Bienvienidos a Huaraz!

I love Huaraz!
This is my third time here and I am happy that this time Forrest is here with me. It is a bit rainy, but not bad considering that it's the "rainy season". The clouds are obstructing the moutains so unfortunately Forrest hasnt been able to see them YET! We have been experiencing the local scene with my friends Jenn and Ted (the owners of skyline-adventures.com - check them out). Forrest expreienced the Peruvian marcado, where we purchased some food including a whole chicken that was butchered in front of us, Forrest was suprised at their yellow color... it's not just a cartoon thing. Skinless cow and pig heads swarmed with flies in the meat market and the smell fell onto you like a wool blanket.

Jenn also took us to a spin class, yes peruvians get in shape on spin bikes too. Forrest and I were the tallest ones in the class (Forrst's head almost touched the cealing when he sat up), it was really fun and hard to breathe, up at 10,000 ft.

Yesterday we went climbing with Jenn, Ted and thir 2 little ones Cole and Noah, to a place called Chancos further down the valley. Forrest got a partial glimpse of Huscaran (the tallest peak in peru) as it partialy exposed itself in the clouds. The climbing was wonderfull and the day was beautifull, warm and sunny, we climbed right next to a rushing stream. Muy tranquillo.

Today we headed up to an area above the town of Huaraz where Jenn, Ted and various other people have started an organic community garden. It is still in the constrution phase so we got to do some manual labor, by building new beds in their cobble lain field, we also did some weeding in the beds that have already been planted. The first crops of the sason, radishes were harvested, before it began to rain. It was great to get out with many differnt locals, practice some spanish and get our hands dirty. The garden they are builing is a huge undertaking that 10 local family are taking part in. There is almost no topsoil in the valley because it was washed away by a massive flood caused by an eathquake in the 70's. As a result they are builing raised beds, removing all of the rocks by hang and composting to create an amazing place to grow veggies. We were psyched that we could be apart of it.
We only have 3 more days in Huaraz before we head to Cuzco, I will be sad to go so soon but the trip has been amazing so far thanks to Jenn and Ted!