baños; ecuador

When I arrived in Baños when it had already gotten dark. I got off the bus and started my search for a hostel, since I didn't manage to look for a place on couchsurfing.
I was a little afraid that it would be quite expensive, but found a pleasant surprise in the first place I asked. It wasn't expensive at all. The bigger problem was just, that it was full. As was the second and the third place. I kept walking around in the dark, little town. and it started raining. All the hostels I asked at where full, until I found one that offered me a private room but at a higher cost. 
I told them I would come back if I didn't find anything else, when they found a shared bedroom for me, at 8$, including breakfast.
When I got to the room I had it all for myself. I dropped my bags, grabbed my purse and left to find something to eat.
As usual in touristic places there was someone offering pizza (or something like that), but I had already seen the place I wanted to eat at on my way to the hostel.
It was a tiny local restaurant selling meat and 'tortilla de papa' and salad. Since I was still being a vegetarian, at least at far as possible, I ordered two plates with potates and salad and some kind of sauce.
In general the food in Ecuador isn't as good as in Peru, but during my time there I found my favourites. And tortilla de papa was definitely one of them, next to tortilla de maiz, grilled banana filled with cheese, and something that included green banana, fish and mayonese.
After that I returned to the hostel, trying to find out what I could do these days (there where A LOT of options). By that I had also gotten a roommate, a girl from Slovakia.
We stayed up a while, chatting on the balcony, and it felt great to be able to talk to a girl again. We got along really well, and so we decided to spend the following day together, walking up to the ' tree house'. 

La Casa del Arbol
The tree house is located on the border of a hill, and has a large swing above nothing.
The walk up took us quite a while, but Baños is located in a beautiful valley with green hills all around it, and the climate is great.
So we walked and talked, and studied the plants we found.
It was the first time I saw how a granadilla grows and we also passed by a mandarine tree (we got a little off trail and ended up in someone's garden).
The tree house was quite busy, since there was a whole bunch of people, including a lot of Ecuatorian tourists. We had to wait a while for the swing, but it was worth it.

It was a foggy day so I felt almost as if swinging into the clouds. For a moment I forgot about all the people waiting behind me and just enjoyed feeling the wind in my face.
But unfortanately there wasn't that much time for everybody, and soon I got off the swing again and let the others go.
After that we walked back down, and went to get some lunch on town. Zuzana was a little more 'tourist' than me in general, and I was in a part of my travels where I was also enjoying a little more of 'mainstream tourism', so we went to a little Mexican place and I had my favourite dish: cheese and bean nachos.
We walked around town for a little bit and Zusanna intoduced me to another one of Ecuador's delights, the chocobanana. It's nothing more than a simple frozen banana covered in chocolate, but it looked delicious. I didn't order one myself that day because I'd already had some ice cream, but I knew there was no way around it and saved it for the next day.
The town of Baños is quite small, but due to its many possibilities for adventure sports, waterfalls and hot springs, it's one of the most touristic destinations in Ecuador. It's quiet and its arcitecture had nothing particulary special, but it's a nice place to walk around. Around the corner of the main square we found some stores selling sweets. Guys were making them right there, and it looked like some physical exercise. We guessed it was something with a lot of sugar, and the guys working moved it until its color changed from brown to white. What exactly it was, and what the technique was all about, I have no idea.
In the afternoon we rested a while at the hostel, where we met our new roommate, a German guy.
Together we decided to go to the famous hot springs at night.
There are various hot springs in and around Baños, and we decided to go to the closest and maybe most common one's. 
When we got there, we found out that it was full of people, and eventhough there were more than one pool, it was hard to find a space. But dealing with the crowd of people and wearing the stupid-looking but required bath cap was definitely worth it. 
The pool was next to an illuminated waterfall and the water was that hot that I had to change to the ice cold pool every once in a while. I enjoyed it a lot, and felt fresh and relaxed when we returned to the hostel.
There I stayed up quite late because finally I had acess to a computer where I could talk to Rodrigo. 

The Waterfall Route
On the next day after the (delicious) breakfast at the hostel I went with the German guy and an Israeli, who also joined us in our room, to rent some bikes and explore the 'route of the waterfalls'.
In reality it's a mainly downhill road that leads through the valley, accompanied by a river and various waterfalls. At each one of the waterfalls there's some kind of zip line or cable car or something similar installed, and we also passed a lot of tourists in 'chivas', open, colorful buses, usally playing music.
We didn't join any of the activities offered, but we did go to the biggest waterfall of all, which was an about one-hour hike. The best part was a tunnel, that lead to a platform behind the waterfall. It took some time to get there, because there was a university field trip visiting the waterfall as well and so there were a lot of people. 
But that was already it, and we returned to our bikes to continue down the road.
The last stop was a waterfall with a natural pool underneath it, which was the reason why we took towels and bathing suits with us.
The trail down to the waterfall was surrounded by a beautiful garden, and the waterfall itself was also beautiful. 
We met a bunch of other people there, and went for a swim in the pool. 
After playing around in the water for a while it got time to go back to town. 
In the morning I was all motivated to bike back uphill and not to pay the truck, but by then I was fine with the easy option, and so all of us (we were about 11 people, all with bikes) got on a truck and had a fun ride back to town. It was incredible how the driver installed 11 bikes on his truck, but the bikes and we arrived unharmed in Baños.
Since we all got along well we decided to meet up again for dinner after returning the bikes to the different agencies.
We met at the lates hour at the market, and got the last plate of food before they closed the doors. 
After dinner we went to a bar and stayed there for a while, watching some hilarious wrestling.
Then we went to the hostel where the other guys where staying. There we talked, played pool (well, I just watched, since I'm a terrible player), and had some beers.
Most of them were Germans, and after a long time not talking German I enjoyed their company a lot.

The following day was already my last day in Baños, since I had decided to travel on to Latacunga and the hostel was beginning to charge double price because of some holiday.
I packed my stuff in the morning, and stayed a while in the hostel writing the blog. I also wanted to talk to Rodrigo again, but at some point the hostel turned off the computers and the internet because of some reparations they had to make.
A little pissed off I went for a walk to pass time, and in the end I liked it a lot. I went down to the river where I found a nice spot under the bridge, watched the people doing swing jump and read my book. I also discovered some climbing routes there.
After a while I went back to the hostel but obviously the light had not returned yet, and it was getting late for me to leave, since I didn't want to arrive in Latacunga at night.

So got my stuff and went to the bus terminal. The busride was short, as most busrides in Ecuador, but I still arrived in the last light.

riobamba, chimborazo; ecuador

Volcano Spotting
I left Cuenca early in the morning and got to Riobamba at about 11 am. I was thinking about looking for a place to stay and leave my stuff for a night, and go to the Chimboarzo vulcano from there. But after I had lunch and asked around at bus terminal about the buses, I found out one was leaving in 15 minutes. I decided quickly to take it and just take my backpack with and leave it at the refugee at the volcano.
The bus dropped me off in the middle of nowhere, and when I got off I realized it was freezing. I guess I was pretty high in altitude, and the weather was rather bad. It was foggy, windy and rainy.
I entered the park rangers house and asked a couple of questions before taking off for a walk. 

Unfortunately I didn´t get to see the whole mountain, but I was still very impressed by this huge volcano, Ecuador´s highest peak. The whole landscape seemed as if no life could exist there - cold, dry, the rocky ground spotted by little bushes. Surprisingly I saw some vikunias, and admired them for surviving there. At some moment, when the clouds opened a little I could see mountains over mountains behind me, and the first layer of snow on the Chimborazo in front of me. It was a deserted place, but at the same time I felt the incredibly strong energy of this place.

After a while I returned to the entrance and found out that I could keep going to Baños, my next stop, on the same day without having to spend a night in Riobamba.
But getting there was an adventure - first I waited almost an hour on the side of the road for the bus. Finally it came, full of people sitting until the steps of the entrance door, and soon it already dropped me off again. I felt even more in the middle of nowhere as I had at the volcano, and I had to get off at a crossing, with fog having closed up my sight to about 5 meters. I had no idea how I would be able to see the other bus coming or how it would see me, standing there on the side of the road. Luckily my connecting bus came right at the moment when I got off, and I could relax a little. Still I had one more change in front of me, but this one also went well.
I easily found a bus going to Baños, bought some cheese empanadas, and enjoyed the ride.

cuenca; ecuador

Cuenca
On the bus from Chiclayo I didn´t sleep much. We crossed the border at around 3 in the morning and I had to pay a fee for overstaying my visa in Peru.
When I arrived in Cuenca in the morning I felt tired and exhausted, and after living such a long time with someone so close it felt weird to be all by myself again.
Fortunately I had directions to a hostel, and I found it easily and liked the place. All the morning I spent there, relaxing and organizing my head. Then I left for the center of the city to find a chip for my phone and some information - I had come to Ecuador without any idea of anything.
The city of Cuenca is beautiful, with its narrow streets, churches, colonial houses and street art. It has a nice place to relax next to the river, and music in the streets. The only thing that really confused me was the change from soles to dollars, and everything was a lot more expensive than in Peru.
I visited the tourist information and they gave me a guide to Ecuador, and further information about Cuenca and its surroundings. But still, on the first day I didn´t do much but walk around and I went to bed early.

On the next day in the morning I went to the market to get breakfast. From there I went to one of the biggest museums there, the Pumapungo. The entrance was free and it had a good exhibition about culture and life in all Ecuador. I enjoyed it, and finished with a walk around the ruins and park outside before going back to my hostel. There I packed my stuff, because I had found someone to stay with, and then went down to the river to wait there. I still was very tired, and kinda passed out, head on my backpack, in the grass.
After waiting quite a long time, Jefftoo, my Haitian host came to pick me up and we went to his house. He made me feel like home, and the only thing I was missing was electricity and a working shower. But it was a place to stay.
Jefftoo and his friends went out that night, but I stayed home, not feeling very motivated and still being tired. 

The following day I left the house by myself, since my host was still sleeping. I found myself some breakfast and went to the internet to upload some pictures. I still felt lonely without my partner, so it was also important to me to talk to him for a little bit. After that I went up to the view point, wrote a little bit, and talked to my mom.
Walking down I stopped by a flea market and then made my way through the old town again. I also prepared myself a little for leaving to a national park the next day, and bought some food.
Back at the house I packed my backpack, went to the bus terminal to check the connections, and went to sleep early again, because I had a long day in front of me.

Parque Nacional de Cajas
Originally I had planned to take a bus to the terminal, because it was at the other end of the city. But since it was Sunday morning, I didn´t see any and so I walked all the way. When I got there the first bus had just left, and I had to wait an hour and a half for the next one. But I used the time to eat breakfast and charge my phone, so it was ok.
Time passed and more and more people came. When the bus came, it filled up fast, and a lot of people still got on on the road.
I got off the bus earlier than the others because I was planning to do a two-day-hike and so I had to start from another entrance. 
I walked to the park entrance, registered, and started walking. It felt good being out in the nature again and I was surprised to find myself in a completely different landscape than the mountains in Peru. 
The first part of the hike took me along a muddy forest trail, steep uphill. There I understood why the route had been marked as "difficult", but I loved the deep green of the forest.
After a while it started to clear up and I left the forest for a more open space. Here I was surrounded by mountains and had a great view. I lost the trail once, but it didn´t take me long to find it again, and after crossing a plain part high up on a hill, the trail took me downhill, to a lake. By then I was pretty sure I preferred going up, because the trail was steep and wet, and I almost fell a couple of times with my big backpack on my shoulders.
But as soon as I got to the lake, the trail got easier, and after a while I took a rest next to a river and ate something. The it got uphill again, rockier than before, and the landscape was spotted by waterfalls and little creeks.
The hike was exhausting, but I enjoyed it a lot, and when I got to the camping spot and a crossing I decided to keep going until it got dark and to take the longer route.
Again the trail got difficult, but I was advancing rapidly and soon I got to another two lakes. 
I followed the trail uphill and downhill, already watching out for a place to put the tent. But that turned out a little harder than expected, because there was hardly anything plain and almost everything was covered by some kind of stinging pasture or was muddy and wet.
When I finally found a place, night almost had fallen in, and I hurried to get everything settled. The place was comfortable and protected, and right next to the shore of the lake.
I ate, but when I wanted to turn on my flashlight to read the battery died. But since I was exhausted I didn´t really mind to sleep rightaway, and get up early in the morning to continue my hike.

When I woke up it was cold and raining. I packed my stuff rapidly and pretty much everything got wet within half an hour.
I countinued the trail, which had gotten muddier and sometimes was now hard to find. The marks that I used to find on the previous day every now and then had disappeared, and I wasn´t sure at all if I was going the right way. It was foggy and I couldn´t even see the mountain peeks to orientate myself.
After almost an hour of walking in the rain I got to a point where the trail didn´t seem to continue - the footprints just disappeared. I made the decision to go back and search for a trail mark, but even finding the way back was hard. I almost couldn´t find it, and the cold wind was piercing my face.
I went all the way back to my camping spot, but foound neither a mark nor another possible trail. It was there when I decided to go back to the crossing and take a shorter way out of the park - I really didn´t feel like searching for a trail in that weather and with a heavy backpack, and then walk another 6 hours.
I found the crossing easily, even though it turned out to be a different one. But it served for my purposes and I took the shortes route out of the park.

When I finally made it to the road I was soaked and freezing and glad to be back. But I was also angry at myself because I gave up and didn´t have the strength to keep going. It really bothered me and it was then when I knew that I couldn´t go back to Peru, even though at that moment I really wanted to. But I knew it wouldn´t make me happy and it would get even harder to leave. I also wanted to continue my travels and see some more of South America and I knew I would regret it if I didn´t take this chance of traveling.
At the road I met an English couple and together we found a car to take us back to Cuenca. There I went back to the house, took everything out of my backpack to dry, and washed myself in hot water.
Then I felt better.

Back in Cuenca
In the evening I packed my stuff and got everything ready to leave the next day in the morning. I was planning on going to Riobamba, and from there on I didn´t really have an idea what to do.

la selva peruana

After again spending a long time in Huaraz and its beautiful surroundings, it became time for me to leave. My visa was already overdue and I felt like it was time for me to continue my travels.
Before I left, my boyfriend decided to come with me to the Peruvian jungle. The last days in Huaraz we spent being sick with the flu, but then the day of leaving finally came.
Since we had to leave at 6 am, we decided to spend the night in Huaraz, and ended up going out and dragging ourselves to the bus station without a minute of sleep. On the way there, of course, the boys had to eat their "caldo de gallina", a heavy chicken soup that surely helps a lot with the hangover.
The bus left pretty much on time, but I spent the bus ride sleeping. Only once in a while I opened my eyes and saw the wide mountain ranges and rock walls passing by. With that first bus we crossed the Cordillera Blanca to the East, heading further inland.
After some hours we arrived in a little town called La Union, where we had to find further transport to the city of Huanuco. That transport turned out to be a simple car, where we had to stuff ourselves into the front seat. Still tired, it definitely wasn't the most comfortable ride, but the landscape was stunning. We followed a narrow and curvy mountain road, several times almost crashing into the cars that were coming from the other direction. The snow capped mountains of the Cordillera Blanca were now replaced by a valley surrounded by hills in all shades of yellowish. It was the strangest color, and it was an amazing ride.
After some hours we arrived in Huanuco, a fairly big city, where we first had to decide if we would spend the night there or change transport one more time. We ate lunch at the main square, resting in the grass with our backpacks. After eating we decided to keep on going to Tingo Maria where we would spend the night.
The bus ride was short, and the landscape started changing. In place of the dry and yellow mountains we could now see dense green forests, stretching over the hills.
And with arriving in Tingo Maria we had arrived in the high jungle.

Tingo Maria
Since Tingo Maria is a small town, it didn't take us long to find a place to stay, and after dropping our stuff in the room, we went to find something to eat. After that we immediately fall asleep after this long day.

On the next day we checked out early and went to find breakfast with all our stuff. We passed through the market, where we already found ourselves between "juanes" (banana leaves filled with rice), fish and fruits.
We bought bread and a fresh juice for breakfast, and then we went to find a bus to Pucallpa. But as we had to find out all the buses had already left, and didn't have schedules for later that day. The only other options were taking a bus overnight (which we didn't want because the road was known for its drug traffic and robberies) or go by car which was far more expensive. Only after we had already decided to stay another night in Tingo Maria and find us something to do during the day, we found a combi that was supposed to leave soon and that for a reasonable price.
Although I would have liked to stay in Tingo Maria a little longer (it seemed like a really nice and not too turistic place), we decided to take the combi.
We waited a while for the combi to fill up, and then we were already on our way.
Again the road was curvy, but this time we weren't driving along an edge of nothing, but rather were we surrounded by trees and trees and more trees. It started to rain, and sometimes we could see the fog rising over the deep forests. The first part of the journey we were still in the mountains, but after a while the landscape flattened and mountains became hills and hills became plains.

Pucallpa
Arriving in Pucallpa we got immediately surrounded by mototaxi drivers that wanted to take us somewhere. Situations like that are always stressing me out and in the end we agreed to one to take us to the center. Of course he didn't take us to the center, but to some hostel we he surely would have gotten commission if only we would have stayed there. But we went to find another place and soon we had success. For the better because walking through a loud and busy city like Pucallpa. with a heavy backpack and the sun burning down on our heads, is not something I would call "fun".
The room was clean and had a fan, and shortly after arriving we took off to the port.
Pucallpa surprised me in the way that it turned out to be a pretty big, modern and commercial city, with hectic streets dominated by the loud noise of the mototaxis.
Fortunately the streets along the river side were a little quieter, and so the heat wasn't that bad. It took us a while to find the right port, the one where the boats to Iquitos were leaving from. The company everybody told us about was called Henry, and its big cargo boats, painted in turquoise and orange, reminded me of a circus in some way.
When we entered the boat we had to find our way through the busy men loading huge sacks of onions and other things on the boat. I don't even wanna know how much one of them weight.
The smell of something weird was penetrating and the captain was exactly as you would imagine a captain in the Amazon. He told us that we had to board the boat until 6 pm that same day because it was leaving the following day at an unknown hour.
Since it was already 4 pm, we still hadn't eaten anything or bought food for the trip, we decided to take the next boat and find ourselves something to do in Pucallpa.
We stopped at a restaurant and had ceviche and an ice cold beer as a late lunch. Then we walked through the city, enjoying that the air was finally cooling off at least a little bit.
I spent a terrible night, because I got really sick in the evening and our room had a window to a loud street.

The next day in the morning I felt a little better, but as soon as we left the room and had gotten out into the heat, my stomach started hurting again and it cost me a lot to keep walking.
Again we went to the port to find out about the next boat. To our surprise (it shouldn't even have surprised me) the boat was still there, and the men loading it even busier. We were told that it would leave in the afternoon and that we could still board.
Which we did.
We went to the market to buy some fruits and water, packed our stuff, took the last shower for a while and went back to the port.
When we got there they even searched our bags and then let us go up to the part where the passengers were traveling. The first floor was already full - it was an incredible image. Hammock after hammock filled the space, things where stacked underneath and between them, everybody was talking or organizing something. Whole families had spread out their blankets on the floors and on the benches on the sides people were selling food.
Fortunately there was another floor and we went up there. Most of the space was loaded with matresses, but on the sides was still some space where we could put our hammock.
At that moment we were the only ones on that floor, but soon it filled up as well. Luckily not as bad as the one downstairs and since we had a spot on the "hallway" we always had some wind and no immediate neighbors next to us.
Soon after a Japanese girl joined us, accompanied by an Englishman. The two of them were a little confused at first, thinking that they had booked a private cabin. But those things didn't exist on our dear "Henry 10", so they put up their sleeping spots next to us in the hallway.
After we had settled down on the spot where we would spend the next 6 days, we watched the final loading of the boat and waited for its departure.

Rio Ucayali, Rio Amazonas
It´s difficult to describe the time on the boat - it all just became one, and I can´t divide it into single days anymore.
The boat was full of people, hammock next to hammock next to hammock - underneath blankets with whole families and their bags. Most of the people were locals.
Sometimes I felt like in a social experiment, testing with how much you can deal. The heat was incredible and the personal space limited.
The only relief was the wind, that, from time to time, stroke our faces.
The only diversion were the little villages where we stopped. In one of them we got off the boat to walk around a little bit, but usually just a lot of people selling fruits, drinks or shampoo came on the boat. Passengers got on or off the boat, cargo was being unloaded. Our neighours changed. The wind stopped.
And then we left again, following the wide river, surrounded by nothing but the dense trees of the Peruvian jungle.
We mostly ate fruits, and a little of the food of the boat. Usually the rice and the bread. We got up early in the morning, when everything started moving and the heat was still bearable. The afternoon was the worst. The the hour of the sunset the best. That was when it finally cooled down, and everything appeared in the magic orange light of the sinking sun.

6 days we lived in this ocean of faces, smells, sounds, bugs, heat, trees, sunsets and sunrises. Falling into the rythm of the boat. Time passing by.

And then, suddenly, we arrived.

Iquitos
We arrived in Iquitos in the afternoon, pretty much the worst hour. A mototaxi took us to the center, where we spent a lot of time finding a place to stay, being followed by one of those annoying taxi drives that want to take you somewhere.
After finally arriving at some hostel, we took a desperatley needed shower and left for the city. I felt as tired as after a really long busride.
Since we needed to eat we decided to go to the market of Belen, hoping to find something there.
The Belen market was as extreme as being on the boat. Two rows of stands, selling everything, in the middle of trash and big birds, waiting for their turn of food. Men drinking and playing cards. Children sleeping in hammocks over the table. And, still, the incredibly sticky heat.
After all those impressions and the offer of food we found, we decided to look for a restaurant. Soon we found a cevicheria with a late lunch menu. Salad, fish, rice and a cool drink was just what we needed!
Then we started our way back to the center - first through the chaotic comercial streets, and then along little plazas along the riverside. We stopped at a museum where they had an exhibition by female artists about traditional legends, and a foto spread about the explotation and trade of rubber.
We passed by the tourisitc restaurants, and the beautiful old houses of Iquitos.
At the end we stayed in a little park, where an open air stage was built up in the street and there was to be a concert. We ate some fries and drank a beer and waited for the concert to start, only being bothered by the mosquitoes.
Until then I was already surprised by Iquitos - I never really felt the urge to go there, and in reality we were just passing trough. But I actually really liked it. The open spaces, the old houses, the people, the market, the art. And what was more, I had a lot of respect for it. Just imagining that almost everything we found to see had to be brought by boat or plane made my head hurt.
When the concert started we found out that it was being organized by some university students who were quite active in politics. They acually tried to change something in the middle of all the corruption and explotation of natural ressources. And it was quite entertaining - we saw pretty much anything from hip hop over rock and electro to cumbia. I loved it, and even though we were tired we stayed until late at night and danced in the street.

On the next day we first went to the port where the boat to Yurimaguas was supposed to leave. It was easy to find but a long walk, all along one of the busiest roads.
And again, we landed in a completely different part of Iquitos.
We found the boat, and were being told that it would leave the next day. And also that it would cost a lot more that what we had expected. But it was the only way to get out of there, and so we didn´t have another choice.
The rest of the day we spent in Belen and the center. We went to the market again, this time to the part of the witches. The amount of strange plants, seeds and magic potions to cure whatever illness, acompined by a mix of smell,s was incredible. At one of the posts selling tabacco we stopped for a while, trying a cigarette with pure tabacco and chocolate. There we also bought some pure cacao.
From the market we went to the famous port of Belen, the poor and more indigenous part of Iquitos. It was very different from the center - dirty, smells of food on every corner, and drunk men sleeping on the street. But apperantely the activist art had even reached this part of the city, and we saw some graffities about nutrition and education. Again, Iquitos had surprised me.
We didn´t spent much time at the port, because it wasn´t the saftest part, and the heat had started to burn our faces. So we started our way back, passing food stands and the whole comercial part again. First we were trying to find something to eat, but then decided to go back to hostel first. At the end we found a little restaurant just on the corner of the hostel.
In the afternoon Rodrigo had to work, so I went to walk around a little by myself. I went to the handicrafts market, and one of the main plazas on the river side. Since it was Sunday it was full of people.There were games, music, and a lot of kids playing. I met a French-Argentinian couple, which had also been on the same boat as us. I talked with them for a while, and then went to the little park again where the concert had taken place, to write and read for a while.
Then I returned to the hostel and waited until Rodrigo had finished with his work. At night we went out together, this time to one of the residencial parts of Iquitos. There we found a Chifa restaurant, which was cheap and the plates huge.
Getting back, exhausted from the day and the heat, we just fell into our bed and passed out.
The next day in the morning we went to another market, to have breakfast and buy fruits for the journey. This market was way more organized than the market in Belen, but also more expensive. Still, I enjoyed walking around there and taking some pictures of the strange things like turtle shells.
After finishing we went to organize our stuff and passed by the artesania again.
And then it was already time to eat lunch and get going to the port.
When we got there we found ourselves being lucky because the price for the ticket had changed overnight. We got on the boat, which this time was a little smaller and seemed a lot more relaxed, and set up our spot again - we were gonna spend another couple of nights in the hammock.
This time we had a little more space, and I liked the boat. Also our spot was outside, so we would have more wind.
We waited and waited, and the boat started to fill up. But it didn´t leave. When night started to break in we were told that we would leave the next day. For whatever reason.
So we had to spend a whole day on the boat in the port. It was just waiting for departure. As before we passed time writing, reading or playing cards.
And then at around 6 pm, finally, we left the port of Iquitos for Yurimaguas.

Rio Marañón
This time the trip should only take about 3 days, and as I already said, the space we had was much more relaxed. We had a French couple as neighbours, but other than that most of the people were locals again. I enjoyed watching the people, seeing all different kinds of personalities. For example, close to us was also a group of 3 Peruvians going on vacation. They were from Iquitos and completely different from the people of the Andes. Much louder, obviously enjoying their vacation and playing cards with full commitment.
Again the days passed, and were diversed by eating, the little villages and playing cards with the French couple.
I got stung by a wasp, so for about 2 days my hand was double sized, but I guess that´s part of traveling the jungle. At least I didn´t get stung by some infected bug.

The last sunset was probably one of the most beautiful ones we had seen - we stopped at an idyllic village, with an open space in the middle and little wooden houses on the sides. And just right there, before the sunset, the boat got surrounded by dolphins. A lot of dolphins, and all of them really close. So for a while we just stood there and watched, feeling the air slowly getting cooler and watching the sun going down behing the river and the deep forest.

The journey went by quickly, and soon we already arrived in Yurimaguas.

Yurimaguas, Munichis

Yurimaguas is a small town where there´s neither much to see nor much to do. The most important part is probably the port, for its connection to Iquitos.

We arrived there with the plan of finding a quiet place to put up a tent. First we ate and then we started searching, which turned out to be more difficult than it should have been.

At the end we decided to go to the small village of Munichis and just camp on the beach next to the river. It was a nice spot, with some boats passing by, but still quiet. The people we met were nice and the village seemed safe. As if never anything would happen there.

Soon night fell in, and without the wind the heat kept being unberable. That made it a little hard to sleep, but in the end the tiredness won.

In the morning we got our stuff together and then went for a swim in the river. It was nice to cool down a little, before walking in the heat again. 

We found a nice lady in the village who was selling juanes, and she also agreed to make some eggs for us. It was probably the best breakfast we´ve had until then, and after it I felt like I had a lot more energy.

We took a mototaxi back to Yurimaguas, and in the middle of the way it started raining like hell. But so I got the chance to see the drivers protection - a thick blue plastic sheet, covering the whole front part of the moto, only leaving a small space to watch the road. That confirmed that for me a mototaxi is the scariest form of transportation. 

But we arrived undamaged and went straight to the bus terminal where the combis for Tarapoto were leaving. The combi soon left, and we traveled about two hours. It was raining but still the landscape was beautiful, and reminded me a lot of the part between Tingo Maria and Pucallpa. Green hills full of trees, spotted with waterfalls.

Tarapoto

Arriving in Tarapoto was relaxed. Just next to the bus stop we found a good and cheap restaurant and finding a hostel wasn´t too difficult as well. We stayed a little outside of the center, in a nice and quiet neighbourhood.

In the afternoon we walked to the center, trying to find out where to go and what to do.The center was loud and comercial, and I was glad we had found a quieter place. 

Again we were looking for a camping spot alongside a river or something, where we could spend a couple of days. The tourist information wasn´t really very helpful, and so, in the end, we decided to go to San Roque, a village close to Tarapoto, that Rodrigo already knew from a few years earlier. 

At the terminal we had to wait forever for the combi to leave, but since it was only a one hour trip we had plenty of time. When we left it felt good getting out of the city, and the road to little San Roque was beautiful as well.

San Roque de Cumbaza

We got to San Roque some time in the afternoon, and spent the rest of the day in a park next to the river. It was full of kids playing and San Roque seemed like the most peaceful place on earth. We found some fresh bread and had pasta and veggies for dinner. We put up the hammock and watched the kids play, until it got dark. The people left and we put up our tent. 

When we were just about to go to sleep we heard someone coming close, and then a voice asked to talk to us. I stayed in the tent while Rodrigo went to talk to the man, and I have to admit I was a little scared. But it turned out that it was just our neighbour, from the house across the soccer field, who invited us to stay there. We told him to stop by the next morning, and found peaceful sleep in this beautiful place.

In the morning we packed our stuff and brought it to Jorge´s house. We could leave it there for the day and so we went for a hike that was supposed to lead us to a waterfall.
The trail led us out of the village into the woods and up the hill. From there we followed the ridge, from where we had a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. Then we were inside the jungle again, between trees and plants of all kinds, with only a little bit of light that broke through the thick cover of leaves.
The trail was clearly marked, but the first part was quite steep and uphill. We came to a crossing that was marked with arrows, and followed them downhil. There we already heard the waterfall, so we thought we should be close. 

But after a while the sound disappeared and it started to rain. Within 10 minutes we were soaked. 

We got out of the woods, into a clearing with banana trees. There we found refugee in some kind of a hut and thought of what to do. We´ve already walked more than 4 hours, and the walk wasn´t supposed to be that long. Also the sound of the waterfall had disappeared and we weren´t sure if we were still on the right trail, even though it had been clearly marked. 
We decided to walk a little more and, if nothing changes, return. When we got to that point it was already afternoon, and the both of us were tired. We didn´t bring a lot of food and water, and after a while Rodrigo´s blood sugar dropped and it cost him a lot to keep walking. I also started to get worried about the hour, because I really didn´t want to be in the jungle at night, when all the animals come out and there´s no light anymore. So I rushed and tried to keep Rodrigo going, also being concerned about his condition. What would I do if he broke down in the middle of the way? 
But at the end we go to the view point where we rested for a little bit. My body felt really tired as well and it was only will and fear that kept me going. But from the view  point it wasn´t far anymore, and as soon as we got to San Roque and ate and drank something we felt better. Rodrigo´s color returned to his face, and he seemed less exhausted than I was.
When we got back to the familiy´s house we told them about our little adventure. They gave us food and told us that we weren´t supposed to follow all the arrows becasue they mark a circuit back to San Roque. So we didn´t even have to walk back all the way, because apparently we had only been an hour away from the village!
But fortunately everything turned out fine, and the family was very nice. We put up our tent in their back yard and had breakfast with them the next morning - fried plantains, one of my favourites!
We packed our things and walked around a little, rested on the rivershore, and then went back to Tarapoto to catch a bus to the coast.

Chiclayo
We arrived in Chiclayo in the morning and first went to organize everything. I was gonna take a night bus to Cuenca, Ecuador, and Rodrigo was gonna visit a friend in Trujillo and go back to Huaraz from there.
After buying the tickets, we went to the beach and spent our last day together there, eating Ceviche.
And then it was time to say goodbye. Even though I´ve had a lot of goodbyes during my travels, that was definitely the hardest one...I just had to cross the border as fast as possible, otherwise I don´t think I would have made it.
But after such a long time in Huaraz, it also feels good to be moving again.

all around the cordillera blanca and the cordillera negra

Laguna Paron
A few days after my birthday I decided to go on a solo trek - just to have some time for myself and do something cool.
I decided to hike up to a lake that I've been wanting to see for a while, and so I left some nice monday morning.
I took a colectivo to Caraz from where I thought other buses/combis/colectivos/whatsoever were leaving to the village of Paron. But as I had to find out those only leave at weird hours, so I either had to wait or take an expensive taxi. I decided to wait, when my luck turned around a little bit and I found a colectivo taxi that was going until the village underneath Paron. The driver told me it would only be an hour or so to walk so I'd still be there earlier than if I'd take the bus.
It took me a little more than an hour and was exhausting but after a while I made it to the entrance of the national park and felt good going off on a little adventure. 
There was a dirt road until the lake, but as I was walking I could cut through the curves on little trails. That was exhausting and I kinda got lost twice, but it was still better than walking on a road all the time. 
After some (a lot) hours of walking I finally made it to the lake. I felt like I had no energy anymore and it was already getting a little late, so I abandoned my plan to hike further to another, smaller lake and camped right at the shore of one of the biggest lakes in the Cordillera Blanca, and at the foot of the Piramid glacier.
It was cold, but beautiful, and I was so tired that  passed out shortly after I ate dinner. I did see the sun going down though, the orange-lit clouds behind the white mountains and the full moon rising next to it. (The sun goes down here around 6.30 pm so sleeping time on a trek is pretty early ;))
On the next day I didn't have a long hike in front of me and I was planning on spending it a little more relaxed. I ate breakfast, got my stuff together and started the walk along the lake side to the other end. That looked shorter than it was, but at least I asn't just going up. After I reached the other side I followed a small trail through a plain of grassy rocks until I got to the other lake. There I had planned to sit down, write, read and enjoy, but unfortunately the weather didn't like that idea too much and it got pretty cold. So I started my way back earlier, and set up camp again at the shore of lake Paron.
The altitude, a some stomach problem and the little amount of food I'd had with me were making my body weak though, and I felt like I had no energy. So I took a nap in the afternoon and went to sleep early again, ready for another cold night.
On the third day I got up super early, and so I could enjoy the sun rising behind the mountains. When I started my way back through the valley, everything was filled with a golden light.
Walking down was definitely easier than walking up and I soon reached the park entrance. But again the bus time tricked me and I had to keep going until another village, which was even further down than the one where I started. Since it took me a while the heat was killing me too, and I was happy when I finally found a car.
I got back to Marian some time in the afternoon, and was happy to find the house empty so I had a little more time for myself and could think about the trek. 
I liked it, but with myself I didn't really get where I wanted.

Antacocha
Just two days after I got back from my trek, I already left the house again. I was with some friends and our plan was to go to Antacocha for a few days. That's also a lake, Cordillera Negra though, but the main subject is not hiking there but climbing. 
So we took a taxi to the campsite, and after a lunch break we started right away.
I started climbing again in Huaraz, and, slowly but surley, my arms were getting stronger and I fell in love with the sport again.
Antacocha has some short routes, but also a whole bunch of them with several pitches. That was completely new to me, so the first day my friend gave me some classes in "what to do in the middle of the wall and how to secure oneself and your partner". Or something like that.
It felt great to learn something new and the next day we started for my first "multi pitch", which consisted of four pitches and was about 200m high. The route was quite easy (even for my level of climbing), but it was a great experience. The feeling of just climbing and then the feeling of reaching the top and being regarded with an amazing view of Corlillera Blanca was just great.
To get back down we chose to walk, and spent the rest of the day relaxing and eating.
The day after that was a completely lazy day - we didn't do anything all day long, but just being there and enjoying nature.
On our last day we wanted to go climbing again, but after a little warm up and the first pitch, I had to give up because my slackline knee injury started hurting again, and I didn't want to over-do it. It sucked, but I'm still hoping to go back to Antacocha soon, so we can finish the out we've started.

Vallunaraju
After Antacocha I spent some days at the house, went climbing and met some friends that were in town at that time. 
But at the weekend it was time again to get out to the mountains, and this time it should be a real mountain. With snow and crampons and ice picks and all that stuff. 
We left Saturday afternoon and went in taxi to the trailhead for the moraine camp. That was a steep and rocky hike up with a lot of weight because we had to carry all the material. And since two of our companions were slighlty hung over it took us a little longer than usually and we got to the camp quite late. Late, because we had to get up at 2.30am to go for the summit.
It felt weird crawling out of the tent in the middle of the night and getting everything ready. When we started to hike to the glacier, one of us stayed behind because he already had troubles with the altitude and wasn't gonna go for the summit. 
So we were four, and only one of us really had experience with mountains. And stuff.
But it was supposed to be "easy" and not too technical, so it was fine. At the beginning of the glacier we put on our crampons and harnesses and were all connected by a rope. Ice pick in one hand and walking stick in the other, we started off for the summit of Vallunaraju.
The sun was rising behind the Cordillera Blanca and we were surrounded by snow and I was happy. And after a while pretty exhausted. Good thing, I wasn't the only one and the two guys behind me were doing worse. At one point they were about to turn around and go back but we managed to motivate them again. Close to the end it was me who needed motivation to keep going, but after a short climbing part we were pretty much there. At the summit. At 5680m. 
Personally, I hadn't expected to reach the summit, and even though it was hell to get up there I was surprised I did it. That we did it. It felt incredibly awesome. Arriving up there was just a feeling I can't describe, and it was definitely one of the best and most amazing experiences I've made in my travels so far. It was just unbelievable.
The way back down was a lot more fun, all of us were delighted and: we didn't have to go up anymore. I enjoyed the snow, slid down some parts, and made a snow angel. Of course I felt tired, but it didn't matter.
Back at the camp we ate, and after a little (needed!) rest we packed our things and started our way back down. The steep and rocky trail was even worse going down than up and I think all of us fell at least once. I was so glad when we finally reached the road, because it was starting to get kind of dangerous and everybody was super tired. 
At the road we had to wait for our taxi a little bit, and on the ride back I completely passed out. And woke up when we were already at the house. 
My body felt dead, but I was just happy.
I climbed a really high mountain! And I want more! ;)

expedition "un minuto y medio"

Inkawakanka
The mountain was so intense that I, again, needed some days rest. That means being at the paradise house and go climbing. And organise the next trip, which was Inkawakana.
That's a big, but relatively new climbing place, which means there are not many people and still not many routes. We were quite a big group though, and the guys wanted to build some new routes.
We rented a mini van that got us, and all our stuff, there and, just as we got there we were rewarded with the best of Inkawakanka: it's sunset. It's like you are in the mountains but see the sun going down over the ocean. Pretty awesome, I would say.
We set up camp, and then sat together making our pre-cooked camping dinner.
The next 5 days (except one day rest for me and my hands) we spent climbing, walking, eating, talking, laughing and drinking. Some other friends came for 2-3 days and everything was just good. We stayed until we ran out of food and had to go back to Huaraz. That time we had to hitch hike, each person with a backpack and one or two crash pads. But we got lucky and a big bus stopped, and took us all. 

Back in Huaraz I had to make a decision - if I would stay here a little longer or continue my travels. I was stressed out for a day and just wished being back at Inkawakanka or some other awesome place where I didn't have to think about stuff like that. And then I decided to continue the first aid project I had started in December (or something like that) and stay for another month or so. 
So I'm still in Marian/Huaraz, and I can't wait to get out of bed and into the mountains again!

huaraz

We arrived in Huaraz some time in the evening, and when I got off the bus I felt like nothing had changed. It was still raining and I found myself on streets that I know without even thinking and that I’ve walked on so many times. The Orly thing I didn’t know was where to go – I didn’t know anything about the hostels here, since I’d always had my own place.

So we just walked on a random street and it was super easy to find something we liked.

For me, it felt weird being back, but I also liked the feeling of coming to place that I already know, where I don’t have to figure everything out from the beginning and I was very excited about showing everything to my mom.

She was doing surprisingly good with the altitude, so we spent our first days in Huaraz walking around and I was explaining the things that were important to me. We went to my old house, my favourite little store, the market I used to go to, walked the streets I used to walk, went to my favourite café and, of course, we also visited the school where I used to work.

One afternoon we also went to the little village of Marian, where some of my friends live in the most awesome house ever built.

It felt surprisingly good to be back, and made me realice how much I love the mountains and that it really is the landscape that makes Huaraz so special to me. Also, coming back with some improved Spanish skills made me see and experience the people differently. Huaraz is a place that makes you feel like a foreigner no matter how long you are here, but over all most people are not as bad as I remembered them and I got to love them.

One day my mom and I went to the ruins of Chavin (she had to see at least some ruins here in Peru) and I enjoyed learning and seeing more and more about a place. (I think by now I’ve seen a loto f the places around the area, and I feel like everything is kind of familiar)

On the day alter Chavin we took off for the Santa Cruz Trek. That’s probably the most touristic trek around the area, but I still never got to do it while I was living here.

Organizing the thing was much easier than I’d thought (you can easily do everything in colectivo) and my mom was ready to do anything with me (especially alter the motorcycle ride in El Carmen).

After we got lost a little bit in the beginning everything went smoothly and neither of us had big problems with the altitude. The backpacks were big, but it was doable, and the trail was just beautiful.

We started off next to a river, in a valley. The first day we had to make quite some altitude, but it wasn’t that bad at all, and when we got to the campsite we were the only people there, just accompined by some donkeys and cows.

The second day was “tranquilo” and we arrived at the camp quite early. The landscape had changed completely though, and instead of green riverside trails, flowers, and wide sandbanks we were now closer to the mountains and the landscape had gotten rockier and not as diverted as before. Also the night was colder and when we woke up the next morning the snow of the mountains had definitely gotten closer.

That day we had to hike up to the Punta Union, the highest point of the trek, and back down on the other side, wich made it the most exhausting day of all. Besides that, we had bad luck with the weather and it was raining and snowing all day.

It wasn’t really inviting to sit down and eat and due to the weather we also missed the panoramic view that you are supposed to have from the Punta Union.

After nine hours of hiking we called it a day and set up our camp.

On the last day we Orly had about two hours more to walk, and the landscape had become what I was used to from several other hikes. We also passed some small villages until we got to our end point. We arrived exhausted but happy, andi t didn’t take long until the colectivo came to take us back into civilization.

After the trek I only ha done more day with my mom, which we mostly spent in a café until I brought her to the bus stop.

It was hard to say goodbye, for I had really enjoyed traveling with my mom and seeing her after such a long time, but I was also looping forward to having some time for myself again, and I was going to stay at my friend’s house in Marian for a little bit.

reaching the Punta Union together with my mom :)

The first reason to stay was that one of my friend’s birthday was just a day before mine and we wanted to celebrate together.

So we had a party at the house on the 6th and then went to some awesome hotsprings on the 7th, to relax.

It was good.

And now I’m still here, and I’ve been doing stuff all the time. I went trekking, got into climbing again, and got to the top of a super high mountain.

3 weeks with my mom - arequipa, huacachina, paracas, chincha; peru

Arequipa
I spent the week before my mom came to Peru in a house a little outside of Arequipa. It had a beatuiful view over some fields and I was living there with 3 Argentinians. The owner of the house, Pedro, was visiting his family at the coast so he wasn't there all the time. All of us got along very well and I enjoyed having some time to relax. We cooked together, I went for walks, and had time for some creative days. After a week I felt so comfortable there that I had a hard time leaving.
But I also had been waiting. For the day where I would see my mom, here, in Peru, after I'd been traveling for about 8 months.
I don't think I have to explain how excited I was when the day finally came and I went to the airport to pick her up at the airport.
She arrived almost on time, but unfortunately without her backpack. That day though, it didn't matter at all. Even though we hadn't seen each other that long, it soon felt like I'd never been gone. And I was excited about being able to show her a little how my life's working at the moment and what all has become normal to me, in a culture so different than ours.
The first day we didn't do much but go out to eat and walk around a little bit. As well as the next day, because we were still waiting for her backpack (which, besides, contained some Austrian chocolate and cheese for me).
Arequipa is probably one of Peru's "most beautiful and most touristic places", but for some reason the city itself definitely wasn't the most exciting I've seen. I guess at some point cities just start looking all the same, and it's more the nature around it that counts. At least for me. (Which Arequipa has, when you can actually see something through the fog. It's surrounded by Volcanos, some of them slightly topped with snow.)
So, even though the backpack still wasn't here, we left for a trek through the Colca Canyon a few days after. We wanted to go without a guided tour, and surprisingly that was much easier to organize than I'd thought.
We got picked up at our guesthouse at about 3am by a tourbus, which would take us to our starting point, the little village Cabanaconde. On the way there we stopped at the famous "Cruz del Condor", a viewpoint which the Andean Condor likes to cross on their morning flight. And we got lucky - after about 5 minutes waiting the first birds got up into the air, and they got more and more. We watched the incredible spectacle for about half an hour, when the birds started to get less and less again.

cruz del condor

And a little after we were already in Cabanaconde. From there we were on our own, so we asked around for the trail to the place where we wanted to spend our first night.
We took another route than the tours and we didn't meet anybody but a few farmers with their donkeys on the way.
The walk was exhausting though. Since it's a canyon we started up and had to get down on the first day - far down. The sun was gleaming hot and there was nearly no shade. And the trail was rocky and steep.
But we found the place, wich is less a village that two houses which are both for tourists. But it was beautiful. The one we stayed at had a big, blooming garden with fruits, flowers and vegetables of all kinds, and the owner was a super nice lady and very excited about us visiting her place. There were also three little hot springs right next to the river, which was perfect for relaxing after a long hiking day.
On the second day my whole body felt sore, but luckily our way that day was a little more relaxed. We made it to our next stop, an oasis in the canyon, by the middle of the afternoon., and before the tourist groups arrived. Because that was a place where everybody went, but still there was not much. We spent the rest of the day at the pool and playing Scrabble and enjoying life.
The hike up the canyon was waiting for us on our last day, and it was supposed to be exhausting. Which it was, but luckily it wasn't that long..rather steep than long, or how else would it work to get up 1000m of altitude in three hours?
When we made it, I was not only surprised, but also proud of my mom that she did stuff like that with me without even thinking of giving up.
Back to Arequipa we took a regular bus and everything went smoothly.
At the busterminal we bought a ticket for a night bus to Ica, our next stop. We went to get our stuff (my mom's backpack with my chocolate and cheese had finally arrived), and then back to the terminal.
The next morning we woke up in the middle of the desert, Ica.

Huacachina
We never planned to spend much time in Ica, but wanted to go on to the Oasis Huacachina. That's about 20 minutes and a 6-Soles taxi ride away from Ica City.
But before we could get there, we had to learn a Peruvian (or South American or world wide) message - backpacks do get stolen if you don't pay attention.
So we had to continue our trip without cheese and chocolate and the Scrabble.
When we arrived in Huacachina the first thing we found out that it's ridiculously expensive. And that the majority of tourists there were actually Peruvian.
It took us a while to find a place to stay within our budget, and then we decided just to enjoy the luxury. We went out to have a drink and to eat, and for the sunset we walked up the dunes behind the houses. There you get to see what you wouldn't have guessed from the center of the oasis: the wide and empty.
Personally I do prefer the mountains, but desert like that just has something that's magic. It seems so endless, and so peaceful and desperate at the same time. It was a sunset worth remembering.
On the next day we spent some quiet time at the lake of the oasis, before going back to Ica to continue our trip to the coast.
But before that we had to pay the police a visit, which delayed our leaving a little bit.

Paracas
The bus ride to the coast was short, but we had to take a taxi from Pisco to Paracas because at the time we arrived were no more public buses leaving.
I enjoyed coming to Paracas because I'd already been there before and it was one of the places I really liked. Probably because of the two extremes, the blue and endless ocean and the dry and wide desert. And the little town is also nice ;) And it was cool, being able to show my mom something I'd already seen and tell her how my first time at that place was.
We spent our first night in some kind of a hotel, before moving to a really nice hostel the next day. The only annoying thing about that, were a group of loud and stupid Englishman, which we'd already seen in Huacachina.
Besides spending time at the beach, we were at the hostel quite a lot, cooking, talking, or reading. One day we did a tour to the Ballestras Islands, two rock islands full of birds, penguins and sea lions. As always, the boat ride was what I enjoyed most.
In the afternoon we took a tour through a part of the desert, passing rockformation and beautifully coloured beaches.
Lunch time was scheduled in one of those terrible touristic places, where a plate of food costs about ten times as much as it usually does. So we tried to find something different, and ended up in the house of an old couple. They got up to make some fresh fish with fries just for us, an I bet it was a hundred times better than the tourist restaurant :P
The rest of the lunch break we spend at the beach, enjoying the sound of the waves crashing against the coast. And then it was already time to go back to Paracas.
After a few days relaxing, we decided to continue our journey into the direction of Huaraz, with a short stop in Chincha (sounded good, and was on the way).

Chincha
The main reason we stopped in Chincha was that we could go to Lima early and catch a day bus to Huaraz. And that we would see another place.
When we got off the bus in Chincha, I first regretted stopping there at all. It was loud, dusty, crowded and it seemed impossible to find a hostel close to the bus stop.
But after we finally found one and got rid of our stuff, I kinda started to like it. It's a typical Peruvian city, and it has a market you can definitely enjoy. And it's not as touristic as other places. In fact, I didn't see any tourists there.
In the afternoon we took a colectivo to a town abut 15 minutes away from Chincha - El Carmen. El Carmen used to be slaver town, and still has an Afro-Peruvian population and culture. And a lot of history.
Still, in reality, there's not much going on. It's very quiet and we hardly saw any people. The only information we found was a sign that said tourist information. In reality it was a musician's house, and his son ended up giving us a kind of private tour. It took a while to convince my mom to get on the small motorcycle as a third passenger, but at the end she didn't have a choice. And after a while, I think, she actually started to enjoy it.
We visited one of the old haciendas, where slaves lived and worked, healing water, and fields. A lot of fields - cotton, mandarines, avocados, and what not. And watched another one of the most impressive sunsets I've seen.
Back at the house we got some wine, and our tour guide gave us two huge avocados from his garden as a gift.
In the evening we took a bus back to Chincha, where we spent the night and got up early in the morning to take a bus to Lima. And I started getting nervous and excited and happy and everything about getting back to Huaraz, to see what's changed and what's the same and to show my mom everything that had been my daily life for four months.