Half way woohoo

Well it's about half way through the trip right now and all is well... touch wood.

I can't remember if i've mentiond xmas at all so i'll try and remember some of it. If it's been mentioned in the previous post then jump forward a few paragraphs to get to the new stuff.

We had xmas in a town called Huanchaco and had a great time. We did secret santa with all the others. I was lucky enough to get a bottle of peruvian vodka (think meths without the colouring) I'm almost able to drink it now but i think my liver might be starting a revolt against me.

We had a bit of drama with the xmas dinner. We ha dorganised for a HUGE turkey to be cooked but when it came out it was still raw so we all had to settle for vege dinner and then wait 3 hours for the bird to be finished. When it came out though it was amazing. It was so big it fed 10 people to the brim and then 10 people for the lunch the next day and a little of lunch the day after that. Not bad really.

Huanchaco for any other purpose than xmas was a waste. The beach was filthy and smelt of rotting fish so we didn't spend too much time down there.

I missed boxing day cricket (both back yard and on the TV) which got me a bit down.

Since Huanchaco we have been in a town called Huaraz and done Ice Climbing. The weather conspired against us on the day with not only rain and hail but also a fair amount of snow falling around us for the 5 hours we were there. The glacier we climbed was only about 11-15m high but we were at 5200m in altitude so just walking to the climb took it out of us and there was no real trekking at all. At sea level u reckon i could do the walk in 10min, but there it took us 40 with breaks...

At lunch we were given some genuine coca tea to help with the altitude and it was fantastic. We went from buggered to right as rain in minutes.

From Huaraz we have driven to Lima and this is where the tour ends for 4 of our current travellers. Tomorrow the rest of us meet the 13 new people on the tour. All we know is that there are 5 kiwis, 5 ozzies, and 3 others... could get interesting.

Well best be off, but i'll try and be in touch as often as possible.

Ciao