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Throughout the night we could hear music, talking, etc. Something was going on somewhere in the village. Was this typical of Saturday nights, or was there a special occasion? We weren't sure, but Craig had a bit of a hard time falling asleep. We finally put in earplugs at 2:30 a.m. when it became obvious that the noise was not about to settle down. Craig still couldn't sleep. High altitude isn't conducive to sleep either. We had planned to get up at 5:30, but we were still tired.
We decided that since it was chilly outside of our cozy bed, we didn't really want to gamble on the hot water. We were hiking today, so a shower would be better later in the day anyway. We stayed in bed until 6. Then we got up and got our things prepared for a morning of hiking. We wished one another a happy 12th wedding anniversary. Time goes by so fast!
We emerged from our room at around 6:45. We walked around the property and looked at the fields and cows in the morning light. Standing out behind the casita, we could see nearby mountains, with snow-capped Cayambe volcano in the distance.The setting was completely idyllic. Aida fed a handful of corn kernels to the chickens. At around 7, we were called into the kitchen for breakfast. The whole family sat and ate together. They served us nice whole grain bread, artesenal cheese (which Felipe had brought for the family), croissants, fresh pineapple juice, and coffee. We loaded up on carbs in preparation for our hike. Felipe, Antonio, and a young couple with a baby from next door got into the car with us. We dropped the neighbors off a ways up the road.We continued on to Otavalo to pick up provisions at Runa Tupari's office. Otavalo was much less busy this morning (yesterday being their big market day) and folks were just getting around to setting up vendor stalls after 8 a.m.. Yesterday they would have been there pre-dawn. The roads weren't blocked off like they had been yesterday and there were fewer vendors. We looked around and noticed bromeliads growing on the electrical wires, looking like sea urchins up in the air. After Antonio returned with supplies from the office, we got back into the car. We then drove further and further up a very nice cobblestone road. We watched the altimeter of the truck climb. With every meter increase, we realized that it would be more difficult to breathe and hike. But we were also thankful that we were gaining all of this height from the comfort of the truck rather than on foot. We arrived at Lake Mojanda and started our hike at 9 a.m. The sun was shining and there were puffy cotton candy clouds in the blue sky. Craggy green mountains surrounded the lake. We walked through fields of tall green and gold grass. The scenery reminded us very much of the South Island of New Zealand (the Mount Somers area specifically). Antonio and Felipe pointed out lots of interesting flowers and plants. Antonio hiked in his street clothes, and Felipe pointed out that Otavalos don't usually wear separate clothes for separate tasks. He said this can be funny because if tourists wear shorts to kayak, they assume that is what the person wears all day every day to work. As we climbed, the clouds rolled in and out, at times obscuring the lake behind us. We could see Otavalo in the distance. We took a chocolate break. Felipe poured hot water from a thermos into a metal mate cup and we all shared a drink out of the metal straw. This social tea ritual is common in the Andes, but we had never tried it before. Even in Chilean Patagonia, where our guide drank some, it was not offered to us. Drinking it here in this gorgeous location amongst friends was quite special to us. We had a lovely view down to the lake and it was quite serene. We each ate a banana before continuing on our hike. The sky darkened and the lake water now looked gun metal gray. The trail soon changed from rolling hills to steep mountain slopes. The altitude made it difficult to catch your breath. We weren't in the best shape, and realized maybe we should have taken a couple of days to acclimatize to the altitude before attempting this hike. But we were determined to do it, and so we plodded along. At times I felt myself counting the steps in between stops to catch my breath. The last part of the ascent was very slick and I fell a few times. The volcanic soil was so rich and organic that it was deep black, and my khaki pants were absolutely black by the time I was through. Antonio gave me a piece of bamboo to use as a walking stick. It was tough going, but I wasn't going to quit. Rocks protruded theough the grass as we reached the summit. It had taken us much longer than it should have, but we made it, and we felt very proud. The altitude was 4265 meters (over 12,000 feet)! This was about equal to the highest we had ever been. As it was our anniversary today, we would fondly recall this hike as our "anniversary death march." As clouds floated by we got fleeting views of the lake and surrounding mountains. We could tell that bad weather was headed our way, so it was time to start to head back down. While we started to descend via a different path with Antonio, Felipe scampered up some rocks to the second peak, which was a more technical climb. He was as adept as a mountain goat and caught up with us again within minutes. My legs were tired after the climb up, and my knees and ankles felt particularly weak. This, combined with some slick muddy parts on the trail, led to me falling several times. Sometimes the easiest way to descend a steep part was to slide down on my bottom. I slowly plodded along. We took a snack break and I needed to have somebody hand me a piece of bread because my hands were too muddy to reach in and get one for myself. We cut our break short because the bad weather was closing in. As we got back to the rolling grassy hills, it started to sleet a little bit and then turned to rain. I was glad that we were past the really steep parts by the time this happened because it made the mud and grass even slipperier. I had a hard time staying on my feet and it was kind of pathetic. It was too late to put on my rain jacket; my shirt was already soaked. At one point I fell on my butt into a water puddle and then my bottom half was equally soaked to the bone. Luckily we had our little waterproof backpacks, which kept our things dry. Felipe and Craig were going at a faster pace toward the car, but Antonio insisted on staying with me as I made my slow way down, even though it meant that he got wetter. When I got to the truck I turned around to show Felipe, Antonio, and Craig my backside. It looked like I had black paint all over the back of my pants. They put one of the floor mats on my seat so I wouldn't get the car seat all dirty. I was wet and cold, and changed from my soaking wet cold shirt into my dry rain jacket which had been safe in my backpack. We watched a little bit of Felipe's video of the hike on his camera. I had assumed we were going back to the house for lunch, but was mortified to find that we would be going back to Inti Huasi restaurant. How could I possibly go in public looking like I just climbed out of a tar pit? (Later, when reading about Otavalan culture, I would learn that Otavalans take particular pride in cleanliness. Sorry, everyone!) When we got out of the car in town I tied my soggy shirt around my waist to camouflage the mud on my backside as much as possible. I had to keep my jacket zipped up as I had no shirt underneath. We parked and walked around the corner and I garnered some strange looks from locals. When we entered the restaurant and got to our table, the first thing I did was to remove the white slipcover over my chair. We were seated in a corner so I was pretty hidden for most of the meal, but I was still feeling especially self-conscious. Getting virtually no sleep last night had rendered Craig so tired that he almost literally fell asleep at the table. We had green plantain ball soup as our first course. It was really good but we weren't all that hungry after a combination of the bread we had eaten on the trail and the altitude. We ate as much as we could of the chicken with plantains and rice, and had canteloupe juice to drink. We then got back into the car and drove to Morochos. Antonio had a meeting at the community center up the street from their house, so we dropped him off. When we arrived at the house Aida couldn't believe how dirty I was and she and her cousins from next door had a good laugh. The first thing I did was to clean up and shower. I didn't figure out how to turn on the hot water, so it was a quick cool shower. Craig took a rest and I went outside and asked if I could wash my clothes in their triple basin outdoor sink. Rosa offered to do it for me which was very sweet, but I couldn't have her doing that. I attacked the pants with a scrub brush and a bar of soap and got an amazing amount of the dirt out. They would at least be wearable during the remainder of the trip if necessary. Then I did the same to my shirt, socks, and sneakers. I hung everything on the line to dry. Craig took a shower while I was washing the clothes. He figured out how to turn on the hot water, which involved flipping a Y-shaped switch which resembled the electricity set-up from a Frankenstein movie. Wires attached to the shower head in a way that would never pass inspection at home. Then we went outside and joined Rosa, Aida, and their next door cousin playing with Sisa. We saw a hummingbird in the garden. They set up a hammock for Felipe to read in, and then they set up another and gave Sisa rides in it. Her giggle and smile are priceless. Craig and I walked around to the back of the casita as the sun waned. We saw the cows and looked into the deep ravine that flanks the property. It started sprinkling and we brought the clothes indoors and hung them up by the fireplace. At 7 o'clock, Aida and Sisa came to the door to tell us that dinner was ready. We and Felipe joined the whole family for a lovely home-made dinner of barley soup, rice, tuna (brought by Felipe), lentils, and a vegetable that we believe was cabbage. We had papaya juice to drink. We had fun chatting. Sisa found a small beetle and kept herself entertained for a good 15 minutes. She would send herself into spasms of giggles. Craig pretended to put the beetle onto her head, and she got the willies from it when he touched her hair. She kept us all entertained. Slightly after 8 o'clock, we headed to our rooms. I wrote in the journal and slept in the single bed tonight so that Craig would be more comfy and hopefully get a much-needed good night's sleep. We went to bed at 9 p.m. View Larger Map |
        
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