on rain fog and breathlessness

at the end of yesterday's hike, i was not feeling well and gave my pack to Amit, it was virtually empty, save water, but still felt lighter. i descended as fast as i could and that evening still felt my lungs working extra hard, i slept little at night still feeling my lungs and decided i need to get to lower elevation. Next morning I said my goodbyes to like hunter and the man with no clean clothes and took a cab to la laguna. This was my original plan for the next day. Right away i felt much better, no more pressure on the lungs and feeling the excursion of 1 flight of stairs at the hotel. i checked in to a hostel and set out quickly to the bus stop. The late bus finally arrived (After the late taxi as well) and i headed north. The taxi ride here was fogy and the bus ride was drizzly, but as soon as i reached cruz del Carmen, the rain stopped.

 

it was love at first sight. The trail passes through a kind of rain forest. Mossy trees, lots of ferns under a cloudy day and i felt like walking again. This trails starts at 983 meters and finishes at the cost, 12 k away. The 1st few kilometers were all steeply downhill in this lovely forest on an easy but steep path down, once i reached the textile village of El Batan, the trails became narrow and followed a creek. This is not a used path in this section and the vegetation tries to claim it back, i needed a machete for some of the parts, especially where the thorns were right on the path. The green steep hills all around are breath taking, it was a beautiful walk. All good things must end, and in the village i had to climb through it, 1-2 k of nonstop stairs, i breathed hard, but from the uphill not the elevation. The path goes through the village, this is what they use on daily basis, it passes their houses and fields. i loved it , even when i had to stop for air (frequent on this climb). from the top of the village, the ocean appeared through the creek and from here out, the path passes two more villages, goes up and down (mostly down) along the middle of the ridge, and every up point, the ocean appears. but the pretty part are these green hills with the village scattered through them.

After 4:15 hours of as much of nonstop walking as i managed , i reached point del hidalgo on the west coast. i sampled a recovery ice cream and waited for the bus while stretching.

This hike entered my top 10 list.

After 20 minutes of sitting looking at the ocean and letting the sun warm me up, the bus came and 40 minutes later i was back in laguna. now i had to slowly walk the 1.5 k to the hotel with a stop to get a water bottle and a shawarma!!!!!

 

Now resting at the hotel planning tomorrow's last hike of this trip, i will head north once more, these hills of anga rural park are incredible.

 

Photos are posted on google+ and face book, cheers from La laguna.