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Published: November 17th 2007
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Wow. . . . What a week (or so) we have had!!! Since arriving in Cusco a little over a week ago we have been runing non-stop!
We arrived in Cusco on a 5:50 am flight. Needless to say Matt wasn´t very happy but it was cheap so I really didn´t care. As soon as we arrived we were swept away by a taxi driver who took us to a decent hotel that was in our price range. Right after we met with a travel agent who gave us an amazing deal (which we found out after the fact) on a tour of the Sacred Valley, City Tour of the ruins close to Cusco, and the alternative Inca Trail.
I´ll just give you the highlights of our time because I don´t have the time to write a novel.
The Sacred Valley was absolutely beautiful! Huge mountains, desert climate, winding rivers, and amazing ruins. We spent all day driving to various religous site with a great tour guide. The Incas we far a head of the time. The pictures do not do the landscape justice! The last stop on the trip was to an old Catholic church. The Spanish
used a TON of gold to decorate their alters. However, the best part was the food from the street vendors. We bought marinated alpaca and potatoes on a skewer for 1 sol each (about $0.33). It was sooooo good!! If you ever have the chance to try alpaca do! It is really tender and had almost no fat. Really good!
The next day we had the city tour in the afternoon. We walked around Cuzco in the morning to see what the city had to offer. There were hundreds of people marching up and down the streets, chanting and carrying signs. It took as a while to figure it out, but there was a transportation strike all across Peru. Luckily they got everything taken care of before our tour. The city tour was also amazing. We toured some of the sites in th city and withi about 20 miles. The size of the bolders that were moved and the precision of the shaping of the rocks incredible. Some of the pictures show this, but again they can´t quite do it justice!
After the city tour we had a day to recover and do some shopping before heading out
on the Inca Trail. The day was very much needed because we made friends with the bartender and ended up talking with him until late in the night.
The Inca Trail was 5 full days so I will only give you the highlights (Plus I don´t want to spend all day on the computer!)
Day 1 we woke up at 4:00a and took our last shower for a few days. In true Latin American time the minibus was 45 mins late in picking us up. I´m trying to get used to the schedule again. We then drove around picking up various supplies and an additional three hours to the trail head WAY up in the mountains! From there we hiked about 4 hours to our first campsite at the base of a Glacier capped mountain at 3700 m.
Our group for the trip was really amazing! This became even more clear as we met some of the other groups! There was a couple from Ireland, a guy from Germany, a gal from Switzerland, a couple from Holland, and another gal from the US. We had a great time getting to know them and overcoming this huge challenge
Grain Storage on the side of a mountian.
It was placed so the wind blow directly into the windows and all to food was preserved to keep the town fed. Amazing! with the group!
Day 2 was the hardest day by far. We woke up in the freezing cold to have breakfast and start the day. We hiked from 3700m to 4600m in about 4 hours. 2 of the people in our group were really sick that day from the altitude. I have no idea how they made it because the rest of us who were healthy were dying. The view from 4600m meters is amazing (even if there is no air!) From there we hiked downhill to about 2500m to camp for the night. In total the hike took between 10-11 hours to finish. Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the day.
But I have to give credit to Matt here. He finished about 30mins before me (it´s not fair he has long legs). Instead of staying at camp he bought 2 beers and walked back up the trail to meet me. I don´t think I have ever been so happy to see him. For 1 I had a cold beer, and 2 I knew I was really close to being able to take off my shoes and relax for a while!
Oh.
.. . a little side note. In this one day of hiking we went from the high desert, to glacier capped mountians, to sub tropical forests! Amazing!
The third day was easier. We got up in the morning and hiked for about 45 mins to a hotsprings by the river. At that point we all needed to rinse of REALLY bad. We stayed there for about an hour before continuing on our journey. From there is was only about 4 hours through the jungle before we were met by a bus to take us to the next campsite.
At the 3rd campsite we had to opportunity to watch 3 cows being butchered. It was really amazing. . .. at least for a bunch of gringos who usually have no connection to where their food comes from. Not only that, we were able to buy whatever cut of meat we wanted for dinner for only 10 soleskilo (about $3) So we bought a bunch of ribs and our guide bought some intestines. Yes we ate them! The tasted good but were really chewy!
On the 4th morning we got up for our last day of hiking. We first
Face carved into the Mountain
Look closely and you can see the face. I have NO IDEA how they did this. It was carved in a shear cliff thousands of year ago. Not only that, at sunrise on the winter solstace the sun goes directly behind the eye making it twinkle. This marks the beginning of the Inca year. Unbelievable! had to cross the river on this pully system about 40 ft above the water. I´ll add pictures later. From there we only had to walk about 3 more hours to the train station were we had the option to walk for 3 more hours along the train tracks or take a 30 min train. We opted for the train. From there we went to Agua Calientes where he had a hostel for the night before we went to Machu Picchu.
Oh, and this is where we had the first hospital visit of the trip, and no it wasn´t Matt.
On the first day of hiking I got bit by horseflies (I think) on my arm and my calf. The one on my arm was all swollen and seeping liquid (nice I know!) and the one on my leg got so big that my calf was about twice the normal size! That wasn´t a very big deal, it hurt a bit but I could deal with it. On night 3 there were a ton of biting knats. I had bug spray on but I didn´t get the bottom of my feet. Naturally, I got attacked. After walking on
Flor de Caña!
For all of you who know its beauty! the fourth day my feet were so big that I couldn´t wear an shoes or walk without feeling like my feet were going to split. Matt made me go to the doctor.
When you have to go to the doctor, especially when you only speak a little of the language, you would like a little reassurance. In my broken spanish I explained what I needed to the doctor. After she kind of understood she came to the other side of her desk to look at my feet and the first thing out of her mouth was "Oh shit!". . . . not the responce I was hoping for! So, I ended up getting 2 steriod shots in the rear-end and taking 4 pills. My feet are back to normal and I have ankels again!
Day 5 we took a bus to Machu Picchu. Really an amazing place. We got a tour and wandered around for a few hours. We also climbed in huge moutain over looking the ruins (because we just hadn´t hiked enough!) I have many pictures we will update later. This computer doesn´t have a port.
AFter that we went back to Cusco where we
Strike in Cusco.
There was a transportation strike all over Peru. It only lasted a day and we aren´t sure of the outcome but the streets were packed! met our group for celebretory drinks and dancing before we parted ways! It was a great experience overall!
Now we are in Puno on Lake Titicaca. We are taking a trip to the floating islands today and then tomorrow we are off to Bolivia! I will try and find a computer soon to add more pictures. . . . don´t worry we have over a 1,000 aready!
Hope everyone is doing well ane we´ll be in touch soon!
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wendy
non-member comment
WOW....
looks like you are having a great time! AND I've tried flor de cana and understand the wonders that it entails...drink till you pass out and wake good as new in the morning. I'll let Christina know you had some. Im super excited to see some more pics!