Inca Trailblazer
Renato Romero - Latika Peru Travel Joined: July 5th 2007
Logged in: December 12th 2009
Logged in: December 12th 2009
. I am a Peruvian born in Arequipa, the second largest city, located in the south of Peru.
I graduated with a law degree in 1998, and two years later I finished a Master’s degree in Business Law at the University of Lima. I was working as an assessor for the Peruvian Supreme Court when I decided to make a complete change in my life.
About three and a half years ago, after working in law for a while, I understood that being a lawyer was not my dream in life, so I quit my job and my life in Peru
, deciding to come to the US to improve my English and to continue my studies.
Here in the US, I got a position as a part-time Spanish teacher at a community college in Valencia, California, a job that I enjoy very much. In the US, I found out that a person can be whatever he or she wants to be, so I started to think in different ways to make my dream of traveling around the world become real.
The first conclusion that I arrived at was that I could not start traveling around the world if first I had not traveled well enough around the country of my birth. I say so because Peru is a country that has a lot to offer, but during my life in Peru I did not have the opportunity to travel it extensively.
Finally, and to make the story short, I just came back from Peru after 29 days with my backpack, my camera, the walkie-talkie that kept me in touch with my wife most of the time, some souvenirs, valuable information and a great experience that I want to share with you now!
http://www.latikaperutravel.com
Travel Blog Posts
The Colonial House
DAY 20: CUSCO CITY AND THE SHAMAN For today I had arranged a session with a shaman, who was to help me clean my soul by way of drinking San Pedro juice. San Pedro is a cactus used by the Peruvian shamans to help people contact their sixth sense and has been used by native Peruvians for more than 3000 years. It is also used as a medicine to treat nervous conditions, cardiac diseases, and high blood pressure. I paid US$ 80.00 for the session, which took place in an old, abandoned colonial house located in the middle of a mountain and surrounded by terraces that are still in use. The colonial house was based on Inca walls. When I arrived at the house, I was impressed with its beauty. It had probably been an Inca ... read more
The Tunupa
DAY 19: OLLANTAYTAMBO, PISAC, TAMBOMACHAY, QENQO Y SACSAYHUAMAN I awoke early and arrived at the ruins of Ollantaytambo in order to see the sunrise. At 7:15 a.m. the sun hit the eye of the Llama, which is a rock inside of a short square wall located at top of the ruins. When the sun hits it, the winter solstice has officially begun. I saw a flash of light hitting the ground inside of the square and another small flash of light heating the ground out of it. It was pretty impressive. I then walked around the ruins and took some pictures of the Tunupa (also known as the Wiracocha God or the creator). The Tunupa is the side view of an old man, apparently carrying the world, carved on the mountain that is located in front ... read more
My Hotel in Ollantaytambo - Pakaritampu
DAY 18: OLLANTAYTAMBO, CHINCHERO, MORAY AND MARAS I can’t remember if I set the alarm clock the night before to see the winter solstice ceremony, but in any event I didn’t wake up at 4:00 a.m. After writing some notes and taking a shower, I went to the hotel’s restaurant and enjoyed their huge buffet. I left the hotel without having a clear idea of what to do. When I arrived at the main square, I decided to hike the hill that is in front of the Ollantaytambo Ruins because on this hill are four Inca buildings. I had to ask some natives about the starting point and after a while I found a small sign saying “To Pinkuylluna.” From the hill, I had a great view of the Ruins and town of Ollantaytambo. Some researchers ... read more
My Fisrt Sight of Machu Picchu
DAY 17: THE LAST DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL As usual on the Inca Trail a porter woke me up at 4:30 a.m. My stomach was feeling weird this morning, so I decided to pack and eat something light. We started the hiking at 5:15 a.m., arriving at the check point only 5 minutes later. There was a pretty big line here because the check point would be open at 5:30 a.m. A flashlight at this point is extremely important because there is no light this early in the morning. Maria told me that this checking point is very important because there is a short version of the Inca Trail that takes two days and one night in Aguas Calientes (I will tell you about this town later). At this check point the government regulates that ... read more
My camp
DAY 16: THIRD DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL The first destination for today was the Inca ruins of Runkuraqay (12,470 feet), which our group reached after a 40 minute hike. Apparently this was a religious place of training and preparation for the Inca priests. The Incas did not have writing, so archeologists have different theories about the Inca’s ruins, but not a definite one. Most of what is known about the Incas is because of the legends and myths that were passed down by word of mouth. Shortly after leaving Runkuraqay I reached another pass and then I found that much of the hiking was either level or downhill. It was amazing to see how nature started to change as soon as I started to go down the mountain. Before arriving to Runkuraqay the plants were ... read more
Good Morning!
DAY 15: SECOND DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL I awoke at 3:00 a.m. to the song of a cock, who repeated its singing every half hour. Without a doubt, that cock did not pass the class that teaches to sing only with the sunrise. Anyway, at 5:30 a.m. one of the porters woke me and gave me a hot coca leaf tea. After breakfast one of the crew offered boiled water and snacks for the trek. I returned the boiled water shortly after getting it though because Maria told me that there was one last selling point where I could get some bottled water. (I hate the taste of boiled water.) At 7:15 a.m. we started the hike, and at 7:30 a.m. we arrived at the second check point. Here Maria told us that today we ... read more
Piscacucho - Km. 82
DAY 14: FIRST DAY OF THE INCA TRAIL The day that I’d been anticipating for so long finally arrived. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to take a shower, eat breakfast and leave my big backpack in the storage room of the hotel where I was staying in Cusco City. I met my tour guide Maria in the hotel lobby at 6:40, and we left for the bus, where we met the rest of the group. There were 9 other hikers (2 from Holland, 2 from Denmark, 2 from the US and 4 from Peru including me), 6 porters, 2 cooks, 1 main guide and 1 guide assistant. The bus left Cusco City at 7:05 a.m. and arrived in the town of Ollantaytambo at 8:55 a.m. Here Maria told us that we should buy anything that ... read more
Cusco City Street
DAY 13: CUSCO CITY After waking up at 8:00 a.m. and taking a long, hot shower, I walked to the main square and enjoyed again the beautiful feeling that embraces me each time that I am in Cusco . I do not know why, but I feel different and full of energy when I am here. In the main square I met Jose. He was my contact in Cusco to hike the Inca Trail. I had booked my Inca Trail with him on March, 27th because of availability. I invited him to eat breakfast in one of the restaurants with a view of the main square, which has a couple of beautiful colonial churches. One of them is the Cathedral, a piece of art by itself. Walking inside is just indescribable. After breakfast, I went to ... read more
Sunrise - Lake Titicaca
DAY 12: PUNO - CUSCO After a shower and breakfast I was ready for my guide, Mr. Eduardo Pineda, one of the most popular guides in the area, to pick me up. We started the day’s journey at 5:45 a.m., heading first to Sillustani, located 20 miles from Puno. The entrance ticket to the ruins costs US$ 3.00. I have been before in Puno, but this is another place where I have never been before. On the way there, I watched an amazing sunrise reflecting on a portion of the Titicaca Lake. I saw another lake in Sillustani with a completely flat island. Some people say that this island is an area where UFO’s land. Walking around the Inca cemetery there, I found many tombs of the royalty and religious members as well as common people. ... read more
Final Memories of Amantani
DAY 11: PUNO (TITICACA LAKE) Around 2:00 a.m. I woke up because it was really cold, so I had to use a couple of blankets to warm me up. (On Amantani Island you won’t find anything like heaters or calefaction because of their living conditions.) Because of this I learned that my sleeping bag wouldn’t keep me warm during the Inca Trail, so I would have to look for a sleeping bag in the range of 20ºF to 10ºF. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to observe the sunrise, and I did it from the window located next to my bed, but I did not leave my room because it was cold. I can say that I like what I saw, but the sunset the day before was much better. At 6:30 a.m. I woke up ... read more
