The Salkantay Pass

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Since we are not your average travellers we decided to take it up a notch and do a more difficult trek than the wimpy Inca Trail. We chose the harrowing journey through the Salkantay Pass. We were looking for more jungle, more mountains and more intensity. That is what we signed up for and that is what we got.

Sarah, a mutual friend of ours that I have known since I was 5 and Moria has known since she was 14, arrived the day before we were to begin our trail. Since she had come from the lowlands of Washington, D.C. and we had spent time in the mountains of Bolivia, Sarah was ill and we were fine. It did not bode well for our journey. We did settle things with our tour company and were briefed by our eternally late guide, Roberto. I am not going to lie and say that he was the greatest. For me he continued with the creepy trekking guide theme of this trip. But he had done the trail heaps of times and made me feel at ease about getting to our final destination.

On the morning I forgot to change my watch. We woke up an hour early. My bad. We did have plenty of time to get ready for the day. I am just trying to look at the glass as half full. At 5 am our driver came and collected us with our cook and assistant cook, Wilburto Uno and Wilburto Dos respectively. Once again Moria was struck by Cupid's arrow and immediately fell for Wilburto Dos. And true to form Roberto was late. It took us about 4 hours to get to the point where we had to change vehicles so that we could reach the park via the treacherous roads.

It was a pick up truck and I understood why we needed it immediately when I saw how muddy and flooded the roads were. Fifteen to twenty minutes into the ride the truck was stuck in some pretty serious mud. Everyone had to get out of the vehicle and push. It took another twenty minutes to get out of the mud. This made me realize that the rest of the way was going to be an adventure. After thirty minutes of relatively smooth sailing we hit our next road block. The shale road we were driving on had a new waterfall on it and there must have been a foot and a half of water to get through on a hairpin turn with constantly falling rocks. I honestly thought we were going to have to find another route. Then I realized we were in Peru and they were just going to go through it without looking back. I drew a deep breath, grabbed Moria and Sarah's hands and closed my eyes. Miraculously we had made it through the most treacherous road drama I have experienced on this trip. Since the scariest moment was early on in the drive the rest of it was a piece of cake.

We had a gorgeous lunch (soup to nuts, no joke) and headed up through the Salkantay National Park to our first campsite. The first day was a bit difficult. We were walking through freezing cold rain to a bit higher than 12,000 feet. Needless to say, I was fine. We only walked for three hours or so before it was time to set up camp. A horse and two mules carried our gear under the careful supervision of Orlando, a painfully shy Quechuan boy. Once our tents were pitched we crawled into the sleeping bags for some warmth. My feet were frozen through. I was pretty nervous I would never get warm again. But we had a beautiful dinner and that was enough to get me through the night. It was the coldest temperatures I have slept in yet. Also, Roberto was kind enough to tell us about Quechua Chucky who appears to you when you are alone and leads you astray so that you disappear entirely. I was very scared to go to the bathroom by myself after that and when I did I ran like lightening back to the tent for fear of being enchanted by Chucky's beguiling ways. I did survive the night.

In the morning Moria fell in love with Wilburto Dos a little bit more when he knocked on our tents with hot drinks to wake us up and take away the chill. It worked. We had some coca tea with breakfast to scare away the altitude sickness and then headed up 2,400 feet. The fog was rolling in and out of the valley that we slept in and every so often the clouds would part and the stunning snow-capped Andes would appear. All of our jaws would drop in awe. The way up to the summit of our mountain was full of looking at the view/catching our breath. There were a few touch and go moments with Sarah but that only added to our Peruvian experience. Roberto taught us how to chew coca. I can't say that I enjoyed it. The coca leave for me is fine in tea but the bitterness of it is really extracted once you chew. Moria is hard-core though and always had a little bit of it in her cheek. When we reached the summit we made an offering of coca leaves, wine and lemon candy to the Inca goddess of the mountain. I liked the pomp and circumstance. I will say our skills at architecture left much to be desired because our pyramid kept collapsing. I believe she got the point. Then we headed down the mountain. The runoff from all the rain had made it a very muddy and the rest of the morning was spent leaping from rock to rock in desperate attempts not to soak our feet. That lasted for maybe an hour until we hit the serious waterfalls. Then it was downhill for all of us. Our feet were not soaked they were seeping with water. We had about another hour to get to lunch and the chill in our feet had spread to our entire bodies. I was frozen. Lunch, although delicious, did not warm me up and I don't think it helped Moria and Sarah much either. It was a pity. The one thing that did cheer us up was when Sarah had to inhale some oxygen. It was amazing. I really loved the drama of it all. The best part of it was that it made Sarah feel better. The first part of the afternoon was spent getting our shoes more wet by crossing strong waterfalls and getting stuck in muddy fields. I felt like we were experiencing some pretty serious adventure travel. Then after an hour and a half we had reached the jungle. There were high trees and luscious flowers everywhere. The temperature was much better as well. It was straight down for the rest of the day and I went pretty fast so I could get out of my drenched shoes. Roberto thought it was because I was such an amazing hiker and I soon became the favorite. It was rather amusing. I don't think he understood the meaning of being a fair leader but we all made it to camp and got changed pretty quickly. Dinner was good and then we had a party with our crew and Peruvian wine. Moria's heart was crushed shortly after the glasses had been poured because she learned that Wilburto Dos had a girlfriend. Shortly after that the party was over for us. The crew continued into the wee hours of the morning. We were tired and went to bed at 10.

The next day began with more hot drinks, breakfast and a briefing before we hit the road. This day was beautiful and it was through the warm jungle. Roberto, a wealth of information about the Incan jungle, showed us all the flora and fauna he could find. I even got to see a transparent butterfly. During lunch I got to have another go at horseback-riding. I am not a horse whisperer. All I can do is get on the horse and sit there. This one did not move an inch for me. The only thing I was able to do with the horse was give everyone a good lauch. Sarah hopped on and it was like watching a jockey. She trotted all over the place with the ease of an experienced rider. Blisters had grown, calves were sore, and shoes were soaked. It was a good thing to get to camp. When we got into the town, La Playa, where we were camping the children rushed us. I was delighted because I hadn't really seen any since our trek began. They were adorable and all asked if we had some candy for them. We did. The most beautiful part of the kids coming out was that they did not want any of their friends or brothers or sisters to miss out. At first I just thought they were trying to score some extra candy but then slowly but surely the shier kids peaked out of doors and windows. I got a bit teary when a 10 year old girl ran into her house and carried her little sister, who had cerebral palsy, out so she could get one. She even asked if we could wait so the little one could grab it herself. Just too much for me. It was a heartwarming moment. We set up camp, had a shower, napped and then ate a late dinner. After 7 hours of climbing and leaping through waterfalls we were exhausted and had another early night. Our crew was very disappointed that we did not party with them again.

The next morning Roberto thought the trail had gotten the best of us so it was smooth sailing to Aguas Calientes. We took a minivan that got stuck in the mud and the men had to push us out. Moria was upset by the disturbance because she was try¡ng to work Wilburto Dos when we got stuck. They pushed us out much more easily then the first time we got stuck in the mud. Then we unloaded all of our gear and got to climb into a basket and use it like a zipline. It was a lot of fun because there was nothing holding you in and the water was really rushing. After safely making it across we got on a bus, Sarah and I got the front because we were Roberto's favorites, and Moria generously volunteered to take the back because Sarah gets carsick and I was having another episode of my mystery illness. The ride was short and was through some beautiful scenery until we reached the station where we would eventually catch the train to Aguas Calientes.

Upon arrival at the train station we waited at a restaurant. The restaurant was nice in the beginning. Then we were introduced to the owner's son who was a devil child. He beat a puppy, tried to slap me, tormented the other children, and watched a Latino children's show that was painful for me to listent to as I thought it would drive me insane. He was an absolute nightmare. Sarah and Moria had to hide the puppy from him so that he could no longer beat it and slap it. The child, who must have been 3 or 4, did not take a hint even when the puppy would try to bite him. I pray that I will never have such a child. Moria was the only one who could get the child to listen. She has a gift. Then we boarded the train and saw Machu Picchu for a few brief moments before arriving to Aguas Calientes. We checked into our hostel, bid a sad farewell to Wilburto Uno and Dos, quickly buy on our bathers and headed for the hot springs. The hot springs were beautiful tucked into the misty jungle mountains. We went into the most popular pool first and chilled for a bit. The pool was nice and warm and we were having a great time soaking ourselves. When we had enough we tried to explore the other pools but discovered they were either too cold or smelled of urine. So we went back to the original. We then discovered that pool smelled of urine too. We headed back to our hostel, had dinner and crashed because we had to be up at the crack of dawn for our exploration of Machu Picchu.

Getting up was not as easy as I had hoped it would be but we made it and got on our bus headed for Machu Picchu. The ride was very windy with lots of hairpin turns and when we got to the top the entire mountain was shrouded in mist. We walked up, blind to Machu Picchu, and once we got to the opening I was wowed. I loved it covered in mist. To me it seemed like that preserved a bit of the mystery of the Incas. Moria and Sarah were not as wowed as I was. They liked it, but it took more of a history lesson for them to get into it. The sheer size of Machu Picchu impressed me. It was a fairly large city with 700-1,000 inhabitants and was build on top of a huge mountain surrounded by the Andes. If that is not impressive, I don't know what is. The city was build in the 15th century and was most likely a university town or a home for the sacred virgins. No one knows. I think that is one of the reasons I loved it most because no one knows for sure. We got a great tour from Roberto about all of the knowledge the Incas had in cardinal directions, astronomy, architecture and their stone craftsmanship. All the stones were either sanded down by hand with another rock or they got more fancy and created a clean break with llama hair soaked with saline. I do not think I would have been tough enough to be an Inca. We also learned about their sacrifices. Now I will say I don't know if I caught all of it but what I think is this: the Incas had sacred mummys that would have been sacrificed because they carried certain traits, on holy days or solistices they would sacrifice a child who had similar characteristics by giving them hallucinegenics and the Shaman would rip out the child's heart with his bare hand then rub the blood on the mummy. If someone could verify or explain further I would be grateful. Then we learned more about the temples with the Temple of the Condor representing heaven, the Temple of the Puma symbolizing earth, and the Temple of the Snake illustrating the underworld. Moria's favorite was the Temple of the Condor and I must say she gets an A+ for architecture appreciation as she was the only one of us to see the abstracted condor. After the tour was over with a complete explanation of the urban, industrial and spiritual areas of the complex we hiked to the Sun Gate, Intipunku. It was a great climb and we were lucky because when we got to the top the mist broke and we saw the postcard picture of Machu Picchu. I was in awe. Then we headed down, saw some people get busted for drugs, got our passports stamped and walked back to Aguas Calientes. Machu Picchu is our last wonder of this trip and it was pretty great. The whole trip ended with a beautiful train ride through the luscious green Andes and a creepy dance performance by a steward with a scary white mask. I don't know what that was all about, but all in all the Salkantay Pass and Machu Picchu were fantastic. Now there are just 9 days left.

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Photos

On the Salkantay trail
And yes, I am wearing dorky, dumpy hiking clothes.

The mountain we climbed
Almost

Rescue 911
Sarah receives oxygen from Roberto. Moria and I kind of forced it on her for the laugh factor.

Sarah is escorted across the waterfall
This was seriously slippery and very dangerous.

Sarah's preventative measures against wet feet
It worked surprisingly well.

The raging river we crossed in baskets
The zip line is above. This river is one of the tributaries of the Amazon

Our Crew
Wilburto Dos is next to me. Moria wanted to make him jealous with Wilburto Uno. I think it worked.

Comments

[aunt peg]

moria the trailblazer
You have kept me worried and fascinated by your tales along the way. You are living the pages of those geography books I studied so many years ago. Stay safe, have fun, and boy, will we be happy when you get home! We miss you!!!!! Love, Aunt Peg