Huarez

Definitely a beautiful spot surrounded by snow-topped mountain peaks. Unfortunately Carnavale hadn´t run it´s course yet and our first day was ¨water war Tuesday¨! Mobs of young people, male and female, coursed up and down the streets (even closing the main street) hurling water, either in balloons or without. Although they try to avoid the tourists, the old, and the indigeous folk in traditional outfits, secondary casualties are a result. At the same time fireworks are going off all over. The police, and they had brought in extras, showed a lot of restraint, allowing the hi-jinks to go on. Police here are about 50% women wearing snappy uniforms with big guns. Anyway the fun ended when God decided to enter the event with lightning, thunder and a down pour.
We spent the next few days in Huarez resting so that Joy could get over a cold, we could get a flight to and from La Paz and catching up on blogs. We were successful at all. Few hints for folks: debit cards are the best way to access $ here in SA, and domestic flights cost next to nothing (unless to a tourist destination ie: Galpagos or Cusco) and flights across borders are expensive.
Jim