Siula Grande
This is the Siula face where the true story of the two climbers of 'Touching the Void' (1985) had a harrowing time of it trying to get down and ended up with one of them cutting the rope with his friend dangling 100ft below. Doesn't look that too difficult a descent to me..Siula Grande is a mountain in the Cordillera Huayhuash, 6344m high.
"After a heroic and unstable three-day ascent to the summit, everything started to unravel when Simpson fell and broke his leg.
Yates was faced with the first of two terrible decisions: should he abandon his friend - whom they both knew was as good as dead - or try to get him down the mountain? Yates chose the second option. Over the course of a long, stormy day he single-handedly lowered Joe down the face. The storm was worsening, but Yates almost had Simpson to the bottom of the mountain by the time it grew dark.
Then he discovered that he had lowered his friend over an overhang. He didn't have enough rope to let Simpson down any further, but neither did he have the strength to pull him up again to look for another way down. Stalemate. Yates hung on for several hours. He was sitting in loose powder snow on a steep slope and there was no way he could anchor himself to the mountain. In fact, he was slowly being dragged down himself. He was faced with a second terrible decision: to die with his partner or to break the biggest taboo in climbing by cutting the rope on his partner. He cut the rope.
Simpson fell about 100ft to the glacier below and another 80ft into an enormous crevasse. He came to in a dark, icy cavern deep within the glacier and knew that, with his broken leg, there was no way he could climb out. "
Oscar-winning documentary-maker Kevin Macdonald, November 2003
Fanáticos del fútbol apasionados
'Los intimates' y 'la blanquiazules', Alianza Lima futbol, cerca 1993 by Annie Bungeroth [©]
On Sunday 'El papas', Club Sportivo Cienciano, beat La blanquiazules 2-1 at the stadia Inca Garcilaso de la Vega in Cusco! Alianza levelled the scoring just before half-time but Miguel Ángel Torres scored the winner with 74mins on the clock. El papas go top.
Palabra del dia [cuatro]
Túnez pais Tunisia; turbar upset; turbio cloudy, murky
El pais de Thomas Hardy
Durdle Dor, Lulworth Cove, Dorset
My little jaunt along the coastal path of Durdle Dor was a big wake up call to just how unfit I am- at this rate I'm going to seriously struggle doing one hour of a trek, let alone 4-5 days! OK, 49 days to go, I've got to step up the fitness training. (I was also a bit wobbley trying to get down the cliffs. My nerves have gone to pieces the last few years!)
Audio clip: A very short interview with Train 'camping in Hardy country':
El fotografo Martín Chambi (1891-1973)
Martín Chambi Jimenez of Puneño native descent in the Andean
highlands was the first to photograph his people as seen through their own eyes. Chambi, 1936, on the occasion of an exhibition in Santiago and Viña del Mar:
“I have read that in Chile it is thought that Indians have no culture, that they are uncivilized, that they are intellectually and artistically inferior when compared to whites and Europeans. More eloquent than my opinion, however, are graphic testimonies. It is my hope that impartial and objective witnesses will examine this evidence. I feel that I am a representative of my race; my people speak through my photographs.”
A student of Max Vargas in Arequipa, Chambi moved to his own studio in Cusco on Calle Marques. The Chambi glassplate archives are currently held Casa Cabrera, Plaza Nazarenas 231, Cusco (T: 0051 84 23 3210) maintained by his grandson, Teo Allain Chambi.
www.martinchambi.com [©]
Futbol Primera Profesional de Peru
It's 5pm and it's time for sports report el peru.. in the Lima local derby on Sunday Alianza Lima beat their rivals La U's 1-0 at the Alejandro Villanueva stadium! A goal by R Silva Pro in the 17min.
Next Sunday, the mighty 'Los intimates' are away to the 'El papas' Cienciano in Cusco. I've checked the fixtures and en Noviembre Alianza play La U's away, and home to Cienciano. (Plus the national team, 'La Blanquirroja' have a few friendlies against Jamaica and Panama). Nice to see the 'La blanquiazules' back at the top of the table!
El condor y Cañón del Colca
The canyon 'Cañón del Colca' is the deepest in the world (3269m) and the natural habitat of the great Andean condor (Vultur gryphus). The condor has a wingspan of 3m and soars effortlessly on the rising thermals. I would love to go on a horseback trek through the cañón to see los condors, which were until recently on the verge of extinction. Perhaps a little giddy-up on a 'uno paso', a typical peruvian working horse! Now, where did I put that poncho and cowboy hat..?
Monasterio de Santa Catalina
Who needs the vatican when the nuns of Arequipa have the Monasterio de Santa Catalina? The cloisters of narrow streets and courtyards was founded in 1580 by a rich widow, Maria de Guzman who was very selective when it came to choosing her nuns. No chaste poverty living for these upper-class girls- each nun had servants and slaves and they were constantly inviting musicians, holding parties and basically having a jolly good time of it. This went on for centuries but then the pope sent in a strict dominican nun in 1871 to spoil the party. The convent was shrouded in mystery and the doors were only opened for the first time in 1970 when the local mayor forced them to embrace the modern world. Esther considering joining the nuns, pre-marriage to the hon. Mr Mullee. [Photo courtesy of the Mullees]
Esto no es una llama
"This is not a llama."
Chullos
The oldest textiles were uncovered at the pre-Colombian temple of Huaca Prieta in the Chicama Valley, and are believed to date back 4000 years. Preferred materials include brown and white cotton, vicuña, alpaca and llama wool. Other materials occasionally include human hair and bat fibres and more commonly gold and silver thread. The main weaving areas are Ayacucho, Puno, Cusco, Junín, Apurímac and Lima. Cusco decorative work often features the 'tika'- representing the potato flower and the 'sojta'- a geometric design symbolizing the sowing season. Cusco weavers produce a wide variety of 'chullos' (woollen hats with earflaps)- I want one!
Nazca desierto
The Nazca lines are geometric patterns, curvilinear animal, insect and human figures located in the Nazca Desert, on a high arid plateau. They were created by the Nazca culture between 200BC-600AD by removing the iron oxide coated pebbles which cover the surface of the desert. The desert is one of the driest on earth and maintains a yearly temperature of around 77°F.
The Nazca lines cannot be recognized as coherent figures except from the air. The lines were first noticed in the modern era when airplanes began flying over the Peruvian desert in the 1920s. 
One theory contends that Ancient Indians conducted walking rituals on these giant drawings to thank the gods and to ensure that water would continue to flow from the Andes, which ties in with the extensive network of underground canals and waterways found dating from the same period.
[The hummingbird 'pájaro del tarareo' and monkey 'mono' by Dr Maria Reiche, 1953 [©]]
(Lectures at the Maria Reiche Planetarium, Nazca Lines Hotel, Nazca)
Palabra del dia [tres]
abrazo m hug; abrelatas m can opener; abridor m bottle opener
La papa peruana
The potato (Solanum tuberosum) was first domesticated more than 6000 years ago near Lake Titicaca in Peru where the greatest diversity of wild species is currently found. Spanish explorers brought the plant to Europe in the late 16th century as a botanical curiosity. By the 19th century it had spread throughout the continent, providing cheap and abundant food for the workers of the Industrial Revolution. Today, the potato is the fourth most important food crop in the world, with annual production approaching 300 million tons. More than one-third of the global potato output now comes from developing countries. The United Nations (UN) has declared 2008 as the International Year of the Potato. [Centro International de la Papa www.cipotato.org]
Estímulos estupendos spurs!
Having a 'cup of tea sue' moment at the Lane end watching the Super Spurs warm-up. Flatmate spurs season ticket holder Paula has a friend who always gets to the ground early to watch the boys and have a cup of flasked tea- fondly known as cup-of-tea-sue! Apparently, it's not that cool to get in to the ground till 5 minutes before kick off but we all got over-excited.
I realise my sports photography leaves a lot to be desired, but I assure you that is Edgar Davids and the new Bulgarian hitman Dimitar Berbatov playing in a pulsating, end-to-end friendly match v Real Sociedad!
Me and super spurs jackie keeps absolutely freezin' in the middle of agosto! Keeps had an eye on England's no.1, Paul Robinson but didn't think his new green kit was a winner. I think my new all shining pac-a-mac is a winner!
Argentina '78
This is fantastic, I was just looking in to how to upload audio online and came across this vintage footage of Cubillas scoring a goal against Scotland in the Argentina world cup '78. http://youtube.com/watch?v=21X7n2QW8Cw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Omtil7KIJaA
Delicious dishes [uno]- caipirinhas!
Lovely nu, north london community, is also travelling to Mozambique the same time I'm off to el peru. To embrace the spirit of our adventures we had a little caipirinha in the portugese cafe.No one knows for sure who first began making cachaça but the earliest report dates to about 1610 in the state of Bahia (then a Portuguese captaincy). Many believe that cachaça production began soon after the introduction of sugar cane into Brasil––sometime around 1550. For centuries, cachaça was produced almost exclusively for slaves, natives and the lower classes.Lovely Nu's recipe:-
Measure of cachaca- Brasilian sugar cane brandy
Ice
Limes
Sugar
Crush the ice and half fill a tall glass, add the cachaca (about a double gin measure), squeeze in the lime juice and as much of the fruit as you can scoop out, (I throw in the scooped out lime as well), add a teaspoon of sugar (or more if you like it sweet).
That's it!
La cocina peruana
Lomo SaltadoBeef sautéed with purple onions and fried with tomatoes and yellow chili peppers. Add cilantro, a shot of vinegar, and soy sauce. 
JuaneRice dish and variety of spices: pepper, annatto seed, cumin, cilantro, oregano, and bay leaf. Wrapped in large bijao (Calathea allouia) leaves and stuffed with chicken pieces, egg, and olive.
Pisco SourThe first grape stocks were brought from the Canary Islands to the Ica oases south of Lima in 1551. Local winemakers started making a grape brandy they shipped to other Spanish colonies from the port of Pisco. Now, pisco is made along the dry coastal desert from Lima to Tacna.
I came across this fantastic blog yesterday where a chef in Lima and another chef in Delhi share their recipes online- such a great idea. I wonder if I could persuade my friends- we could call our blog 'delicious dishes'...!?www.limadelhi.blogspot.comwww.perumuchogusto.com
El presente Elcio Carrico el fotografo
El presidente
El Peru's new president Alan Garcia returns to office after a disastrous financial and political crisis as president in 1985-90. Senor Garcia is quickly aligning himself with Washington and the FTA (free-trade agreement), as did his predecessor Toledo. Economically this means Andean highland farmers will continue to struggle to compete in the domestic market with over-subsidised imports from the United States. Garcia has tried developing niche markets such as asparagus 'espárrago' and hopes to do the same with broccoli 'bróculi' but this will only benefit a tiny few. In terms of foreign-policy he's making friends with Washington, Brasilia, Chile and Colombia. Interestingly, the election votes were very much divided along lines of class and income with lower-income Peruvians, especially those of indigenous origin voting massively for Humala. An excellent article by John Crabtree (Oxford University's Centre for Latin America Studies), a must see http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/garcia_second_3773.jsp
El cambio del ambiente y del clima
Fossil-fuelled climate chaos threatens to wipe out a quarter of land-dwelling animals and plants, yet Shell is the new inappropiate sponsor of the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. www.shelloiledwildlife.org.uk www.londonrisingtide.org.uk and
www.remembersarowiwa.comI received this postcard in the post. I'm absolutely gutted the Natural History Museum is so stupid and morally corrupt to accept the sponsorship of Shell for their Wildlife Photography Award.
Calle Melancolia
"El campo esta verde debe ser primavera.
Cruza por mi mirada un tren interminable.
El barrio donde habito no es ninguna pradera."
Joaquin Sabina
The countryside is green, it must be spring.
An endless train crosses by gaze.
The district where I live is certainly no spring meadow.
Vamos el papa!
Cusco, the 'Imperial City'- La Ciudad Imperial [courtesy of bikertony]
My loyalty to Alianza Lima has already been called in to question. Apparently, Cusco have a futbol team called Cienciano (basically meaning 'science' after the University faculty founded the club in 1901). They play in red, their nickname is 'el papa', they won the copa sudamericana in '03 and the recopa sudamericana in '04. And they're currently 2nd in the division with La U's in 3rd and Alianza only in 4th! My language school is just off the main square there in the middle, Plaza de Armas.
Grupo GEA
The local NGO I hope to visit works in three main areas- environmental engineering, economic development and education and culture. Focussing on water management and supply systems for small communities in the Andes, conserving a green agro-ecological corridor in metropolitan Lima, transforming peri-urban areas through the initiatives of trained young leaders, empowering community leaders for small health promotion and environmental management projects and community management of the Inca Trail for sustainable tourism and income generation. www.grupogea.org.pe
La princesa!
El festival de frutas
A very cool Rebecca and Staffo chilling out in Regent's park, along with 30,000 other north Londoners. The Mighty Zulu Theatre Company and the latino ensemble Roberto Pla were top draw, as were the pieminister pies!
Orgullo a lado del mar
As ever, the candy bar was the usual tent to be seen and be cool for the laydees. Top tunes all afternoon.
A very cool Sal and Dan, the little wild fruits, hard-core brighton pride weekenders.
Whey the girls a la Brighton pride- fantastic day out with the flatmates! I've never seen so many people at pride before- de was saying around 120,000. Even those local brighton lasses seemed happy to see us!
Chasqui
The railways arrived in el peru in 1871, but as a means of lines of communication what's more impressive is the 15th century Inca's 'chasqui'- the chasquis were agile and highly-trained runners that delivered messages dispatched along thousands of miles of purpose-built roads by a relay system. This allowed them to convey messages over extremely long distances within a very short period of time- a message could be delivered from Cusco to Quito in Ecuador within a week!
Palabra del dia [dos]
mortifero lethal; mosca f fly, just to be on the safe side; mosquearse f get hot under the collar.
La cocina de Lima y de la costa central
cerviche de mariscos [courtesy of promperu]The cuisine of Lima and the central coast sounds wonderful with moorish, african and chinese influences. Cerviche is a spicey dish of white fish marinated in lime or lemon mixed with chili. Another favourite recommended by Annie is Chupe de Camarones (shrimp soup). In Lima they also really like Causa Limena which is basically mashed yellow potato dumpling mixed with lemon, onion, chili and oil with either tuna or chicken. Sounds delicious..
El conejillo
The guinea pig was first domesticated in Peru in 2000BC for food; centuries later the Europeans kept them as little exotic furry pets. Apparently, they have one mate for life and like being in groups. The Andeans liked them for collecting evil-spirits in traditional healing rituals. If a guinea pig is lost, it may "wheek" for assistance!
Palabra del dia [uno]
chapuza f shoddy piece of work; chapuzar duck; chapuzon m dip
la primera parada
When I first arrive I hope to spend a couple of nights in Lima before I travel on to Cusco- take in the smells and sounds of Miraflores and Barranco and check out a few music nights and the local cuisine! It's also my last stop before I embrace communal living for the next 3 months. I get the feeling this trip is going to make a woman of me.
Ciudad los reyes
Lima, the capital of Peru is also known as 'ciudad los reyes', the city of kings. Founded in 1535 by the spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, for more than three centuries Lima was the most important city and the greatest metropolis in South America. It's on the edge of the desert and on the pacific coast.
Orgullo del Soho
Happy gay pride ladies! Mia's three words to describe pride- "'diverse', 'busy' and 'fun'", but of course she's not political and just here for a fun day out with her mates! In the audio interview Mia shared a few more thoughts but it's x-rated and this is a family show..
The joy of soho pride...
De having the time of her life and in her own words, "I love soho pride: soaking up the great atmosphere and spending quality time with my friends in the beautiful soho ( short pause..) may god forgive me for lying! Trailing the streets, bumping in to people you haven't seen for ages, hanging around for as long as possible and queueing for 4 hours to go to the toilet". Pressed further to find three good words to describe pride De offered, "'vibrant', 'gay' and 'friendly'"! Never would have thought of 'gay' de...
In all the excitement of the big day out, it was also Carmen's birthday- Feliz Cumpleaños Carmen! Joni meister leading the way...
This is the Siula face where the true story of the two climbers of 'Touching the Void' (1985) had a harrowing time of it trying to get down and ended up with one of them cutting the rope with his friend dangling 100ft below. Doesn't look that too difficult a descent to me..
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