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Published: December 24th 2008
Firstly, we need to say how lovely it is to get messages from you when they appear in our inbox as they remind us that we have connections and friendships in the ´real´world. Secondly, we wish you all a merry xmas and hope the festive season gives you some time to reflect on your good fortune and to have a wee tipple or two!
So, it has been a while since an update and this one is going to cover some fair old ground. In England, you best make yourself a cup of tea, in Aus go and get a coldy........
Sorry, no photos this post as Bolivia is still clonking along in the 19th century IT-wise. Promise there will be extras from Chile...... Not surprising as traffic regulation, fresh water and waste management are all beyond them....... :-(
We left Cusco on 12 December to commence one of the big treats of the trip - to finally complete a trek in the Andes and arrive at Machu Picchu to soak up the serenity. On day one we crossed a pass at 4400m and descended to camp at 3800m - about 6 hours in total. Both of us were fine with the altitude now although the Agent was for the first time required to carry her own day pack - quite a shock after all the practising where this lowly task had been delegated to me. This was to later be the source of a future visit to an outdoor shop to buy her a proper one when we arrived in La Paz. Finding the right colour will be the challenge.............
In the morning, we were well chuffed to have one of the porters bring us tea before we had climbed out of the expensive but warm sleeping bags we had equipped ourselves with, and further to be given three inches of warm water in a bowl with which to wash. This was a challenge for both of us and needless to say there was no hair washing. We have since collectively reflected with our co-trekkers that when trekking, if eveyone smells, no one does!!
After completing the ´get dressed in tent whilst lying down and not getting anything wet at the same time´gymnastics, we prepared to give out hot chocolate and sticky buns to all the locals who had flocked to the school where we had pitched our tents overnight. This is apparently a bit of a tradition on the community focussed treks (as opposed to the Classic Inca Trail which is more commercial). The Agent was assigned to sticky bun duty, whereas I was assigned to security with Terry - a role that entailed preventing a mob rush toward all the sweeties. Interesting task when neither of us spoke te local quecha language; we decided though that between Terry´s tattoos and my sunglasses, hand gestures and frowns would suffice. Given that my only other experience was a relief position on a Dublin pubs doorstep some years ago, we were alright thank goodness!
The village elders were served first, which went quite calmly. The boys and girls had formed themselves into seperate lines on a first come basis, but Terry and I were perturbed that the local leaders seemed to think all the boys would be served before any girls, so we intervened to have a ´2 girl and 2 boy´ batch system introduced with great success and many smiles from the girls.
After 150 plus locals had their buns and drinks, we set off again. It had rained all night, the peaks we needed to cross could be seen to snow covered and their was a warning hat we may have to turn back. We put on our full wet weather gear, picked up the bamboo sticks we had purchased in a local market and began to trudge upward, upward, upward.
On the way up the pass we were passed by the llamas carrying our tents and the cooking kit, not one of them looking at all out of breath! Each llama carries about 25 kilos seemingly with not a care in the world, with the prettiest ones blessed with bright woolen ear decorations. (just re-read that; llamas pretty? Time to get out of the Andes!)
We dragged our less than boney behinds up a pass of 4800m which saw all bar the guides seriously huffing and puffing, but not so much that a few photos and a couple of snowball fights could not be accomodated. We were lucky with the weather as the rain we had started in had turned to snow, and at the peak we had clear skies and views forever. A magic moment.....
Down the other side we (comparatively) romped, catching up with the llamas and being greeted with a fabulous lunch of hot soup and sandwiches - I love sandwiches! Under clear blue skies we loafed and congratulated ourselves on having done the hard part.
The rain had made the site of our intended wild camp unusable, so we needed to push on an extra few miles to the backup site. On the way down the most magnifient valley, the group split into a fast (us included) group and a slower smell the roses group. With one of the roses group needing two of the three guides to support him due to a bad bout of altitude sickness, the lead guide sent us ahead and stayed with the roses group. ´How will we know when to stop´we asked, fearful of taking a wrong turn or, worse, going too far and having to retrace our steps. ´Look for llamas´ he said, disappearing round a bend. So thats what we did for the next two hours, finally sighting them and some of our tents a few hundred metres below us where the valley widened. What a welcome vision at that stage, 11 hours after we had left in the morning! Dinner and bed for all concerned was the unanimous reaction.
In the morning it was a mere couple of hours downhill to where a bus met us. A bit of an anti climax after the previous day, but hey ho. The bus took us to Ollyantambo by way of a cecha making establishment, cecha being the local hooch - somewhat cider like but corn based and low alcohol at about 2.5%. We tried the samples and determined not to buy any to takeaway. Much enthusiasm was expressed over the toilet facilities though - flush and four solid walls were such a treat!
The first hot shower for 4 days awaited at the hostal, with all of us taking full advantage. Blokes shaved, the ladies washed AND conditioned their hair and the transformation was amazing - we were clean gringos again!
The next day we caught the train to Machu Picchu village. We were well pleased to discover the train was operated by the Orient Express company, and that as well as big seats and a flushing toilet with a view, we had free snacks and drinks laid on. The ticket price though told the story - local train for same route cost $2US, ours was $100US. Expensive snacks indeed........
Although our trip co-incided with the rainy season, and we´d seen a good amount of that on the trek, we were blessed with a sunshine filled day, with just enough wispy white cloud for the tallest of mountains to wear like scarves. Truly spectacular scenery, much better than the books can portray.
Finally we reached the ruins, and after a quick assessment of our options we decided to join Nancy and Huw in ditching the tour and (moment of insanity here) decided to climb a furher 600m to the peak of Macchu Piccu mountain itself on account of the unexpected weather. We sweated our way up steps and paths sometimes so steep we used our hands to pull us up, reaching the peak an hour and twenty minutes after starting: very pleasing as the guide said it would take 2 hours (note Uncle John!!). From here we could see the whole site and appreciate just how remote and unassailable the city was when built. The weather continued to do the right thing by us and no one else had bothered to make the climb, making a few photos and a bit of quiet contemplation mandatory.
Touring the site after coming down was as awe-inspiring as hoped for, and by and large brought us all to silence. As it was the off season it was not overcrowded at all, making it that much more special.
Back to Cusco that evening, a couple of beers to see off Jose, Luke and Marte who were leaving Carmen at this time, and on the road again the next day to Lake Titticaca. We overnighted in Puno, a completely forgettable town on the lake shore, but necessary as the port from which we visited tha famous floating reed islands and the people that live on them.
A bit ´touristed´though the experience was, we enjoyed seeing how they made the islands, their houses, their boats and virtually everything else from the abundant reeds. We even fell for a beautifully woven alpacca wall hanging, the first souvenir in over a months travelling. In the first constructive use of the disappointingly plentiful discarded PET bottles we have cursed the world with, the islanders used sealed units to improve the flotation and therefore durability of their reed boats; one we rode on had some 2000 of them buried in the reed hull, increasing the life-span of the boat that took 6 man-months to build by 200%.
We are now in La Paz, the world´s highest capital city. Tomorrow I have booked to ride the world´s most dangerous road on a mountain bike, an all day event with a descent of over 2km. Its raining as I type, so braking skills learned in Wales will likely be important!! Bec is off shopping for secret Santa gifts having declined the option to join me; any of you who recall her riding in Dublin will recognise the wisdom of this decision!
LaPaz leaves two distinct memories - the shoeshine boys on the street wearing balaclavas that initially made me think they were villains,but we subsequently discovered were hiding their identities as the job is so lowly regarded andthey do not want to be recognised, and the public buses that all have custome paint jobs, evenly split between Jesus and fantasy creatures such as polarbears pulling sword weilding maidens through mountains...... weird.
We´ll have xmas in Bolivia and the altiplano before attempting the crossing into Chile where we expect to have New Years on the beach. Fingers crossed!
Stay safe over the festive season all!
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The Hilliers
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Happy New Year, trekkers extraordinaire!
We're loving the blogs - we want you to know how much we enjoy catching up on your adventures. News of Machu Picchu and Galapagos all help us get our broken dishwashers and Christmas family traumas into perspective! We look forward to the next set of pikkies (presumably without the slug now, D?!) and futher tales from Chile.... Meanwhile, a very Happy New Year to you both, and thank you for brightening up our Christmas! PS Bron has another pair of new shoes, Bex!