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Published: July 17th 2006
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Salkantay in the distance
Our trek took us right up close to the snowy peak. After failing to make the required three month advance booking deadline for the oversubscribed Inca Trail, we opted for a 5 day trek through the mountains to Machu Picchu with
SAS Travel (no connection with previous employers!). We reached an altitude of 4600 mts and covered over 60 kms in total. It was hard, but worth every painful step.
The trip was all the more memorable because we were part of a group of utter lunatics - three students from California and three Kiwi blokes in a handlebar-moustache growing contest and hell bent on an anarchic time - a great couple from Pickering and a guy from Leeds. A teacher from Texas and her boyfriend completed the group. A great mix. Our mealtime conversations revolved around everyone´s most embarrassing and outrageous experiences and each day we bonded more closely as a group. Although tempers wore thin at times of exhaustion and tolerance of outrageous student behaviour could only stretch so far, we had a brilliant time with our trekking companions. There´s a reunion drink planned in Cusco tonight. Graham is shaving his beard into a handlebar as homage and I´m just hoping we don´t all end up getting arrested.
Day
Day 1 lay-by breakfast
We´re all so clean and fresh. Not for long. one started very early. We were on a truck by 6 a.m. heading for the start of our trek. We stopped off at a proper food market at 7 a.m. for the tour cooks to stock up on supplies and for us to purchase some good quality coca leaves. Excellent for all ailments including altitude sickness symptoms. Even through it was freezing cold, we knew it would get hotter later in the day so Graham was in shorts. The women in the market place thought this was hilarious and one old girl insisted on stroking his hairy legs. Not sure what the Quechua for ´crazy gringo´ is, but I´m sure that´s what they were all saying.
We continued on to Cruzpata where we changed vehicles. The whole group, tour guides and porters, all our backpacks, food and camping gear were loaded onto the back of a cattletruck for a further one hour drive along precarious mountain tracks. We were whipped by low hanging branches and the truck kept slowing along the route to pick up fearless locals who jumped on as the truck was passing. A white knuckle ride indeed, but excellent fun.
We then had an easy
White-knuckle ride
Hanging on for dear life - truck ride to the trail head. hike to the first lunch spot. A full three course affair with fresh vegetables, meat and all the coca tea you could drink. Don´t know how the cooks did it! Our first campsite at Soray Pampa was in the shadow of Salkantay mountain. It was freezing cold at 3800 mts, but the stars were shining and the mountain glaciers glowed blue in the light of the full moon. I can´t say either of us slept that well what with the cold ground and the incline of the campsite, but we were woken up at 5.45 a.m. by the cooks offering hot tea and bowls of water for a face wash.
The second day was hard. We knew it would be the hardest day of the trek, but it really was difficult. All our camping gear and food was carried by horses and you could hire extra horse-space for your own backpacks. With hindsight we should definitely have done that. Nothing prepared us for the combination of a steep climb and the high altitude. Fortunately one of the blokes who had hired a porter volunteered to carry my pack up the hardest part.
The ascent to our highest point
Contemplating our destiny
The path ahead and according to our guide ´our destiny´. I think he meant destination. from the first campsite was pretty sheer. I think the guides said it was called the path of seven serpents because of the perfect hairpin bends that switchbacked up to the Salkantay pass. Both Graham and I found it hard going. I have had a cold for the last three weeks anyway and it took a turn for the worse - we´re talking dulce-de-leche consistency. Even without that excuse I would have struggled up the path. I could barely go 10 steps without struggling to catch my breath. Somebody had to be the slowest in the group and once I´d got used to the fact it was going to be me I went at my own pace and didn´t get too distressed. The assistant guide who brought up the rear with the emergency horse (for cases of twisted ankles, etc.) was really encouraging and helped me with my breathing. I knew I would make it if I could go at my own pace and as it turns out I didn´t slow the group down too much. We were the fastest completers in 2 years. Not bad.
Stopping at the top of the pass to appreciate the glaciers up close
High altitude camping
Freezing cold in the shadow of the mountain. made the hard work worthwhile. After that it was downhill all the way. I put my pack back on and actually found the downhill trudging over loose rocks great fun. We covered 23 kms in total on the second day and went from glaciers to high jungle, camping at a stunning site between sheer jungle slopes.
Day three was hard slog. We followed a jungle path along the side of the mountains crossing streams and waterfalls. The guide was keen to get to the final campsite in good time so we could swim in the river and enjoy the village, but as it turned out it was a complete dump. We did bathe in the river, if only to dislodge the thick layer of dust and grime, but I´m not sure how clean the water was. It was certainly freezing cold! We had a good night though, sleeping soundly out of sheer exhaustion. Everybody had sore feet and a few injuries, bites and blisters. By comparison, Graham and I fared pretty well considering our breathless start to the trek. A case of hares and tortoises perhaps, but our overall speediness as a team added to the good atmosphere. We
Heavy loads
We shared the trek with pack mules and horsemen who made the whole thing possible! certainly passed a few trekkers from other groups who looked on the verge of collapse.
The final day trekking was a fairly short walk in the morning to the hydroelectic plant where we could catch a local train to Machu Picchu village (Aguas Calientes). The highlight was stopping to munch bananas fresh from the trees and finally catching a glimpse of the back of Machu Picchu mountain.
The team was pretty exhilerated to finally reach Aguas Calientes. Proper beds and hot showers and a soak in the hot springs helped with the reinvigoration. The hot springs were really smelly. The pools had a sort of layer of cat litter grit on the bottom and the water was a dull brown. Not the most cleansing of experiences, but it did wonders for the tight muscles. We knew we had to get up at 5 a.m. for Machu Picchu but couldn´t resist letting off steam so we hit the bars in search of Pisco Sours. The festival of Carmen del Virgen was taking place in the town that weekend. Chaotic music, dancing, outlandish costumes, homemade fireworks and an atmosphere of mayhem and misrule only added to the excitement.
We
Triumphant
Team Salkantay makes it to the glacier. L-R Nick, Virginia, Dan, Adam (kiwi), Adam (U.K), G-man, Louis, Milly, Aaron, Simon, Chris, Hannah, Rob and Japhet our guide. arrived at Machu Picchu at 6.30 a.m. and the ruins were just emerging from the mist. The dawn sunlight and wispy clouds provided an extra sense of mysteriousness. Our tour guide took us on a guide of the most interesting aspects of the ruins - the best examples of workmanship, the temples and other features. It was a city divided into agricultural and urban centres and clearly a site of great importance. But really, nobody knows why the place was abandoned only 150 years after building started.
Once the tour was over, our group - always ready to take on the hardcore challenge - opted to climb to the top of Huayna Picchu, the famous peak behind the ruins. It was an hour´s hard slog to the top up intricate stairs carved in the mountainside and through several tight rocky squeezes. The kiwis went mad at the top, posing for photos in superman underpants and disrobing entirely for the full monty effect. Those boys...
We explored the site as fully as energy levels and hot sun allowed, but our favourite time was spent at the far end of the ruins, contemplating the classic view. The place was full
Still breathing
Collapsed at the top of the pass. of tourists, but the ruins held the crowds well. It felt very peaceful to just sit and soak it all in and relish the sense of achievement to have walked all that way. It was worth all the dust, lack of oxygen and toilet facilities, the bites, blisters and hard rocks under the feet. We did it.
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JohnMel
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Fakes
Nope, I don't believe it, Machu Picchu indeed! It's Wroxeter with the Wrekin in the background and a very tall sheep......... No really....wow! Stunning, stunning pictures.....jealous, jealous, jealous!