I climbed all the way to the summit of Volcan Cotopaxi today. “Today” as in 1am this morning until sometime after 11am. 7 hours up, 3 hours down. 5911 meters (19,393 feet). We started at a refuge around 4800 meters.
It was pure hell but I’m glad I did it. Definitely, without a doubt, the most physically and mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done. And I had an excuse — finally! — to use the Ice Axe loop on my backpack. Nice.
I didn’t get a chance to take many pictures since we were hanging on for dear life on the sides of the glacier most of the time… but I got a couple from about half way up and a half dozen or so at the summit. Will post tomorrow.
Right now though, my legs feel like they’ve been run over by a tractor and my arms feel like jello. And I’ve been awake for 32+ hours. It’s going to be an early night. Time to get off the computer.
Ever since, oh about 5 days after I arrived in Ecuador I haven’t been vegan anymore. Chicken, Beef, Pork, Shrimp, Fish, Cow Tongue… I’ve had it.
Shock.
I never thought I would go back to being vegetarian (from vegan), much less back to eating damn near everything. But you can’t get Tofu here. Well, you can, but it’s the shitty shelf kind and it’s unrealistically expensive. And there is nowhere for me to cook it anyway.
Plus, I figure they probably don’t inject their animals with hormones and antibiotics. Everything seems really fresh, so that knocked out one of my primary objectives against meat eating.
Then, as well, I’m doing a lot of physical activity and I need some sort of protein. Bell peppers and onions do not a complete meal make.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making a habit of it. There’s a great vegetarian restaurant here and I eat there almost every day when I have the chance. Their veggie burger is killer. And I’m not giving up Veganaise anytime soon.
But maybe, just maybe, when I get back to the states I’ll go to Chick-fil-A. Or maybe I’ll just go to the Daily and stock up on Tofu. Only time will tell.
We took these pics last night. See explanation in previous post.
[click for larger]
Elke + Me
Okay, if something was going to shit on me today, it’s this:
[from depechemode.com]
Depeche Mode will be playing the following North American cities during October, November and December of 2005:
Atlanta, GA
No date is listed yet, but if they hit Atlanta, or anywhere on the east coast, in late December I’ll be damned if I’m not changing my plane ticket and coming home when the Costa Rica program is over on the 6th.
Either that, or I’m maxing out my credit card and going to see them during my spring break, when they play in Austria on March 13th. It’s not like I don’t have a place to stay. Maybe it’ll be my birthday present.
Update: I bought DM tickets for Austria. I guess Elke will find out that we’re going to see Depeche Mode once she checks her email after returning from the Galapagos. Yay! Spring Break in Europe. Jesus H Christ, I’m impulsive.
I can’t miss them, especially since there’s a good chance this will be their last world tour.
Published on
August 28, 2005 in
travel.
So I’m all set to climb up Cotopaxi on Tuesday night.
Nervous? Yes.
Scared? Not right now. But that might change when I’m hanging off the side of a glacier.
Details, and hopefully pictures, when I return on Wednesday night.