The alarm sounded at 6.15am and dawn was just starting to break as we had our breakfast of pancakes and luke warm coffee. The plan was to leave as early as feasible so we could trek in the shade for as long as possible.
5 hours after we set out at 7am we arrived at a place called san juan, which, being on the other side of the canyon was lush and green due to the fact that it was not in direct sunlight all the time. We went over a pass at about 2800m with an amazing view of the entire canyon and through a few tiny villages.
The legs were starting to seize up at this stage but spirits were high as we had a fabulous lunch of fresh veggie soup and a carrot stirfry type thing. It was also great to get out of the sun whiuch had beern on our backs for about an hour by then. Our company as we luncheoned were a collection of lazy sleeping dogs and a few chickens with curious crew cuts and no feathers on their necks. There was also a cock with what seemed like Parkinsons he was shaking so badly.
Onwards and upwards towards our destination for the evening, an oasis at the bottom of the canyon. It looked so enticing as we descended towards it. Edison said there was only 2 minutes to go and I decided to break into a sprinty up what I thought was the final hill. Not only was it not the last hill but I ran too far and had to turn back on hearing the whistles from Claire and Edison. I was now totally out of breath and had no energy at all left. An important lesson had been learnt though!
We stepped into the green grass of the oasis, took off our shoes and had a well desrved beer while in the pool. We met a French couple, Christophe and Jacqueline, in the pool - they were the only other people there. A few stories were swapped as the twilight set in. Our beds this time were made of bamboo. Upon finishing the remainder of the rum and coke we retired, wrapping oursleves tightly in our sleeping bag liners and spraying all over with DEET. The mosquitoes were starting to make their presence felt. Directly outside our bamboo hut was a horse who proceeded to make slighly crazed noises throughout the night. Well we´d like to think it was the horse!
