Day 21
The Diarrhoea Diaries
Dear Diarrhoea,
Having made your acquaintance for some time now we would like to make a polite request - PISS OFF.
Please let these people poo with dignity again.
Kind Regards
Anon.
5th August - Day 25
Ok this may end up being my first non-sarcastic/jokey entry yet. I�m gonna start with today and work backwards (this is my �therapy�!).
Today we went for a walk up to the cross (Sadie & Claire stayed back). It was Suzanne and mine first day out since Sunday because we (unfortunately) got �seriously� ill & ended up in an emergency hospital. No major details needed but egg burps, diorrhea, sickness (at the same time), and dizzy spells, combined with stomach cramps, bright lights & a permanent feeling of sickness is not nice. I was put on a drip, we were both injected with antibiotics, prescribed 4 different tablets and informed we had stomach infections. To be frank, we felt like shite. We slept (after a 3 hour stay in the hospital) in the hostal all day, then come Monday morning we slept some more. We felt lots better (diorrhea & very weak though!) and managed a walk to the plaza for soup at lunch & dinner. Then today - we were strong enough for a walk to the cross & back (up a nearby mountain) so we set off. Shaun, Suzanne & I got a taxi � way so we would be strong enough to walk the rest. We got to the top & sat down (all very pleased that we had managed that far - Suzanne & I esp.) to rest.
This is the �unfunny� part. A guy came out from the trees behind us and held a gun to Becky�s head. The first I knew was when Becky said �Shaun� and we turned round & saw (that picture is still in my head!) and there were 2 other guys with gloves. One had 2 stones and was banging them. I�m not gonna dwell on this but it weren�t half scary! Basically we lost some money, and 3 cameras.
The guy with the stones took my camera off me & ripped the film out the camera & I got really angry (not the smartest idea with hindsight) when he gave it back to me! I threw it back at him, and I threw the camera case back - as if it would be any use now! There were lots of tears & it wasn�t pleasant but everyone is absolutely fine. Thank God!
Enough from me - it�s someone else�s turn now! Not sure what�s happening next, but quite a few people aint too happy about going back into the mountains (not surprising really!)
Rachel x
Day 25 - 25th August �03 - Tuesday
Ok backtracking a tiny bit (well Saturday actually) -
Because people were using the bathroom at about 8.40am (20mins before breakfast) I decided to go downstairs and use the toilet! So after I had erm�yeah, I tried to open the door�and �this iz where zee problems started�!
I was standing pulling on the stupid doorhandle for 10minutes before I decided that just maybe I WAS STUCK IN A STINKY TOILET! Next I tried the window which unfortunately was about 10cm � 10cm! (Well sort of), the window also had a nice little drop of 5m onto a corrugated iron roof which looked vaguely bare in places!
At about 9.05 (20 mins after I had first gone in) I heard footsteps thundering down the stairs to breakfast (considering that my brain is often over ridden by my stomach in many like situations I tried to jump out the window again - which is quite hard when you have to balance on the seat just to see out of it). Finally Becky came and asked if I was in the loo! - but then she told me to come to breakfast when I had finished - I nearly had a seizure at the thought of smelling breakfast while being stuck in a toilet!
Well, to cut a long story short - I was stuck in the loo for 45 mins and by the time I was rescued (by an aging Peruvian man) I was almost dozzing on the toilet! - Well I am renound for sleep anywhere, anytime, anyhow! Lol.
And if that wasn�t enough, the leaders locked all the keys in their bedroom, and when they decided it might just be a bit too dangerous to lower someone from the 3 storey roof top by rope (umm�yeah!) a special man was called to break off the old lock and replace it! Who ever said adults know best?! Lol
Ok, back to today�.erm well we had breakfast, walked up a mountain, got held up at gunpoint, had dinner and went to bed.
Not much to say really - pretty average day - nothing too unusual!
Camilla x
Day 26 Wednesday 6th August
Not much happened today. Lots of retail therapy & relaxation, & we are currently travelling from Huaraz to Trujillo to go to the beach. Seems like fun to me!
We decide that �Surfing USA� is a song that fits the trip quite well, wheras coming up with new lyrics for the �Friends� theme is also fun! My contribution was
�I�ll be there for you
When you�re lying sick in bed.
I�ll be there for you
When there�s a gun to your head.
I�ll be there for you
When we�ve blocked up the loo!�
Clairey x
Day 27 Thursday 7th August,
After the overnight bus journey to Trujillo we arrived at the bus depot at about 5:30am and grabbed all our bags & searched for the hostal owner by the name of �Jo�s friend�! We piled into taxis to Huanchaco the sea was gorgeous as we travelled along the coast highway. We collapsed into bed (well most of us did) and tried to catch up on sleep. We were woken by flutes played so considerately into our room via the window. Thank you very much Rachel, Suzanne & Shaun (it was apparently his idea!!). Luis (aka Jo�s friend) took us on a tour of the village where everyone seemed to be related to him. We are finally using the tents we have been lugging around the whole trip to try & save a bit of money so the tents were not completely pointless!!
H.
August 8th - Day 27
Quick note to say we have an official �quote of the week� by Suzanne yesterday. After travelling from the mountains in Huaraz to the beach & sea here in Huanchaco, Suzanne asked �what height are we at now?�
No more needs be said except she actually did A-level Geography.
Rachel
August 8th (still)! - Day 27
We were sunbathing when Rachel (queen of flip flopping) accidently flipped and flopped on Saskia�s glasses. She is a fool. Rachel has been crowned �fool of the trip.� The sea was lush today and the boats are amazing. Shaun is now Sonic Shaun and Saskia is blind. That�s all from me from now!
Sarah
Xxx
August 11th - Day 30
Ok, can�t exactly remember what�s been happening day by day but seeing as I sort of missed my day out, here�s a brief update. I�ll start with filling you in on shopping.
We spent many happy hours in the newly christened �tat market� in Huanchaco, and are now professional �tat� buyers - woohoo! What a title! Um���.so we�re all spent out (but still great at window shopping)�..Becky had surfing lessons yesterday��we had our �last night� (which was 3 days before our last night) and we gave the leaders/non-leaders their lil prezzies which we had planned. Key rings�.read their history of key caring & you�ll understand why they needed them. Shaun�s had �Gollum� on, Sadie�s has �Little Miss Mozzie� and Becky�s is �Swear Queen�. We also gave them massage thingies (which we refused to demonstrate) because we figured they�d need to relax after their stressful & eventful month.
Not much else to say except yesterday was a very strange day. Ask Shaun & Suzanne about the shower time swap, Suzanne about the 10 sols which fell out of her trousers, and Becky & Sadie about the rock which was thrown through the coach window last night. Hmmmmmm�.weird��.
We are now in Lima, the city of all happiness (erm) & now we are off to the Bank, South American Explorer�s Club, and Saskia & Astrid need to find a priest - not just any old priest though!
Rachel
P.S. Shaun still hasn�t had the inevitable mental breakdown�.
12th August - Day 31
Here we are again�..in an airport. Houston to be exact. It�s 9.50am & our flight to Gatwick isn�t until 4pm. But it�s all ok because I just bought glow-in-the-dark yellow �bouncing goo� which doesn�t bounce much. We shall see if it glows on the flight tonight.
And we have learnt that Continental Customer Services don�t believe in �service with a smile� - Shaun & Becky rang the complaints line & Shaun wrote one out too coz the moody cow behind the desk had a serious attitude problem which can be roughly diagnosed as the �I hate my job, my life and myself� syndrome.
Houston airport is C.R.A.P. There is ONE decent store - The Disney Store. And even I can�t spend an entire day there. Although there are pretzel stands around the place�.mmmmm�.maybe I�ll buy a giant pretzel when the novelty of luminous yellow bouncing goo wears off.
Rachel x
Tuesday 12th August - Day 32
We started our journey home Sunday evening when we caught the bus from Trujillo (Huanchaco) to Lima. The bus journey was eventful (well, the whole trip is, really). Someone threw a rock through the window, smashing it. We had to stop a few times because of it, and I was cold all night cos they only replaced the window with cardboard and tape! We arrived about an hour late in Lima at 7am. We got taxis to the Explorer�s House where we were hoping to sleep until about 11am but another World Challenge team was already there, taking up most of the hostel. We stayed there anyway, had breakfast and some of us went to the South American Explorer�s Club, while others watched TV or fell asleep on the sofa (me and Sadie). We went out for lunch and then had the afternoon free to do whatever (more �tat� shopping, more sleeping, more TV�) At about 5.45pm we went out for a meal but it took us about � hour to decide what we wanted to eat. Some of us wanted Chinese and others just wanted pudding. In the end, we went to Pizza Hut!
At 8.15pm we set of to the airport where we spent our last soles on chocolate! Our flight was delayed 20mins. I slept all the way through.
We are now in Houston airport, starving as Continental Airlines won�t give us free meals. There�s not much to do except look around, but there are only about 10 so that didn�t take long (done it already and it�s only 10.30am). As Rachel just mentioned, we are all very bored so I think I�m gonna try to sleep now (apparently makes time go by faster).
Saskia
12th August - Day 32 (Again)
Well I�m (still) bored. It�s now 11.30 (yay - nearly time for the lunch which we can�t afford to buy). Suzanne & I went for a walk & found a smoothie/frozen yogurt place where we got smoothies (surprisingly!). We kind of forgot that when you order �large� in America it�s like asking for �hugely, ginormous, massive, extra extra big� in the U.K. & so we both ended up with these giant smoothies which are impossible to eat. I did try but I feel sick now.
God I�m bored. Saskia, Claire & Astrid have gone to find a net caf�, Helen is reading, Sarah & Suzanne are sleeping (lazy bums) and Paul & Camilla have disappeared of the face of the earth/airport. I think the leaders have fallen into a big black pit�..haven�t seen them all morning��.
Yay, Camilla & Paul are back. Back to the novelty of the bouncing goo�.I daresay there�ll be more from me again later.
Rachel
Day 33 August 13th
Last day of the expedition and we just arrived in Gatwick airport. Looking back through the journal, I noticed that something very important (scary and exciting at the same time) has not been mentioned yet.
After our little incident on top of the mountain (go back to day 25) was reported to the police in Huaraz, the press in England contacted World Challenge and Becky�s boyfriend and mum. The next thing we hear is that we are all over the newspapers (both national and regional), TV (BBC, ITV and Sky), as well as the radio! We couldn�t believe it! Everyone in the UK knows about it even though it wasn�t that big a deal (thank God World Challenge contacted our parents before the press knew). We think the police in Huaraz is to blame for all this. It�s gone so far that we were expecting the press to be here (in Gatwick) for our arrival! Well, apparently, a press car has been parked in front of our school for the last 2 days.
So basically, we are famous! We have been on the front page of the South Wales Echo and on the last page of the Sunday Times! Mr Morris is here to bring us home after all these emotions.
So that�s it from me.
Saskia
x x x
Days 1-20 (I bet you decided to read the last page first, awkward like that arent ya???)