Day two was considered the "tough"day....and it was! We were woken up at 5:30am by our friendly porters with a cup of hot coca tea, which was so lovely, after the shit sleep we had. Even though we rented the extra mattresses, how comfortable can sleeping in a tent really be! The coca tea was meant to give us energy and assist with the increased altitude. Today we would climb up to 4000 plus meters and often people get altitude sickness. We were fine however, because we were in Bolivia before and got used to it.
It was a little chilly in the morning, but a steaming bowl of Quinoa porridge followed by a cute little omelet did just the trick. We were provided with a little snack pack for the day as well, and off we went. The hike was all up hill for about 5 hours....I was thankful I had rented two poles to assist me with the steep and rocky stairs. The group split into two...the die hards who raced ahead and barely stopped for the view...and the ...how should I say...thee contemplative group....the one who stopped to smell the flowers....I was in that group! And although Ivan probably wanted to be in the super fast group, he stuck behind with me. We made it into a lovely day, stopping every hour or so, for a little sit-down mini picnic with all of the snacks we brought. We shared chocolates and chippies, cookies and candies....exchanged giggles and great conversation of the experience we were all sharing. Ozzy was with us and it was great because he was able to tell us about some of the vegetation and a lot of great stories along the way!
We climbed and climbed and felt our lungs push to the limits until we finally reached the top!!!! It was a proud moment, as we took a break to take photos before we started the 2 hour decline to the camp site. It began to drizzle as we cautiously made our way down a steep, slippery path of jumbled steps....the scenery was like Lord of the Rings...just gorgeous. In fact many people say that parts of the hike do look similar to New Zealand....breathtaking. We clumsily made our way down the path and were greeted close to the bottom by a few of the porters with steaming tea and a cheese sandwich....how wonderful!
We finally arrived at the camp site....the folks from the speedy group had already been waiting for hours....I was thrilled that we had taken the time to enjoy the trekk...take lots of photos and enjoy some lovely picnics along the way. I simply did not understand those folks who had to get there First....but....that's just me. We settled in for a delicious lunch of potato soup and an amazing lasagna with a side of chicken in a spicy sauce. We had the afternoon to relax, so we washed up a bit with our wet naps (needless to say we still smelled like ass)...and we promptly fell asleep...it was a loooong day. Then before we knew it 5pm came rolling around so we once again piled into the dining tent for tea. We then had a game of Quiddler (our fave card game) with a few of the group before digging into yet another feast for dinner.
The cooks continued to amaze me....now don´t get me wrong, when we camp I can cook up some pretty awesome stuff...but NOTHING compared to what they made us!!! I can certainly say that we were never hungry...if anything overstuffed....but it was all excellent. That night, because we had completed the hardest day on the trail we were treated to a special cake!!!! Yes, CAKE I say! And it was a damn fancy cake....how in the world they prepared it at such a high elevation in the middle of nowhere is beyond me. It was delicious and even had a layer of jello on the top...ummmm who carried the damn fridge?! It was a masterpiece..and even had beautifully done icing and writing on the top...WOW....truly inspiring!
That night we really fought for sleep, and lost. Being that high up in altitude made it quite cold and damp and trying to sleep in your clothes, in a sausage of a sleeping bag made for little shut eye and lots of tossing and turning. So that 5:30am wake up call was NOT pretty to say the least. In fact...its the first time EVER Ivan actually looked at me as I was trying to clumsily dress myself and said..."I never thought I would say this, but you look like total SHIT" Yes, thank you for pointing that out....not only did my breath taste like someone had used my tongue as toilet paper, but my face and eyes were so puffy I thought I was the spawn of the Pillsberry doughboy and Rosanne Barr....I longed for my cleanser, toner and eye cream....where were my new shiny black heals...or at least my mascara? Well I did bring a small set of tweezers...maybe if I pluck my eyebrows then no one will notice how ugly I look? No time for primping...into the tent we pile for some sweet breads and a nice fluffy pancake...and then we were off...set afoot for the long decline down into the rain forest which I knew I would enjoy!
That night we really fought for sleep, and lost. Being that high up in altitude made it quite cold and damp and trying to sleep in your clothes, in a sausage of a sleeping bag made for little shut eye and lots of tossing and turning. So that 5:30am wake up call was NOT pretty to say the least. In fact...its the first time EVER Ivan actually looked at me as I was trying to clumsily dress myself and said..."I never thought I would say this, but you look like total SHIT" Yes, thank you for pointing that out....not only did my breath taste like someone had used my tongue as toilet paper, but my face and eyes were so puffy I thought I was the spawn of the Pillsberry doughboy and Rosanne Barr....I longed for my cleanser, toner and eye cream....where were my new shiny black heals...or at least my mascara? Well I did bring a small set of tweezers...maybe if I pluck my eyebrows then no one will notice how ugly I look? No time for primping...into the tent we pile for some sweet breads and a nice fluffy pancake...and then we were off...set afoot for the long decline down into the rain forest which I knew I would enjoy!
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