Day 24: 24/7/12
So this morning 4 from the group were meant to do the hike- Joanne from Canada and Emmanuel and Tamara from Switzerland. But, Tamara was getting sick all night do she didn't come. When we got to the office there were three others there- 2 Germans, father and daughter and a Slovenian man.
We had to drive for about an hour and a half to get to where we were going hiking. It was really bumpy- just a dirt track really on the side of the mountain! I was in the back of the jeep which was fine, but some people were in the trailer part. They had seats but still, I'd say it was bad! there were roadworks aswell where we had to try to go around big diggers! Also there was a "toll". There was a rope across the road, tied with bollards. When the bus driver gave him money he put down the rope. Ye should try that in Polanore- see would ye raise a few pound!!
We stopped at a church in chataquille and the inca trail started beside it. When they were renovating the Inca trail they found a statue of the virgin so they built the church in her honour. It's locked though and only the locals can go in. At the side there was another little shrine to the Guadaloupe virgin. It seems when the Spanish were trying to convert the locals, they couldn't relate to the virgin Mary because she was so white, so they invented this one which has dark skin!
We walked down the Inca trail then. Our guide said it was built BC but the Incas used it so it's called an Inca trail. It's 7km long and was mostly downhill so it was grand. Your calfs get sore walking downhill all the time though! The scenery was class- just mountains and valleys all around us.
I was talking to the Slovenian guy for a while. He was a secondary teacher. I don't know what he taught but he was very interested in languages. He asked me a lot about Irish. When the Eurovision was in Ireland he saw that they introduced things in Irish do he thought we spoke it all the time!
Also talking to the German girl for a while and she's studying to be a teacher. In Germany primary school is different because you train in all subjects but then you specialise in three and that's what you teach really. She was going doing an internship in a school in Brazil- it sounded cool!
I was bursting to go the toilet for ages and eventually had to go behind some bushes on the side of the mountain- not good!
I was gone with the walking all the way down. When we got to the bottom and sat down I got really dizzy all of a sudden. I drank lots of water though and recovered. It only dawned on me then that I hadn't drank water all the way down cos of needing to go to the toilet! Between hot sun and altitude of over 3000 that wasn't a good idea!
We had lunch then by a river. It was lovely there but I didn't feel right. So I sat in the shade and couldn't really eat- shows there was something really wrong. My tummy felt dodgy so I had to go behind the bushes again- not a pleasant experience! Forgot to bring the toilet paper aswell so Muireann I think I might equal your plastic bag incident!!
I felt better then after I drank lots of water and stayed in the shade- I think I just didn't have enough water.
We went then to Mawara (I think). The guide was calling it a crater. They don't know how it was formed- there was either a volcanic eruption, a meteorite or there used to be a lake there. It didn't look like a crater though, it just looked like a valley in between really high mountains.
We walked a little and saw a waterfall and then a little cave on the side of the cliff. We all went in the little cave- hence the photo above. You coud see how the roof of the cave had weird rock- like lava or something.
We walked a bit around the village- saw little houses and farms. There are tourist houses built way up here too! We saw a school and shop and clinic but the place was empty because all the children have their winter holidays do they are out working on farms.
Then we went to a lady's house. She showed us how they make their tapestries. The one she was making had the devil on it and it seems many people here worship the devil but they think hes a good god. There was also lots of corn around and it was getting ready to make chicha- the alcoholic drink. The guide said the men like to drink lots of chicha and the women work really hard keeping the house, making tapestries and raising the kids- of which they could have up to ten! Glad I'm not living up there!!
When we got back we hot a free drink in the cafe that's part of the office and had to fill out an evaluation form. It was a nice idea to get a free drink after the trip.
Came back to the hotel then, rested a bit and had a shower because we were covered in sand! The hike was really dusty!
Went for dinner then at 8- there were about 14 of us this time. The guide brought her 9 yr old daughter to dinner. It must be a really hard job to have with a child at home. The German (who was also sick today) and the two Swiss didn't come. Think everyone else was there. Had good Craic chatting about what everyone did all day- other hikes, horse-back riding, spa!
At one stage the conversation turned to Latino men and it seems the more girlfriends andy hey have and the more they cheat the better respected they are by the other men! Not good for the women round here!
There were free salsa lessons above the restaurant. Myself, Hannah and Anna from new Zealand and Janine from Switzerland went. Janine does salsa a lot so she was really good. There was just the four of us first. The teacher taught us the steps in a line. Then he took us one by one to do the same steps with him as a partner. We did three different sets of steps- it was good fun! The last set had lots of twists in it and he just decides the direction- it didn't seem to follow a set pattern. But when he'd spin me round I'd just end up bumping into him! He told me I have to let he guy lead- I don't need to know where to go!! The other steps were okay though- if I could move my hips at all I'd be flying it!!
No plan as such tomorrow- want to see some things in the city so will just take it easy!