Advertisement
Published: April 15th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Oh the traffic...
We are camping out in Cusco to get a little bit used to the altitude before jumping into trekking mountains. Well here we are, all ten of us, safe and sound here in Cusco. Traveling with ten people to one group has been an experience in itself, but so far we are having a blast. We left Fort st. John with Mom, Dad, Curtis, Garett, Jody and I. We spent the day in Vancouver with Tammy doing some pre-trek shopping, and in the evening we met up with uncle Cliff at the airport. We had a one night stop over in Vancouver we met up with Don, Debbie and Morgan in Toronto. From there we flew into Lima and spent the night in a cute little guest house, but were up with the sun the next morning to catch our next flight into Cusco.
Which now brings us back to Cusco. I am nearly speechless when I think of things to say about this place. The people are very soft spoken and respectful, and I have never felt so at ease with my bartering skills as I do here, which makes shopping SO much fun! I have already bought three paintings among other little trinkets. I still get so pulled into hearing about how the people live. I had already
Llama face!
An artistic shot of Curtis trying on a llama hat, or maybe it was alapaca. bought two paintings by the time that I was approached by yet another painter who offered me a painting for a considerable amount less then the two I had paid for earlier. It was nearing the end of the evening and he told me that he just wanted to buy something to eat and he couldn't do it if he didn't sell one painting, he said he had a poor day in the market and hadn't sold even one piece that day. SUCKERED, plus, at 25 soles how could I resist? But the story doesn't end there. oh no. enter this little amigo by the name of Mark, he is twelve years old, going to art school. He paints cards to sell in the markets to pay for his own schooling as he is one of six children, and the oldest boy with a younger brother and four younger sisters. I took one look into his eyes, and knew that I couldn't let him just walk away, so instead I paid more than triple what the card was worth. Dang those beautiful brown eyes!
Today we met up with Kikay our guide for the next seven days, and our
Downtown Square
This was also in Cusco, we spent a lot of time wandering around this plaza. driver Wilber, who took us into the Sacred Valley to tour some of the Inca ruins. They were stunning! We first toured a textiles factory and learned how the women take raw wool, wash it, spin it, dye it and finally weave it. The whole process was pretty amazing, and both Mom and Debbie seemed to enjoy it the most, but the women there were so charming and humorous that I think that even the guys enjoyed themselves. We bought some Alpaca sweaters and hats and toured around for a little bit before moving on to the second of three sites that we visited today.
I can't remember the name of the second site, but it was our first "test" to see how we would fair during our hike on Salkantay. We all were left breathless, but I think that we passed. Garett was having so much fun that we had a hard time convincing him to come down up off the hill side. The terraces at this site and the mountain scenery remind us alot of our visit to Vietnam, and we seem to be enjoying ourselves as much as we did then.
Our last site was
Hiking the Ruins
This was the first bit of Inca ruins that we got to see. It reminded me a little bit of Robin Hood for some reason... and we definately are not used to the altitude yet! Five steps leaves us winded! in Ollaytamba, which was so immaculate. We had considered skipping this site because we were all a little tired of being in the Van, but it was well worth the sore bums. To get to the top we had to hike well over a few hundred stairs, but there is no way to get the same impact from the bottom of the hill. Kikay filled us in on some of the history of why these structures were built, and we are grateful to have such a good story teller for a guide.
Last but not least we had a meeting with Kikay at the Pachimama tourist office to talk about what to expect on our hike. There were more than a few leery glances between us, we are not really sure if we are excited or terrified to death of the path that lays ahead of us. But, as I have said before, the best way to climb a mountain is one step at a time, or as Kikay says "you just have to remind yourself that you are simply walking... with poles," to which Debbie may have uttered, "oh right..." We are now considering paying for an extra
Superstar!
Jody and I did an obligatory celebration dance after climbing up one million steps of Ollyantayambo. Okay, one million might be an exaggeration. emergency horse in which to carry one of us. My only fear right now is not the physical part of the hike, but more-so the lack of oxygen, after all I still can only climb one flight of stairs before I am huffing like I do mid run back at home.
Well tomorrow I will work on describing the food and more of the culture as well as adding some pictures, but for now, my oxygen deprived brain is begging me for some sleep, plus the computer is in Spanish... I need Morgan.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.248s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0584s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb