Southern Peru - Salkantay to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley

Cusco

Well after all that adventure in Northern Peru I travelled about a million hours (ok slight exaggeration) south to Lima, before connecting with another 22 hour long bus headed to Cusco. Arriving jetlagged, if you can get jetlag from a bus trip, I didn´t really take in too much of the city. High on the list of priorities was a visit to an awesome pub/restaurant I´d heard about in Huarez for a taste of home. Ok, so it was an english place, but they still had vegemite!! All I can say that after eating some dodgy dishes recently it was like heaven. And so good that I headed back first thing the next morning for a pot of tea. A POT OF TEA. EARL GREY CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. Marvellous.

I spent that next day in Cusco admiring all the terracotta coloured and red mud brick buildings which are pretty impressive and focused generally building my strength for the next week of trekking. All in all I think I spent about five days here doing nothing but relaxing. Its the most touristy place I´ve visited so far throughout my travels, so it has been kind of nice to just sit back and watch all the tourists. Although tourist hounds are aplenty and seem to have learnt their trade from the agressive touts of Asia and India. No thank you, I do not want a massage. No I do not want a pedicure and a manicure. No I do not want to eat in your restaurant even if there is a free drink. And no, I do not want a tour. I have become excellent at saying those phrases!! But if you did want to experience those things, then Cusco is the place for you!!

Trekking To Salkantay

With one day of rest under my belt, I set out early the next morning for my "alternative Inca trail trek" from Salkantay to Machu Picchu. Given that I was expecting this to be the absolute highlight of my time in Central and South America, I splurged for the gourmet style trek. And it was expensive but worth every single penny. We had mutli course meals, four staff (for four trekkers), excellent equipment, a guide who knew his stuff and english to boot, the best camping equipment and to top it all off a camping toilet. Talk about luxury. This was especially useful as three of the four of the group (as in not me) were suffering gastro. Unlucky!!

The trek is considered one of the hardest in the region, particularly because it goes high (although not as high as the Santa Cruz trek) and is bloody long. I walked over 60km in four days... with one day of over 22km and 10 hours. The walk itself was not actually too strenuous, and plus we had walking poles to help. I used them for about an hour. They just made me mad because I had to concentrate on my pole placement. So I gave them up and just walked normally.

The trek started at ridiculous o´clock with a three hour bus ride through Izcuchaca and Limatambo, and a stop for breakfast and panoramic views of Salkantay in the Cordillera Vilcanota. So from the start, I could see what I was aiming for. Our guide was keen for us to stay infront of the crowds, so we were always the first up and the first to leave. No one wants other people ruining their pictures!! The first day was pretty easy with only about five hours hiking up a nice little path through pristine Andean valley landscape. Camping that night was at 3950m... so cold!!! Bed was calling early given the temperatures although the group started our card game championships which kept us occupied every single night thereforth as soon as we reached camp.

Day two was always going to be the challenge... Three hours uphill to the Apacheta Pass at 4590m and then seven hours downhill. The views of that day were amazing, all I could see was Salkantay growing closer and closer, till the path led right underneath it. At the pass we all stopped to admire the view and recover when we witnessed a massive avalanche. Silverio said he had never seen an avalanche of that size before, and he should know given he has been guiding through the area for about 20 years. It was awesome to watch nature´s power as the snow and ice rushed down the side of Salkantay. You couldn´t even tell where it has broken off from! One of the boys in the group has gone off on a wander for a bathroom break and was rewarded with excellent if not slightly scary views from his position!

More downhill continued on day three, but as a group we decided to change our itinerary and push on further to the town of Santa Teresa. The trek this day was so different from the two earlier - as we descended, the snow capped mountains disappeared and we moved into more farming and forest areas. It also got decidedly warmer and the sweat built up. Luckily Silverio had anticipated this, and assured us of the amazing aguas caliente (hot springs) of Santa Teresa. We were once again first to arrive and therefore the first of the grubby hikers to the springs. Although the sign said we had to take a cold shower to rinse off all the dirt first I made a beeline to the springs. (Hmmm lets see, hot springs or glacial shower, you decide.) Two hours was not enough, but getting back to camp to dry off before sunset was a priority. Sunsets are cold! Our camp at Santa Teresa was very popular and full of other trekkers. But it was awesome because it had its own resident pet monkey, Pancho Gonzales!!! I spotted him early and quickly made him my friend. I reluctantly shared him with the others in the group, but he loved me best!! He spent ours climbing over me, sitting in my lap and scratching his fleas. I caught two of them on me as they made for my hair. Thanks Pancho. But he was so cute and irresistable!! Whenever he got in trouble for being a cheeky monkey (say for stealing popcorn) he would hide his head into my elbow. And if he was really naughty and I tried to get rid of him, he would wrap his arms, legs and tail around my forearm refusing to be shaken off. Best monkey pet ever!!! I was sad to leave him and move on.

Day four was meant to be easy, a few hours walk and a train. But because the group had pushed on the day before, we were too early for the train. So we joined all the other hobos in trekking along the train track from the Hydro Electrica to the town of Aguas Caliente. For some reason, this was one of the hardest days - I think because I was exhausted and knew that the end was near. Walking on train tracks is not as easy as it looks. Do you try and walk on the rocks, or on the rails or on the unevenly distributed sleepers?? This occupied my mind for most of the day. But it was pretty amazing though as we walked through the valley we could see the back side of Machu Picchu! And that was very exciting!!

We made it to Aguas Caliente by 1:00pm (after only five hours of walking), at which point Silverio had the brilliant idea of walking up a nearby mountain that overlooks Machu Picchu. That almost killed me. One and a half hours of straight up, including some rather dodgy looking ladders, the largest of which was over 120m long. Not only that, but it was HOT and in the sun. So it was a struggle after all the exertions of the previous days. But the views were admittedly awesome. And it was fantastic to finally view what I´d been aiming for the last 60-70km...

Machu Picchu

Bed that night after a 20 minute shower was heaven and I prepared myself for the ridiculous wake up call of 4:00am. We all went to bed early though because Machu Picchu is a bit of a mission to get to with all the other tourists. The group decided we wanted to try and get tickets to hike Waynu Picchu, a mountain overlooking Machu Picchu. But to do that, I would have had to get there before dawn to line up to get a ticket. Oh and the other problem is that there are no buses that early (the first one is 5:30am) so it would then involve a two hour steep hike up to Machu Picchu from the valley below. And then once at the gates, there is a full on sprint across the entire site to line up at the Waynu Picchu ticket office. I´d already seen Machu Picchu from a different mountain the day before and had almost died trying to walk up that it was so steep and tricky and with lots of ladders, so there was no way I was offerring to do the early morning hike.

But thankfully two of the group were keen, so they set off at 4:00am wheras I got to sleep in until 4:30am! Why did I get up so early?? Well even though the buses don´t start until 5:30am, people line up to be first into Machu Picchu... I got to the bus stop at about 5:00am and even then, I only got onto the 22nd bus, with about 600 people in front of me. CRAZY!

By the time I made it up to Machu Picchu it was a bit before 6:30am. Our guide came to get us (he walked up earlier) and we were in Machu Picchu long before sunrise. He took us on a guided tour for about four hours, showing us all the amazing parts of the site and explaining what everything meant. It just kept getting busier and busier and busier, so even though I was yawning the whole time, at least I could take photos without other people in them.

And the views were enough to keep even the sleepiest trekker awake. It was absolutely undescribable! The ruins are amazing but it is the setting that keeps Machu Picchu as stunning as it is. The mountains, the valleys, the pure air and the tenacity of the Incas in hauling all those stones up the side of what can only be described as the steepest hill in the area is awesome. But my words are insignificant. And the pictures don´t even show what it is like just to be there!

At about 10am, we hiked Waynu Picchu which was every bit as steep as I imagined it would be. And the view was very like the one the day before but instead of sitting on a rock, we were in amongst another Incan temple. However, being one of 200 people let up there was significant... I´m just glad I didn´t do the early morning hike to get the tickets. The boys that did were absolutely shattered.

I did however spend a few hours chasing the llamas around Machu Picchu trying to get photos. Lucky I saved my energy hey!!!

We were all back down in town by 2:00pm and absolutely exhausted after waking up so early and battling the crowds. From there we had a 6:00pm train out of Aguas Caliente and then another bus to catch so it was around 10:00pm before I made it back to Cusco. Exhaustion set in and when I woke up the next morning I was rewarded for my efforts by a cold. Lovely. Thats what exercising will bring you!

The Sacred Valley

After a day or two of rest, I headed out on a tour of the Sacred Valley - the agricultural zone of the incas based in Cusco and Machu Picchu. The tour was very touristy but kind of fun!! After all that hard work the week before it was nice to get driven around in a bus. The tour took me through Pisac to the Inca City of Pisac, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo Citadel and Chincheros. Although not as awesome as Machu Picchu, (well, what could be) it shows just how spread out the Incan capital city was. The Sacred Valley would look entirely more impressive during the rainy season and when the crops are all planted but it is easy to understand why the Incan´s treasured this valley. The views were spectacular, the ruins impressive and the sunsets divine.

From here I will head south to Lake Titicaca. Although I´ll be exploring the Peru side I thought you might all want to see this blog first. I´ll put the final section of Peru in with Bolivia. I should be there in just a few more days...

This has definately been the highlight - I hope you all enjoy!

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