Since Last Time...Huaraz!

sunset at hatun machay:




pics from hatun machay:











I´m an intense climber

pics from dave´s climb:







houses on the route to laguna anticocha


amanda at laguna anticocha


the start of the laguna churup hike

other views from the hike:





amanda and dave cooking at andy´s place


street art in huaraz


woman in the market in huaraz


Hola Everyone!

Since last time, a lot has happened. I´m going to give you all the breakdown but it might be a bit fast. Sorry but I got´s things to do and places to see. Here we go:

Since arriving in Huaraz, we gained our grounding after a rough first week. Lilli got pretty sick with an ear infection and a fever. She had to let them sweat out before we could really do anything and get better. During that first week, we gained our bearings of the town, met up with Jeff and Jarra (friends from Rhiannon Community) for Chuchuwasi and other interesting beverages, as well as hanging out with our friends from Couchsurfing. After that first week, our friend from Oregon, Amanda, arrived in Huaraz and we were able to really start getting into gear.
Andy (Couchsurfing host), Nelson (Couchsurfer) and I decided to head up to Huscaran National Park to summit Vallanarju, a 5686 meter peak (for all those Americans, that is equal to about 18500 ft.) We got up there the first day and Andy made us practice climbing in both rock shoes as well as mountaineering boots because a lot of the time we would have to be scrabbling on those boots. Trying to climb a 6a (= 5.10b) in plastic boots is really hard but I was able to lead the route and make Andy proud (just kidding Andy). The next day, we headed up to base camp at 4800 meters for a day of acclimitization and rescue practice. Awesome fun and a lot of work learning all the different techniques, especially since Spanish is not my first language. Nelson and I had a blast jumping off the edge of a hill and pulling one another along until we could arrest each other. That night we went to sleep early to get up at 2 AM and start hiking around 2:30AM for the summit. We needed to get up that early so that the ice and snow would be still very hard and not slush by the time we wanted to come back down to camp. Andy thought that we should reach the summit within four hours and descend within three hours, since we were all strong hikers and in decent shape. By the way, 4800 meters is the height of the tallest peak in France (Mont Blanc), which made Nelson crack up with laughter at the fact that we were camping at the same height. So, Andy and Nelson and I got up, started hiking up the glacier around 2:30 in the dark. The glacier at that hour is so sparse and bone chilling at times that it can be a bit hard to regulate your body temperature, especially as you heat up early and then cool down fast. We saw some crevasses as well as ice bridges that we had to cross. Pretty incredible and made me realize how wonderfully beautiful the world in which we live in is. So as we kept on hiking, I looked at my watch and realized we were way ahead of schedule. By the time we reached the summit, the ascent had only taken us 2.5 hrs and we were left up there before the sunrise! The sun eventually came up within 20 minutes of us being there, but man was it cold! I got some amazing pictures of the Cordillera Blancas from the summit as well as a feeling that I need to do this more in my life. For the descent, we bombed down and got back to camp by 7 AM, a total of only 4.5 hrs hiking! We made it back to our tents before some other mountaineers had awakened! We were then able to hike down to the main road and hitch a ride back with some of the other local mountain guides and their company thanks to Andy´s suave nature.
While we were up on the hill, Lilli and Amanda went to visit a local social center in Caraz, a Peruvian woman who owns a community education center, where she educates people from all over the world and gives seminars about the local community. She also makes her own cheese, yogurt, and butter, and gave Amanda and Lilli a tour of the place. They also took a trek to Laguna Anticocha, a glacial lake in the Cordeirra blancas. The trek was through some small villages, where women were tending to their sheep and taking naps in the hills. Quite the picture of life in the mountains of Northern Peru.
After our respective outings, all met up back in Huaraz and went out for drinks and dinner with some of our new buddies from Huaraz who work as mountain guides at the casa de guias.
2 days later, we were on our way again: Amanda, Lilli and I headed off to Hatun Machay, Quecwha for Rock Forest (Quecwcha is the native language of the region, before the Spainards came in). Not much information is on the Internet about the place but it is absolutely incredible. It definitely has more rock available than my local hangout Smith Rock and is still in its infancy of development, with tons of new routes going up consistently. We had to travel for about 2 hours to get out there but it is in an amazing setting with views of the Cordillera Blancas, Huayhuash and the Pacific Ocean on clear days! When we first got out there, we met a Spanish buddy Xavi, who went climbing with us at the warm up spot. I led a 2 5.9s and then a 5.10b. Xavi went to lead the 10b after me and one of the holds popped right before he got the first bolt so he went flying and hit the deck! I was a bit shaken up but Xavi, an experienced climber, walked it off and went right back to the route to send it. That night a few more folks arrived with the owner Andres and some Chuchuwasi, a local drink made of different types of local plants and fermented cane juice. It helped make the night a lot warmer, espeically since Hatun Machay is around 4200 meters in height (13500 ft.) so it gets pretty darn cold at night... and we were camping outside the refuge! The next day, we went to the Cueva (cave) for some fun routes. A gorgeous 10a called Putas Chicas was our first followed by me hang-dogging a 10c (pretty physical but I managed to finish the send). I also led a 10b chimney that had my heart racing a bit and top-roped an 11c that I think I could have gotten if I was in better shape. Xavi sent a 12b without a hitch and made me realize how much harder I am going to climb when I get back. We bid farwell to our Spanish friend, who was headed out of Hatun Machay for work, and warmed ourselves by the fire with friends that night.

Also while at Hatun Machay, Lilli and Amanda both climbed their first 5.10d´s...a huge accomplishment for both of them. The place was absolutely magical and beautiful, and between climbs, we enjoyed some hiking, sunsets, and soaking up the sun. Our nights were full of card games, hot food, guitar playing, and chatting in Spanish with other travelers who were staying at the refugio. Lilli also taught a yoga class (in attempted spanish) to some of the girls who were traveling to the refugio from Chile. All in all, we were psyched to have had the opportunity to spènd 4 days at this amazing, off the beaten track place.
We hiked down to the road on Saturday afternoon after our last morning of climbing, caught an overfilled taxi, and dragged ourselves back into Huaraz. We splurged on a nice hostel with hot showers and beds...(no more sleeping on Andy´s floor!) Tomorrow we are headed off to start the Santa Cruz trek, a 4 day trek through the Cordierra Blancas. We are psyched! More to come soon folks....

A Few Things About South America

So I´ve realized that there are quite a few things that happen in South America on a daily basis that we have not discussed on the blog. We have written quite a bit about our journey but not much about the day-to-day interactions that take place here. I wanted to give everyone some insight as to what occurs when we walk out our front door:

-Taxis, Combis, Collectivos, Buses:
For this section I want to give it some space because it is a constant in our lives. By the way, combis and collectivos are usually Volkswagon vans that have been modified to fit upwards of 20 people in them (not necessarily safe but we will get to that). So if anyone has been to New York City, you know how the cabbies drive. If you think that is bad, you have no idea. I have almost been hit every day that I have been down here as well as thought our bus was going to go off a cliff. The combis and collectivos are pretty cheap means of travel but you also get crammed into them. Normally, there are four rows of seats for 3 people each (note: if you have long legs, you´re screwed). Yet, there have been instances where people are standing in the ¨aisles¨ between seats, hunched over as the combis whiz through the cities. Also, there is a driver and a yeller. The driver drives and the yeller screams different places the combi is going to attract passengers. And boy do they yell hard as well as move incredibly fast. Lil and I were on one combi where I thought this elderly woman was going to be tossed out on the street because she was not ¨sube, sube, sube¨ fast enough (it means get off). Also, the combis are on timecard schedules so at various points of the ride, the yeller will jump out (while the car is still going), run to the time card slot, and then run back (no more than a minute usually). That´s combis.
Taxis, o taxis. First, their driving is really bad and be prepared to get thrown around in the backseat. But the biggest thing that makes me laugh is the honking. There is a honk for everything. Literally. One version is to see if you need a ride. Another is get out of the way pedestrians because I´m going through. The next is get out of the way as I round this corner, both for cars and people. Yet another is honking at other taxis to move. (Segue: people don´t really yell here they just whistle. And whistle loud and well. For everything.) The world of honking down here could have its own anthropological study.
Buses. They are this country´s version of planes. Very nice with full reclining seats, televisions and bathrooms. You even get fingerprinted when you go on the bus line Linea; pretty serious stuff. The movies are almost always hardcore action films and some of them are bootlegged, meaning that at times the screen will cut to nothing or a green screen. As far as sleeping on overnight buses, not really as everyone is usually playing their music. (Note: people don´t have I-pods, they have cell phones with music on them. And no headphones so they play them out loud. We have seen kids walking around in groups, all with their music playing, all different songs.)

People. They people are amazing and I really enjoy spending time to talk with them. It is a bit difficult sometimes to generate a lot of conversation, not only because of the language barrier, but because their lives are so different from ours. The women in the markets are usually of the town we are visiting and its not like I can talk to them about climbing mountains or other books. It has been very hard for Lil at times because even the younger women are mostly concerned with family and fashion, while I have been able to meet some climbing guides or other South American male travelers. Really lets you know how different one world is from another and how, if you want to be able to connect with people, you often need to be of the same economic background.
So, other things about the people, is that they love to try their English. I have had kids come up to me and the interaction has gone-
-¨What time is it?¨ says kid in English.
-¨Son las tres¨ replies Dave.
-¨That means it is three o´clock. That is correct.¨ says kid.
-¨Yep.¨ replies Dave
-Kid proceeds to run away with a smile.
Some of the really young kids are so adorable as they will say ¨hello¨ and then run to their parents. I often try to make faces at them to interact and the parents have smiles on their faces to see our interaction. We have not had any negative interactions so far and feel very thankful for there is a lot of poverty. I have had to refuse street kids daily, who come to you begging. Sometimes, they smell of alcohol, which is a major coping mechanism used down here. And seeing elderly people in the markets, grabbing you for change. I have given some money away but it isn´t always possible. And the locals will often just ignore the person, which has got to be that much hard to not even have your existence acknowledged.

Food. So this is one of the biggest questions asked out there. ¨What do you eat? How does it taste? Do they really eat only that?¨ Here is some insight. There are usually plenty of nice restaurants to go to, definitely in the tourist locations with some gringo restaurants. Problem is that when you are traveling on a budget, you can´t always eat out at the nice places. Sure, once in a while, but every day and night will be breaking the bank. So, the best places to go are the local restaurants or the markets. No, not Stop and Shop supermarkets but huge warehouses with tons of tiny stalls where the people will sell their goods (ie, fruit, veggies, any type of meat, fish) as well as have some small restaurants upstairs for eating. The local restaurants are really nice but I don´t really want to talk too much about them. The real show is in the markets. Starting with the comedor (eating area), they have everything from jugerias (juice stalls) to lunch and dinner areas. Be prepared as you go in to be yelled at for your business. ¨Chico, venga, venga. Tenemos jugos, caldos, pollos...Que quieres?¨ (Come here. We have juices, soups, chicken...What do you want?). Lil and I have been in spots where we aren´t even able to think because so many people are beckoning us. Normally, we may go to the jugerias in the morning to get a fresh juice and maybe some pan (bread) or tamales (ground up corn that is cooked in a banana leave; normally has chicken in it as a surprise). But the real show is almuerzo. In addition to having regular menus, the different shops will have the ¨menu of the day¨. Very cheap and huge portions (makes Texas look small). Soup for the first course and then usually some type of chicken and rice concoction for seconds. And tons of different spicy sauces to use to mix things up a bit. I really like getting a soup because the regular lunches are way too big.
Ok, on to the vendors. Fruits and veggies are basic; you probably have a farmer´s market in your area or have been to one. Same deal. The real funny thing is the bucther area. I have seen goat heads, pig heads, live cuy (guinea pigs) that are about to be dunked into hot oil for lunch.... Not uncommon to see a man hauling a massive pig on his back; the pig is gutted and may even have a bit of blood still coming out. And you get the whole ¨Venga, venga, venga¨ again to see their goods. I love it because it is such a great cultural experience but anyone from PETA would cry. Yet, these animals probably led better lives than the cows we have on ranches in the States. And do they taste good! The meat is so much better down here; makes McDonald´s sound like a dumpster diving locale.
And that is it for now. Up next, Lil and I will take on a hike in the Parque Huarascan for a bit. My next post will include that adventure as well as discussions about Artesanias, the South American gypsies....

Huanchaco and around:)

We arrived in Huanchaco about a week ago and haven´t been able to leave! Huanchaco is a little surfing town on the northern coast of Peru, about 20 minutes from the city of Trujillo, where people come from all over the world to surf, swim and enjoy the sunshine. We arrived in Trujillo from Chiclayo in mid afternoon and when we got off our bus, we met another couple who were also heading towards Huanchaco and asked if we´d like to share a cab. The man was from Chile and the woman was from France, and they spoke only a few words of English. We decided to share a room with them at a cheap hostel, and hang out for a few days. It was definately a challenge, as we were trying to get to know them and have good conversations, but our Spanish is not at the point yet where we can discuss anything in real depth. By the end of the 3 days we spent with them, however, we had picked up some more vocab words and had managed to have a few conversations about our work, our respective countries, and a few other topics. We found a really funky bar in town with them as well, which turned out to be our hang out of choice for the next few days.

We have found that Huanchaco is an extremely laid back town, with many fun little coffee shops, restaurants, and wonderful people who seem to have all the time in the world and often stop along the beach just to strike up a conversation with you. While playing guitar on the beach, an older man sat down beside me to listen and proceeded to tell me his whole life story about how he came to live in Huanchaco. The locals call him abuello (grandfather) and after making his aquaintence, we had the pleasure of meeting many other locals who were walking the beach and stopped to say hi to Abuello. While Dave was out surfing, a little girl playing in the sand demanded that I help her make a sandcastle, and then took it upon herself to teach me the word for sand (arena) and castle (castillo). She wouldn´t stop until I pronounced the words exactly right. While walking back from the market, Dave was stopped by a man who invited him to have a beer with him because it was his birthday. Thus is the life here....no doubt we will meet some more wonderful smiling people this afternoon when we set up on the beach for our last day in Huanchaco.

We also checked out another archiological site nearby, the Huaca del sol and the Huuaca del Luna. The Temple of the moon was a religious site used by the Moche people and the Temple of the Sun was used by their political leaders. The site was facinating and we had a very enthusiastic, guide. The visit was all in Spanish, but we understood most of the explanations and were prety psyched to get an opportunity to see this amazingy perserved, beautiful site.

In conclusion, this week has been spent pretty much sunbathing, renting surfboards, running on the beach, and meeting too many people to count. I can say that we are both thouroughly relaxed and content. We even stayed at a hostel where we could use the kitchen, so we spent the past few nights in, cooking nice dinners and enjoying the luxury of being able to cook our own food with fresh produce from the market. Tonight we will board an overnight bus (grrr....not my favorite but there was no other option) to Huaraz, a popular tourist destination in the Cordierra Blancas, where the high season has just begun! We will be doing some trekking, climbing, and playing in the mountains.

Hope all is well with those who are following us!
Much love,
Robin:)

main square in trujillo


trujillo has some pretty amazing churches


engravings and paintings on the walls of the huaca del luna



the huaca del sol


Some sunset pictures:






surfer dave


local fisherman and his wife examining the days catch (cangrejo!)




ahhh bliss....


Lilli eating marycuya...one of the excellent tropical fruits you can buy for less than a dollar!


Us on the beach, enjoying the sunshine


Beach gymnastics


Ana, Regu and Dave walking the beach our first evening in Huanchaco


boats that the local fishermen use...made out of reeds!

..and onward towards the coast!

Right now I am sitting at an internet cafe in Chiclayo, on the coast of northern Peru. Dave and I have been here for a few days, taking in the big modern city, and going to the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan, one of the most amazing museums I have ever been to! This museum was erected to house the artifacts uncovered from one of the biggest and most complete archaelogical finds in history, the tomb of Sipan, the leader of the Mochica people who lived on the coast of northern Peru over 2000 years ago. The museum is shaped like a pyramid, and there are 3 levels...you start on the top level. Each level of the museum takes you deeper into the archaelogical excavation, it was created to make one feel as though they are an archaelogist, systematically uncovering the different layers of the tomb. The articfacts inside the museum were amazingly well preserved, and we saw thousands of artifacts in gold and silver, tons of expertly made pottery, and the bones of the great leader himself. This museum is rated to be one of the best museums in the world, and we agree! All of the exhibits were in Spanish, so we spent a good deal of time deciphering the text and writing down new vocab words in a notebook we brought with us.
Chiclayo also has a huge market, which was amazing to walk through. I really enjoy going to markets because everything is so fast paced and busy, its very entertaining to stop in your tracks and just watch the hundreds of things going on around you. There is inevatably someone carrying a large bin of freshly killed chickens and shouting ¨Permiso!¨while he meanders quickly through the crowd. There are people chopping fish, bartering over vegetables and hundreds of people just sitting quiety or sleeping at their stalls, selling everything from plastic dolls, to T-shirts to pornographic magazines to hammers and super glue. While all this is happening, there are about 20 people, shouting at you in spanish, waving at you to come to their food stall and try their fruit drinks, cerviche, or, in this specific case, a kid goat stew which is a specialty in Chiclayo.

Before we came to Chiclayo, we spent a few days in Cajamarca, another city about 7 hours northwest of where we are now. It is a gorgeous colonial city and we spent a few days seeing the sites with our Dutch friend Merluse, who we decided to join forces with after we parted ways with Emil. Our first day in town we went on another long hike through the countryside to get to some more ancient ruins. They were pretty hard to find, and we had to ask several farmers along the way for directions. Sometimes its difficult to trust their directions, however; we´ve discovered a trend in south america that people will give you directions even if they have to make them up. Apparently it is rude to say ¨no se¨(I don´t know), so they often tell us to take a right or a left, with no idea whatsoever about the correct directions. In this case, we actually got good directions and we stumbled upon a beautiful fortress where we explored, took some pictures and had a lunch of fresh Papaya and banannas.
We also took a very touristy tour to Porcon, a community about 35K outside of Cajamarca where a self-suffient evangelical Christian community lives. They have opened their community to visitors to show how they make their cheese and textiles from scratch and to take them on tours around the property. The tour turned out to be a walk around their zoo (we didn´t know they had a zoo)in the pouring rain, and the opportunity to buy some cheese if you want. We were a bit disapointed, but met a french and peruvian couple along the way who decided to ditch the tour with us and have tea. We talked in mixed Spanish, French and English and had a great discussion, until our tour guide found us and told us it was time to go. He wasn´t too happy about us disappearing from the tour because he had to come look for us, and then wait to finish our tea. Ooops.

Well, thats all for now folks, I must get back to check on Dave, who is currently napping in our hostel room after another bad bout of the stomach flu. It keeps sneaking up on us when we least expect it! Tomorrow, if he´s feeling better, we are headed to Huanchaco, a little surfing town on the coast where we will hopefully rent some boards and mess around in the sun and waves for a week or so.

Before I go, a few fun facts about day-today life in Peru:
-A lot of cities use ¨combis¨ a sort of van sized taxi, for cheap transportation. It is one guy´s job to drive and anothers sit next to the sliding door with his head hanging out the window yelling to passsers by the name of the location where the combi is headed. When someone flags the combi down, they slide open the door and the new passenger jumps in, usually while the van is still moving, and squishes (even if there is no sitting room) with the other passengers inside. Riding in one feels like being in an action movie.
-A lot of the time, when Dave and I are walking down the street, people will yell from 30 yards away ¨Hello! How are you!¨in thicky accented English. Over 3 children have come up to us to ask us the time (both in english and spanish), and when we give them a response in spanish, they will say the time in English, giggle, and run away. It seems as though people (especially the younger people) are really excited to practice their english. It can be embarrassing sometimes though, for example, when you walk by a crowd of 50 people who are watching a street performer and the street performer yells out ¨Hello! Welcome to Peru!¨and everyone turns and looks at you. (this actually happened) I´m convinced that I don´t stand out that much, but I guess the fact that Dave is 6 feet tall, blonde, and light skinned doesn´t help in our efforts to blend in.
-There is a talking parrot at our hostel who just says ¨hola¨ all day long and laughs at you when you walk past him. I don´t know why I find this so amusing, but I do.
-Shameless self promotion: My spanish is getting a lot better. I´m proud of myself.

stay in touch you all, and thanks for reading!
-the robin:)

The Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan, rated one of the best in the world. This is the outside of the museum, we were not allowed to take our cameras inside!




A street vendor we met in Chiclayo, he sells beautiful silver and iron jewlery and little figurines that he makes out of twisted copper and iron.


Some pictures of the HUGE market in Chiclayo






Chiclayo is crazy with traffic and lots of street vendors!


Spontanious nightime parade in Cajamarca


woman with an alpaca in porcon


Crafts we saw on our tour of Porcon


there were also lots of animals in the zoo at porcon It was pretty terrible to watch them in their cages. This is the one picture we took, of the cock of the rock, a well known variety of amazonian bird. There were also bears and monkeys and lions, but no pictures of those. They looked too sad.


overlooking cajamarca


stretching at a bus stop. Merluse looking on.


we discovered more ruins!