Hauraz has been touched and the void is filled

Hauraz Peru has turned out to be a great ¨home base¨for us the past week and a half. IT IS THE BEST HIKING/TREKKING YOU CAN COME TOO AS FAR AS MY TRAVELS HAVE GOTTEN ME. Tomorrow we are off North and we may be going to Ecuador quicker than we thought! We got offered a volunteer position at a hostel called the Secret Garden in Quito, Ecuador. They would offer free room and board for free labor and they will throw in some Spanish lessons as well. We´ll keep you posted.

So last Thursday we visited a local coffee shop and a guy there invited us to play ultimate frisbee the following day... we took him up on it (Tito played, I watched to keep my feet from further injury) we met some great people. One of which ended up traveling with us to HuayHuash(whywash) for a three day trek, her name is Claire and she is from New Zealand. What a great travel partner and fast friend she has become in just a few days! We were grateful for company and Claire´s fluency in Spanish certainly helped us navigate the trek a little easier.

We also had a very special Guide on this trek. His name is Blanco... and yes he has four legs. He is fluent in spanish, english, french, and quechua! What a great protector and friend he became. We found out from locals at the end of the trek that there are about 5 dogs like Blanco (our name for him) that tag along with tourists while they hike. They bark at locals and just look after the tourists I guess. He was great. He enjoyed a little scratching from us every now and then. He would guide us along the trails and kept the cows/horses/donkeys at bay. He was a great dog actually and added asset to the trip. He will be missed. We hope the next tourist keep him safe.

Our trek began with us hiking up a road through a mining town. We had a lil rain for like 20 minutes and then it cleared. We came to our little valley with the help of some locals and we were off the road and hiking up to 4750 meters (that would be the next day). Not many people hike the direction we went because the circuit is like 10 to 12 days. We could only to do a 3 day portion so we were going backwards. We camped up close to the mountains the first night about 3 hours from the pass. It rained that night a little. We awoke to clouds and windy weather. We started our second day trying to find the trail, which we never found a trail. It was tough going picking our own way up to the pass. We zig zagged and switchedback until we finally saw a trail about 15 minutes from the pass. It was tough but the views were our reward. Fantastic turquoise lakes and snowy high mountain peaks. We sat there for a while.

Our New Zealand friend Claire had only been in Peru for 3 days and was feeling a little altitude sick so we went down to about 4100 meters to a beautiful lake and glacier from the mountains. Then continued hiking down to about 3900 to 4000 meters for the night. The entire day Claire did not feel the greatest but she made it through. The next day we came up to another pass around 4300 meters and there were no clouds and you could see they whole HauyHaush range. It was gorgeous. Our Blanco would always lead the way and wait for us. We finally made it down to LLamac after the pass. It was a steep 1000 meter descent. Hard on the knees. We made it to town. Said our farewells to Blanco and the locals and took transport back to Chiquin then to Hauraz. We met a woman that had been traveling for 5 years from Holland. She was good company on the ride back to Chiquin.

We had another glorious chicken dinner with Claire and have rested until tomorrow when we leave to head North. NORTH TO WHERE is to be determined by tomorrow.

We want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving in the states. Enjoy the holiday. Of course they don´t celebrate that holiday here so we will be celebrating a different occasion. That occassion would be Cassie and I´s first anniversary since we have been dating. As of Thanksgiving day it will be one year. It has been tough..... For her mostly I am sure LoL´s!!! No, it has been quite easy. She is fantastic, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, and am so glad to have her in my life and sharing this amazing experience with me. I want to thank her for inviting me on her journey and allowing me to be a part of it. I love her very much!!! It has been a great year with her and I know year two will be just as good if not better. We love all of you and wish you the best with all your plans for the holiday. We will be calling/skyping our families on Thanksgiving so be ready. TTFN!!!