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Feliz Navidad!! Hope you had a fantastic Christmas!!!!!
During the last week we've flown from Arequipa to Cusco, then had a days tour in the Sacred Valley, seen a LOT of Inca ruins and terraces, hiked the Inca Trail, seen Machu Picchu, then had Christmas back in Cusco….. hectic!!!
So to start with….Cusco.
Cusco is a beautiful town that is full of gringos but this does not detract from it. The pictures I have do not do it justice. It is surrounded by mountains and is 3399m above sea level so pretty high and I could definitely feel the altitude. The historical centre is Spanish colonial buildings built on top of Inca ruins. We arrived early in the morning and so had all day to explore before the briefing about the Inca trail…
Our guide was called Juan and he did a good job at scaring me about the challenge ahead. Catherine and I had read up on advice about the trail so we hired walking sticks and thermal mattresses.
After a day visiting the Sacred Valley and a lot of Inca ruins we stayed in Ollantaytambo. This is a small town at the foot of some impressive ruins, complete with a sun temple. Catherine and I went on a hunt for decorations and as a result carried a santa and tinsel the whole way on the trail. The next morning we started the Inca trail proper. The trail was to take 3.5 days with 3 nights camping. For our group of 10 we had 14 porters, 2 cooks and 2 guides…. Unbelievable!
The porters carry 6kg of each persons kit as well as tents, sleeping mattresses, food, camping stools. There are strict rules to say that they can carry only 20kg each… but that amounts to a massive pack…. These guys are so strong.
To start the trail you need to present a passport and a permit. A lot of people are on the trail at once. I think on the whole 48km of the trail 500 tourists are allowed at 1 time. But this number needs to be doubled to take into account porters etc. We each had a day sack. Before I´d even left the hotel in the morning I hurt my foot….. rubbish timing. This meant that I couldn't wear my boots and had to walk the whole way in socks and sandals….v German of me!
The porters are amazing! They run the whole way in order to get to the next lunch or camp ahead of the group. They have amazing calf muscles and will do anything to help. The first day of hiking was "Andean flat" - as in not flat in any way! This just means lots of up and down….
At lunch time we arrived to a garden with a banquet tent set up. We had a 2 course meal…. I just can´t believe the quality of the food. After a short break we continued the hike. We arrived at the first camp at about 3.30pm. The porters brought each of us a bowl of hot water to wash in. Catherine and I washed our hair!!! V Amusing, I'm glad no one was there to see!!! Luckily we Tea every day was at 4.30pm with proper cake and tea!!! Amazing! Then dinner was at 6.30pm. Dinner every day was 3 courses. At night all of the porters sleep in the banquet tent, it seems so unfair, I can´t believe that 16 people could fit in there.
In the morning we were woken up at 5.30am by our deputy guide - Victor. He is the smilliest man and woke us up with a fresh cup of tea while we were all still in sleeping bags!
This was the beginning of the infamous day 2. Everyone who has done the trail talks about day 2….. it is 6 hours of walking up hill to Dead Woman´s Pass at 4,200m. What a nightmare! The weather was hot and there was no respite from the hills. Also the air was getting thinner and thinner so it was harder to breath. The 3 NZ boys were so helpful. All of the girls ended up having our packs carried by them and although they are super fit they stayed behind to encourage me up the hill. I think that day may have been one of the hardest ever.
Day 3 was maybe the best day. With Day 2 over and done with Day 3 was a lot easier. The scenery was stunning and the hills were less arduous. Day 4 (Christmas Eve) was what the whole trip was meant to be about! We woke up at 4am to start walking in the dark…. But it was raining. The Ponchos made an appearance and we made our v wet way for the next 3 hours to Machu Picchu. The weather was horrendous and before long we were all soaked through and miserable. It felt like hell. Machu Picchu itself was impressive but by this time we were all so cold and wet that on reflection I loved the previous 3 days a lot more!
So here's a brief review of the things I've learnt about Inca´s
-They abandoned their settlements in about 1530 when the Spanish invaded Peru
-V Short people
-Worshipped the sun and mountains
-The finer more important buildings are built with nothing between the stones so the stones are carved with incredible precision
-When they abandoned Machu Picchu it wasn't finished and they left all the gold behind indicating that they thought they'd return
-Machu Picchu was not rediscovered until the 1920´s, so the buildings were v solid!!!
-No one really knows for sure much about the Inca´s, there is no written evidence
We got a train back from Agua Caliente (a strage town built just for the tourists at the base of Macchu Picchu).It was delayed because of an earlier crash. I think we were pretty lucky as people ended up in hospital. The train was gorgeous and took us through amazing scenery. We got back into Cuzco in time for a Christmas dinner (on Christmas eve), champagne and some crazy celebrations in the square involving a lot of unsafe fireworks.
On Christmas day we all woke up with ridiculous hang overs! Catherine and I went to the cathedral for a service. It started as a regular catholic service in Spanish, but then at the end a big dance off occurred! There were about 5 groups dressed up who danced with clackers for about 40mins. They were like Morris dancers with crazy singing. Strange but Christmassy. We then went for the biggest brunch ever…. Sooooo tasty!
The rest of the day was spent moseying about Cusco, shopping and eating…..
Would love to hear what you got up to for Christmas.
Loads of Love and Christmas hugs!!!!
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