THE
LION 05
NEWS & VIEWS FROM BABLAKE SCHOOL ISSUE 38 AUTUMN 2005
PERU
Bablake Diary Tuesday 15 November Autumn Music Concert
Wednesday 23 November Entry to Sixth Form evening
We met at school at the unsocial time of 2am, looking forward to a 12 hour plane journey to Lima, Peru’s capital, before flying internally to Cuzco, a small city in the south, originally the centre of the Inca Empire.
Monday – Saturday 21 – 26 November International Week Saturday 26 November International Evening of Music and Food Tuesday– Saturday 6 – 10 December Drama Production Family Matters Monday – Tuesday 12–13 December Carol Services Thursday 15 December 1st XV Rugby v KHVIII Friday 16 December End of Term Wednesday 4 January 2006 Entrance Examination Thursday 5 January 2006 Spring Term Begins
In this issue Action Events Careers Arts Opinion Travel Sport
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AFTER A FEW days in Cuzco, we were ready to start the first of our two planned hikes. We came by coach to the start of the Inca trail, where the Urubamba River empties into the valley from the Machu Pichu national park, under a swaying rope and wood bridge. Here we met our porters – 36 men for the 20 of us hikers. During the second day we hiked through the Hullabamba village to an “off the beaten track” temple, guided by Marcos-Antonio, a Peruvian boy from the village. The first pass, Dead Woman’s pass, was due to be reached the next day, but the steep ascent started here. It was here that several of the group had begun to suffer with the heat, altitude sickness and stomach bugs, Marcus being the first to be hit. The next morning, Graham, our group leader, declared that the worst of the sick would have to leave the trek and follow the trek back to the start. Walking down was the most empty, disheartening feeling, having waited and trained for so long for this trek. The rest of the group began the
daunting task of climbing Dead Woman's Pass – at 4215m, the highest point on the trail. Woken at 4am by the porters, who bore cups of coca tea, we climbed a low peak as the sun was rising. The Sun Gate, through which you can see the first views of Machu Pichu, provided a huge sense of achievement when reaching it later that morning. At Machu Pichu, the group was reunited. The sick people had caught the train to Machu Pichu after staying in a hostel. After a tour around the Inca site, we travelled back by train. A few days rest in Huaraz left us ready for the Alpamayo circuit, the second hike lasting 11 days. We travelled to the starting campsite where we swam in boiling natural springs before the hiking started the next day. The next few days of the hike took us past huge lakes, each one a different shade of blue, grey or green. We trekked to the base camp of the Alpamayo Mountain where a glacier ran down into a lake. Nester informed us that it was here Touching the Void had
been filmed and he had in fact been the technical director. The fifth trekking day led us over a high pass Punta Union at 4750m before descending to our campsite. The final pass we negotiated on the penultimate day of the Alpamayo circuit was possibly the most spectacular. After climbing a steep, dusty path, the next valley opened out in front of us, with snow capped peaks covering every gap in the skyline. From here, we even saw an avalanche rumble down from one of them. The final campsite was set in a flat valley with a large glacier lake in. Naturally, we had to go swimming, but it was probably the coldest, most painful experience. The final day saw the sun rise and spread quickly up the valley. We spent the day walking up to a glacier at 5200m under the Pisco mountains peak, the highest climbed all holiday. At the end of this trek, it was noted the only people not to become ill on the holiday was “the so solid crew” Elliott and Lisa. K