Paragliding is lame. Busing is sweet.

Hola todos,


Well, I´m no longer at sea level in Lima. I´m at 3,080 meters or 10,100 feet in Huaraz, and feeling the effects of the change. My mind is a bit foggy, and my body a bit fogey. So if I´m not as insightful as I normally am, blame that. Not that I´m complaining. Huaraz is probably the coolest city I´ve ever been in, and the drive here was absolutely stunning. But not to get ahead of myself, I went paragliding yesterday.


I wouldn´t say it was life-changing. In fact, I think it was less fun than a game of ping-pong - but of course ping-pong is quite a bit of fun. Why, you ask? What´s not fun about having someone else direct you slowly through the air? Well, first of all someone else was directing me, and second we travelled very slowly through the air. But, of course, trying new things can be hit or miss, and so I´d like to talk about my trip today because it was better.


I was pleased to hit the road this morning, and did so in a comfortable double decker bus. Most of the first half of the trip was a competition between the scenery outside and the distraction of the movies that were being played inside; which in order were, Remember the Titans, John Tucker Must Die, The Notebook and The Invasion. By the second half of the trip, and about the time The Notebook started, the scenery won out. It really kept on getting more and more breathtaking as we went (just to clarify: the scenery, not The Notebook), and I couldn´t stop taking pictures. As always, the real life pictures were better than the digital ones, but I´ll post some of the one´s I took. Unfortunately I didn´t really get any good pictures of the villages we passed along the way, but I´d like to mention that we passed three separate games of volleyball between village children along the way. I was hoping the bus would break down each time so I could run out there and play.


Arriving in Huaraz was even more of a sight, and behind it the astonishing Huascaran (6,768 meters or 22,204 ft). Huascaran was obscured by clouds, and the windows on the bus were so dirty by this point that my pictures of the city didn´t come out very well either, but I´m planning on spending at least 5 days here so just you wait. There´s a lot of hustle and bustle and tourism in the city, but I love the feel of the place. The people seem very zestful, the architecture very tasteful, and the surrounding environment very incrediful (altitude). On a minor note, all of my possessions got soaked while in transit due to some poor planning related to backpack management. Still, I´m very excited about tomorrow as there seems to be a whole lot of cool things to see and do here. Hopefully I´ll dominate the effects of the altitude quickly, so I can get to them!


Also, how is everybody?

Esteban

PS: Actually it seems my internet cafe is closing. Pictures will have to wait.