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Everyone knows just how awesome Machu Picchu is--maybe because we've read about it, seen pictures somewhere, or maybe even had the opportunity to visit it. But I'd like to offer up this PURELY HYPOTHETICAL scenario just to impress upon readers that it really is one of the most amazing places on earth. Pretend that you are someone with no camping and/or hiking experience yet you think it sounds like a great idea to spend three days hiking and camping through a mountain range in a foreign country. The night before your visit to the most famous of ruins, you are crouched behind a rock in the pitch black night on the side of a mountain doubled over with the worst stomachache in the history of stomachaches and it's so bad that you start making deals with God (like maybe you will go to church every day and three times on Sunday) so that 1) whatever is happening right now to your digestive tract will immediately cease and 2) that the rock you have chosen to crouch behind is not home to a hungry puma whose favorite food is American girl. Maybe you pass out from the pain and fever; maybe not...Regardless,
even if all this happened to you the night before you visited Machu Picchu, you will still think it is one of the coolest places on the planet and worth everything it took to get you there. (Again, please note that this is a purely hypothetical situation. The fact that I have absolutely no natural color in my face in the accompanying photo to the right and if you look closely you can see that Rachel is lugging around my bottle of Gatorade mixed with children's electrolyte drink is purely coincidental. I just posit this particularly graphic scenario so that everyone can understand Machu Picchu in the proper context.)
As you can probably tell by now, Rachel and I's trek through the heart of the Andean mountain range (immediately preceding our visit to Machu Picchu) was truly an adventure in every sense of the word. I'm speaking for both of us when I say that it was quite possibly one of the most physically challenging but entirely rewarding things we have ever accomplished. We spent three days and two nights hiking and camping the Lares Trek. (This trek should not be confused with the Inca Trail, a steep walking
route of mostly steps that takes about four days and leads directly to Machu Picchu.) Rather, contrary to what our travel agent told us, the Lares Trek does NOT end in Machu Picchu, and in fact, has absolutely nothing to do with Machu Picchu! We just took a train there at the end of the trek. In fact, we were actually hiking AWAY from the ruins, which seemed ridiculously counter-productive, but by the time Rachel and I figured this out, the packs were already strapped to our back and we were halfway up the first mountain. Interestingly enough, the other people in our group discovered this much later and there was almost a riot one morning over porridge in the breakfast tent--but what can you really do at that point but keep going? We were certainly glad we did, though, that's not to say that there weren't challenges, mishaps, and minor disasters along the way.
On the first day, our group of 16 flew from Lima to Cuzco. On the second day, we took a bus through the Sacred Valley and visited villages and other Incan sights along the way including an artisan market and chicha bar where we learned to play an Incan drinking game called sapo (meaning frog in Spanish). Basically this part of the tour was sort of slow but its main purpose was to get us acclimated to the high altitude before we began the trek. We even had a "practice" run up through ruins at Pisac and let me just tell you that we were in for a rude awakening. The hike was MAYBE 20 minutes long but most of us could barely make it to the top without begging for a tank of O2. I should say at this point that I consider myself to be in pretty decent shape since I make it to the gym most days in my real life and Rachel far exceeds my physical abilities being one of those crazy marathoners and all; so the fact that we had to rest every 10 steps, gasp for air, and gobble down a Luna Bar should be evidence of just how hard hiking straight up a mountain in high altitude--even with altitude medication!--can be even for those in shape. Afterward, we took the bus to Ollantaytambo, this adorable little village that is the launching pad for most people going to Machu Picchu. That night there was a blackout in the village for a couple of hours and everyone in town (tourists and locals alike) including Rachel and I, went outside to sit in the square and gaze at the stars. Maybe I'll sound like a city rat for saying so, but the only place I have seen so many starts all together is the planetarium. Afterward we ate dinner at a restaurant by candlelight because the lights still weren't turned back on. It really was the most romantic night ever...except for the fact that I was with Rachel but I guess everything can't be perfect.
The next three days were a blur of steep mountains, highland villages, gasping for air, coca leaves (which you suck on or chew to aleviate the effects of altitude) and freezing our butts off. The hike began mid-morning in the village of Qeshwarani and through the valley of Cuncani. After lunch we summitted our first mountain and descended (um, rather dangerously in the dark!) to our campsite. Much later that night on the way to the ladies (and by "ladies" I mean large, gray boulder near the river), Rachel and I had a rather scary run-in with a puma, which turned out to be not a puma at all but rather a friendly black dog. Phew. Not much sleep was had that night due to the freezing, damp chill and the fact that our tents were on an incline, which meant that as we slept we kept sliding down the hill and out the front flap. Good times. Wow, why didn't I do this camping thing before???
On the second day of hiking we summitted a mountain of 4800m, which is about 15,700 feet. (Just to give you a comparison--the highest mountain in Colorado is 14,440 feet.) We were told it would take four hours but it was more like six--six hours of relentless, excruciating agony. At least the views were phenominal so there was something to distract us from the searing pain. At this point, the group is having various reactions to the altitude. Some people--like Miss Rockstar Rachel who dominated each and every mountain, even at times beating the guys to the top--did great. Others are not feeling so well and need a bit more help getting to the top--for these people "help" arrives in the form of a horse and oxygen tank. Yours truly manages to consistently drag/curse herself to the top at a good clip on my own two feet. I'm no Sir Edmund Hillary but I think I put forth a respectable showing--at least for my first time. We descend for our second night of camping and it is here that I cannot really account for the next 24 hours due to sickness. I think there were tents...I know there was a rock behind which I was convinced that a puma lived...the rest is a bit shady. According to my itinerary print-out we descended the mountain and then took a bus and then a train to Aguas Calientes and then another train to Machu Picchu. (When I came to I was told that it was probably the water that got me sick. They boiled the water, but sometimes it still has bad effects on people and I was drinking gallons of it each day to keep hydrated. So for anyone who might do this trek, I would strongly suggest bringing chlorine tablets.)
All in all, despite the physical discomfort and probably permanent damage to my insides, this was a tremendous experience for me. The views, the feeling of accomplishment, the opportunity to meet villagers along the way, the bonding over our various ailments with people in our group, not caring that you look and smell like a llama after not showering for days, Machu Picchu at the end--it wasn't what I expected, it was better.
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