a 3-day trek in water, rain, snow, sleet, and sun

Hi Friends

The spanish school that we are learning at has wound up being much cooler than we realized. We picked it since it seemed uber-professional and we dont have a lot of time to learn a language, so we tried to pick the best. (as an aside, we did get paired with wonderful teachers who have 30+ yrs of experience and are also warm/motherly figures) However, what I am trying to say is that we totally didnt expect to be doing so many awesome non-school related things with our school.

This past weekend, the director's wife led 4 students on a 3D/2N hike to the Lares Valley. We started the first day around 2700m, and camped on night #1 at 4200m, on day 2 we made it to 4975m!!! Which was the highest Maren or I have ever been in our lives...its no everest (it was actually 16, 322feet...so like 11,000 ft short of everest), but it was still high/cold and sweet.

OK, here are a few of the best pictures, as always, you can click on the link at the bottom and see more.

its rainy season in peru...which means the trails can be flooded out

this is me trying to walk across, but instead wound up having to swim across

Simon (beard), maren (purple), guy (french canadian), and ester (our teacher/ guide)

day 1 included lots of amazing views

like this one

me trying to take cool pictures, did it work?

very fun to go backpacking in peru: we made pasta the first night

our group hired local porters and their horses carried peoples packs, they hiked in sandals! totally made me feel silly with all the fancy hiking/camping gear we brought, especially when they hikes 2x faster than us

it snowed!!!

feliz viaje (happy trip)...it truly was a happy trip, this is me and maren at the top

woo hoo! almost done

this boys dad and brother were our porters, he was standing by the side of the road, waiting for us....for hours, his mother had sent him on a mission to give us potatoes from their farm...anyways, he was a really cute boy

the best ending to a hike ever: natural hot springs!!!! so relaxing, such beautiful mnt scenery

rather than carry extra weight, the last two meals of the trip, we ate at this restaurant

want to see more from lares? click below...


CLICK THIS LINK FOR MORE PICTURES!!!!!  (click the underlined words to the left)