa to the front. Once you get your breath back it is all worth while. You cant explain feelings like that, its not fun, its just a feeling of achievement.

After 30 minutes taking pictures we had to descend. The descent of Misti is crazy, its skiing down the scree and ash without skis. It is stupidly fun skiing down volcanic ash. See my pictures when I get home. Its a 13 hour ascent of Misti and a 2.5 hour descent in which you get half the mountain in your shoe. Its a good thing it is so easy because I had no energy left at all and the sun was hurtin by now. We reached the 4x4 at 3400m at exactly 2pm and ditched our packs on the roof. I was so monged out on altitude that I dont really remember much else apart from my beautiful Johnny Coyote burger in Arequipa later that evening. Fuck you Misti.

Anyway last night (the 8th) we were woken at 4.30am by a magnitude 6 earthquake. I was in the middle of a dream so being woken up by the room shaking was a bit surreal. I have never felt a quake before and this one was quite strong, I dont think anyone was hurt but Peruvian news is neither frequent nor accurate.

We are stuck in Arequipa fpr a few more days as there are more strikes so we have found a better go karting track to check out later.

Cor this was a long blog, are you tired? I am...

P.

Jugo de Rana...

So frog juice didn´t taste that bad. A bit like Shredded Wheat and killed to order. I won´t go out of my way to have it again but frog juice is not as rank as you´d think.

im sorry kermit

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Jugo de Rana....

Took a walk to Arequipa Mercado today, enormous colourful indoor market where you can find everything. Everything including Jugo de Rana...
*Jugo= Juice
*Rana= Frog
They have a tank of frogs that they put in blenders to make this brown sludge juice. Apparently it contains lots of Potassium and is good for the brain. There were a few old timers lapping it up. No idea what it tastes like, shall i try it?!


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Rio Chili Rafting...

White Water Rafting is the best cure for a hangover... we were woken up by the van at 8am after 2 hours sleep, well it wasnt really sleep. We had gone to a club called De Ja Vu friday night with the girls from the flat over the road, it was alright but I couldn´t help feeling I´d been there before...

We drove for about 30mins outside Arequipa to the Rio Chili. We had 2 rafts of about 5 people each and we suited up, its hard to look cool in a wetsuit, most people looked like condoms. I still had the shakes from De Ja Vu so when I was put in the front of the raft I was preparing for a noon death. We spent about 20 mins on the water practicing all the commands that the guide was shouting at us, our co ordination was quite good for 4 hangovers. Once it got going it was fantastic, the rapids were mostly level 3 but get up to level 4 which is so much fun, the sharp rocks and whirlpools make it so much more exciting ( i always struggle to spell exciting, can someone confirm this is right?). There was serious splash warfare with the other raft, we most definitely won. At quiet parts in the river we would head for waterfalls and drench ourselves, but being at the front i took most of the punishment as it was liquid ice. After 2 hours on the water the raft didnt actually capsize which was a little disappointing, however those rocks didnt look very cuddly.

Great day, rafting rules.

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Ville Chachani ...

Ville Chachani is an invasion settlement. In Peru if you buy some land you need to build on it or it is anyones land. Once you have built on the land you have to wait 5 years before you can petition the government for electricity and water. This means that entire populations of people will often "invade" a piece of land, sometimes hundreds of miles away and live without basic commodities for 5 years. This is the case in the suburbs of all Peruvian towns. Ville Chachani is where we are teaching English to kids from a tiny shack in the suburbs of Arequipa, it measures 8x10 ft and can sometimes hold 40 kids!

The kids range in age from about 2 to 15 and almost all come from extremely deprived families. They are great fun though and luckily they like football. One kid, Juan Martin is really good, its a shame he will never get to play for a team if he remains out there in the suburbs, this is why teaching them English will be so valuable to them. The reality of life out there is that some of these kids are working in the quarry nearby and coming to us afterwards. One kid, Oscar, is 15. He has epilepsy and learning difficulties, he cannot read or write Spanish let alone English. He left school because of bullying and is now working at the quarry where a truck full of sand will get you s./ 2 (about 40p). Its hard to see a positive future for this kid...

We even found Jesus out there, and his sister Hilda. He is 2 years old and wheres a parka like Kenny from South Park, I´ll show you a picture of him when i return. We ride a combi to work everyday, combis are great they are like tiny minibus van things that are always bursting with people, its far too much fun to worry about safety. It costs s./0.7 for a one hour journey which is about 15p. Minor criticism - the music is the same every day, crap peruvian samba, after this long it hurts. The combis stop wherever you want them to and we get off at the foot of Misti volcano where the road has become a dirt track and the "streets" have no names. It is then a 10 minute walk to the shoebox of a classroom.

The kids are actually quite good at english and unlike kids back home, they actually want to learn. Teaching isn´t really one of my qualities so teaching 3 year olds in a language i barely know is quite difficult but we have found that putting a smile on their faces is more important than languages. (cue - "fix you" by coldplay, the most overplayed annoyingly sentimental charity-live 8-comic releif-lenny henry-kids with flies on their face-music, thats actually quite a good song)

It´s quite sad seeing the kids come in everyday some of them haven´t been washed once while we´ve been here, the village gets water 2 hours a day, thats still enough to wash a child with vomit on her jumper isn´t it?? Despite these conditions the kids are always happy when we are there, especially if they are drawing on your face. I enjoy playing football with them, especially as I am by far the best on the pitch, helping poor kids and an ego trip at the same time, who loses?

We met the girls from ours and the other project (an orphanage), they all live in a flat over the road from our hostel. We went Go-Karting last night which was super, you can buy beer there too, Cusqueña (the only good beer in Peru). I´m loving living in Arequipa temporarily, there are a few of us staying a while at the hostel so its cool and its a great city. Because we are tied up during the week at the school I have planned myself some good weekends. This weekend its rafting and downhill mountain biking, next weekend its climbing Misti 5800m above the seaside. I finished my third book yesterday and I´m nearly done with Conquest of the Incas (after 6 weeks!) so I´ll be at a loss for what to do, I guess I´ll have to talk to James..but I don´t know much about hair straighteners..

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Yo tengo no soles....

Ran out of money yesterday, $23 to my name......so Chile is no longer an option. Well theres strikes there anyway so its probably best avoided. Stupid Chile, Stupid Peru, Stupid money. It has made us more creative with our cooking, we made soup last night for 20p, you could taste the savings. Luckily parents have saved the day with a loan (thank you!) ...Our plan is to get voluntary work at the new schools they are building on the outskirts of Arequipa, 2 weeks work there should save us a lot of money. And I think we estimated that our work will save around 1,000 lives. Plus our hostel has offered us a discount if we stay for 2 weeks, something like $5 per night which is great because Arequipa is beautiful. There is a very nice German girl here staying till August working so we can practice our German and wear lederhosen. I´m still hoping to climb el Misti before we return to Lima, its just screaming to be climbed! Anyway its all worked out okay now and I´m looking forward to starting!


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