Hi everyone, I´m still in Peru.  I´ve pushed my return by 2 weeks because I met a guide I really liked in the mountains near Huancayo and wanted to spend some more time hiking there.  Now, I am writing form Iquitos, which is in the jungle and a totally different world.

I haven´t posted pictures to Picasa as I no longer have my little netbook, but I hope this little narrative will nonetheless offer some imagery.  This was the first time for me to go wild camping and self-supporting for 5 days, so naturally I was a little nervous, but my guide, and soon to be friend, Ruben, had 8 years of experience behind him, so I thought we´d be alright.  Ruben was also new to this trail and termed it as ¨exploration¨ which naturally added appeal to me.  We shopped and planned and packed.  Ruben carried the tent, I carried most of the food and we ended with about 35 kg each which would diminish as we ate the food.  Mani, Ruben´s dog, were to accompany us and also carry his fair share, 3 kg or so of dog food, in his little back pack.

Carrying 35kg was alright.  Carrying them up a 4800 meter (15,700 feet) was not.  I had to command my strength in ways I rarely recall doing to climb up to the pass, with every breath feeling nearly empty.  We camped that night just past the pass.  I was sick from the altitude and went to bed without dinner as the only thing I could stomach was a cup of tea.  Ruben had to eat all of the huge amount of pasta he had prepared for us.  The night did not improve things as my nasal pasageways closed down from the cold dry air.  Luckily, I had packed some Paracetamol which I subsequently had to use every night.  I spent half the night up cursing "what the f am i doing here?¨ and was close to telling Ruben that I was giving up and wanted to go back.

The next day brought more strength and cheer as the sun came up, the iced up creeks started to melt and flow again, and I once again understood why the Inca worshipped the sun.  The day was a lot more pleasant (and mostly downhill) as we walked past the beautiful Suerococha lake, about 2.5 km long, with wild birds nesting in its estuary.  Ruben pointed out some rocks which were lined up in straight line and unlikely to have beenthere  naturally and speculated we were on a old road.  A little bit further his theory was confirmed as we found ourselves on a beautiful Inca road going down the side of the lake.  Having spent quite some time reading and geeking out about the roads, I was so thrilled to walk on one and that was completely remote, untravelled and hardly known.

The third day we got lost.  Utterly lost.  Completely Lost.  "Let´s veer off towards Tanta (a village somewhere nearby)¨ came out of Ruben and collided with a firm ¨Let´s retrace our steps¨ from me.  The earlier part of the day involved a vain search for the lake Ticllacocha, which Ruben kept saying ¨It´s around the the next valley, I´m sure.¨ and after ascending many valleys and passes, we saw nothing but waterless, unhospitable, rocky land.  I was reminded of wild west movies where unsuspecting settlers get lost and die in the arid and harsh wilds of the western United States.  We spotted a patch of green with a little bit of water and decided to camp there.  Ruben did some more exploration without the burden of a back pack with no sign of lake (nor village for that matter) and agreed: ¨Let´s retrace our steps.¨  I was rather upset with Ruben.  His confidence prior to the trip led me to believe it was going to be pretty straight forward, whereas it turned out to be a shot in the dark, but I was mostly concerned about our safe return.  We had spent about half an hour in silence and I decided to break it off by explaining how I felt.  Ruben was apologetic and humble and we both agreed that our priority was to make it back safely, given that we only had 2 days of food, and were 3 days away from our starting point.  Talking was good, as by the end of the evening, humor had returned and the dog Mani made things easier through his playfulness and unconditional love.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and ready to brace the challenge of retracing our steps, which was not totally straightforward as the previous day, we were so preoccupied with finding the mysterious lake, that we hardly ever looked back to see where we were coming from, and there were no trails for the most part as large parts were sheer hard rock.  That´s when Mani amazed us by leading us back almost exactly the same way as we came.  We got the confirmation by occasionally seeing our opposite direction footsteps on a patch of soil.

By midday, we had found our way back to familiar ground and we were now relaxed and enjoying all the beautiful scenery which someone I had missed the first time around.  Garden like is what I would describe a lot of the landscape.  I swam in the glacial waters of the Huascacocha lake on the way back and camped on its estuary, with wild birds as neighbors. The next day, we reascended the dreary pass and it equally challenged me, though this time I did not get altitude sickness.  Before nightfall, we were safely back in the village of Miraflores.

Now I am in Iquitos in the Amazon Jungle, where it is I am surprised to report, more pleasant and less hot and humid than New York City right now.  More on Iquitos next... stay tuned.

:-)

Tarik