A Sunday Adventure (Part 1)

So, last Sunday I left my hostel to go on a hike with Sixto (The Doctor, My Peruvian Mentor) and David (A Biostatistician here from University of Washington to help me out on my project).  We headed out south of Lima and were just planning to go hiking in the Peruvian mountains.  Lima this morning was grey and cold.  We headed out and up, driving in Sixto’s car, starting to climb the mountains that borders Lima.  Though there was a lot of fog blocking the view, you could see some of the houses.  Many really small and similar to those in La Victoria (the region where we work).  But soon we climbed out of the fog and upon crossing the crest of the mountain, we were greeted by sun.  Sixto, suddenly asked if we wanted to go on a longer drive to a town called Antioquia which was 2 hours away.  I’m always up for adventure so I agreed!  We stopped in a small mountain village cut in half by the road we were on, maybe with only a hundred people living there, and one main restaurant, one main store.  We got some drinks for the journey and headed out.

The dirt/dusty road was only one lane wide along the side of a mountain range so that when other cars came along you had to 1) roll up the windows so that the dust would not get in your car and 2) pull over to the side of the road so one could pass.  Then when we had to cross a river it was over a rickety wood bridge - a bit of a scare for me!  Anyways, my nose was essentially pressed against the window the whole ride.  I am not really used to such rocky/dusty mountains (more green and forest mountains in New England) so it was a new sight for me.  In the middle of the mountain ranges there was a green valley with a river running through it.  Every now and then you might see a small house and a farm!  Well, soon enough - 2 hours later - we made it to Antioquia (see next post)!