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Matt, Mel and Rusty go West
Date 30th & 31st October, 1st, 2nd & 3rd November - Inca Trail
We had an early start today with our bag weigh in as the bag that the porters carry for you can only be a maximum of 5kg (Mel was allowed up to 7kg, no not cause they know what she's like but because she and some others had a newer backpack with metal supports). Once everyone had passed the weigh in we got on our way to the first stop which was the ruins of Saqsayhuaman (pronounced sexy woman hehe!) The actual word means Pumas head and the place is in respect to the Puma (although the Incas didn't actually worship anything else apart from their one God they did pay respects to many creatures including the Puma).
The site was actually an incan University where the most intelligent boys from all over the kingdom were hand picked to come here and receive a special education. At the age of 17 they then had to pass exams to stay on, eventually the boys were narrowed down to 10 from which the successor to the Inca King will be picked. This site was very large and impressive, you could easily imagine the wise men teaching the boys on the different levels. The remains of the walls were very impressive with some of the blocks being twice the size of us and all linked together by their lego block style which was very impressive and looked very neat.
After this we moved onto look over the sacred valley, this is a lush green valley with a river flowing through it that later meets with the Amazon, it is the most fertile area in the whole of Peru and again shows that the Incas were wise by choosing the best land. The Incas actually believed that the river after it passed the horizon joined the Milkyway which they believed was the celestrial river.
We then stoped at a little farm & shop place where we were we had a chance to feed some local alpacas and llamas which was really fun, the guy would give us plant leaves and grass, and we would would go up to them and its funny to see them snatch it from our hands and chew and eat it. They didnt like to be touched or patted though so if you did try they would shoot off across the other side of the field haha, some were really shaggy looking with really long hair. There were different colour ones black, white, brown, there was even one with a freckly effect hehe Mel liked that one. In this same place sat outside were local peruvian ladies doing their weaving of wall hangings that were sold in the shop. It was really cool to see how they weaved them it looked realy hard to learn but very creative and some wall hangings would take them up to 6 months to finish. In the shop me and Mel really liked a cool wall hanging but it cost almost 1000 sterling, we got their website so maybe we may order it one day in the future.
Next stop was the town of Pisac, we had a look around the markets here, where Mel brought yet another alpaca jumper tutt tutt, had a spot of lunch and also looked aound the ruins of Pisac. These ruins were a kind of medical & food research centre of the Incas where they grew lots of plants on different levels and experimented by making hybrids, with the plants they grew they created their own micro climate here! It was also a ceremonial site with over 300 tombs. We had to walk up to these and Mel felt a little sick with altitude as we got to the top at the look out point but slowly felt better as we made our way back down. Altitude sickness can hit you at any time and can make you feel really rough and out of breath.
After this stop we were on our way to Ollantaytambo to see our final site for the day (phew) and to stay the night in a house with a local family. The Inca site here was an astronomical research centre (the Incas were so advanced in some areas, it would have been crazy to have seen what they would have come up with in their research had they not been conquered by the Spanish). The sun shines through the mountains at perfect points for both the winter and summer solstice and illuminates faces on the rocks. After checking out the ruins we all met up and were shown to our families house where we were staying the night. Mel and I were sharing with Robert and Angela, the place was nice but the shower didnt work properly (was very cold and trickled) and the toliet leaked, Rusty faired much better hehe. We didn't really meet the family as it was just like a guest house. That night we went out for a meal at a little restaurant which had a local band playing, we also bought our walking sticks ready for the next day being the start of the inca trail, Russ even had to get one as he had left his one he had brought all the way from Jersey on Doris back in Cusco which he was pissed off about and headed back to our houses fairly early to get a good nights kip ready for the inca trail.
Next morning we met up at one of the guest houses for a yummy pancake breakfast and played this cool brass frog game where you flick coins onto a stand thing. We then got a bus to the start of the Inca Trail, when we got off the bus we were greeted by local peruvian ladies trying to sell lots of things to us, they were a little annoying but we did get some cool water bottle holders from them and waterproof ponchos! We got our passports stamped at the entry and then we were off at about 10:30. We walked about 10K on this first day and it was quite hard going as the hills were steep and the altitude made breathing more difficult, unbelievably the porter guys were running past us all day carrying food and our bags and one dude even an oven!! man these guys are fit, we later learnt one of the dudes from our porter group was in his seventies. We also stopped by some ruins on the way called Llactapata where the Incas stored food and corn for people on their Journey to Machu Picchu and also served as a lookout point. We arrived at camp at 1:40 and the porters had already set up our tents at this point for us, and they then cooked us lunch and later dinner, man these guys work like slaves we had never seen anything like it. The food was nice and we got a selection of diiferent things like rice dishes, alpaca meat, chicken, chips, different soups and many other different dishes. I played football with the porters and some of the lads but we were already so tired it was hard going although team Doris did win. We rested and played cards later that night before going to sleep at 10 as everyone was so shattered.
The porters woke us up in the tents at 6ish with a cup of coffee the next morning (man these guys really looked after us) and after our breakfast , which was toast and cake!! we set off our walk at 7ish. Today was a very hard and grueling climb, we hiked up 1,200 metres to a height of 4,200 metres above sea level to a place called dead womans pass. This has got to be the hardest hike we have ever done, we even chewed coca leaves to help us cope with the intense climb as the coca helps you to breath but they dry your mouth out and taste horrible, but we kept chewing because we knew it helped. The last bit of the uphill climb seemed to go on forever and after every step we had to take a huge breath as we just weren't getting enough oxygen, even the porters had slowed down to a fast walk, I also bashed my head on a branch on the way up quite hard which didn't help hehe. Mel listened to the I-pod to help her get up and take her mind off the fact that she was struggling to breath, - the Killers album helped me up there 'Jenny was a friend of mine' will always remind me of that dreaded climb haha!! - The 2nd part wasn't quite so hard as it was going down but still took its toll on our knees we were so glad we had the walking sticks to help take the pressure off our knees down the large steps going down. Some of the steps were so uneven that we had to take it slow not fall over or trip up. We got to camp at 12:30 which was good time for this day as some people don't make it till 4 in the afternoon, the porters gave us a nice blackcurrent drink and we took a long rest in our tents before lunch. We played cards again in the afternoon before dinner and after we had eaten we all headed to our tents to get a good kip for the long walk the next day. As there were no showers we had to use body wipes to freshen ourselves up didn't really help but made us feel a little better after a long days hike. The toilets on the trail were really bad with water or wee on the floor don't want to know which haha and in the mens there was poo all over the pan and all over the floor because apparently the porters stand up whilst unloading a number 2 YUK Minging hey!!!! haha
The third day was the longest days trek and we had to walk 14km but it wasn't quite as hard as we only went up 400 metres at the start. Once again we were woken up with a coffee at 5:45 in our tents and given breakfast in the main tent by the porters afterwards. We stoped at lots of different ruin sites today, most were storage and look out points but had very cool aqueduct systems, we also learnt that there were special small tunnels and small steps in some for midgets and dwarfs as they were highly respected in the Inca culture as being special and usually give ceremonial duties (thought you would appreciate that fact Bobin hehe.) We had another pass to go over today and just before it we had lunch, but during lunch it started raining so we all had to don our very stylish plastic ponchos mine was green with a pink hood ahhh. The last part of todays trek was through dense rainforest areas which was really scenic and beautiful. When we arrived at camp that evening we had our first taste of civilsation as there was a big building here where you could take a shower, buy food and drinks! Rusty had a shower but as it was cold after paying 5 soles for a hot one, the hot water had run out so me and Mel didn't bother. We bought chips and beer and wine and it was quite a treat hehe. We also did another little walk to little Machu Picchu which was breathtaking, it is on the side of a hill and was used by the Incas for growing crops and crop experimentation by growing hybrids both for medicine and for food and also as a spiritual centre. It is beautifully placed next to a forest with a snow capped mountain in the background. Dinner was amazing by the porters this night as we had a cup of pisco sour, pizza and lasagne. We also had a presentation with the porters where we shook their hands and the girls gave each one a kiss on the cheek there was so many to thank but it was worth it as you personally showed them how grateful you were and we tipped them which they well deserved. Mel arranged for all the girls to have a photo with all the porters which they enjoyed and was quite funny said goodbye to them as thats the last we saw of them, before going to bed at 10 as we needed to be up at 3:30!!
After our mega early start we got on our way for our final trek to the Sun Gate and to Machu Picchu. We had to wait till 5:00 for the park to open but we wanted to be at the front of the queue so we could make it to the Sun Gate early for sun rise. The walk wasn't too bad but we went quite fast and our legs were already quite stiff and there were these high killer steps right before sun gate which were so tiring to climb. But it was so amazing standing at sun gate and looking down and being able to see Machu Picchu in the distance, made us feel like we had made it and it was so worth the last 3 days of hiking. We took a few pics at the gate and then made our final trek to Machu Picchu. When we finally got there it was worth every step, the place is huge, its really amazing you just have to see it for yourself it takes your breath away just being there. Santiago the guide gave us a tour around that took a couple of hours, it is basically a massive secret health centre where a lot of different types of research was carried out both medically and spirtually, it is also very well placed next to the river and it also has high cliffs for defence. There is also a big mountain next to it where the graduating young men would go up for the final part of their education to be at one with the spirits this mountain is called WaynuPicchu. Me and Mel and a few others climbed this and it was really hard going especially as it started raining hard so made some of the steps very slippery, and after being told that people had died climbing this we took it very slowly and carefully to the top. You have to sign in at the start and out at the end so they know at the end of the day that you made it back down ok if you haven't signed out at the end of the day they then come looking for you!! It felt so good getting to the top of the mountain it was just a shame that it had clouded over so we didnt really have much of a view of the ruins below but at least we braved and did the climb. We also visited an Inca bridge which was an extra half an hours trek but was cool to see whilst we were there. After all this we made our way down on the bus down a big windy road where there was a screaming kid running after us who asked for money at the end !?! Someone said it was a con and its triplets who do a section each but we weren't sure. At the bottom we all met in a restaurant and after a little mooch around the small town called Aguas Calientes we caught the train back, some people had gone to the hot baths which is what the town is named after, but after being told they were quite dirty as don't get cleaned very often we gave it a miss. We switched to another bus after and hour and a half for a ride back to Cusco which took around the same time. As we passed quickly through a little town to get the bus there were mad peruian ladies shouting 'Agua sin gas' to us in a horrible voice trying to sell us water strange locals hehehe!
We had an early start today with our bag weigh in as the bag that the porters carry for you can only be a maximum of 5kg (Mel was allowed up to 7kg, no not cause they know what she's like but because she and some others had a newer backpack with metal supports). Once everyone had passed the weigh in we got on our way to the first stop which was the ruins of Saqsayhuaman (pronounced sexy woman hehe!) The actual word means Pumas head and the place is in respect to the Puma (although the Incas didn't actually worship anything else apart from their one God they did pay respects to many creatures including the Puma).
The site was actually an incan University where the most intelligent boys from all over the kingdom were hand picked to come here and receive a special education. At the age of 17 they then had to pass exams to stay on, eventually the boys were narrowed down to 10 from which the successor to the Inca King will be picked. This site was very large and impressive, you could easily imagine the wise men teaching the boys on the different levels. The remains of the walls were very impressive with some of the blocks being twice the size of us and all linked together by their lego block style which was very impressive and looked very neat.
After this we moved onto look over the sacred valley, this is a lush green valley with a river flowing through it that later meets with the Amazon, it is the most fertile area in the whole of Peru and again shows that the Incas were wise by choosing the best land. The Incas actually believed that the river after it passed the horizon joined the Milkyway which they believed was the celestrial river.
We then stoped at a little farm & shop place where we were we had a chance to feed some local alpacas and llamas which was really fun, the guy would give us plant leaves and grass, and we would would go up to them and its funny to see them snatch it from our hands and chew and eat it. They didnt like to be touched or patted though so if you did try they would shoot off across the other side of the field haha, some were really shaggy looking with really long hair. There were different colour ones black, white, brown, there was even one with a freckly effect hehe Mel liked that one. In this same place sat outside were local peruvian ladies doing their weaving of wall hangings that were sold in the shop. It was really cool to see how they weaved them it looked realy hard to learn but very creative and some wall hangings would take them up to 6 months to finish. In the shop me and Mel really liked a cool wall hanging but it cost almost 1000 sterling, we got their website so maybe we may order it one day in the future.
Next stop was the town of Pisac, we had a look around the markets here, where Mel brought yet another alpaca jumper tutt tutt, had a spot of lunch and also looked aound the ruins of Pisac. These ruins were a kind of medical & food research centre of the Incas where they grew lots of plants on different levels and experimented by making hybrids, with the plants they grew they created their own micro climate here! It was also a ceremonial site with over 300 tombs. We had to walk up to these and Mel felt a little sick with altitude as we got to the top at the look out point but slowly felt better as we made our way back down. Altitude sickness can hit you at any time and can make you feel really rough and out of breath.
After this stop we were on our way to Ollantaytambo to see our final site for the day (phew) and to stay the night in a house with a local family. The Inca site here was an astronomical research centre (the Incas were so advanced in some areas, it would have been crazy to have seen what they would have come up with in their research had they not been conquered by the Spanish). The sun shines through the mountains at perfect points for both the winter and summer solstice and illuminates faces on the rocks. After checking out the ruins we all met up and were shown to our families house where we were staying the night. Mel and I were sharing with Robert and Angela, the place was nice but the shower didnt work properly (was very cold and trickled) and the toliet leaked, Rusty faired much better hehe. We didn't really meet the family as it was just like a guest house. That night we went out for a meal at a little restaurant which had a local band playing, we also bought our walking sticks ready for the next day being the start of the inca trail, Russ even had to get one as he had left his one he had brought all the way from Jersey on Doris back in Cusco which he was pissed off about and headed back to our houses fairly early to get a good nights kip ready for the inca trail.
Next morning we met up at one of the guest houses for a yummy pancake breakfast and played this cool brass frog game where you flick coins onto a stand thing. We then got a bus to the start of the Inca Trail, when we got off the bus we were greeted by local peruvian ladies trying to sell lots of things to us, they were a little annoying but we did get some cool water bottle holders from them and waterproof ponchos! We got our passports stamped at the entry and then we were off at about 10:30. We walked about 10K on this first day and it was quite hard going as the hills were steep and the altitude made breathing more difficult, unbelievably the porter guys were running past us all day carrying food and our bags and one dude even an oven!! man these guys are fit, we later learnt one of the dudes from our porter group was in his seventies. We also stopped by some ruins on the way called Llactapata where the Incas stored food and corn for people on their Journey to Machu Picchu and also served as a lookout point. We arrived at camp at 1:40 and the porters had already set up our tents at this point for us, and they then cooked us lunch and later dinner, man these guys work like slaves we had never seen anything like it. The food was nice and we got a selection of diiferent things like rice dishes, alpaca meat, chicken, chips, different soups and many other different dishes. I played football with the porters and some of the lads but we were already so tired it was hard going although team Doris did win. We rested and played cards later that night before going to sleep at 10 as everyone was so shattered.
The porters woke us up in the tents at 6ish with a cup of coffee the next morning (man these guys really looked after us) and after our breakfast , which was toast and cake!! we set off our walk at 7ish. Today was a very hard and grueling climb, we hiked up 1,200 metres to a height of 4,200 metres above sea level to a place called dead womans pass. This has got to be the hardest hike we have ever done, we even chewed coca leaves to help us cope with the intense climb as the coca helps you to breath but they dry your mouth out and taste horrible, but we kept chewing because we knew it helped. The last bit of the uphill climb seemed to go on forever and after every step we had to take a huge breath as we just weren't getting enough oxygen, even the porters had slowed down to a fast walk, I also bashed my head on a branch on the way up quite hard which didn't help hehe. Mel listened to the I-pod to help her get up and take her mind off the fact that she was struggling to breath, - the Killers album helped me up there 'Jenny was a friend of mine' will always remind me of that dreaded climb haha!! - The 2nd part wasn't quite so hard as it was going down but still took its toll on our knees we were so glad we had the walking sticks to help take the pressure off our knees down the large steps going down. Some of the steps were so uneven that we had to take it slow not fall over or trip up. We got to camp at 12:30 which was good time for this day as some people don't make it till 4 in the afternoon, the porters gave us a nice blackcurrent drink and we took a long rest in our tents before lunch. We played cards again in the afternoon before dinner and after we had eaten we all headed to our tents to get a good kip for the long walk the next day. As there were no showers we had to use body wipes to freshen ourselves up didn't really help but made us feel a little better after a long days hike. The toilets on the trail were really bad with water or wee on the floor don't want to know which haha and in the mens there was poo all over the pan and all over the floor because apparently the porters stand up whilst unloading a number 2 YUK Minging hey!!!! haha
The third day was the longest days trek and we had to walk 14km but it wasn't quite as hard as we only went up 400 metres at the start. Once again we were woken up with a coffee at 5:45 in our tents and given breakfast in the main tent by the porters afterwards. We stoped at lots of different ruin sites today, most were storage and look out points but had very cool aqueduct systems, we also learnt that there were special small tunnels and small steps in some for midgets and dwarfs as they were highly respected in the Inca culture as being special and usually give ceremonial duties (thought you would appreciate that fact Bobin hehe.) We had another pass to go over today and just before it we had lunch, but during lunch it started raining so we all had to don our very stylish plastic ponchos mine was green with a pink hood ahhh. The last part of todays trek was through dense rainforest areas which was really scenic and beautiful. When we arrived at camp that evening we had our first taste of civilsation as there was a big building here where you could take a shower, buy food and drinks! Rusty had a shower but as it was cold after paying 5 soles for a hot one, the hot water had run out so me and Mel didn't bother. We bought chips and beer and wine and it was quite a treat hehe. We also did another little walk to little Machu Picchu which was breathtaking, it is on the side of a hill and was used by the Incas for growing crops and crop experimentation by growing hybrids both for medicine and for food and also as a spiritual centre. It is beautifully placed next to a forest with a snow capped mountain in the background. Dinner was amazing by the porters this night as we had a cup of pisco sour, pizza and lasagne. We also had a presentation with the porters where we shook their hands and the girls gave each one a kiss on the cheek there was so many to thank but it was worth it as you personally showed them how grateful you were and we tipped them which they well deserved. Mel arranged for all the girls to have a photo with all the porters which they enjoyed and was quite funny said goodbye to them as thats the last we saw of them, before going to bed at 10 as we needed to be up at 3:30!!
After our mega early start we got on our way for our final trek to the Sun Gate and to Machu Picchu. We had to wait till 5:00 for the park to open but we wanted to be at the front of the queue so we could make it to the Sun Gate early for sun rise. The walk wasn't too bad but we went quite fast and our legs were already quite stiff and there were these high killer steps right before sun gate which were so tiring to climb. But it was so amazing standing at sun gate and looking down and being able to see Machu Picchu in the distance, made us feel like we had made it and it was so worth the last 3 days of hiking. We took a few pics at the gate and then made our final trek to Machu Picchu. When we finally got there it was worth every step, the place is huge, its really amazing you just have to see it for yourself it takes your breath away just being there. Santiago the guide gave us a tour around that took a couple of hours, it is basically a massive secret health centre where a lot of different types of research was carried out both medically and spirtually, it is also very well placed next to the river and it also has high cliffs for defence. There is also a big mountain next to it where the graduating young men would go up for the final part of their education to be at one with the spirits this mountain is called WaynuPicchu. Me and Mel and a few others climbed this and it was really hard going especially as it started raining hard so made some of the steps very slippery, and after being told that people had died climbing this we took it very slowly and carefully to the top. You have to sign in at the start and out at the end so they know at the end of the day that you made it back down ok if you haven't signed out at the end of the day they then come looking for you!! It felt so good getting to the top of the mountain it was just a shame that it had clouded over so we didnt really have much of a view of the ruins below but at least we braved and did the climb. We also visited an Inca bridge which was an extra half an hours trek but was cool to see whilst we were there. After all this we made our way down on the bus down a big windy road where there was a screaming kid running after us who asked for money at the end !?! Someone said it was a con and its triplets who do a section each but we weren't sure. At the bottom we all met in a restaurant and after a little mooch around the small town called Aguas Calientes we caught the train back, some people had gone to the hot baths which is what the town is named after, but after being told they were quite dirty as don't get cleaned very often we gave it a miss. We switched to another bus after and hour and a half for a ride back to Cusco which took around the same time. As we passed quickly through a little town to get the bus there were mad peruian ladies shouting 'Agua sin gas' to us in a horrible voice trying to sell us water strange locals hehehe!
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