From Maya to Inca: Iliniza Norte

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Iliniza Norte

I made it! Despite the wind and snow and long rocky ridge that none of the books tell you about. The summit of Iliniza Norte is at 5126 metres. We left la Virgen at 3950 metres at 6.30 am to try and avoid the rain, which we did thankfully, but it was pretty windy all the same - not really my idea of fun on a rocky ridge! Oh, not to mention the "paso de la muerte" (step of death) halfway along the ridge. At the beginning we could see Iliniza Norte and Iliniza Sur, and also the volcano Cotopaxi, but then they got lost in the clouds. The photo of the summit looks like I'm making all of this up with the blue sky behind me, but I assure you that it can only have lasted 2 seconds before the clouds came over again as the only memory I have of the summit is a very narrow rock ledge surrounded by a white fog!

sunrise

Iliniza Norte

Cotopaxi

Iliniza Sur and Iliniza Norte

welcome cup of tea

new horizons hut - apt!

the summit

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Interesting facts

Another slightly subjective fact. Peruvian mountain roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
Kuelap is a Chachapoya fortress in Northern Peru built before Machu Picchu.
Peruvian men are the most persistent men on the planet.
Blue zones are called blue zones simply because Dan Buettner and his research team (who first identified the blue zones) used blue ink to circle the areas on a map with the highest life expectancy. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Inca civilisation arose from the highlands of Peru sometime during the early 13th century.
Contrary to popular belief, Panama hats are not made in Panama but in Ecuador.
Ten of the volcanoes along the Avenue of Volcanoes are higher than 5000 metres.
Rafael Correa has introduced the "pico y placa" system in Quito, following the Colombian example, "pico" meaning "peak" and "placa" meaning "plate". Cars are restricted from circulating in Quito on certain days during morning and evening rush hours according to the last number of their registration plate, in order to ease traffic congestion.
Quito is 72 kms long and 10 kms wide.
Quito is the oldest capital in South America and lies 2800 metres above sea level.
The sex of the tortoises bred in the breeding centre in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos islands depends on the temperature of the incubators. The eggs kept in incubators at 29.5 degrees celsius become females and those kept in incubators at 28 degrees celsius become males.
The giant cacti of the Galapagos islands are the only species of opuntia cactus in the world that grows like a tree.
Legend has it that the Incas discovered the Galapagos islands in the fifteenth century but no solid evidence has been found to prove this.
Slightly subjective. Playa del Carmen sells the most expensive ice cream in the world. But it tastes pretty good.
The piece of lime in the top of a bottle of beer was originally not for the taste. It was used to wipe the rust off the rim.
Mayan mothers used to wrap planks of wood around their children's foreheads to flatten them.
The dazzling blue ocean along the Mayan riviera is due to the fact that there are no rivers feeding into it. And because of the lack of nutrients flowing into the sea, there is also less animal life along this part of the ocean.