Huaraz Sunday

Kath and myself decided to opt out of the lake and mountain excursion and catch a sleep in instead. We awoke to a late, lazy breakfast the I watched the Wallabies beat Argentina in the World Cup semi final with Grant while Kathy wandered the streets.

We ahead a quick squiz at the museum then lunched with Grant and Shirl. With rain beginning to set in, we settled in at a nearby pub. Kathy insisted we leave the pub and find a calle halfway up the mountain which was the only street in the city to survive the earthquake back in the 1970s. It was a little underwhelming but the rain probably had a bit to do with that.

We returned to the hotel and had pear schnapps to try and warm us up. Walking the streets in my shorts and T shirt in 11deg C and raining does tend to cool you down somewhat.

That evening we went out for dinner to celebrate Paul's birthday. After leaving the restaurant and negocitating our way through the vomiting drunks, we managed to hail a taxi. As we were all piling into the taxi, there was a crash behind us and we noticed that a car hadn't monouvered successfully around an open drain in the road and had its RHS front wheel firmly lodged in the road. It became apparent that he was stuck and we decided he needed help to get out. With Álvaro, Paul and myself lifting and pushing from the front and the driver reversing we managed to get it out. As the wheel cleared the drain, my reading glasses that were hooked through the neck of my T-shirt, fell into the drain. As I stood there looking into the dark abyss, I truly believed I had seen the last of those glasses. The driver of the car came over and shone his phone light into the hole and we could see them, glistening, lodged in a plug of fetid scum around a metre below the road level. While most of us were standing around the hole with fists on chins, considering possible extraction options, Alvaro shouted "Pablo, grab my feet" and launched himself into the stinking hole of scum headfirst. Our initial gasps of horror turned into shouts of encouragement as he fought his way through a horde of sewer rats. We dragged him out triumphantly holding my glasses in raised fist. We shouted enthusiastic hurrahs and slapped him on the back, trying to avoid the most soiled areas.

After a brief conversation, we decided that the roadway could not be left in that state to claim any future unwary drivers. We located the dislodged stone halfway down the drain and with the aid of the driver, managed to return the thoroughfare to a level of standard that we found acceptable reopened the road to much fanfare. The local population rejoiced! 

Well, they actually just kept quietly vomiting up against the wall.

We piled into the taxi and went back to the hotel.

This is crap, let's go and walk in the freezing rain for a couple of hours. You'll be right, you have shorts and a T-shirt!