Advertisement
Published: December 19th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Not sure about you
A girl in the village of Cucani keeps an eye on the mad gringos Or I suppose it should be An Inca Trail, as the one we did is not the classic trail which takes you to the Sun Gate at Macchu Picchu. Instead we did a trail that started in a village in the Lares valley and followed old Inca paths for three days, including crossing over a pass at 4800m.
The first day we just went on a trip to Pisac in the Sacred Valley, a really impressive Inca site with ruins of temples and other bits and bobs on a steep terraced valley. We spent a couple of hours exploring the site and getting used to the idea of walking up the way. We then had a long drive to the village of Quishuarani, where we set up camp for the night and had our dinner in the school room. After dinner, the teacher came along and gave us a Quechua lesson, which ended up being more a lot more fun than it sounds.
In the morning we had an early start to pack up and set off in earnest, although we only had to walk for a couple of hours before we had a break. Part of the trail
Pisac
On the day before the actual walking started, we spent a couple of hours exploring the Inca site of Pisac involves planting trees to replace thos lost through being used for fuel. These trees - polypesis - are very slow growing, so they're being used up faster than they're growing and are in danger of extinction. So we scrambled about the hillside for a couple of hours shoving trees in holes that had been dug by some locals.
The rest of the day saw us getting a bit wet, but we were able to dry out when the sun came out and we got great views of the surrounding mountains. We went down to camp at Cuncani, another small village where we used the school building as our base. Before dinner we went to visit the house of Martin, the head porter and met his father, who is reputedly anywhere between 110 and 118. Apparently he remembers being 10 when there was a particular change of government in Peru at the start of the last century. The guide told us that the last time they had visited with a group to meet him, they'd been told he was out working in the fields! Which we could believe after the enthusiastic demonstration of the potato digging tool he gave us.
Setting off
Setting off on day 1 of the trail from the village of Quishuarani. The school building where we"d eaten the previous night is on the right. Day 2 started off ok - we headed up the hill as planned for the most difficult day, where we were to climb from 3850m to 4800m and then go down to 4100m to camp. We did know it was the rainy season, so we were expecting a bit of rain, but not what we got- a couple of hours of rain, followed by a couple of hours of sleet followed by a couple of hours of snow! As we climbed higher it obviously got worse, and became really cold and miserable. It would have been quite difficult going at the best of times, and I found it hard to get my breath back, so ended up at the back with the guide and the emergency horse! I was probably about 10 minutes behind the people in front, but by the time I got to the top there was no one else there as it was too cold for anyone to stop for more than a few seconds. It was also so misty that you could only see for about 30m, we were getting battered by wind and snow, so I didn't even bother trying to get my camera
out of my bag to take a photo to prove that I'd got to 4800m, we just headed straight down the other side! At first it was a relief to be going down, but the paths had turned to streams, so my feet were soaking wet withing a short space of time. By the time I got to the lunch camp a couple of hours later, I really didn't think I would have enough energy to go on, I didn't even have the energy to eat my lunch and that's not like me! But it's amazing what a cup of tea and a wee rest can do, so we all made it down to the camp by the river that was only about an hour and a half further on.
Trying to get dry, or at least not get more wet was fun that night, as some of the tents were leaking and virtually everything that we had was sodden. Some of the bags had also got wet as they were brought across by the horses, so some people - luckily not me - had the added delight of sleeping in wet sleeping bags.
When we got up
Lunch camp
Lunch camp on day 1 of the trail - we were just starting to dry off after our first rain shower in the morning there was frost on the tents, but luckily the sun was out and we knew it was downhill all the way to the end! So we had some pancakes for breakfast, gave the porters and cooks their tips (they rely on the tips for a living more than on what they actually get paid) and set off on a really beautiful walk down the valley which connects with the Sacred Valley. It was a great way to end the trail, and I even managed to have a paddle in the river while we were having lunch and feel how cold yesterday's snow still was!
We finished the trail in Urubamba and then got a bus to Ollyantambo, although not without avoiding a stop at the dreaded chicha house, although this time it was chicha made from maize (as opposed to yuca in Ecuador) and they also had a fruit version which was almost drinkable. At Ollyantambo we visited the ruins and then headed back to the hotel for a well earned shower.
The next day we got the train to Aguas Calientes and the bus up to Machu Picchu. We still had the same guide
Warming up
The sun came out as we walked down to the camp in Cuncani at the end of day 1, just out of the picture to the right by the river. The next day we walked up round the hill to the right and over the mountains we had done the Inca trail with, and he took us up to the highest point of the site. We couldn't see anything on the way up the path due to the thick cloud, so when we got to the point, we just stood and waited for the cloud to clear. It took about 10mins, but it was really amazing to watch it slowly reveal Machu Picchu below us. We then had a tour of all the sites, and after I walked up to the Sun Gate for a different view (photos still to get developed). It's the same height as the mountain above Machu Picchu, but a bit more of a steady incline - I figured I could do with a break!
Since then it's been back to Cusco for a day, then camping near some ruins at Silustani, then to Puno and then across the border into Bolivia, where we stayed at Copacabana for a couple of nights and went on a trip to the Isla del Sol, a really beautiful island in Lake Titicaca which was more like a mediterranean island, and it was, for once, very sunny when we were there! Now we're in La
Paz, which is a great city - it's like the Barras, only a thousand times bigger. You don't seem to get shops, just market stalls everywhere in every street.
I've got photos from these last bits from Cusco still to get developed, so will have more to say about them when I get them back!
We've got another day in La Paz and then heading to Potosi for a couple of days and then the salt flats near Uyuni for Christmas. So I'll be having a white christmas! But I think I've had enough snow for just now!
Happy Christmas everyone!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.108s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 16; qc: 86; dbt: 0.0758s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb