Eventually, in the early afternoon, we reach the oasis, a haven of green grass, thatched huts, a swimming pool with waterfall, and our gay American friends we met last night. Wade wants to sleep out under the stars, but I make it VERY CLEAR that I deserve to sleep in a bed tonight. I am sufficiently persuasive.
We speed change out of our dirty clothes and hiking boots into swimsuits. Even though the heat of the day is waning, I stay in the water. It is so cool, so smooth, so unchlorinated and natural, so soothing to glide through it with out using my hiking muscles. I swim back and forth and back and forth, under the waterfall, floating on my back, spinning in the water, executing the few synchronized swimming moves I remember from college. I feel so comfortable. (My family were all fish in previous lives.) It is exactly what I need.
Napping and Bill Bryson take us through to dinner-time.
We take dinner (soup and spaghetti) at the hostel and plan to wake up early and climb up the mountain at dawn, catch an afternoon bus to Arequipa, then an overnighter to Puno. We count out the days and allow almost a full week in Cuzco for ruins and a possible trek, and three days at the end to veg out in resort-y Trujillo.
In the middle of the night, I wake up and realize how truly sore my calf muscles are. They hurt so much lying down that I am sure I will not be able to walk tomorrow. We decide to spend the whole next day in Oasis Paradise before climbing Hell Mountain.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment