To Speak of a Hill

Another day, another update?

Something like that… cheap access to Aplao means cheap access to the internet, and if i can, then why not?

i feel like the trip is starting to come together conceptually for me a little bit more. i am able to see what i want to accomplish a little bit better, i am able to recognize what i want to strive for a little bit better, and i am able to relax and take what comes a little bit better as time goes on.

After my update yesterday, i did boring things that nobody wants to read about in a blog about backpacking the Andes… like eat food and buy groceries… although there was a D’anafria Sin Parar… chocolate… If anybody from my 2006 Peru team, and to a lesser extent my 2004 Peru team, is lurking… that means nothing but good things. Note: i like ice cream. A lot.

During this time i also tried my hand at a little bit of quick street photography… setting up to shoot some daily life to try to capture a little bit of the mood of the city. Here’s one example from Saturday morning… probably not my worst picture from the session, but probably not my best, either…



Regardless, noon rolled around and i needed to get back to the lodge to make good on my afternoon plans. i found a combi (a 15 passenger bus/van that functions as a taxi service… they will have routes as short as 15 or 20 minutes or as long as 8 or 10 hours) headed up this way (Ongoro-Central! Ongoro-Central!) and hopped on expecting a 20 or 25 minute ride. That was at about 12:25. At 2, we rolled up to the lodge. What we did with that hour and a half, i have no idea, but i know that my ten liters of water and i were very good friends with a number of Peruvians, because there were not a mere 15 people in that combi. 25 would be a better guess… with every person having some sort of baggage with them (like 10 liters of water, a camera, and a backpack, for example).

And my mother is going to be so happy, because here come some self-portraits!

i decided to climb the mountain that i showed in my last update (the one on the left, for those who are keeping score)… so i headed off at 2, with three and a half hours of daylight left. That’s not normally the best time to start, but the combi had eaten an extra hour. i was feeling pretty good, though, and a brisk clip, some dancing through a corn field, maybe some trespassing, a very angry bush, a trek across the moon to make Neil Armstrong jealous, and 50 minutes brought me to the foot of my quarry. The climbing was pretty straightforward, with a local use trail cut into the ridge that i had picked out for my route. The route was very loose, and there were often interesting dropoffs on either side. After a few minutes i decided to shoot off a quick self-portrait with the route in the background.



That’s why i normally stay on the other side of the camera…. :-D

i eventually dragged my weary self onto the summit at about 4, just before the best light of the day would come. Twenty minutes on the summit yielded a summit picture, a little bit of rest, and the resolve to try to get back to the lodge within four hours of having departed it.



Somebody´s boyfriend is a huge dork…

It goes without saying that i walked down this mountain with my heart held high, or something ridiculous like that. i knew that it would be a lot harder to get down in time if i stopped to take pictures very often… but naturally, as the light got better and better as the sun got lower and lower, i just couldn’t help myself… This is typical of the views that i had as i descended.



i had left the lodge at 2:05. As i wearily strolled through the gate, my clock ticked over to 6:05. Mission accomplished.

And surprise! Julio begged me to go rafting on Sunday morning to help guide a group that had two girls of ages around 5 and 7, maybe... so i went rafting on the Majes. Naturally, though, i didn´t take my camera.

Some reading, some Jesus time, and some bed are calling my name again as i type this on Saturday night. Sunday could, i’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear, be interesting… so remember to check back… and don’t forget that fruits and vegetables are our friends!