Report of 18th July
Report by Trudy

This morning Monica made breakfast for us. It was very good and tasteful and so had Jessica free of making breakfast for our group. After breakfast Benno and Thecla went to the hospital and Dirk and I put al our luggage in the Land Rover and the Model T.
It is time to depart. The workers of the SOS village took a lot of pictures and we leave and became a lot of big kisses. We had a wonderful time in the village with the lovely people and the children we met. Jessica thanks for your special service and everybody thanks for the beautiful days.
Marcelino, the director of the SOS village, was arrived early this morning from a meeting in Lima, to say goodbye and he drove with Dirk in the Model T to lead us out of the city.

colors of the mountains 

When we left the city we saw again a lot of mountains. We drove along splendid mountain-slopes with many brown and red collared fields. We passed a kind of houses of straw.

houses 

After a few miles ended the asphalt and changed the road in a dirt road.

shepherd 1 

We were lucky because there arrived a shepherd with her sheep’s. Benno took beautiful pictures of her. So we had aspecial coffestop.

shepherd 2 

During the trip we saw again special birds.

bird 

But than…………..was the start of a exciting trip. Dirt roads and also other cars. We disappeared sometimes in a cloud of dust.

dust

We drove along the dusty, unpaved road, high, steep and much bends.

high 1 

In a shop in Pampas we bought some food and when we returned to the Model T there was a lot of attention for the car.

attention 

We continue our trip through the city of Pampas

Pampas 

high 2 

Unfortunately we took a wrong road, and we had to back for about 10 miles to get on the good road.

where to go 

At 5 PM we stop and find a nice place to make our camp.
Benno and Thecla sleep again outside in the open field.
We hope that it will not be that cold this night.

Report of 17th July
Report by Benno en Thecla

Yesterday in the evening we have visited two houses in the SOSVillage. That visit gave us a beautiful impression how everything is arranged inside the houses.

in the house 

Young and older children look after each other. Beside that the mothers and aunts take care that everything went like clockwork. In the two houses we felt a beautiful warm living together of the children. It was beautiful  that we were in the opportunity to visit them.
Every body is busy with preparing the big festival that they will present for us. We only have to wait for that.

waiting 

At 4.30 PM starts the festival, special organized for us!! Carlos starts with a special word of thanks in Dutch. We are sitting outside in a circle on benches and the Model T is in the middle.

in front of the Model T 

They dance and sing for us in traditional clothing.

special drink 1

special drink 2

They invited us to dance with them, but we became almost out of breath.

dancing 1 

dancing 2 

It was heavy to dance on this height.

dancing 3 

They handing over a big paper with the words “Welkom Vrienden” where every child put his handprint on with paint. Lovely.

paper 

All four of us received a special souvenir of Peru. There is a pleasant atmosphere. Everybody is exuberant!

in the Model T 

We cannot wish a more beautiful farewell of the SOS village in Huancay

Report of 16 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

In the morning we visit the social centre of the SOS children village.                                          The children of the poorest families from the region are cared for by washing early in the morning, feeding and they get also lessons in social behaviour. The parents of these kids getting also support of the social centre. We get a good image about what the teachers and other helping hands of the social centre do for their children in the different classes. The classes are divided in different ages from one till five years.
After visiting the different classes, some of the children showed us a traditional dance. At the end we get under loud enthusiastic applause, each presented a lama wool Peruvian bag as thanks. How wonderful and overwhelming!
After eating a new recipe of soup from Jessica, which gets tradition, we go for visiting of two of the houses from the SOS village. Monica explains and translates if necessary at us. Each mother has nine children were se has to care for. We feel a verywarm atmosphere at each house. With this warm feeling we go to bed in our own house and feel warm asleep

Monica explaining

the different classes

another class

another class 2

polonaise

less chairs than children

overwhelming

getting a present

the mission car on his place

traditional dance

Report of 15 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

two interested boys 

Jessica in the kitchen 

After another delicious breakfast we take a break and relax around the houses.
In the afternoon we even get a hot shower after all the barrels are filled.
The charming Monica and Jessica take good care for us and they want to help us.
While we are sitting in the sun on the door steps of our home, mothers and children from the other family houses wave to us and wish us a friendly: ‘bueno’s dia’
There are several birds in the garden and it all gives a very warm feeling in this SOS village. In the evening we get invited to celebrate birthday party of |Mateo, a two year old boy. Together with a bunch of twenty children and their aunties and mothers, the clown makes a enormous big party of his celebration. Every child is happy. They show us the value of SOS villages. We can much better understand the motivation of Dirk and Trudy to make such a big world trip for their fundraising for SOS villages.

fiesta of Mateo 

the funny clown 

the party of joy 

listen well 

happiness all over

Report of Monday 14 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

under the tarpaulin

awaking 

ice cristals 

bitter cold 

Mongolian steppe …

It was a night from fighting against the cold, the effect of the coolness of the moon and the Siberian wind weren’t so good for a nice temperature. In the morning was it fourteen degrees below zero and we lay under a thick layer of white frost. Dirk has problems with the altitude, he is dressed in his special thick car clothes and his Russian cap he looks like if he comes from a Siberian work camp. Trudy tries to warm the water, but everything is frozen.
This is the ultimo romance of travelling!.

Dirk with headache from … 

Dirk says that is one of the heaviest part of his world trip till now. But by using some jokes we break the ice. After the sun is becoming more strength we can go on (ten o clock in the morning). On the high plateau we see a herd of alpaca’s and later wild guanaco’s.
From the waving high plateau we go to a landscape which we know only from fairy tales, but luckily the road is getting much better en the model T again drives strong.
In the late afternoon we reach Huancayo and we go directly to one of the hospitals.
There Thecla gets with a lot of trouble first but finally her second vaccination against rabies. By the parking of the hospital we meet the wife of the director from the SOS children village, Monica. Se brings us to the village, where we may sleep in the community house and got each an own room.   By Jessica, the cook of the personal (and the community house) we get a delicious meal. The showers were we also long to have to wait, because there is only for three hours day water. But with only glass water in our face, the ostriches feel also very well!

first sight on guanaco’s 

curious alpaca 

on the high plateau 

please full again 

on our way 

strange colored rock layers 

little roads, big trucks

inside a family restaurant

Report Sunday 13 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

our camp place 

The full moon kept the cows on a distance this night, even the dogs.
The morning sun sets everything in a friendly light, when we start again the road with the thousand bends and bumps.
From three thousand meters we drive gradually up to the Cero de Pasco on four thousand meters. Here we come on a high plateau where a dizzling cold wind blows.
The road gets more worse and our speed is getting less till a very provoking twenty km an hour. But the model T keeps very well (a wonder!).  When we pass the lake of Chinchaycocha, we see flamingo and black ibis, gooses and different kinds of ducks.

black ibis 

But we can’t hold for long because we have to find a place before its getting dark.
On the high plateau, who looks alike the Mongolian steppe according Dirk and Trudy, we make again our camp in the field. But at the same time the sun is going down, it’s getting freezing cold as minus five degrees. So we go for sleeping immediately.
We dive into our mummy sleeping bags closed till our nose is only left and covered with a tarpaulin under the sky of the night again.

along the road 

drying corn 

unexpected color of tree 

chatting women 

pigheaded 

waiting for more cold at night

Report of Saterday 12 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

The road of thousand bends
After we spend the night in Huallanca under a thick packet of blankets we get early up in the awaking village to walk through the little authentic streets. On each corner of the street old traditional dressed women are sitting, selling warm drinks with home made bread as breakfast.
The deep valley is still covered in the shadow of the mountains. People walking deep hidden in their clothes. Our damping breath gives the street view a self-will character, and one of another reason, we immediately feel home.
But our SOS mission calls us to depart. Soon we drive along the steep mountain ridges in the awakening sun. The hills up and down, to the left, downstairs to the right, bend after bend, through little water streams.
Sometimes the road is so bad and narrow that it is almost impossible to let pass the traffic from the opposite site. And then you need room to maneuvered along the cattle who is walking on the road, like pigs, donkeys, cows and chicken.
It’s getting a road of thousand bends.
Finally at the end of the day we find deadly tired a small piece of grass between the steep mountain ridges and along a little mountain river. Just when Trudy and Thecla install their kitchen, a couple of cows come from out of the darkness behind them in search of the river and walk almost over us.
Thecla and I take another night under the sky so we see the landscape in the full moon light and fall asleep for another night.

very narrow road 

a little village 

ploughing in the old way 

animals on the road 

house with political slogans

another view 

marvelous… 

house of the rising sun

Report Friday 11 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

a dirt road 

nice kind of flower 

Trudy with her birthday present 

Trudy has her birthday today! After a nice breakfast we go on the road to see the Puya Raimondii. A kind of yucca, but than so extraterrestrial big.
We go from the main road to a dirt road which leads to nobody land. The road is very rough but that doesn’t matter because we have such beautiful scenery of snow peaks and magic valleys.

where leads the road to 

houses where people live 

just a nice view 

many Puya Raimondii

Model T with Puya Raimondii 

After a couple of hours of rising on the road we can see the first the Puya Raimondii.
We have a delightful birthday coffee with Trudy, cake from Thecla on a nice Peruvian table cloth with got Trudy from Dirk and amazing scenery. After the coffee we rise and rise through shameful gorgeous mountains. The air is getting thinner, the road is getting rougher, and there is blowing a very cold wind. We wonder every minute about the changing views. How much beauty you can have­­­ on one day?

nice camping place but to early 

beautiful scenery 

man on horse 

We reach a magic height of 15,000ft! First the model T gets some help of an extra horsepower, to get to the elevated heights. The air is thin that even the model T gets free with his wheels in the air.

extra horsepower

one wheel of the ground 

Dirk can’t hold the Trojan stallion inside the model T and so he brings us to different spheres from other places. Or is it the work of the coca leaves?

how tiny 

snow 

getting higher 

getting later

Report of Thursday 10 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

After all the exertions of the rough roads and the height Dirk feels himself a little feverish, so he takes a day of rest. Together with Trudy he goes to the local Indian market.
Thecla and I decide to do a day hike in the surrounding mountains to a glacier lake Churup on 14000 ft. A collective bus takes us and ten other Indian women to the place Pitec, where we start the three hour hike up to the lake. The views are breathtaking even as the steepness, so we reach only the lake after five hours hiking. It feels good to let your body do some work.
The descent is a lot more easy, but if we reached Pitec the collectivos are all gone, so we have to walk through the fields back. Suddenly Thecla gets attacked by a dog in her leg and she gets very confused. Emotional we walk the last 12 kilometers to Huaraz.
Rabies is common here so in the evening a doctor visit Thecla and he cares for the vaccination.

starting point Pitec 

after an half hour climbing 

reached lake Churup 

how nice.. 

lake Churup 

nicer… 

F

view on the way 

luckily full moon

Report 9 July
Report by Benno en Thecla

The model T team no 1 

Today a relaxing day, but it isn’t day for laying backwards. Because the incoming part of the model T is just above the outcoming part, it gets to a astronomic heat. So they made a plan to make a new heat shield.
Although we are here in Huaraz on 3000 meters, de astronomic model T has to go much higher altitude. Thecla and Trudy go for sightseeing the city, while Benno and Dirk bath in coca leaves and the mathematical formulas of Stephan Hawkins.
They create a new heat shield who have to defy the flames and keep them on distance.
From our balcony we look around us to a twenty or more snow mountain peaks, beautiful and breathtaking! But we shall to find a way through.

the new heat shield 

view from Huaraz 

view from Huaraz 2 

view from Huaraz 1 

view from hotel by afternoon 

view by night