Week 6 - Desert Daze

Most of the last week has been spent either playing in the desert or driving through it. The actual climbing has been limited to a bit of bouldering by the beach and a short coastal scramble.

Beach Bouldering at Atiquipa

We´ve been keeping busy with other activities like a taking a Dune Buggy ride to see ancient pyramids and bones of the Nasca people.

Nasca Dune Buggy!

 Also "sandboarding" which is fun to try, but after a couple of tries we worked out its actually much faster and more exciting just to launch down on your belly...

The Sandboarding Team

Nasca Cemetery - Bones were dug up by graverobbers
 in the last 20 years. Some still have mummified flesh and hair...

 Reached Ariquipa now, Peru´s second largest city. Probably the nicest city we´ve been in so far in terms or atmosphere and architecture, but the centre is full of gringos and tour operators.In fact Asha has just got got her purse and camera stolen - a bit of a wake up call!

 On a separate note, I think I´ve now got used to the fact that our travels are dictated by the whims of the truck rather than the weather (which thankfully remains fine). I have a few more truck foibles to add to the list...

 1 - Brakes failed in Lima traffic and we squashed a taxi (nobody hurt!). This meant 2 extra days in Lima for repairs, and even more money spent on eating out! (17th Sept)

 2 - The steering also failed, possibly at the same time. Luckily this was a quick fix at the same garage. 3 - Spare wheel exploded while trying to change the inner tube (20th)

 4 - Alternator no longer charges secondary battery (ongoing) 5 - We cant get at the alternator to fix this cos the cab hydraulics are broken.

 6 - The brakes jammed on while we were a long way down a dirt track at Atiquipa (22nd) 7 - Front wheel burst and shredded itself while driving (24th) A nice Peruvian trucker helped us change it in return for beer.

 I guess you have to expect this sort of stuff when travelling in a 22 year old truck with an unknown mileage. (The odometer reads over 800,000km)

One of many "Erotic Pots" on show in Lima

Week 5 - Health Problems and Jungle Solutions

I returned to the Hatun Machay rock forest and refugio after 4 nights in Huaraz. However, I must be destined not to climb there... I'd finally recovered from altitude sickness and a stomach bug, but I then woke to find my knee randomly stiff and swollen. Tried climbing on it it but that only made it worse. Things dont seem to heal well above 4000m and its only just getting better now. I still got up to plenty of stuff: helping to herd and butcher a sheep, bushwhacking to the top of a new route, a fair bit of reading and sleeping, as well as imbibing some magic San Pedro cactus then spending the night in a cave... Nobody needed to worry about running out of booze, as Andres (the refugio owner) turned up on 2 occasions with a 4 litre wine bottle full of "Chuchuwasi" jungle juice. Nobody knows exactly what it is, but we do know that half a cup of it was enough to make certain males get a little bit friendly with each other! I wasnt the only one who suffered, which is some consolation. Probably about half the group had some kind of sickness for some of the time. I blame more than a couple of these of the strange water coming out of the taps. Although it was boiled or treated before drinking it still tasted like mud and had tiny little shrimp like creatures floating in it! Anyway, I was starting to get a bit fed up of feeling ill/injured, and i left the place having only done 6 routes in 10 days. They were all excellent routes, but I was glad to be back on the road. A long drive day took us to Lima, the capital. We've found ourselves a hostel in what seems to be the tourist district. Everyone seems to speak a bit of English, and the place is lined with Starbucks, Macdonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut... the best thing though is the discovery of a real supermarket. One that actually sells all the food you might want for a meal under one roof. I've just lunched on a whole baguette with lettuce, two kinds of ham, tomato, cheese and mayo. Also apple juice, crisps, yogurt, and a massive piece of chocolate cake. All while sitting on a big sofa and watching a movie on a big widescreen TV. At home I could have that everyday if I wanted,,, sigh,

Week 4 - Adventures Not Going to Plan

I´m sitting in Huaraz now, reflecting on everything that has gone wrong since we got to Peru.
I´ll make a list.
1- Getting in in the first place (Border faff) 26th Aug
2- Smashed Wingmirror/hostage drama 28th Aug
3- Burst front tyre on mountain pass 31st Aug
4- Dead batteries at Chan Chan 1st Sep
5- Stuck in the mud on track to Hatun Machay 3rd Sept
6- 2 flat inner rear tyres 3rd Sept
7- Truck fell off bottle jacks (twice!) while trying to fix the tyres 6th Sept

On top of all this I've not been acclimatising well. I whiled away 3 days at Hatun Machay 4300m waiting for my headache to go away (everyone else was managing) but just before it did, vomiting and Diarrhea kicked in, so I decided to cut my losses and return to town for some R&R. So far this has taken the form of a huge pizza, a shower, sunbathing and ice cream. mmmhmmm.

I plan to rejoin the others in a day or 2, but a decent curry and a full english breakfast are definitely on the menu before then!

Beach Engineering

Getting involved

The "Rock Forest" Hatun Machay

Seb cutting loose on a 7a

How to unstick a 14T truck...

Placa Verde sector of Hatun Machay

Oh sh!t

Week 3 - Blundering and Bouldering

Having only ever cruised through Euopean border crossings, I didnt see at first what all the fuss was about. It took all morning to get the truck and all passengers stamped out of Ecuador and into Peru... doesnt sound too difficult, but we drove round in circles visiting 4 different offices before we were allowed to pass. Only one market stall was destroyed in this process...

Apparently everyone was allowed to cross here except us...

The morning's frustrations were forgotten after a swim in warm Pacific waters and a game of Volleyball on the beautiful Punta Sal beach. Waves were fun to swim in but too small for boards, so I've yet to try surfing.

Cerveza by the beach at Punta Sal

Our collage of landscapes was expanded with a long desert drive down the Pan American Highway. After a sandy bushcamp, campfire and another truck dance party we were back into the mountains and stocking up food in Cajamarca...

The streets in a lot of these towns are barely wide enough for one truck (One building in Cuenca has an extra lick of red paint), so trying to pass a parked one lead to an unfortunate wingmirror/hostage episode...

We heard the crash but chose to ignore it and skip town quickly, a few minutes later a 4WD chased as down and blocked our road gangster style.A scarily angry woman demanded that 3 of us stay in her appartment until the broken truck was fixed and paid for. This cost $1151 and half a climbing day (but at least she became friendly when this was agreed to).

Toby going for a dyno

A handful of quality boulder problems were to be found at the nearby Coja, and the new routes book saw some action for the first time. Our campsite was some sort of farmyard visitor park and pretty weird to be honest... a few folk played football with the locals, but I got busy learning to slackline. Got a full traverse in eventually (yeah!). Anyway, the little bouldering destination had tickled my climbing appetite, but not being much of a boulderer I was looking forward to Hatun Machay, which was rumoured to be the best sport climbing in Peru...

Well monopolised boulder

..

Week 2: Climbing High and Hard

San Juan bushcamp, moon rising.

San Juan
After our jungle interlude we got back to the business of climbing rocks. Gaining 3000m is slow going in the truck... the 250km drive to San Juan took nearly 8 hours! It was worth it when we finally reached the sunny gorge and indulged in a quality mix of sport/trad.

The "highway" to San Juan

San Juan Crag

Chimborazo
Having skipped the iconic Cotopaxi, Toby and I decided we couldn't let Ecuador's highest peak Chimborazo (6310m) pass us by. The extinct volcano is technically the point furthest from the centre of the Earth, and we were camped practically in its shadow.

Chimborazo

Alpine sacks and diamox packed we hitched up to the 4800m Carrel Hut in an Italian tour coach! After a short (but slow) walk up to 5000m, we reached the Whymper Hut with heads feeling only a little odd. We napped in the near empty refugio ready for a midnight departure. Long and unpleasant night short, our summit attempt was abandoned when I spewed my dinner onto the dorm floor. Lessons: 400m to 5000m in 3 days is rough. Diamox doesnt work.

Sunset from Chimborazo, 5000m

Paute
"Eat, Drink, Sleep, Climb. Repeat"
Four full days at "Ecuador's best sport crag". Plenty to go at across the grades, the superb climbing was interrupted only by beer/food/water runs into town, or when guarding the truck against the more "inquisitive" locals. By the end I'd done over 20 climbs, including my first clean 7a lead - chuffed!

Seb explaining the beta for the 7a

 Many of us made use of the (suspect) river water to wash hair, clothes and body after our extended bush camp. This was actually warmer than a lot of Ecuadorian showers...

Should probably have a photo of me...

Cuenca

In our first city since Quito, everyone has been catching up on showers, eating and internet. I've settled comfortably into the Hot Rock mentality. My home is now red and mobile, and Edinburgh life is a pretty strange and distant concept. Next proper stop is Cajamarca, 5 days away. The truck may be slow but its comfortable. Plenty space to move about, play cards, read, or pass the time with a bottle of Pilsner. We'll be travelling along the coast into Peru, which hopefully means some pacific beaches and maybe even surfing along the way.

Week 1: From Rock to Hot

A quick catch up on what has happened so far...

Leaving the sanctuary of the Secret Garden Hostel we headed north out of Quito. The wrong way you might think... but we're tourists as well as climbers and there is a great big equator monument to be bagged. Photos snapped, we about-turned and headed for Cuyuja, a nearby sport crag. Ernie squeezed through narrow streets with wheels rubbing the kerb left and right, then panted her way up through the mountains.

Cuyuja
On arrival in the small village, first priority was procuring a couple of crates of beer. We cleared out one shop and moved on to a second.

First bushcamp at Cuyuja

The climbing was on 50m of overhanging flowstone of some kind. Routes didn't normally reach the top, but that was just as well cos they were generally quite hard. At least they were dry in the rain and the falling drops helped to keep you cool!

Cuyuja Crag

The second day was leader Tom´s Birthday, so naturally a truck party was initiated... but not before he had got together with driver Chris to catch (pay for) and butcher a chicken for dinner.

Driver Chris, with Henry Dinner

 Tom, the Birthday boy and trip leader

Misahualli

Heading east for a taste of the jungle, the temperature rose steadily as we dropped. When we arrived at "Banana Lodge" we just about managed to get our tents up before having to dive in the river (free from crocodiles we were assured).

Keeping cool in the jungle heat

The next 2 days were spent chilling out with some natives,  bobbing down the river on inner tubes and taking a guided jungle trek. Plenty of bouncing around in the back of pickup trucks... and lots more swimming.

Shooting blowpipes with local tribesmen of Misahualli

Hello World

As hard as it is, I've decided its worth trying to keep some sort of record of my post graduation travels in South America. If you're reading a recent update you can be fairly sure I'm alive, but don't assume the converse is true! I'd disappointed to return to a baggins-esq auction of my (few) possessions left in Edinburgh...
Anyway, I'm currently on board "Ernie" the big red TRUCK (not a bus!), and am traveling south for a leg and a half of Hot Rock "The Ultimate Climbing Adventure".
11 of us took over from Ernie's northbound crew in Quito, Ecuador - the 2nd highest capital in the world. The truck will retrace its tracks over the next 7 months back to the tip of Argentina. My journey will end at the highest capital in the world - Bolivia's La Paz.
I'm learned a few things already: knackered white spanglish speakers pay gringo prices for airport taxis, but it beats getting mugged or having incompetent airlines lose your climbing kit! My spanish vocabulary is growing frustratingly slowly, and I'm learning right now that blogging from a phone equally slow. More tomorrow, with pics. Hasta luego!