Day 219 5/2/12 Up early

It was hard getting up and ready this morning especially as it became clear we were the only ones even awake in the house. Rocio, Bob, Michael and I eventually ended up downstairs with all our bags packed and ready with still no one awake in the house and no signs of Neri in his car come for us. There’s culture for you.
Here are Michael Sonia and Neri messing about before we set off.



Michael is at the stage now where he likes to ride on my shoulders...and dribble in my hair



We were taking 5 am to mean 5 am despite the welcoming committee drinking until very late. When they did come and we finally got on our way it was perhaps an hour late and we managed to take Jean Fernando’s ID card with us and had to wait whilst he got a lift to come and get it back.
We went up and up out of more or less sea level Lima to well over 4000 meters at place called Ticlio. I felt gradually more and more strange, tired and headachy and we stopped to buy pain killers. I was more or less expecting this; I have always had some effects of the altitude but after the first time not too badly. We got out of the car at Ticlio to take photos but were constantly bothered by a woman selling sweets so we didn’t stay. Both Neri driving and I were getting dizzy though so we stopped again quite soon and I went to bathe my head in a near frozen stream. That made me feel much better and I even drove for a little while after that. A little further on we slowed and stopped for a short while because a lorry full of crates of beer bottled had crashed and the crates were all over the road. This could have turned out to be a major incident with lots of road side buying and selling going on but we soon saw they were crate of EMPTIES so everyone just drove past. Then for weird contrast we came across a place where a minibus had gone off the road and over the edge of a huge drop. Several cars and lorries were stopped to help and Neri saw that there were many people down in the valley with the bus trying to help. There was no more help we could give so we drove on . We heard next day on the news than one person died and 40 something were injured. So we went on down the long drive down the Amazon side of the Andes into Huancayo. It was great to be back here and we went straight to a vegetarian restaurant for some tasty food.



I was feeling fine by the time we were there no headache or dizziness at all.
Afterward we arrived at Rocio’s family home in Huancayo and the party started. Lots of people came round to celebreate with us and pass the beers around. Bob showed off his new method of opening beer without an opener. The party was great but as soon as it was slowing down I flopped for the day. Michael did a few more rounds of the people there and we were soon in bed too exhausted to do any more.