March 18th 2009 - Heeeellllpppp!

It was an early breakfast today as we were leaving for the Devil’s Nose. An hours drive to Asauli (which mainly consisted of my attempts to sleep) and waiting an hour for a train and then we boarded and we were off! Thank you to Tara for a slight miscalculation which meant I was sat next to Hilde on the side with the best view!

The train ride was interesting - a stunning backdrop and a winding track, kebabs half way up and a passing of the hats. There was an…alternative…way for the train to change direction too, with it having to go past the turning before reversing round the corner whenever it wanted to turn. At a break point a few of us decided to pretend to get run over by a train…because we are cool. And that is blip for the day!

After returning and lunch, I went for a run – my first of the trip and in the Andes! The first half an hour or so was hard work – straight up a hill with no path, through fields, over a bridge and at the top…no way down. I climbed down the sporadically until I found a railway track and just followed that into town. I jogged for about an hour non stop out of Guamote towards the mountains, entranced by the scenery until it was about 3ish and I decided to head home. The locals were so nice – beeping their car horns, smiling and shouting ‘hello!’ at the crazy tourist – although the dogs were not so friendly, and I had to threaten a couple of them with a rock for them to leave me alone. It was so nice to run though and I felt much better for it.

After a much needed shower, Mia, Josefine, Katja, Louise, Soren and I went into town to pick up snacks for the evening and play a bit of Dåsekjul (basically kick post) which was fun. I had a Danish lesson in the late afternoon (to help prepare me for my potential move out there) from Mia and then tea we all settled down for Mamma Mia. To finally send me off to a lovely slumber, Josefine read me a bed-time fairytale about a nice husband and a horrible wife.