04/09/2013 Day off in Huaraz

04/09/13 Rest day Huaraz

Most rest days follow the same kind of pattern. Sleeping in late with a cup of coffee in bed for starters. Our stove boils water very quickly but it roars like a jet engine about to take off. We try to disguise the noise by switching on a shower and so far we have not been thrown out. All though you can buy really good coffee from Peru in the UK as is so often the way the stuff you get served here can't really be called coffee. It is nearly always presented as a syrupy liquid which you add to your cup of hot water. So we treasure the remains of the bag of coffee I found in Ecuador. There is always washing to catch up on as well and of course the most important bit is to find places to eat. Because rest days are usually in bigger places and we have more time we enjoy finding nice places to eat and stock up on calories. When we are on the move it is sometimes hard to find enough food and we end up eating very cheaply (£1.50 for a main meal)but badly. Fresh fruit and vegetables can be found in abundance on the markets but markets are hard to find and fresh ingredients are difficult and heavy to carry. It would seem you have to go to much more expensive places to eat to actually get vegetables served with your meal. I have to admit we get through a lot of fizzy drink. They are easily available, give you lots of calories and when you are really hot and sweaty are a very enjoyable way of consuming calories. Hopefully my teeth won't all rot! We had hoped to carefully look at the route ahead in Huaraz but the internet failed completely so we just had so spend more time eating.