Haz clic aquí para leer en español Written by Neon [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0rjl-5qCLo&w=560&h=315] Our journey down to the Maranon River began with a long car ride- from Huaraz; we went east…

Ever since that old man grabbed me and would not let go in Villa O’Higgins, then later the other villagers told me they had found a girl tied up in his house, I have given myself permission to be ruder than I ever thought permissible during my upbringing.

Vilcabamba is well known for its healing properties. We learned that there are apparently two rivers running under the town, through beds of quartz crystal. This makes the town a huge draw for holistic folk from all over the world as well as people wanting to live longer.

Maria is a mighty woman.
A little mother too soon, a widow too soon, out for a walk and at just the moment to propel me up a hill without our even noticing.
Aged beyond her years but also so fresh to a particular path in life that she refreshed my eyes and challenged me to look for the beauty in the evening air, I wonder if she knows what she started when her daughter asked, “but mom, why are you walking?” and she replied simple, “because I want to.”

Walking along the lower elevation of the Huallanca valley warmed us up for a couple of days and then we ascended once again up a side valley. It definitely wasn’t as frigid as the towering Huayhuash Circuit, though it was chilly enough for comfortable walking.

“When tourists first came to the Huayhuash,” she explained, “they would ask local people to guide them and then give them money. Sometimes they just gave people money, so the people got used to that,” she shrugged.

After our shortcut, we were able to meet back up with the trail, which was terribly rutted out from pack stock traveling through the mud so regularly as well as from the lack of trail maintenance. We slip-slid our way up to the pass and descended (once again) as the clouds rolled in and spritzed us enough to dampen our clothes.

This is a first person account from Judith Trier, a teacher, world traveler, and avid outdoorswoman. We honor teachers all around the world for the work and passion you pour into your students and our future.

Written by Neon Huancayo is a large city, containing many different sections. We chose to slack (walk with only day packs) out of the city to avoid having to stress…

“We’re finally going north again!”, I thought excitedly as we made our way along the edge of the road out of Paucara.