Llama Trek

I'll try to make this posting shorter, as i know the last one was very long, and may have been boring for some people reading it, but to me the history of this town is so important and also so very interesting.

But this blog is about a llama trek that we went on the weekend. It only cost 500soles for the whole bus, regardless of how many people were coming, but we had 10 so it was only 50 soles each. Which works out to be about $26/27 dollars which is very cheap for a whole day of trekking. Our bus driver here at the CCS house, Alejandro and his son Jason, who also is our night doorsman some nights, were our guides. They were absolutely fantastic, and Jason spoke english which was very helpful as i don't speak much spanish. Actually thats a lie, i barely speak any spanish! Haha, but I'm getting by and I'm getting better, as a matter of fact i have spanish this arvo at 3pm, so i will concentrate harder!

So we took the bus about 2 hours to the north of Ayacucho, visiting some small towns on the way such as a village famous for its trout farming! We also stopped into a village called Santa Rosa, where we gave them some bread and had the opportunity to buy some beanies, made from Alpaca wool. Which is so much softer and nicer than Llama wool. But i didn't buy one, as my thick hair just wont fit under one, haha! They were so lovely and their little dog even had a hand-made alpaca jumper on, so he wouldn't get cold!

We were driving higher and higher, which made it colder and colder. Before we went on the trip we each gave Alejandro an additional 10soles ($3.50USD) to go and buy some supplies for the villagers, as they can rarely make it into town to buy supplies, well actually trade what they have for supplies. So we bought a box of bread rolls, heaps of lollies and pencils for the children and some rice and oil. They were so happy and grateful and the children were very excited for the lollies. It was so nice to put a smile on their faces. Jason told us that the w

omen often have 8 children each!! No wonder there were so many little mouths to feed!!

So from this village we started on our trek, and we visited the most beautiful waterfall. It was amazing and so high as well, i have some great photos so will have to post them here or on my facebook! After the waterfall we continued walking. And i must admit, the high altitude was getting to me. I had some mate de coca- which is coca tea, or tea made from coca leaves which is apparently good for altitude sickness. I'm not sure if it helped or not, but i chewed some leaves as well just for good luck and it was very bitter!! But i just can't explain how hard it was! I mean it had only been 5 days since we arrived in Ayacucho, which itself is about 9,000ft above sea level, so we had probably only just acclimatized to that when we went hiking. At the highest point we were at 15,000ft, so i daresay that i was struggling due to lack of acclimitisation rather than lack of fitness!! (Don't say anything dad!)

So we trekked for 4 hours through llama/alpaca country and it was amazing! Every now and then we saw a local andean woman carrying sticks or herding her alpaca around, but apart from them it was deserted and beautiful. The ground was not what i was expecting. It was very marshy, like full of lillypads that you walked on to avoid the water. But knowing how clumsy I am, soon i had walked into a massive puddle of water and it soaked straight into my socks. At this point I was regretting not taking my hiking boots!!

But it was wonderful, we got to see some amazing countryside and a beautiful freshwater lake up high among the mountains. Also, quite far away though, we could see so many snow capped mountains. It was beautiful. But tough! After walking a few steps we all found we were really out of breath. This is what its like in altitude, you are so out of breath all the time. Even walking down to the shops i find i am out of breath constantly. But its getting easier, as if my body remembers altitude from Nepal. So about halfway into the trek things got much easier. I was breathing better and feeling stronger and not so weak. Could've been the mate de coca too. So I am hoping that the more trekking/walking I do, the better for when Mum comes over and we do Macchu Picchu on the 30th April. I told her tough it is and she was worried but i said to her that if we can trek in Nepal for a week, we can definately do 4 days in Peru! Ever the optimist :)

Stay tuned for my next adventure, as we head to the coast this weekend. I refused to take a night bus, after their terrible record of crashed in Peru, so we are leaving Friday lunchtime and getting back here Monday night. We are staying at an Oasis (like a real one in the middle of sand and desert) on the saturday and then on sunday we are going on a boat and visiting the islands of Ica, to see sea lions, penguins, seals etc etc. Should be a great weekend coming up!! Will miss my volunteer placement on monday, and then tuesday and wednesday there is a whole town strike so all volunteers will be going to the nursing home for the elderly. Then I will start my volunteering with the children, i think. But to be honest, I dont care what I do, as long as i'm volunteering and making the most of my time here to make a difference, it doesn't matter where I am :)

But for now, I must go, spanish lessons are calling, and this was longer than I anticipated and longer than i promised you it would be. Hope you keep reading and also enjoying my adventures :)

xoxo millie