Mountain Walking in the Andes

Dear Pinyot,
I couldn't believe that I won the competition! And I was given a chance to travel to any of the destinations they mentioned as tracking rare mountain for gorillas in Uganda, bush walking with guides in Kenya and there were so much more but I chose to travel to the Andes on a major treks with expert guides who will just be following behind you and will seek if you need any help (just in case you are lost or thirsty/ hungry). Major treks are where you go mountain walking for six to eight hours in a day. I chose to go to mountain walking because I like to go to places, which are very quiet and peaceful, and uncrowded because I want to be in a place where you can get away from your everyday problems and feel unstressed for the first time because of work, etc. and places where you can feel so lonely and free for the first time.

All thanks to my best friend Charles I won the competition he made me enter it in the first place and he told me that I won!! This is what happened It was in the morning and I just had woken up, The phone rings and I answer, “Hullo, Hussein here?” The voice on the other end asks for Mr. Moechsin and I reply, “This is he”. The voice says she is calling to remind me of my 4:00 PM dental appointment. I sigh and tell her I will be there.

It was four o'clock already, I enter the building and walked over to the elevator; I pushed the up button and patiently wait. The elevator door promptly opened and I got in. I pushed the button with a two on it and the doors closed. Once on the second floor I exited the elevator and immediately I could smell the mixture of a mix of toothpaste and the smell you usually smell in hospitals as you enter them. And I bleached out in the hall even before I go into Dr. Abdul's office. As soon as I open the outer door, the blast of cool air from the air conditioner hits me in the face making me shiver all over. I walk in and add my name to the list on the sign in sheet. The secretary saw me and will let me know if the doctor will be ready in a minute. While I waited in the waiting room for the dental assistant in her blue uniform to call out my name, I look at the fish in the large blue tank in the corner of the room silently while I wait my turn. Then I turned and saw a photo album sitting on a coffee table. I picked it up only to see pictures of decaying teeth and gums. I quickly closed the book and shudder at the thought as I rolled my tongue over my teeth and checking them if they're all right. The nurse called my name and I entered the inner office and sit in the brown leather chair looking at all the shiny stainless steel equipment. As I sit down the bright overhead light, then I realized, it's my turn. But then Charlie jumped with excitement and told me the news. I was horrified there in moment.

So then the day finally came for me. I was ready, more ready than ever. The company gave me a first class ticket to chilies and it was my first time on first class on any plane and I couldn't wait to step in that plane. I was really excited to go!! As you know that this is my first trip to South America, I don't know what life is there like. As I got in the plane the hostess treated me with fully respect and they congratulated me for winning, I had an exquisite meals and it was very comfortable. As we finally landed in Chile, I grabbed my pack bag and as I stepped out of the plane hearing the hostess saying “thank you for flying Singapore airlines” I looked outside and the view was amazing, it was like a new world to I've never been before, the atmosphere was warm, friendly and bustling, when I was there I felt so secure and the colours were vibrant and I never experienced to go mountain walking for such a long time. The guides greeted me and showed a little bit of Santiago, Chile and took me to the inter-continental hotel. We were supposed to start the next morning but I wanted to see the city first. I spent the night exploring this city and it was a marvelous city, but I only went downtown. When I'm there I feel marvel at the wonderful things people have created. You can hear voices of busy sellers trying to sell items and the cheerful sounds of talk and laughter. People were selling lots of goods, brightly coloured hand made objects on the floor over a big bag of plastic. And I only bought a flute, a carved hand made object shaped as the Andes Mountains and an object advised by one of the sellers to wear around your neck on your necklace for protection, course that's what the seller said. The people there were very friendly to foreigners, as they see a person with different coloured hair like blonde than theirs, which is black, they'll usually always stick with foreigners because they think they are rich or some sort. Then I got back to the hotel because I needed plenty of rest.

I preferred starting and going on my journey early in the morning where everything is peaceful and beautiful. The limo dropped the two guides and me off this area where it was five minutes away from the city. I start from. I loved hearing the cheerful sounds of the birds calling at each other, I loved smelling and breathing the fresh clean air. The atmosphere was light-hearted and when I'm there I find it spiritually uplifting. Everything was so fresh I put on my walking boots and grabbed my bag pack full of water bottles and we were ready to go. This place would be a fantastic place to enjoy and relax at the same time. I put on my walking boots and we were off. We walked about ten kilometers and there was a route I had to choose either around the mountain is to the left or up the mountain, which is to the right. So I obviously chose the right route where the mountain was very rough up close but from far the view of the mountain was appealing and amazing with the sun rising and the colours of the mountain I could see was a chest nut brown type of colour. The atmosphere was again bustling and lively. And I could only smell the fresh air. The path was hard for me to walk on. Along the way I got stuck in many muddy holes, which sometimes were impossible for me to get out of. The descent was exhilarating though

I reached at the mountain in about an hour from the city, I was really exhausted but strangely I enjoyed doing this. The atmosphere and the smell didn't change it was still the same as I started my journey to keep me fresh. So I rested on a large rock drinking my water for fifteen minutes. For this journey all you actually need is just some good walking shoes or boots and a bag pack full of water bottles. While I was walking along the way, my mind completely went blank whilst on my journey, I don't know how but time passes by so fast these days. But you don't feel anything.

Hours passed and I was day dreaming whilst walking, I felt really exhausting and tiring, I couldn't go on, I ran out of breathe and I couldn't move, I began to fall down slowly and I fainted. When I woke up I saw one of the guiders telling me to rest I resting on a sleeping bag. He lifted my head, which still hurts and gave me water to drink. He said he saw me on the ground lost conscious, so he picked me up and walked for three kilometers. I thanked him so many times and I regretted it. Because if there wasn't any guiders by then, I would have been lost, worse maybe eaten by an animal. I rested for a half an hour, lying there, sweating so much, as I carry on my journey the atmosphere became really hot and spoilt, I woke up in a place surrounded by hard sand, small plants and little hills. The atmosphere began to change into an eerie type. I got up thinking I was ready but I was wrong, my head still hurts and just rested and sat on a huge rock beside me. And I was really thirsty. As I got the water bottle out of my bag and started drinking it all of a sudden I saw this rattlesnake crawling towards and besides me with its tail sounded like a South American musical instrument. I was really horrified and shocked. I couldn't move! The other guider told me to stay quiet and calm, and not to be afraid of it, as he crawled slowly towards the snake very quiet and straightly grabbed the snake extremely fast and threw it away. It was a beautiful snake with its skin striped with chestnut brown, emerald green and jet-black. I stood up and continued my journey.

When I was walking along my journey, I felt so relaxed and unwind as the atmosphere and the weather began to change into a light-hearted and cosy type. And I always forget my everyday problems I had. While I was walking I felt so secure, excited and exhilarated all at the same time. I have experienced the beauty of nature and I find it spiritually uplifting.

After three hours of walking I stopped onto an area that was so different and unique then the last couple of hours I have been walking. It was an area, which was so colourful, vibrant, bright and glorious, and the same time. I reached my bag and got out my water bottle, and I drank for a bit. As I was drinking I walked a few paces towards and I sat down on a steep, flat rock. I looked around very amazed why this was different than the other places. I looked around again, I was surrounded by lots of palm trees all around me and on the right of me there was a small pond, and on the left of me there was soft, light chestnut brown san and the atmosphere was safe, awe-inspiring and very lively. The place was very beautiful. I just figured out that I just ended my journey. So one of the guiders came up to me very slowly and said that my journey have ended and we should be getting ready because the jeep is coming on its way. So I wet myself in the pond and I dried myself with the towel and I put everything back in my bag. You can hear the sound of the wind and eagles flying about in the sky. Finally the jeep came the guiders went in and I stood there outside to have a glimpse of the mountain one last time, then I went in the jeep and we drove off. We drove passed a small forest where the atmosphere is sophisticated and you hear the sounds of animals such as monkeys then we reached to another city. I was very hungry and extremely tired so when we reached the hotel I straightly went to the restaurant, after all the staff of the company who gave me this trip to Chile congratulate me in my attempt, and I ate all these spicy food but I forgot what they're called again but it was very delicious. After that I went up I m my room in the hotel and slept straightaway.

Mountain walking is very healthy but can be very tiring. I recommend this journey to people who gets stressed in their works easily and people who gets many problems everyday so he/she can get away from it because this journey is going to be very relaxing and will make them unwind and comfort them. Or to people who wants to do something different in their life and want something very adventurous.

I had so much fun in this trip and I felt like an out going type of person, which I am not. I wish you were there with me so we both would have even more fun together. I loved this journey because I felt very RELAXED!!

Best wishes,
Hussein