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Published: March 30th 2009
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Me at Macchu Picchu
(on winapichu - the mountian that overlooks macchu pichu) Hello all!
I am pleased to say that I survived! The medication for the parasite did give me a lot of relief... and just in time. We stayed put in Cuzco for a while, resting and trying to recover and then ran out of time. We had to do our tour, so I bought a bunch of Gatorade and we signed up for the 5-day Salkantay hike to Macchu Pichu. The first day was rather nice, a few hours of busing to get us to a small jump-off town, and then normal hiking generally going up for about 5 hours. The views were classic, forest and plant life, a few remote locals and a fair bit of mud. After we reached the first camp, we settled in for the night and huddled around hot tea until we clambered in our sleeping bags to keep warm and prepare for the constant 5m starts...
The next day, we were off, packed and on the trial nice and early, only to be met with massive downpours and no end in sight. This also happened to be the hardest day of the trek... up and over Salkantay at 4650 meters. We trekked and
trekked, and basically gave up on the light chatter, gave up on dryness... of any sort, and sludged on. Luckily we made it over the vicious peak the rain finally eased up in he evening just as we were arriving to our second camp. We settled in for another night, all with wet feet and using every inch of our tents to try to get some air on our clothes!
The third day was a nice hike, we all braved the damp clothing and hit the trial for a nice solid 6 hours of mixed up and down - but this time, the trail didn´t matter... we were headed for hot springs! We reached our third day camp late afternoon, most of us lagging with the difficulty of the trail compiling over the days... and we all opted for a good few hours in the hot springs. After a long, long soak, and a few beers, we were back at camp, playing cards, then hiding in our tents and the rain came back.
Our fourth day was another nice leisurely 6 hours of up and down (or rather Peruvian flat and down) and we slowly made our way
to Macchu Pichu. Half way to the town of Aguas Calientes, where we would spend our final night, we could see the mountain and the ruins lining the horizon. We were all in awe, and sightly invigorated for the final three hours. Of course, shortly after we arrived, it was dark, and with a 4:30am departure for Macchu Pichu, a beer and bed was all that we were up for.
The final day, we woke up to more dreaded rain pouring down, and a pitch black sky. We threw on our rain gear, grabbed or flashlights, and set out for the trail - straight up. We didn´t even use the switch backs, we just went up the ¨stairs¨shortcuts, and went straight up the mountain for an hour solid... sweaty and muscles burning, we reached Macchu Pichu for the opening (6am) and went straight for the coveted Winapichu tickets (they only allow 400 people a day to climb the second peak) so we waited in line and at 7:00am sharp, we went for the second peak - much more of an incline than the first... but well worth it for the momentary glimpses of Macchu Picchu through the clouds. Then
we made our way back to tour Macchu Pichu, and climb a few more trails for all the views. Luckily, by mid morning, the sun was on it´s way out and we peeled off all our layers and basked in the sun.
I have to say, despite all of the rain and wet, it was one of the best weeks so far - trekking and camping and all things good - plus we climbed 4650 meters! Of course, with our propensity to extremes, John and I then hopped a bus to Colca canyon - the deepest canyon in the world (3191 meters) and tested out our hiking legs going down & up. I must say, I am glad to have seen it, but after visiting the grand canyon this summer, well, it simply had nothing to compare!
Then, we made our way back to altitude. We arrived at 3810 meters up to visit the highest navigational lake in the world, and to see the famed floating islands of Puno. 50 years ago, out of necessity, these people fled on reed boats to live a free life, and while on the boats they developed a method to create floating
islands to live on. The reed is incredibly soft, and forms not only a luxurious carpet rival, but is used to make their houses and even as a food source (along with the plentiful fish, of course). It was incredible to see how these islands were made, and to feel them, as we met the locals who lived there. We also learned that they lived in small communities of about 5-8 families, and if there were every problems, they simply cut the reed island in half and split up... hence why there were so many small islands. At any rate, albeit a touristy visit, seeing these islands and the reed boats and how these people lived was defiantly a highlight... especially as they are considered to be the last generation of their people.
And, of course, next we are going south... more overnight buses and long commutes, but we are now headed to Chile and looking forward to stargazing in the Atacama desert.
More to come... as always,
Trish xx
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Ron
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Wow....Macchu Picchu rocks big time. Its great really.....ruins of a long lost civilization. Anyway, awesome pics. Especially the one titled ""Me at Macchu Picchu"",the pic where you are in a flying pose...very close to the edge. Also ""me at the top!"" pic and the "Classic Macchu Picchu" pic. You are really lucky to travel to all those places... Now i am waiting for Chile..... -Ron ,India