Peru

So, it has been quite an adventure in northern Peru. It is now painfully obvious why no one visits here. However, even through all the mishaps it has been unbelievable. The landscape which we travelled through yesterday was majestic and eerie- soaring green mountains and lush valleys. The Andes are spectacular! I could not stop admiring the landscape even though I was freaking about the size of the cliffs beneath the bus wheels.

We are going to stay here at least two days and then head to the coast where the Panamerican Highway is. I have not travelled on a paved road in over a week. This city is beautiful and historical. It is where Francisco Pizarro captured and killed Atahualpa, the Incan leader and of course this led to the downfall of the entire Incan civilization. What a crime. They were using indoor plumbing and building roads and practicing medicine and creating amazing pieces of architecture while the Europeans were still in the Dark Ages. Makes you wonder who the civilized people really are.

As a sidenote, everyone here is really short- especially the indigenous people. Some are shorter than my shoulder! It is like being in Gulliver's Travels as the giant and I am not even that tall. The indigenous people all wear these great big sombreros which I guess makes thern look taller. Two days here and then off to the coast to the city of Chiclayo… Oh, and I have lost a few more items of clothing…I never checked my laundry after getting back in Chachapoyas and some person is now walking around in my black t-shirt, favorite black travel pants from Old Navy and my bra. I am now down to one which is a pretty dire situation…

October 18

I think…and I actually do not even know what day of the week it is…! But I do know that the Mets and Yankees are in the World Series for the first time ever and I AM ON ANOTHER CONTINENT!! I cannot believe it! New York will be crazy…I can only hope that I can possible catch highlights of the game somewhere…and of course, I hope the Mets win big!

Currently in a small fishing/beach/surfing village called Huanchaco which is 15km outside of a big city called Trujillo, which is not very nice. There is some anti-gringo feelings here and wo are not sure why. The political situation is very interesting. Fujimori, the current president, is stepping down in March amid scandal about buying votes. However, after talking to many people here in the north of Peru, he still seems to be well-liked and has apparently done loads of good for the people in Peru. But his right hand man was caught on video bribing the opposition and this led to much world-wide scandal. His right hand man is in charge of the military so there was scare of a military coup but that seems to have diminished. Most people feel that he was a great president and do not want to return to the way the Country was before he was elected. As one guy said, "People have forgotten what it was like to not have paved roads and to only have electricity three days a week and to have to wait on line of basic necessities." Very interesting…but Fujimori changed the constitution so he could run for another term and so some people thought he was abusing his political power. Hmmm…sounds like Rudy Guiliani, who has done tons for New York but sometimes abuses his power. Either love him or hate him…

Ok, have to catch a taxi back to Huanchaco and get out of this city! Heading back to the mountains in two days to a village called Huaraz, which is the climbing and trekking mecca of Peru. We want to do a camping trip in the Cordillera Blancos, the highest mountains in Peru, which are supposed to be unbelievable. I have to tear myself away from the beach because I am absolutely loving feeling the sand between my toes and the sun on my body. But...destination...further!

October 23 - Huaraz

Yankees -2 Mets -0 Bummer!!!!! Just checked the news to catch the update about the game. Actually got to see one inning of game one in an extremely small town while waiting in a bus stop. The guy was flicking the channels and passed ESPN, which had the game on in Spanish, and I jumped up and screamed, "Wait, that is the subway series!" Of course, since I said it in English he did not have a clue but my mimicing of baseball got him to turn the channel back to the game. Of course, the World Series does not have any meaning here at all. And I have been taking some serious grief from the various foreigners about it being the WORLD series and no one is playing but American teams. It is tough to be an American abroad constantly defending my country.

Huaraz is called the Switzerland of Peru because it has the highest mountain in Peru at 21,000 feet and the second highest in South America. The town is Surrounded by snow-capped 20,000 foot peaks and I almost got hit by many cars because I could not top staring at them during my first morning walk. We did not see them upon arrival because, surprise, we arrived at 3 AM, after having to sing songs to keep our sleepy driver awake on the mountain roads.

We are going to go hiking and camping for four days into the mountains on a very popular hike called the Santa Cruz loop. It passes by glacier lakes and goes over two 14,000 foot passes. We decided to hire a burro and his owner to help carry some of our equipment and food. What will take us four days to hike, he will RUN back in one day!! Unbelievable! 20 hours of running in high altitude -I wonder if he told the burro about this. Makes the decathalon look like a cakewalk. Looking forward to seeing soee spectacular scenery and doing some serious hiking since all I have been doing is eating and sleeping and relaxing on the beach for the past week!

Yesterday, we had an all-out volleyball match at our hostel which is owned by an English-Peruvian couple. It was the gringos versus the Peruvians and we got our butts kicked, but had some serious laughs and fun. The owners are extremely nice and once again we are experiencing Peruvian hospitality which is awesome. It is not the same however on the streets and it is still distinctly an anti-gringo feeling here. I expect it will only get worse as we go south to the more touristy areas. Bolivia seems to have solved its problems and it now seems safe to go there which I am psyched about for two reasons. It is supposed to be amazing and it is extremely cheap. I have been spending about 25 dollars a day here but we have been having nice dinners so that has added to the expense. I hope that Bolivia will be a bit cheaper. 0k, my friend is waiting for me to walk back to the hostel. More after camping in the Andes!