Ay ay ay.
Whew. Sitting in Chifa Chifa Chifa in Huaraz right now with mi hermano. It's been a good last couple days. I'm happy to have Eli here with me. I kind of operate as the guide and he works as the translator. We make a good team, however being able to communicate with people, although very beneficial, does seem to take a but of the mystery out of my traveling.
It's an 8 hour bus ride from Lima to Huaraz, along with a gain on 11,000 feet of elevation. So we're up in the mountains staying with a friend of a friend via the Church and Facebook. She's very nice.
Getting here was on the bus. It costs about $30 or so for the ride but comes with a meal and three movies, AC and recliner seats. Not too bad. When I got online they were having a discount, it actually said Insuperable, which Google translated to Unbeatable. It only cost $10, and although I feared a broken seat for 8 hours I went for it. Besides, 8 hours is only 8 hours. It was a steal. The conductor asked us to sit elsewhere, nicer seats, so all the English speaking folks would be on the same floor of the bus for the movie. Three stellar shows later we arrived.
Huaraz is great. The trekking center of the Central Andes. Not quite like the scene in Kathmandu, but groovy nonetheless. Church this morning. Pretty standard minus the Spanish part. I think I understood 20 words during the meeting. The strange part came at the beginning of the sacramental prayers. Oh God, in Spanish is O Dios. But what I heard was adios. I wondered why the words goodbye had been included in the sacramental prayers in Spanish speaking countries. I assume I'm not the first gringo to have this problem.
Day (acclimatization) hike up to Laguna Churup. A difficult time finding some transportation but eventually we were rolling. About a 2 1/2 hour hike up to around 14,500 feet. It was beautiful. And yes I went swimming. Cold. Descent was good. Only problem with his hike was we thought their would be a small town at the start of the trek. No such luck. So by the time we got down our bellies were rumbling. We also didn't have a taxi so we headed back towards Huaraz, a 4 hour walk. Half an an hour later we stumble upon a family in the street up in the middle of nowhere. I'm sick of walking so I go over and commence the 90 second conversation I'm getting used to. Eli came to the rescue and continued where I left off. All I effectively communicated was, hey I'm white and I don't understand what you're saying. Five minutes later I felt a little left out of the conversation. So I threw out my new phrase: tengo hambre (I'm hungry). I've said that a lot on this trip but never has it so quickly turned into a bowl of beans, potatoes and guinea pig (cooked of course) in my hands. We ate outside sitting on the side of the road in the dark. It was great. Then I played my favorite game with the Peruvian ninos. It's called Como se dice (how do you say). Basically I say a Spanish or English word and they have to say the other. It's a good one.
Finally got a taxi back to town. A lady got in next to me, so I exchanges pleasantries. She spoke Quechua, the native tongue, and no Spanish. I decided to leave that conversation for another day. Eli and I joked that if mom were here our problem would have been solved. She would have done what she always does when she encounters someone who speaks a different language. It's called slower and louder. DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? As if the effectiveness of the eardrum is the main problem.
So now we are having dinner at Chifa Chifa Chifa. Chifa means little Chinese restaurant. I don't know why it is repeated three times. I ordered the tallarines 40x40. Tallarines means noodles, and I'm not usure if 40x40 has anything to do with food. Either way I had a giant meal for $4. Just the way I like it.
Pictures to follow, Internet problems.
Whew. Sitting in Chifa Chifa Chifa in Huaraz right now with mi hermano. It's been a good last couple days. I'm happy to have Eli here with me. I kind of operate as the guide and he works as the translator. We make a good team, however being able to communicate with people, although very beneficial, does seem to take a but of the mystery out of my traveling.
It's an 8 hour bus ride from Lima to Huaraz, along with a gain on 11,000 feet of elevation. So we're up in the mountains staying with a friend of a friend via the Church and Facebook. She's very nice.
Getting here was on the bus. It costs about $30 or so for the ride but comes with a meal and three movies, AC and recliner seats. Not too bad. When I got online they were having a discount, it actually said Insuperable, which Google translated to Unbeatable. It only cost $10, and although I feared a broken seat for 8 hours I went for it. Besides, 8 hours is only 8 hours. It was a steal. The conductor asked us to sit elsewhere, nicer seats, so all the English speaking folks would be on the same floor of the bus for the movie. Three stellar shows later we arrived.
Huaraz is great. The trekking center of the Central Andes. Not quite like the scene in Kathmandu, but groovy nonetheless. Church this morning. Pretty standard minus the Spanish part. I think I understood 20 words during the meeting. The strange part came at the beginning of the sacramental prayers. Oh God, in Spanish is O Dios. But what I heard was adios. I wondered why the words goodbye had been included in the sacramental prayers in Spanish speaking countries. I assume I'm not the first gringo to have this problem.
Day (acclimatization) hike up to Laguna Churup. A difficult time finding some transportation but eventually we were rolling. About a 2 1/2 hour hike up to around 14,500 feet. It was beautiful. And yes I went swimming. Cold. Descent was good. Only problem with his hike was we thought their would be a small town at the start of the trek. No such luck. So by the time we got down our bellies were rumbling. We also didn't have a taxi so we headed back towards Huaraz, a 4 hour walk. Half an an hour later we stumble upon a family in the street up in the middle of nowhere. I'm sick of walking so I go over and commence the 90 second conversation I'm getting used to. Eli came to the rescue and continued where I left off. All I effectively communicated was, hey I'm white and I don't understand what you're saying. Five minutes later I felt a little left out of the conversation. So I threw out my new phrase: tengo hambre (I'm hungry). I've said that a lot on this trip but never has it so quickly turned into a bowl of beans, potatoes and guinea pig (cooked of course) in my hands. We ate outside sitting on the side of the road in the dark. It was great. Then I played my favorite game with the Peruvian ninos. It's called Como se dice (how do you say). Basically I say a Spanish or English word and they have to say the other. It's a good one.
Finally got a taxi back to town. A lady got in next to me, so I exchanges pleasantries. She spoke Quechua, the native tongue, and no Spanish. I decided to leave that conversation for another day. Eli and I joked that if mom were here our problem would have been solved. She would have done what she always does when she encounters someone who speaks a different language. It's called slower and louder. DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? As if the effectiveness of the eardrum is the main problem.
So now we are having dinner at Chifa Chifa Chifa. Chifa means little Chinese restaurant. I don't know why it is repeated three times. I ordered the tallarines 40x40. Tallarines means noodles, and I'm not usure if 40x40 has anything to do with food. Either way I had a giant meal for $4. Just the way I like it.
Pictures to follow, Internet problems.
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| The sign pretty much explains this one. |
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| Walking home through Pitec and Llupa. |
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| Huaraz. |
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