Chicken feet and tall peaks

Kinda like the gum inside a blowpop, a chicken foot treat comes hidden in many Latin American meals. Linds and I first discovered this in Ecuador when we both got some soup and "broasted" chicken. I kinda jumped when after a few bites, my spoon brought up a big ol' foot, but Linds had one too and after looking around at the other soup eaters we realized that we had not been sabotaged and that everyone gets a chicken foot. Unless you're getting a nice chicken breast from a huge walmart-like store, most likely a foot will be connected. Must be for flavor??

mmmmm...

We had shot up Canon Del Pato just in time for me to get a hold of the worst cold/flu I can remember and found a little hotel in Caraz called Las Pinas to lay low for a while. For three days we went to bed early and woke up late, walking to various cafes and bistros for juice and food but otherwise keeping to the room. What a great place to be sick! We had good WiFi (a rarity in small towns at 9000ft) and the whole place to ourselves. We used the opportunity to watch the entire extended version of LOTR, almost 10 hours total. (Thanks Zach & Sachi!) Caraz is the jumping off point for numerous alpine summit attempts on the surrounding peaks and we drove up to Laguna Paron to check things out. We picked up a couple of kids hitchhiking to the lake and drove the 35km up a steep dirt road to the base of Huandoy @ 20854ft.

Laguna Paron! dont jump Linds!!

in 1970 the entire town of Yungay was wiped out by a huge land/ice slide that killed over 15,000 people. this is a monument to the deceased.

andean women are cute!

nothing keeps linds and i from a killer breakfast. 

the andean girls sweet talked me out of 35 soles for this jug of honey and a mini jug of pollen(?). Huascaran is in the background

Marco and his crew gave the van a killer cleanin'. thanks!!!

Suila Grande- Touching the Void.

Claudette got the first car wash in almost 15,000 miles in Huaraz, a city in the Cordillera Blanca about 50 miles south of Caraz. Big thanks go out to Marco and his car washing crew for not charging us extra for washing off the dirt of 9 countries!! And we drove past Suila Grande, the peak that almost claimed the life of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who's trials were recounted in the book "Touching the Void" and the movie by the same name. We have pointed the van south and nailed the accelerator, driving through desert and dunes that remind us of Baja California without the delicious tacos. Next, Lake Titicaca!

back at the beach. life is good.