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Published: October 19th 2005
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(Russ - that title is for you...)
Hi Guys,
So we{ve just finished our trek and we are back in Cusco for a relaxing day. Just booked a trip to Puno and Lake Titicaca for tomorrow on a nice air conditioned bus..
Just a quick reminder that if you get a chance can you leave some comments...it{s suprisingly nice to log in a see them. If you are not a signed up member of travelblog then we have to see/accept them
first...which is why you may not see your entries straight away....
So...it turns out that we couldn{t book on the Inca trail before we left, as it{s limited to 500 people per day and therefore sold out. So, we found another route to Machupicchu - called the Salkantay pass. Not doing any proper research, I just assumed it would be a simple trek another way to MP.
Oh no....
So it turns out that Cusco is at 3200m (approx), and Machupicchu is actually lower at about 2700m. You go down from Cusco into the Sacred Valley, and then up the Inca trail (40kms) to MP - over 4 days...
However, the Salkantay trail
goes for 80 km, over 4 days, starting at 3,000m, and then climbing to the Salkantay pass at 4,800m, before droping down into Machupicchu.
To put that in perspective...it{s like walking from London to Brighton...but starting at an altitude higher than most ski resorts, and them climbing to a hight that{s not far off Everest base camp !! Ideally you have 5 days to acclimatise for this trek...not the 24 hours we had.
Anyway...we made it and it was great fun. We both found the walking hard...but not as hard as we{d imagined. We both had a few bouts of altitude sickness. The easiest way to describe it is like having a serious hangover without all the pleasure of getting drunk before :o(
The scenary was quite amazing...hopefully the photos will give a feel for it...but it{s the memories we have that will be the best.
The first day was climbing into the pass and the campsite...just below the pass, was literally freezing...but the chef made up for it with an amazing veg soup. That and the fact that the late afternoon sun was glinting off the snow of Salkantay was fantastic.
The second day
was a long slog down hill..but the campsite was in a fantastic terrace within a small village of local Quechua mountain people (no roads for miles). Pigs and chickens runnning all over...and even an enterprising chap who{d carted beer all the way up. Top man !!
We ended up playing 21 with our fellow Israeli trekers and the guide (Edwin). For the record, I{m taking Lou to the casino at the first pportunity...hopfully she{s as good with real money as she is with popcorn.
The highlight of the next few days (appart from the great walking and scenary) was a trip across the Urubamba river on a little metal tray suspended from a thick wire...not quite the cablecar as promised, but a great laugh anyway.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes (at the base of MP) tired and happy. It{s a great town, nestled in a valley with a river and a train running right through the middle. It{s totally taken over by tourism..but after several days in a tent that was fine by us. A trip to the hot springs followed by a beer (Steve) and G&T (Lou) sat in front of a roaring log fire did
The only way to trek
with pack horses carrying your..er..pack !! wonders for the soul.
And now for the fun, and our first real South American traveling "experience"...
The last day was Machu Picchu. We{d agreed to meet our guide at 6am to get the first bus up to MP to see the sunset and miss the hoards of tourists who turn up on the train from Cusco later.
However... an hour later and several phone calls to the tour company...he turned up - absolutely steaming drunk...with suspicious wet patches around his jeans. If we hadn{t been so annoyed it would have been commical, he really couldl{t put two words together, so we ended up extracting our tickets from him and making our own way up.
As it turns out, it didn{t spoil the day - we got a new guide - and what can you say. Machu Picchu is quite stunning. It{s staggering to believe that a civilisation from so long ago could build something quite as impressive as this, quite literally on top of a mountain, and that it remains in such an excellent state of repair. It{s also amazing that the place was abandoned (apparently due to the Spanish pillaging) and remained undiscovered for
so long. A fantastic place. You must go.
So that was that...drunk guides...mountain climbing..and amazing veggie soup...bring it on !!
Steve and Lou xx
As a quick footnote..we{ve just had a meeting with the tour company..and got 2/5 of pur money back !! Once again South America suprises. I{m off to have a fried Guinea pig in celebration.
On a sour note however, our Israeli treking partners have accused our guide of tealing their camera. We do not know for certain, what happened, but we do know that they do not know for certain. However, we{ve just found out the poor chap is in jail. I{m not happy at all with their actions...but we are helpless to help....
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Kirsty
non-member comment
Living vicariously
Hi guys I'm so glad to here that you're having such a good time - you're certainly getting the real experience of each place and taking the most every day can give - what a pace!! I love getting your blogs and admit to living vicariously through them - I would really love to do the Inca trail, do you think I could get a pram up there ; 0 Sad to here about the tour-guide but I guess you can chalk it up to experience Take care of yourselves Kirsty