More Machupichu and Lake Titicaca

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Lots of catching up to do!

Martina and I had a great time on our Trek to Machupichu. It started off inauspiciously- our ride from the hostel was late picking us up by almost half an hour. When it finally did show it was a big tourist bus with all the amenities and had only one other passenger. Then tyhat bus dropped us off at the town square and we were shuffled onto a small, makeshift van/bus and at 5:00 in the morning it was absolutely freezing. Martina and I pulled out our sleeping bags and managed a semblance of warmth during the three hour drive to Mollepata. When we arrived we found that our guide, Ivan, was not the Ivan we´d been introduced to the previous night nor were we the only one to have this experience. Very odd. This Ivan did speak better English though.

We were led to a restaurant for breakfast- and another odd experience. There were three different tours on our bus and each one seemed to be of a different level of comfort. When we first walked in we were given large mugs for coffee and tea but then those mugs were removed from our table and placed in front of another group. But our group of seven bonded over the experience, joking that we were on the Economy Tour, so what could we expect.

There were seven of us in the group and all of us in the midst of life changes.

1 and 2: Me and Martina- self explanatory.
3 and 4: Simon and Mike, a couple from England. Simon had just run for MP (AT 33!!!!) and, after a losing battle, he and Mike had decided to quit their jobs and volunteer, first in the jungle of Peru for three months then on the Mexican coast for another three months.
5: E´lala, a Samoan living in Salt Lake City. She was recently divorced but had an infectious sense of fun.
6: Dave, a25 year old Australian trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. Travelling for a year. He an E´lala immidiatly bonded.
7: Phillipe- Belgian, a nice guy but a terminal bore.

The first day was spent walking up hill to where we would camp for the night. Nothing too steep, just a nice climb taht took us around 6 or seven hours. We used the time to talk and get to know one another. When we reachedour destination, tents were already set up and the view of the mountains was spectacular. A Peruvian boy of 14 had cut his fginger badly and Martina and Mike fixed hm up as best they could until he could get to a hospital the next day. Simon and I offered moral support. The night was freezing cold. Thankfully M and I had overpaid for fleeces, which we wore under wind breakers, and long johns. Boy did we need them. Even with our rented sleeping bags and mats, the night was long and cold.

We were woken up at 6:00 with hot coca tea and then breakfast. This was the day from hell for almost everyone, our hike from 3800 Meters to 4600 Meters to Salkantay, the white mountain. Martina got altitude sickness as did some others but the climb was well worth it. I grew up in the mountains but these were spectacular white capped peaks that were unlike anything Ive seen. THen it was a descent down to our campsite. The entire hike took 9 hours and we were exhausted when we finally arrived. 58 kilometers at altitude in two days will do that to you.

On day #3, we stopped early for a dip in a hot spring, just a small hot pool. It was our first bath since we left, if can call it that. Sure soothed the muscles though. Then we descended into a cloud forest. The hike wasn´t as lonbg s the previous days and we stopped for lunch at a small village where we bought beer and played cards. When we arrived in town, which had been destroyed by a landslide 10 years ago and rebuilt higher up, we went to another hot spring, this one used by peruvians- mainly as their bath. M and I got eaten alive by mosqutios. After the hotsprings, we had dinner and then drank for the next couple of hours playing ridiculous drinking games like I Never and an unexplainable one involving chicken noises and faux gogles that Mike taught us. I guess you had to be there.

To leave town in the morning, we were loaded into a cart that was attached by a pulley to a rope over a large, roaring river. We were all terrified but after the 30 seconds it took to cross we were ready to go again. Then it was a walk to Hydro Electrica, exactly what it sounmds like it is, whilñe passing many waterfalls. Then it was a walk on railroad tracks to Aguas Calientes, below Machupichu, where we were checked into our hostel. It was supposed to have hot showers, but M and I only had a luke warm/cold one and we were very jealous of the others.

After dinner we went to a bar where we all drank Cuba Libres (rum and coke) and Pisco Sours (Pisco is the Peruvian national drink) and played more drinking games. Martina had everyone laughing when instead of wiggling her fingers she was waving her arms around. Again, I guess you had to be there.

We had walked back to our hostel when M and I realized we had left our backpack, with all our money, cedit cards and both cameras, at the bar. We sprinted uphill through Aguas calientes and much to our relief the bar had put our bag to the side. As penance, Martina bought a can of tuna for a stray dog that had adopted her. Then it was off to bed.

We woke up at 4:00 to pack and have breakfast before begining our walk to Machupichu. The climb should normally take a little over an hour but for whatevewr reason,we raced up the stone stairway getting to the top oin only 45 minutes. When we erached the top were were astounded. Pictures just don{t do the place justice. At 6:30 in tyhe morning the sunlight is just beginning to cross over the ruins and clouds are everywhere. We wandered a bit, then got a guided tour that was more surreal than informative since Ivan was chewing coca the entire time. Once the tour was over, the group hike up Huanupichu (sic) the small mountain to the left of Wanupichu, the famous peak that looms above Machupichu. It was perfect. We had the peak to oursleves (the other tourists had elected to climb the big mountain) and the view was spectacular. We left around noon, walked down, and then started drinking gain. At 4:00, we were loaded onto the tourist train (Peru has different trains for tourists and peruvians) and I slept like a baby the entire way. All in all, it was a fantastic trip.

We checked back into our hostel, Los Ninos, which uses the proceeds to support the children of Cuzco, and slept very, very well. The following day (July 4th) we took a god awful city tour and then met up with our treking group again for a last dinner.

In the morning we took the bus to Puno, on the banks of lake Titicaca and checked into HOstel Europa, which had clearly seen better days, though it cost only $16/night. This morning we took a boat tour to Uros, the floating isalands made out of reeds and Isla Taquila. It ws interesting but also a bit depressing, these strange ancient cultures shilling to the gringos. On one reed island two little boys would sprint towards whomever was having his picture taken, pose, then stick their hands out for a sole or two, all with their pants falling down below their asses.

Tomorrow morning we leave for La Paz. Talk to all of you soon,
Ben

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