Cusco - Gringo central!!!

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I arrived in Cusco, ancient Inca capital and modern day tourist hotspot, starting to feel the fact that my travels were drawing to a slightly too rapid close!!! Thus I was determined to try and make the most of every possible day, and I ended up spending two very busy weeks in Cusco, managing to combine a couple of multi day treks, some tours of the sacred valley, a host of Inca ruins, a fair bit of World Cup footy and the occasional Cuba Libre or Pisco Sour!!

My base for the duration of my stay was the popular LOKI backpackers, a break from the norm for me as it was a hostel run by backpackers for backpackers and so English was the language of choice, and Brits were the dominant nation - meaning that there was a cracking atmosphere for the world cup games. The hostel was located up on a hillock overlooking Cusco, and the night time views from the bar were quite spectacular. LOKI also featured the finest showers that I have ever come across on my travels. Gallons of piping hot, water based pleasure which I very much doubt I’ll experience again in South America!!!

After my recent, slightly negative experiences visiting sites independently, I decided to do the sensible thing and book myself on a day long guided tour of the sacred valley. I think it was probably the right decision as the three sites I visited - Pisac, Ollaytaytambo and Chinchero, were some distance apart and in true South American tradition contained not one morsel of explanation rendering the knowledgeable guide who accompanied us essential. My favourite site was Ollaytaytambo, an Inca fort on a steep hillside which had been completely terraced in order to avert any danger from landslides or earthquakes. The fort also featured fantastic interlocking stonework, which has stood the test of time with no problems. It seemed incredible how the giant blocks of stone could be cut to fit together with such great precision, but the Inca’s were a very skilled people and their agricultural productivity meant they had a huge pool of labour to use in the construction of these structures.

Upon arrival in Cusco, I had found out that the rumours about the Inca Trail being fully booked up were true, and so I decided to plump for an “alternative” Inca Trail called the Salkantyre trek. This involved a four day trek: starting at the small village of Mollepata, climbing up and over a 4,600 metre high pass between the Salkantyre and Tucarhuay mountains - both of which are well over 6,000 metres - and finishing at the town of Aguas Calientes, the closest settlement to the Machu Picchu ruins. The plan was that a pre-dawn start on the 5th day would allow us to be at Machu Picchu before the crowds, and to enjoy the site in (almost) solitary splendour, or at least get to view it before the day trippers arrived on the train!!!

The Salkantyre trek is meant to be much tougher than the original Inca Trail (its over double the length), and with much more spectacular views, but nothing in the way of ruins to be seen on the way. However, the lack of ruins may have been a blessing in disguise as I have spoke to some people who did the Inca Trail and were a bit “ruined-out” by the time they reached Machu Picchu which took the gloss off the experience a little!!!

I enjoyed the trek a lot, but found that I had perhaps been overly blessed on my recent Bolivian adventures and so I didn’t find it all that spectacular. The second and third days were very enjoyable though, climbing over the high Salkantyre pass among snow covered peaks before descending rapidly into lush forest. Our group was large, 11 trekkers, and of very mixed ability. While this did get a little frustrating at times, one bonus was that I did get to spend an awful lot of time at some great viewpoints waiting for the entire group to assemble!!

On the 5th morning of the trek, our slightly erratic guide Henry continued in his usual style with a late wake up call that had us a bit behind schedule. The aim was to be at Machu Picchu for sunrise, but the weather that morning was completely overcast and it looked like the Sunrise was going to be a bust!! Nevertheless, I found myself in the mood for a good stomp and ended up hiking up to the sight in one long, sweaty, breathless go. Arriving at Machu Picchu I had no real idea where to go, as the rest of the group was behind me, so just decided to keep heading upwards. Through the mist, I managed to stumble upon "el puente del Inca" which luckily happens to be "the" viewpoint that most of the postcard snaps are taken from. My good pace meant that for an absolutely blissful fifteen minutes or so I was sharing the mist-shrouded Machu Pichu ruins with less than a dozen other tourists in complete silence - absolute heaven!!!

Soon enough though, a group of loud American tourists turned up and inexplicably an over zealous employee decided that 6.30 am was an opportune moment to fire up a strimmer and tend to the lawns, which kind of killed to moment a little!!!

Soon after, the group assembled and Henry began his tour of the ruins. For all his faults as a trekking guide he proved to be extremely knowledgeable about the ruins, and the tour he gave of Machu Pichu really added a lot to my visit.

The rest of the day was free time to explore the site, and I decided to summit Huayana Picchu, the highest viewpoint in the area. It was a steep old climb to the top, but the view from the summit definitely gives a new perspective, not only of the Machu Picchu ruins but of the surrounding area as well. The location is absolutely stunning, so much so that I reckon even if the Machu Picchu ruins didn't exist it would be worth the trek to the top just for the scenery.

Having completed my climb and returned to the main site I found it was suddenly incredibly busy. I managed to battle my way through the crowds to a fine viewpoint and then I simply spent an hour or so trying to absorb the splendour of my surrounding while drowning out the sound of the other visitors with a bit of feel-good Jack Johnson on my MP3 player!! Even though I've seen a lot now on my travels, Machu Picchu really bowled me over and it proved an incredible experience.

Getting back from Machu Picchu, I spent a day wandering the very pleasant streets of Cusco, and checking out some of the museums that were included on the tourist ticket that I had needed to buy in order to access the sites on my sacred valley tour. The 4 museums I visited were universally rubbish - but they were free so it didn’t matter all that much!!

I was soon off to visit more of the sacred valley, this time plumping for a mountain bike rather than a coach as my mode of transport. Unfortunately, I was accompanied on my tour by two of the world’s most unfit Israeli girls who had just arrived from sea level back in their native land, and thus were also unaccustomed to the Cusco altitude!! This meant that any sort of terrain that required you to actually pedal proved too much - every 5 minutes or so of cycling requiring 15 minutes of rest. Thus I spent a good deal of the morning topping up my tan and enjoying my book which I had luckily brought along!!!

The girls soon figured they weren’t going to make it to the first ruin, Moray, and took the road down to our lunch stop while the guide Nino and I continued alone at a much improved pace!! Moray was a spectacular set of agricultural ruins, which I really enjoyed visiting. Set in two giant hollows, the Incas had terraced both in a circular fashion which cleverly ensured that each terrace enjoyed its own microclimate and thus many different crops which each required different conditions to flourish, could be grown in the same location, just on different levels of the terracing. I was able to enjoy the Moray ruins for a long period as one the final ascent my guide’s chain snapped and he spent a fruitless hour or two trying to mend it. He was left to run the downhill section to the town of Maras where we were to meet the others for lunch. Mechanical problems were to blight the day as, after flying down an incredibly enjoyable off road section, the final uphill section to Maras saw me snap off my rear deraulier just like I had done on my “world’s most dangerous road” adventure!! Oooops!!

Thus we arrived in Maras a sorry sight with my guide on foot and me freewheeling!! Luckily the final section of the day was all downhill, (well almost all), so my lack of pedal power didn’t prove too much of a hindrance!! The paths we took to our final destination, the Salineras or salt farms, were steep, deeply rutted and definitely the most technical terrain I’d ever taken on with a mountain bike. It was great fun speeding down the fast open sections and inching through the rocky rutted slow corners, but unfortunately the delays of earlier in the day meant we weren’t actually able to visit the salt farms - just view them from the path!! The day proved both to be a complete shambles and a hugely enjoyable amount of fun all rolled into one. I’d definitely recommend a mountain biking tour of the sacred valley, Moray is spectacular and the trails you take on are a huge amount of fun - just try to get hold of a bike that stays in one piece!!!

LOKI being a very busy and sociable hostel, I’d made quite a few friends and headed out on quite a few nights on the tiles. Cusco is really geared up to tourists and the touts on the streets are always trying to get you into their bars. Anytime before about 1 a.m., you can expect to get a free drinks voucher just for stepping into one of the many bars and clubs located on the plaza. These beverages aren’t the usual watered down cocktails that you can expect at the European beach resorts, oh no. Huge slugs of rum coloured with a small dash of coke, or a 50 ml tequila slammer all on the house. Absolutely brilliant, but often slightly messy!! Heading out with two guys from London, Matt and Chris, we stepped into a bar, knocked back our gratis tequila slammer, took a look around the place and decided we didn’t like it, so simply left looking for the next free drink!! If only it was like that back home - no queues, no entrance charges and free alcohol!!!

Chris and Matt were planning to independently trek the Lares trek, a 3 day hike over a 4,400 odd metre pass in the mountains of the sacred valley. After my enjoyable, but not incredible, experience on the Salkantyre trek, I was pining to get back to the self-sufficient ways that I had so enjoyed down in Patagonia. Thus I decide to join the guys and, armed with tent, cold weather sleeping bags, my trusty stove and a hopefully accurate map, we found our way to the hamlet of Yanahuara in order to begin our trek.

Being back on the trail with no guide, no mules, no cook and no porter was a revitalizing experience and I think that we all really enjoyed the trek - I know I did. The first day’s hike was pretty solid going - well over 1,000 metres of vertical ascent following a river valley up into the mountains. We find a beautiful flat spot to camp, and cooked up dinner feeling very satisfied with ourselves. The temperature began to plummet soon after sundown and I am visualised the usual early trekking bedtime in the warmth of my sleeping bag. However Matt “Ray Mears” Hyne was not so easily put off by a little chill, and set off to find the raw materials necessary for a campfire. He came back and I was - to put it mildly - under whelmed. A few bits of kindling, some remains from a previous fire, a bit of loo roll and some empty oreo packets is all he had to work with. However, this did not deter Matt one bit and soon he had a blazing inferno going and I had been galvanized into scouring the surrounding area in order to find any bit of wood that can keep our heat source blazing. As you can see from the picture we, (Matt!!), didn't do too shabby a job with the fire and we had a great time sitting round it and chatting, only being disturbed when we realised the temperature had dropped so much that our bags were beginning to ice over and needed to be gotten into the tent pronto!! Combined with my MP3 player and speakers we probably had the biggest party going within 20 miles - although that wouldn’t have been all that tough!!!

The second day's trekking saw us continue to climb steadily, passing two alpine lakes on the way. The second of which, Laguna Aruraycocha was shimmering beautifully in the early morning Sun, and from our resting point we could take in great views of both the lake, and the pass that we were about to climb.

The last push up and over the pass was quite tough, but the great period of "sitting" that we enjoyed as a reward was not quite so taxing!! We began our descent into the valley, and it felt good to finally be going down. However, the weather clouded over incredibly as the day wore on and by late afternoon we were entrenched in thick fog and visibility was less than 10 metres. Thus we managed to take a wrong turning at some point and ended up climbing on a road to nowhere for 45 minutes before deciding to head back and make camp!! Next day the fog and lifted and the valley was bathed in sunshine and the path we should have taken to complete the walk out seemed oh so easy to follow!!

Looking back, it was great fun doing the Lares Trek the independent way. Having everything that we needed for the 2 and a half days in our backpacks and not needing any outside help to complete the trek gave us a much greater sense of achievement than finishing the longer Salkantyre trek.

To round off my time in Cusco I visited the ruins of Sacsayhuaman. Apart from having definitely the coolest name of anywhere I have visited, (it is often incorrectly pronounced as "sexy woman"), the function of this place is slightly uncertain, with theories that it could have been either a fortress or a temple of worship to the Sun. What is certain is that the Inca stonework is nothing short of mindblowing. Huge blocks of stone weighing up to 130 tonnes are fitted together so precisely that you genuinely couldn't get a knife blade between the horizontal joins. The most impressive feature of the site were the three walls, 360 metres long, that zig-zagged along the outskirts. With its proximity to Cusco, Sacsayhuaman has been treated as a complimentary, ready-made quarry by the local people, and almost everything small enough to be looted has gone. The fact that these walls have survived the looters completely intact is a real testament to their strength and size.

The wall's "zig-zags" were thought to have been incorporated in order to force an attacking enemy to expose their flanks giving weight to the idea that Sacsayhuaman was a fortress of some kind. Other features of Sacsayhuaman included a supposed Inca Throne and an apparent reservoir that used to supply the water to the ancient Inca capital.

This brought an end to my time in Cusco, next stop on the trail for me was Arequipa, supposedly a city with one of the best climates in Peru. Having stayed a while in Cusco I could really start to appreciate why the Inca's worshipped the Sun with so much fervour. Even though Cusco is not outrageously high at 3,300 metres or so, the difference between temperatures at night and by day is incredibly marked. Strolling around in shorts and t-shirt by day, as soon as the Sun's rays started to lose intensity at around 4p.m. the temperatures began to plummet and I was reaching for the thermals!!!

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Photos

Cusco at night - view from the LOKI bar
Not bad to be supping a pint with that view in the background.

Ollaytaytambo
The steep terracing of this Inca fort.

Scenic Camp
Our first night's accommodation on the Salkantyre trek. Not a bad little view, and there was a man selling beer and chocolate there too!!!!

Mount Salkantyre
The name translates as "impassable". Up close you can begin to see why!!!!

River crossing
An unorthodox method of transport that we needed to utilise on the Salkantyre trek.

Machu Picchu in the mist
The view that greeted me soon after I arrived at the famous site.

Summit of Huayana Picchu
Looking down at the Machu Picchu ruins and surrounding landscape.

Macchu Picchu
My favourite shot of the ruins, taken in the afternoon when the Sun had burned the mist away and I was trying to take in the grandeur of the view.

Moray
The agricultural Inca terracing which allowed the efficient growing of a variety of crops.

First camp on the Lares Trek
The scenic spot we found after a tough day on the trail.

"The inferno"
Matt's fine handywork that kept us toasty in the -4 temperatures!!!

Laguna Aruraycocha and on to the pass.
I really enjoyed soaking up the Sun and enjoying the views from our rest stop.

View from the pass
The three of us at the highest point of the Lares trek.

Sacsayhuaman
The three zig-zagging walls which dominate this Inca ruin.