Written by: Natalie
Wednesday, 27 August 2008

After a very comfortable stay in the cutest hotel in Chiquean, it was time to head back to Huruaz. Before breakfast, I got up early to sit out in the sun and enjoy the beautiful garden...I was quickly found by the resident dog - a rather large golden retriever who reminded me of the big white luck dragon, Falkor, out of the Never Ending Story. He made me shake his paws a few times, than ran away to play with the cat. It made me smile though, such a simple gesture brought such delight to him. And that was typical of our time in the mountains, everyone was always so happy!!

After breakfast and a change of tyre for the bus, we loaded our gear and started on the 4 hr journey. Everyone was surprisingly sleepy...I guess after 12 days of hiking across the Andes and sleeping in tents we had a right to be tired. As I watched the familiar scenery drift by I wondered if I would ever come back to Huayhush. I looked across to Zac who was fighting to stay awake and the reality of how different our lives were really hit me. Until now Zac, Abraham and the arrerios were like our camping partners - we all had the one goal. But now, it was as if their reality - the perpetual cold, poor living comditionds, lack of education etc had suddenly become real, our lives were really seperate. It was very confronting knowing that these people who were so helpful and respectful were going back to live in conditions that we in Oz would consider sub standard. I felt an over whelming urge to help somehow, but how? I knew this question was open ended and took solace in the fact that we had raised a lot of money for the projects in Iquitos.

On the way home we stopped at look-out for one last view of the Huayhush....it was huge. Even now I am not sure I comprehend what we had accomplished in those 12 days. It really was 5 ordianry women climbing to extraordinary heights.

Before I knew it we were back in the bustling hub of Huruaz...its amazing how quickly everyone went around their business in comparison to the mountains!! We were staying in the hotel Churup again, which was great - there was lots to do and organise before leaving for the Amazon. Once our bags were down, everyone scattered!! Shopping, blogging, re-suppling, sleeping....it was strange to see how quickly we all fell back into our own agendas. But even though I could not resist the pull of the hustle and bustle, stubbly something inside me had shifted. My perspective on my individual actions had changed...I could see and feel the affect I had on people and things. I can not help but think it was my time in the mountains and Jades sage advice that caused that to happen, either way I liked it and embraced all that I could.

I spent a few long hours on the internet, trying my hardest to post a blog and put up pictures - however this is not as simple as it sounds in Huruaz. Finally it was dinner time and I had given up on the internet for the day. We went to a great restuarant where I ordered my favourite - soup!!! Jades advice before we ordered was to look after our stomaches as they probably would not handle very rich foods after 12dys of a basic diet. When my soup came out it was cream of asparages and beautiful.....12 hrs later with nausea and a very upset stomach, I wish I had listened to Jade :-(

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