Haven't I just been raving about the great winter weather here in Buenos Aires? Well, I might have to revise my positive impression... Just about an hour ago I have experienced the worst hailstorm I have ever seen! Lumps of ice bigger than golf balls, no exaggeration!

I was just about to leave the flat when I heard a rattling and hammering outside as if all the percussion groups of Brazil had decided to give a concert outside at the same time. Dozens of car alarms went off straight away.

I have seen whole streets where every car had at least one broken window, not to mention the dents... Also windows of buildings broken everywhere.

The following tormental rain flooded part of the apartment, but it did not last for long. So there was no major damage. Whow. Maybe the winter in Buenos Aires is actually not so great?!

Yesterday I had breakfast in my favourite bakery in tropical Puerto Ayora where they sell the bread rolls straight from the rack, still hot. Tonight I have already arrived "home" in winterly Buenos Aires. And a few hours ago I had breakfast in "my" kitchen with proper coffee from my Italian coffee maker. This journey was much quicker than I had hoped for, and certainly much faster than I had dreaded - being prepared for possibly having to go all the way from Ecuador to Buenos Aires by bus! That would have taken me more than a week of continuous travel. But I was lucky - when I arrived in Guayaquil yesterday I could book myself on a bearably expensive flight via Lima to Buenos Aires leaving just a few hours later in the afternoon, et voilà - here I am again in the country of totally mad driving. I had forgotten about the latter, but already the taxi drive from the airport made me fully aware of this Argentinian peculiarity, again!

The winter hereabouts turns out to be slightly chilly, at night that is. During the daytime it resembles what in Germany we would happily call a "Golden Autumn" - about 18 to 22 degrees and bright sunshine. Extremely pleasant. It is funny, however, to see the Argentineans walk around dressed as if they expected a Siberian winter! And what a pleasant feeling to be able to blend into the crowds again and not sticking out as the obvious "gringo" for a while.

And then there are real supermarkets, I mean places where you can buy everything! I had already almost forgotten about the existence of these institutions. More than 50 different brands of toothpaste (who needs this actually?!), 80 different types of jam (including my favourite flavour - tomato, yum!), about 300 different kinds of pasta...

In short, I am quite happy to have arrived in Buenos Aires and to be able to take some time to think about all the impressions and experiences of the last four months. It is a shame, there would have been a lot more to see in Ecuador than just the Galapagos Islands, but I feel there is only so much I can take in one trip. I am actually looking forward to a little "break" from travelling. And then I will have to arrange my travels to Australia... But that will probably have to wait a week or two.

While Italy still has not yet won the world cup, a first greeting from the Galápagos Islands! After three and a half consecutive days on the road (only interrupted by one night of decent sleep in a hotel on the 7th in Piura, Peru), I have just arrived on the islands. Five buses (Huaraz - Trujillo - Chiquian - Piura - Loja - Guayaquil), then directly to the airport and straight into the plane (which was very lucky!), then bus - boat - bus. And I even managed to find a hotel already, which actually had turned out to be a little difficult as the world cup was already on and it is siesta time, too.

Peru bade me farewell with the most revolting splatter movie on the bus, I have ever, ever seen. To give you a taste - New Mexico after the nuclear tests, a few humans remained in the area and have now turned into horrible monsters with disgusting mutations. Of course they only want to take revenge on the Americans. So they direct a biggish family traveling through into a side-road and make sure they break down with their car and mobile home. After that you enjoy 90 minutes of the bloodiest limb-hacking and sick splatter scenes. Besides them raping the about 15-year old daughter and the mother, they start murdering the the family in the most bloody manor imaginable. All shown in close-up and great detail, of course. I am surprised you are allowed to produce something sick like this anywhere in the world! But I am not so surprised you can show this shit on a public bus in Peru at 9.30am. Nobody was worried the slightest by the fact that there were plenty of kids between about 3 and 15 years on the bus all watching with great interest. Unfortunately this only fits the general picture. No surprise therefore that some of the people in this beautiful country are somewhat - excuse my explicit language - fucked in the head. This last impression did not make it overly difficult to say good-bye to Peru. It is a shame, but the only thing I did not like so much of Peru were some of its people.

I am very glad to have arrived in Ecuador, hence. Much more brash, more technology, but also dollar-driven higher prices... Getting out of the plane on the Galápagos Islands I had to take care not to step on a lizard - it looked at me like a funny new species of tree. And look at the picture, these little fellows are everywhere on the beach promenade and the black volcanic rocks. They will move, though, but only if you get closer than about 20cm. There are plenty of birds in the air, mainly pelicans and huge Frigate birds, and big and beautifully reddish crabs on the cliffs... Lots of wildlife even in town!

Being now in Puerto Ayora, I have to sort out my boat-cruise etc. And France vs. Italy are into the penalties now, will have to watch that. More later.

Hard to believe I have been around for seven weeks now! Huaraz turned out to be a great base for all sorts of mountain activities - and a very pleasant place to hang out during (many) lazy days. But as it is getting more and more comfortable for me, it does get time to get going again! I know where to go for chocolate tart, where to find the best coffee in town, where they do a great and cheap fruit salad, where to go for an inexpensive and yummy lunch menu, where to have really nice food, which internet cafe has the best computers, etc.

I get greeted by the locals almost everywhere I go, often by handshake. Many people even know my name. I keep meeting people on the streets and have to plan a little bit of extra time for chatting. Francois, the French owner of my favourite restaurant wonders about my beard when I come back from the mountains and asks where I have been. I get special treatment (free lemonade) at my favourite lunch spot. The people in the internet cafe are relieved to see me again as they had worried I might have been one of the climbers who died ten days ago because I had not shown up for a while. I know the menus of my favourite restaurants by heart and order straight away when I walk in. Of course all the waiters there know me and always ask how I am doing. Marcelo, the Basque owner of the bar where I hang out sometimes, gives me free drinks when I bring in other people. I sometimes get a free breakfast at my hotel and have a chat about the latest news regarding the climbing accident with Flor, the lady who owns the place. She already knows which of her rooms I prefer and tries to keep one for me when I am off to the mountains. Last but not least I find myself often giving detailed advice on where to find what in Huaraz to other foreigners...

If I do not fancy getting a permanent part of this city, it is time to move on now! I am a little bit sad to leave Huaraz behind, though. I truly had a great time here and I do plan to come back some time to "do" a few more walks and mountains at some stage in the future.

So I am finally leaving tonight! My night bus to Trujillo on the coast leaves at 9pm. From there I will move on to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. I also feel it is getting time to get back "home" to Buenos Aires, at least for a couple of weeks.

I just had the most exhilarating mountain climb of my life! A gorgeous day with spectacular weather and stunning views - out on one of the mountains with the most scenic panorama all around. What more could you want?

The day before yesterday I left Huaraz together with Carol and Raymond, a couple from North-Carolina which I had met on the Huayhuash trek, and William, our mountain guide. After a good two hours in bus and taxi we walked the 700m in altitude up to the base camp at 4600m of Pisco. After setting up camp, we had a little time to relax and Raymond and I set out to have a look over the first moraine ridge towards the mountain. A huge field with giant hills of moraine rubble separates the base camp from the glacier where the actual climb begins. Normally, about two hours are required to scramble across this desert of loose rock and scree. After an early noodle dinner we turned in to catch some sleep. I only slept for about two hours and lay awake the rest of the time.

It was a crystal clear night, millions of stars in the sky (and some shooting stars), no wind, cracking cold but dry. We got up at 1am, had a very scarce breakfast, and left camp at 2am. We took on Luc, a Canadian from Quebec, who's climbing partner had gotten sick in the base camp... So we were five in total crossing the moraine in total darkness just illuminating the rocks with our head-torches. I was wearing the plastic mountaineering boots all the way as I did not want to carry the additional load of my trekking boots - all the climbing gear is already heavy enough! These plastic boots are the mountaineering equivalent of ski boots -totally rigid and great on snow and ice, but they did surprisingly well for moraine scrambling and rock-hopping, too.

It turned out that Carol had quite some problems with the moraine rubble and we hence took almost three and a half hours to cross the this unpleasant terrain. Our guide William got a little nervous here, but for me the delay turned out to be a great plus as I had plenty of light for photography on the glacier! When we had put on the glacier gear - additional cloths, gloves, harnesses, boots, gaiters, crampons, ice axes etc. - and finally stood on the snow, the sun began to rise colouring the spectacular rock and ice lanscapes beautifully in all hues of orange and red.

Initially, progress on the glacier was quite slow as Carol was still bravely battling on, obviously being in dire straights. I had no reason to complain - I enjoyed plenty of time to snap pictures during the walk. At the first step after the col (the saddle between Huandoy and Pisco from whereon the walk up the flank of Pisco begins) she finally had to give in. Raymond immediately decided to stay with her, and William brought both back to the col where they waited on the glacier until the rest of us would return from the summit. As the sun was already out and warming, the climb could not have been any more comfortable. No wind and deep blue skies... Not to speak of the gorgeous views into all directions.

We were a little quicker then, and the next two hours climbing through the marvelous glacier landscapes will be one of the greatest memories of my whole trip. Shortly before we reached the summit ridge, a few clouds emerged from the mountain top which obscured the 360° panoramic view. We stood on the summit of Pisco (5752m) at 10am. Regardless of the occasional summit cloud, the views were totally mind-blowing and we spent about 20 minutes on the mountain top taking the great scenery in. The water in my water bottle was almost completely frozen, but due to the sun the climate on the summit was really pleasant and we had a snack of cookies and chocolate - almost the first food for me since getting up in the morning.

On the way down we passed two other groups which had been starring in my glacier pictures on the way up. Walking with crampons on glacier snow can be incredibly easy and quick! Especially downhill. After catching up with Carol and Raymond and reaching the end of the glacier, we took our mountaineering gear off and walked back across the moraine rubble towards basecamp for an other couple of hours. I was very glad to finally take off my plastic boots after a full 13 hours of walking and climbing in them! The longest break had been the summit stop of 20 minutes...

We quickly packed camp and walked two more hours back to Cebollapampa where our taxi to Yungay was waiting. From there we took the bus back to Huaraz. The walking in my heavy but comfortable trekking boots felt like heaven, despite the extra heavy backpack with all the climbing gear in addition to the normal camping stuff.

I do not think I have ever before been walking for 15 hours straight during one single day! But I have not been feeling so extremely happy as well as pleasantly and thoroughly exhausted in a very long time! When I finally fell into my bed in Huaraz after a long hot shower, I slept like a log for ten hours.

I can now perfectly understand why climbing mountains is so addictive! But I feel I have done enough hereabouts in Huaraz and can finally move on. William, our guide, however, tries to convince me to climb Alpamayo together with him... It really is tempting as I am now as fit and acclimatized as ever! But no worries mum, I will probably be sensible and leave the mountains behind for a while.

Have a look at some pictures here, if you like.

P.S.: The mountain was actually named after the local alcoholic drink which the first climbers had in copious amounts when coming back into town after the first successful summit attempt! For me the impressions of the day could not have been any more exhilarating, no alcohol required.

So back I am again. What a great walk! Where to start? Too much to tell - 12 days is a long time. After looking around for companions to do this walk, I finally hooked up with Ashley and Pete, whom I had already met a while ago in Bolivia and who happened to arrive in Huaraz just in time.

We decided to do the trek on our own, that is to say not making use of guides or mules, and taking our time. Most people, however, do go with at least mules and a muleteer. (We did not meet anyone else who was carrying their backpack themselves!) But we found carrying our 30kg+ backpacks, well, what to say... invigorating?! Honestly, if you are fit and acclimatized it is not too bad. One could do the whole circuit in as little as eight days, but then you would not get to see some of the truly spectacular side-valleys (which for me were the absolute highlights of the trip!). So we planned our food on 12 days instead, which turned out to be exactly right.

The landscapes we got to see can only be described as utterly spectacular! Beautiful peaks, glaciers, lakes, and valleys. I fear my pictures do not do the landscape justice, they may be nice but the views were truly breathtaking in reality! The only mountains I have seen so far that impressed me similarly were in the Nepalese Himalaya.

The walking itself is not too bad. About six to nine hours on the trail per day, going about 400m to 1000m up and down. At low altitude this would be only a moderately demanding walk. But since during this trek you are continuously between 4000m and 5000m, this is actually quite a tough daily program. This exercise, however, is only becoming provided you are sufficiently acclimatized! We have met people basically spending the first couple of days throwing up, feeling really sick and nauseous... And you have to cross a high pass of more than 4700m almost every day!

For me the hardest thing were actually the long nights. Due to the closeness of the equator the nights last from about 6pm to 6am. Lots of darkness and cold. Freezing at these altitudes! So you spend almost 12 hours in your tent and sleeping bag every day! I have never been to "bed" later than about 7pm. With temperatures between about -5°C to 5°C in the tent (less outside), there is only one place you are roughly comfortable - inside the sleeping bag!

Although I am typically very happy with my bag at temperatures around zero degrees, on this trip I was slightly cold almost every night which sometimes kept me awake for many hours. The lack of oxygen and the sufficient but not overly rich food supply certainly contributed. So there I was lying awake with all my cloths on inside the sleeping bag - two layers of thermal underwear, fleece jumper, down vest, wool socks, wool hat and fleece gloves - waiting for the morning... Sometimes dozing on and off. My advice: bring a really warm sleeping bag! (Or a mule and hence all the food and cloths you can possibly want...)

One little annoying thing is the current payment system. Every settlement you are passing is charging a few dollars per person for letting you walk by! So people with little ticket books walk up to you to make you pay, sometimes several times a day. It all appears to be totally random and you do get to hear various stories about what is going to happen with money. Track improvement, community subsidy, "security". The latter is particularly interesting, since until very recently the Huayhuash was known to be quite unsafe. The latest major incident was 2004 when four trekkers were robbed and shot by local bandits. So basically now you pay the locals for not robbing you! This is next best thing to robbery in my eyes.

A negative highlight was - owed to my own stupidity - when I arrived on the third day in camp after taking an exhausting "alpine" route variation (i.e. leading without trails through more rugged territory than the normal valley route), just to discover I had left behind my camera when I was preparing for an approaching thunderstorm... I could not believe my own stupidity!!! But in the thinner air your brain does funny things at times.

So I set out immediately again, trying to find back the spot where I remembered I had intended to pack my camera safely into my backpack. Unfortunately this was quite a while before the camp on a very chaotic and very steep slope with lots of rocks and bumps and bushes of tussock grass. Nothing but plenty of animal-trails. And no way to spot anything from further and a couple of meters away. So I criss-crossed the slopes for hours until darkness trying to find back the exact spot. Without any success. Walking back to camp with hurting feet and totally exhausted, it was already dark and I got more sleet and rain into my face from the next hailstorm... When I arrived in camp, Ashley and Pete very kindly comforted me with hot drinks and food. On the walk back I had already mentally prepared for a "let-go-of-you-possessions"-exercise. If it only had not been my camera! Worth a lot of money, too.

When I finally got into my tent - believe it or not - I found the plastic bag with my camera just lying next to the entrance! How stupid can you actually be? I know I had been carefully looking around at least twice... At least that is what I was convinced I had done. So I had put myself through hell just for nothing! I did feel a lot of relief, though. And this way you do get to see a few pictures, too.

One of the greatest views I had from scrambling up Cerro Gran Vista (5152m, very appropriate name!) overlooking Laguna Sarapococha and the Cordillera, see the view here. This is exactly where the horrible accident of "Touching the Void" took place. But there are many other spots, typically on the high passes, from where the views are incredible. Absolutely worth the effort and hardships of the trek! I would do it again immediately!

Being back to Huaraz now, I do enjoy the amenities of being able to take a hot shower and buying all the food I fancy! And I keep eating almost continuously... I guess my body has to recharge a little.

Of course there would be much more to tell, but I have already spent too much time in the internet cafe... As I am now well acclimatized and very fit, I will probably go and climb an other little mountain near here the next days. Stay tuned!