Adventures in Peru

IT’S OVER!!!!
i missed midnight mass. they do in on midnight on 24, not 25. on midnight 25 is when xmas dinner is. the big meal with the entire family. then they sleep and wake up and have a family day for the rest of 25. i do not understand mass in an english church, it would have been fun.
xmas day here was a riot. spent the afternoon drinking and reading in the sun, lying in a hammock. after that i played some cards and headed into town. more shops were open on xmas than are open on any sunday.
the 4 course dinner with cheese and wine between coarses was a bit off. it was supposed to start at 7:30 and go for many hours. we would have time to become hungry between meals. instead it all came at once, at 9:45. 1. soup, 2. sweet stirfied veggies, 3. lemon herb chicken with steamed veggies, chips, mash, stuffing, gravy, and more, 4. christmas cake.
we eat one two three with as few minutes between as was possible to take away dishes and bring out the new food. then we had platters of cheese and crackers left around for a few hours and finaly we recieved four. one two three took until 11:30.
the night was good. we had 10 bottles of wine for 20 people, plus 6 litres of mulled wine. most people drank beer with there meals as well. over the hours of dinner i drank more then my share of wine. none of the beer drinkers cared. they had one glass, i had 7. everyone wins!
we played extreme jenga. shots of pisco all around.
we played beer pong. shots of beer all around.
they played throw joseph in the pool. wet hugs all around.
and sometime after 9 it was time for bed.

my lung friends is back for the third time in 6 months.
no pain.
the tickle in my chest makes me cough.
i would most like to cough him out forever and ever.

in other news, last night was daquari night. that is ‘the best way to get your daily recommended intake of fruits.’ strawberrys, peachs, mangos.

since the mountain.

i spent a few days recovering. a few days drinking. and the whole time socializing. met another pack of irish/english. it is good to have days that are almost normal. spending time with new found friends, do nothing related to tourism.

went to some chalita wrestling. it started out as terrible wwf style wresting. the main event was tag team wresting. 1 traditionaly dressed andean woman (chalita) and one spanish wrestler per team. it was a mix of fake and real. the throws, real; the injuries, real. but there was a lot of over exageration to make the even more enteraining.

i am in arequipa now. i stopped off in puno on route. i visited the floating islands. if i had known that one of them had a hotel i would have spent the night. the “main” island had some restaurants, a mini mart, “hotel,” school, and seventh day eventest church.

i went go-karting today. with regular go-karts we raced around the track playing high-speed bumber cars. my back is wrecked. i got hit hard enough that my had went flying, i spun out into the wall, and developed a massive scratch/bruise on my back. the best part was that helmets and sobriety were optional.

i raced with a mullet.

i have summited a 6000m+ mountain.

Huayna Potosi is a 6088 metre above sea level mountain. it was subzero.

day 1:

getting used to the equipment. learning how to use an ice ax. “you could kill someone with the ice ax, but lets not try; we already had someone fall on one and have it trick into their eye.”

crampons take some getting used to. the day was a lot of fun.

then came the night.

3 people in one tent. a little bit of ice rain. the ice turns to hail, the hail to ice. and then it starts snowing. it snowed over 5cm and covered the tent. very very little sleep was accomplished with freezing weather and rocks in the back.

day 2:

climb the 3.5 hours from base camp to high camp, with all the equipment on our backs. crampons, ice ax, safety harness, sleeping bag, dry cloths, warm cloths, boots. everything but the tents and cooking gear.

at high camp we eat lunch and i get an hourish long nap just before dinner. eat dinner, try and sleep. day 3 was set to start at midnight. after the sun set i tried to get some more sleep. listened to an hour of music, then the battery died. counted the guy with the head lamp that was reading turn 18 pages. toss and turn lots. the nap did me in. sleep off and on until 11:30.

day 3:

get out of bed at midnight. eat breakfast. get dressed. head to the snowy mountain. we started the climb at 1am. it was long, cold and steep. the summit was reached at 6:30am. it was colder then -5C. the wind would gust at speeds enough for me to get a wind burn on my nose.

return to high camp in the light, pack up for the descent to base camp. return to base camp with all the gear on our backs.

the ‘climb’ was finished at 1:30pm. headed back to la paz. sorted out the equipment. eat lunch. showered. read/relaxed. went out for an 8:30 dinner with the people i climbed with. drank some celebration wine.

returned to the hostel and went to the bar for a night cap. with the drinks that people bought me i ended up have 4 or 5 night caps. i also didn’t get to bed until after 1am, almost 1:30. 26 hours awake.

today i embark on a 3 day top secret adventure.
it is the kind of adventure that that i am attempting shocks even me.