August 9, 2006

We received the following dispatch from Jason Martin on the evening of August 9:

Hello from Huaraz!

Yes, we thought we'd be in the mountains for one more day. As you might know, we had a weather day planned in our itinerary. The weather's been perfect so we didn't need it.

Last night after getting down from high camp, we were able to call the driver and the arieros (animal handlers) to see if they could bring us out a day early. They were able to set it up, so here we are.

As usual in the third world, travel is one of the more interesting items. After we got out of the mountains, they jammed fourteen people and tons of gear in a little tiny mini-bus. The hour ride from the mountains back to Huaraz seemed a little more like six hours.

Everybody is happy to be back in the city where they can shower and go out to dinner. Tonight we'll start to discuss our next objective. We leave for it - whatever it may be - on Saturday.

Jason D. Martin