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,