Greetings from Peru

Hello,

I am writing from Huaras, Peru. Today I rode a mountain bike up to 13,000 feet and then hiked through the hills visting Pre-Inca ruins with an archeologist. Then Michael Nad and I rode extra to a bouldering spot on a stream. The white-capped peaks are in the backdrop and are the most spectacular mountains I have ever seen! We bouldered for a couple of hours. I have walked among many Peruvians wearing there traditional clothes and herding their sheep along. The food is different than Mexico or Colombia. I am staying at a hostel that caters to climbers and trekkers. It has this internet computer. I am getting to use my spanish skills again and it is fun. Tomorrow we are hiking up to a lake below a peak named "Churup". This is part of the acclimation process. In two more days I should be at 15,000 feet and then upward from there. We do a lot of walking to get around this mountain town, which I like. Hopefully the climbs will go well. We hope to climb Pisco (18,500 ft) and then Chopicalqui (20, 850 ft) before the end of the trip. This is a 17 days trip.