Today, Thursday 18th there was no school lessons as the children want to clean the room for the BIG party tomorrow. It will be quite an emotional day as it will be hard to say goodbye to these wonderful people.
Ely and Nilton took us to the Huaytapallana Glacier. We travelled by taxi...no ordinary taxi.... a very old Toyota Carollo wagon, rusted, no heater,no suspension and a faulty back hatch and let in all the fumes. In Australia you would travel these roads by 4WD, but not here.....the roads were full of potholes, deep grooves, bad bridges made of rocks, poles etc, ice covered areas and only one car wide, but it was worth every minute to see this magnificent glacier.
Firstly we had to have the traditional ceremony. We had to drink this very potent drink, face the sun and suck coco leaves, smoke the traditional cigarette....7 puffs only and thank the god of the mountain. This will bring you goodluck, health and well being. It is taken very seriously and we respected their tradition.
There were many llamas along the track and they are so tame that we patted them. Lunch was fresh trout straight from the river with rice and potatoes. When we get back home, rice, potatoes and corn will be off the menu for quite some time.
At the base of this glacier the height was 4,900 metres and we could see the top of the mountain which is another 1,000 mt high. Because of our aclimitisation in Chupaca area, it did not effect us at all. Thank goodness.
We walked around the lake till we reached the glacier. Sadly there will be no photos as the batteries ran out in the camera, on the way to the top, but it is all on film.
Until next week. bye all.
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Wow, the party will be wonderful. It will of course be emotional - you will be sad to leave but you can be so proud of all you have achieved in Chupaca in such a short time. The friendships and memories will be with you for life and you are a fantastic inspiration to many others who can follow in your footsteps... their goals set by following this great, educational and entertaining blog.
ReplyDeleteSafe travels to Cusco and make the most of the Festival of the Sun.
And stay off those coco leaves and wacky cigarettes (that's what you always told me!!!).
Love you lots,
Cass and James and Mirka (who can't wait to see her gwandma and gwampa when they get home!)
xxx
Maxine and Rob
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful remaining trip. We head off tomorrow for 3 months travelling the west coast of Australia so possibly will not get to comment as much.
Cheers
Betty