I am just attaching a few photos (I hope) while the internet is working.  I have 3 bush camps in a row and won’t be posting for awhile.  We will be biking on rough dirt roads up through what Tom Lynch has referred to as the Switzerland of the Andes with a pass of 4872 meters and surrounded by the highest mountains in Peru.  Today I will mostly rest The first photo is the fanciest motorcycle taxi I’ve seen.  They are everywhere.

While I’m waiting for friends – we are heading for the Plaza de Armaz here in Huaraz – I thought I would talk a little about food.  We eat four meals a day.  Breakfast usually consists of granola, yogurt, milk, juice, eggs and rolls with honey, jam or marmalade.  There are always bananas. Coffee or tea as well.  At lunch, which is served from one of the trucks about half-way thru our ride,  we have sandwiches, fruit, more bread and rolls, and a  gator-aide type of drink.  We fill up our water bottles, grab more energy bars and snacks and hit the trail again.  When we arrive we are greeted by these wonderful soups that our cook Ellen has prepared.  They are very conscious of vitamins in our food and the soups are full of vegetables etc.  Also there is a big bowl of cut up fruits which I love and like every meal lots of rolls and bread.  Recovery drinks as well.  If we are in a bush camp then Ellen prepares the dinner meal which I’ve described in a previous post.  We are so lucky to have her with us.  Desserts as well.  If we are in a hostel or hotel then we go for dinner to a restaurant of our choice.  I eat a lot.  Four meals and I’m still looking for ice cream after dinner.  They eat lots of chicken here in Peru as well as in Ecuador.  When you see the chickens in the small farms along the way the thing that strikes you is how big they are.  That’s reflected in the portions we find at local restaurants.  Pollo (chicken) is served in just about every way you could think of cooking it – my favorite is grilled.  Arroz (rice) , papas (potatoes) and ensalad (salad) are the usual sides.  Papas fritos are like a larger versions of french fries.  Last night I had these wonderful sweet potato fries which don’t resemble our orange colored version at home but are just as delightful.  The other real common dinner is bistec or lomo.  The beef in Ecuador and Peru is thin, not that tasty and quite chewy.   I know that when we arrive in Argentina that will certainly change.  There are also tamales, empanadas and many other smaller dishes.  Just as practically anywhere in the world, you can find Italian restaurants with pizza and pasta – we’ve sought them out on several occasions and they are very good.  We look for panaderias (bakeries) as we wander around for biking allows one to grab a great pastry treat just about anytime.  Beer is served very commonly in a liter bottle.  Most of our riders have no problem with the larger size.  I drink a small glass and pass the rest of the bottle on to one of many willing compadres.  I’m not much of a beer drinker.  I did have the first decent glass of red wine since I’ve been here last night.

Well,  friends are here and we’re off.  I hope to have something more substantial to write about after our trip up into the mountains – it will be a few days off because of our  three bush camps with no internet.

mountains riding into Huaraz

a massive mountain view – we will be there soon.