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quiggsy on tour
Made it back alive!!
The day we left Cusco we had a day of culture visiting various Inca sites around the area – one just above Cusco called Sacsayhuaman (apparently often called 'sexy woman' by tourists…) and then we went to a town called Pisac above which are lots of Inca terraces perched on the hill. The Inca architecture is pretty amazing just because of the size of the blocks they used – giant! They also didn’t use any kind of mortar so the blocks are held together just by their weight and shape. Once we had seen a few sites it is very easy to recognise others. So at the ruins in Pisac our guide Smith gave us a tour and explained a bit about the Inca culture. The sun was particularly important for them. We walked along some of the Inca trails around the site at Pisac, many of which were cut into cliff faces and had no kind of barrier to stop you falling over the edge – I think I have been permanently traumatised by this and seem to have developed vertigo….. hmmm.
After our day of culture we drove up to the starting point of our trek. The company I am travelling with do not usually do the classic Inca trail which is one of the original routes used by the Incas to get to Machu Picchu due to the sheer number of tourists who now do it. The trek we did still followed old trails used by the Incas, and the locals nowadays but was slightly further away from Machu Picchu. We got dropped off at a small gathering of 'buildings' which was our first campsite. The luxury we had been promised did actually appear – our campsite was all set up when we arrived and there were even toilets (of sorts – holes in the ground). Some of the local women came with woven items and other rustic things tourists like to buy! As we knew that any money we spent would go directly to the families in the small community most of us bought hats, gloves etc (also in fear of being cold after the night from hell at 4300m!). The village was very remote and the people who live there have to survive by farming and keeping llamas and alpacas. More recently they have gained some help through tourism.
Our campsite was actually in the grounds of the small school in the village (primary school – there is a 'big' school 2 hours walk away where the older children go most days – then come home and help with the farming etc…..). So the evening we arrived we had a lesson in Quechua – the local language. Haha! It was like going back to primary school! But we did manage to learn a few words (although the only one which has stuck properly is the name for the toilet - hispani wasi – literally translated means piss house!). The next morning we met the children from the village and gave them clothes which had been brought with us from Cusco. Although it was obviously a worthwhile task I think we all felt that if we had known we could all have bought other useful items such as pens and paper and things. But the children seemed to be happy with their jumpers and so on and I think the company goes up there fairly often so…..
So after saying goodbye we set off on our trek. We started off on the first day from about 3800m and went uphill straight away. One of our guides, Rolfi, started off at the front walking 'baby step' pace. Just right. Although even then most of us were out of breath most of the time – it was not the most social of walks as it was v difficult to talk at the same time as walking! But the scenery was really amazing. We could see glaciers nearby and walked past lots of lakes. The group ended up splitting up to some extent as people found their own rhythms. As we neared the top of the first high pass (4400m) I did find it really difficult – particularly because Smith had taken over the lead and seemed to be doing a very quick 'baby step'! So the first group consisted of the boys and Lindsay (fitness freak!) and Reiko (who reckons she is not fit but must be to have kept up!). Faye, Claire, Kate, Steph and I formed a breakaway group at a slightly slower pace but weren't too far behind. The views from the top of the pass were amazing (the pics don't really do it justice!).
Downhill was much easier going on the lungs but rather harder on the knees. But we made it to our lunch stop in good time. It was such a nice sight to see our lunch tents (yes, lunch tents – like small marquees!) set up in the valley below us. The porters and horsemen we had were superhuman – they dismantled the camp after we left, packed up the horses, set off on the same walk and over took us in time to have lunch set up and then the campsite set up! After lunch we only had a short way to go downhill to our campsite. Again we were pleasantly surprised with toilets (one proper one!) and even a solar powered shower at the campsite (although only the brave dared to use it – we all smelt the same anyway). Again we were in the grounds of a small school and we tried to talk to 2 very sweet little girls who came to look at us. Unfortunately we didn’t really get much further than their names… Although it was cold again I was toasty warm in bed with my blanket, thermals and new alpaca wool hat! The only problem is the inevitable dash to the toilet in the middle of the night – I generally avoided drinking anything within an hour of going to bed (about 9pm!) and then going to the toilet about 3 times just to make sure. It kind of worked although still needed the toilet in the morning – how does that work?
The second day walking was the hardest – we had to climb from 3800m to the second pass at 4800m. However, it kind of seemed easier just because we had all found our own pace. That said it was still no walk in the park. By the time we were in sight of the top my little group were walking not even 5 minutes before stopping for a rest – the altitude and the steep uphill were really draining. Still, we made to the top not too long after the 'speedies' and managed not to die in the process. Bonus. It was a great sense of achievement having got there. It was fairly steep down the other side so again the knees were paining a bit but nowhere near as difficult. We stopped for lunch and waited (2 hours!) for a couple of the others who had been walking slower, as well as Rolfi the guide who was with them who randomly got altitude sickness on the way down – even locals get affected sometimes!
The campsite on the third night was in the most amazing spot. The valley was quite narrow with large cliffs on either side but quite lush vegetation and a perfect clear spot near a stream for camping. After the hard 2 days walking most of us collapsed for an evening siesta before dinner and then mulled wine around the campfire (which was the best fire I have ever seen – they need to give us masterclasses in campfire building).
The next day was a comparatively short walk down and out of the valley where we were met by our bus. It really was a beautiful place.
From there we were taken to Ollantaytambo where we were greeted with a hostel – toilets, showers and everything! Ollantaytambo is another Inca site, which apparently resembles a llama! Lots of the sites were apparently built in the shape of various animals which were important to the Incas – mainly the puma, condor, snake and llama. Across the town from the main site (terraces and temple of the sun) we could see buildings built into the cliff faces which were apparently food stores. You can also see faces which have been carved into the cliff face, pretty cool. While we were having our tour of the site from Smith I randomly saw Karolina, one of the Swedish girls who I was friends with in Lyon! V Random. We had to have a photo together to prove it.
The next day we got up at the crack of dawn to get the train from Ollantaytambo up to Aguas Calientes, a small town just near Machu Picchu. The train journey itself was pretty cool, very nice train and they gave us tea and sandwiches and everything! The scenery was amazing, again – it started off fairly dry and agricultural and then as we got closer the valley gets really narrow and it was almost like going through jungle (apparently if you go any further then you do actually end up in the Amazon jungle). From the town we had to get a bus (with the hundreds of other tourists….) up the mountain to the site itself. It was quite bizarre to be in the position from which all the picture postcard photos are taken. It really is spectacular. Just imagining how they built the city on the top of a mountain, crazy! Smith gave us a tour around the city, pointing out the main features of it. It is the best preserved and biggest of the Inca sites due to the fact that the Spanish invaders never found it (because it is at the top of a big mountain!) – they destroyed many of the others or built churches on top of them to convert the local people to Catholicism. Luckily we got there before lots of people who get the train directly from Cusco so the morning was not too busy. However, in the afternoon there were lots and lots of people so a few of us decided to walk up to the Sun Gate which is basically the gateway into Machu Picchu from the classic Inca trail. It gives an amazing view over the whole site but was a bit of a trek, especially as Kate was not very well. But we took it slow and it was fine – got to the top and these American women arrived just behind us. I was drinking out of my platypus thing and one of them was like “Oh you have oxygen – I might need some of that”!! I was like my god, you should have tried doing an actual trail… anyway that was pretty much it. I would love to go back now and do the classic trail at some point, although I am really glad we had the chance to do other trek in more remote areas - we didn’t see a single other white person for about 3 days while trekking.
Got back to Cusco around 8ish, had the most amazing showers and then went out on the town again! Lots of fun again, and we managed to get Smith our guide to come out with us too – I think the drinking games bemused him somewhat…. We went to Mythology again, dancing on the bar all night – no photos unfortunately as everyone was too scared to take their cameras out in case they lost them…. Reiko and I eventually made it home around 4.30am – we very nearly managed the 24 hours, but I think 23 is pretty respectable.
Managed not to be too hungover the next day so actually saw some of Cusco. Also went for a full body massage – so good after all the exercise! And bargainous as well (about a fiver). We then decided we had to try the local speciality of cuy – guinea pig. So we went to this place that Smith had recommended. When it came it was worse than I thought it would be – you could see the face and feet and everything (see pics). Made me feel slightly queasy but I managed a couple of mouthfuls… It didn’t really taste that nice either and you only got a few sinews of meat anyway! But I can now say I have eaten guinea pig. Nice. Keith was the only one who really ate all of his and we found out this morning that he threw up in the night….. wonder why.
Anyway we are now in Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Going on a boat trip tomorrow to see some islands which are made of reeds so they float! Sounds interesting…. Then across the border into Bolivia. I don’t want to leave Peru! But apparently Bolivia is even cheaper so cant be all bad.
Hope all is well in sunny old England, keep the emails coming have fun x
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