Blogs from Lares Trek, Cusco, Peru, South America
April 2nd 2012
After a few days in various places on the peruvian coast, we headed inland through Arequipa and the highlands. The Incas were in their heyday about 500 years ago, until the spanish came along and wiped most of them out! Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire - its certainly the nicest city Ive visited in Peru As an alternative to the Inca trail (which was booked up) we did the Lares trek, this goes through different villages in the highlands, rising to 4800m. We camped for three nights then we took the train to Machu Pichu to the famous Inca City. The people who do the classic Inca trail walk into Machu Picchu through the sun gate, although it was misty when we went there. I also had the oportunity to walk/climb up Waynapicchu ... read more
February 12th 2012
My head tossed from side to side as I tried to sleep through the switchbacks. The bus rode the edge of the cliff as if it had the luxury of being connected by a rail. Jon and I sat, bags on laps, tiredly gazing out at the first morning light reach the highest mountain peaks. We were almost level with the snows before we began to descend. It rained in Lares and it didn't stop. We were dropped in the bustling plaza, heads spinning like the tourists we were. Even Jon looked out of place this high in the mountains. About two-thirds of the market crowd wore the brilliant orange threads of Quechua people, the rest of the locals were certainly not so far removed from their indigenous colors. Lares was famous for its hot springs. ... read more
October 8th 2011
Voor ons laatste weekendje in Cusco gingen we op tweedaagse uitstap naar Lares. Een plaats met natuurlijk aangelegde warmwaterbronnen.. een zalige ontspanningsplek! 's Morgens vroeg vertrokken want we moesten een aantal keer overstappen op andere bussen. Toen we aan onze laatste overstap kwamen (Calca), bleek dat we toch wel even pech hadden... Er werd aan de weg gewerkt naar Lares (de énige weg) en we moesten 7 uur wachten tot de weg terug vrij was! Ja, dat was wel heel lang wachten!!! We konden gelukkig onze bagage daar achterlaten (achter slot en grendel) en dan zijn we naar Ollantaytambo geweest. Een gezellig dorpje met incaruïnes. Rond 2u dan terug vertrokken naar Calca om onze bus naar Lares te halen. We hadden gelukkig op voorhand plaatsen gereserveerd, zodat we toch konden zitten. Want een bus is hier ... read more
Lares Trek & Agues Calientes– 18, 19 & 20 April 2011
Published: April 26th 2011South America » Peru » Cusco » Lares Trek
April 26th 2011
In Ollantaytambo, on the morning of 18 April, I was up at 3.30am and on the bus by 4.00am to drive to the start of the Trek. The reason for the early start was that they were doing extensive road works and close the road from 9.00am – 6.00pm plus 1 hour in the middle of the day. We had to get up the top of the mountain driving along this windy, dirt road. Some of our group who were not keen on heights were a bit freaked out by the road as many times the steep drop was very close to the edge of the road. One of our group was convinced at one waterfall / creek crossing the bus had one wheel air-born. We arrived at a busy village with many markets and met ... read more
Trek Day 3: Huacahuisi - Challhuacocha
Published: July 16th 2011South America » Peru » Cusco » Lares Trek
April 20th 2011
I had a really bad night’s sleep overnight. My headache lasted all through the night, I felt quite dizzy and woke up more times than I can remember. My phone battery was dead so Hannah and I were woken by one of the crew offering us tea/coffee and of course cocoa tea which both myself and Hannah were grateful for. We got ourselves ready for what was going to be the toughest trek day of all, and I really wasn’t keen on walking today. My legs were sore from the last two days, I had hardly any sleep and my headache was getting worse as we went higher. We all ate pancakes for breakfast and filled our hydration packs before getting our gear ready as went left the campsite just after 6AM. Unluckily for us, the ... read more
April 19th 2011
Another early start today as the horrible sound of my alarm woke me up at 6AM, it’s ok though my battery would probably die today. I sat up in my sleeping bag with an absolutely cracking headache, even after drinking water every time I woke during the night. We heard someone calling from outside the tent, it was one of the crew waking us up offering us tea and coffee before we had even left our tent, it was great. Unfortunately from here on in we had no way to wash ourselves besides using small bowls of warm water which was also brought to our tent door by the awesome Charity Challenge staff. By the time Hannah and I had gotten ready, breakfast was ready in the dining tent, today we had omelets. Afterwards the entire ... read more
April 18th 2011
My alarm went off at 2AM this morning so I forced myself out of bed and into the shower. My head was pounding, I was suffering from the high altitude, I took a few pain killers and hoped for the best. Hannah and I got all our gear ready then headed downstairs to the foyer to meet the rest of the group, we were the first to arrive. I filled my hydration pack as we waited while one-by-one people emerged. Soon enough we loaded two buses and jumped aboard towards the Andean highlands. The first stint in the bus took some time which gave us all the chance to catch up on some sleep. Though as the bus went further and further into the Andean highlands the roads became more and more dangerous. We stopped for ... read more
September 27th 2010
Okay how is everyone doing???? After 3 weeks I finally figured out how to use my blackberry on WIFI!!!!! Now I will send out my updates without any issues.... I forgot another couple of updates from the LARSE trek: Okay so everyone know that I have difficulty making friends (if you think this is true then you obviously have never met me AND STOP READING MY BLOG YOU ARE CREEPY) Well, I managed to meet two great people from eastern canada ( yes there is a couple of good people from the east) Anyway back to the story, when I climbed kilimanjaro it was suggested I bring poles. Well I liked them so much I brought them all the way over to peru to use them on both my treks. I know Chris call me a ... read more
September 26th 2010
Alright... Soo.... I officially hate stupid people... or actually ignorant people. We were staying at a hostel called Loki AKA the party hostel of Cusco, and we needed to be up for 2.30am to get to the plaza to leave at 3.00am. yes that is AM not PM. So we let the other couples know we needed to be up for 2.30 and we said we wouldn't turn on the lights to disturb them and we would be really quiet. They were like THANKS you rock. However the courtesy was not reciprocated.... At 1.30 am we get a CLICK lights on screaming something in Swedish, and then this chick frantically changing. I get up and say hey... remember we need to get up early... The chick was like ya sorry... after about 15 minutes of her ... read more
September 9th 2010
The 4 day Lares Trek takes you through the most amazing mountain scapes I have ever seen. At it's highest point you are 4,800 mts above sea level and the views are incredible. Our group had an expert mountain guide and a small "army" of porters and horses to carry our camping equipement and tents. Climbing up was hard as we were not 100% adjusted to the altitude... read more
