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Published: April 17th 2007
Hi everyone
Its Rodney writing to you from Cusco in Peru. For my crazy friends, please leave clean comments. I have a few people from work on this list and want to have a job when I get back but you better write back
I figured a travel blog is a lot easier than writing individual emails so I hope you dig this. I cannot figure out how to post more pictures as each picture that I post takes 15 minutes to load.
When I get back to LA, I will send you a link to my KODAK GALLERY so you can see all my pictures rather than a few
I have been planning my trip to Peru for over 6 months now. The trip started off on a strange note. I was sitting at the airport waiting for my flight when this woman sits next to me. We end up talking & she mentions that she works for a consumer packaged goods company and has a presentation which she is nervous about. I told her my background and we went thru her full presentation and made some changes. That is not the weird part. She
Best picture yet
I took this of a little water puddle at Machu Picchu
check out the sun in the reflectionthen mentions she has a 34 year old daughter and lives in Northridge. Long story short, she ends up being my high school girlfriends mom. Small world
I made it to Cusco after 26 hours of travel including 11 hours of combined layovers in Houston and Lima.
My room was pretty sweet as it has a great view of the city and its own natural alarm clock (Rooster right outside my window). The first day, I walked quite a bit of Cuzco to first see all the touristee things. It is a city with a very small town feel to it. The churches (see pictures) are very different than what you may see in other countries (Europe).
The second day, I went river rafting on a 4+ graded river. The only disappointing thing about it was that the rating was for just one part of the river as the rest was relatively easier (3+ and less). I did drink quite a bit of water after our raft flipped coming off a few second too long eddy. Needless to say, I am alive but it was very cold & very intense experience getting back into the raft as we were in a 4 section (Highest rating is 5)
After the river, I met a bunch of the fellow rafters. THere was a huge contingent of Israeli travellers. From what I was told, many of them travel right after serving in the army. South America is a favorite as they can stretch their money out over long periods due to the favorable exchange rates. Some of these guys had been on the road for over a year and could not stop talking about Argentina. I think I added that to the list based on their level of excitement
The third day consisted mountain biking. Now besides the spin classes that I took to prepare physically for the Inca trail, I have not seen a bicycle in years. For $35 US, I had a private guide, lunch, bus ticket & amazing views. I also was paired up with another tourist who happened to be a capitan of a real ship. Needless to say, his stories were a lot more interesting than mine as he had been all over the world in his ship.
I did see some amazing sites though. The small farms in Peru are so colorful for one main reason: The farmers farm not for profit per se but for their personal existance. For example, they dont just farm one massive corn field. They plant corn, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. This made for a beautiful scenery as we would ride to tops of hills and look back. It was almost like being in a Van Gogh painting
I rode through two small towns and stopped off in small pubs to get a taste of the local flavor. We also stopped off at a salt mine
The best part of the experience were the smells. The small country roads were made of dirt and as you rode your bike, you would run across cows, donkeys, black pigs (never have seen them before), chickens and ducks. The mud houses along with those scents reminded me so much of my childhood in Urmia. I think my plan to go to Iran next year and bike through Urmia have been cemented as a result of this day.
I made it through the day with only a badly bruised left arm as I ate dirt on one of the steep hills
Well, here is the reason for the bike ride. I was trying to have some fun while preparing cardiovascularly for the grueling 4 day Inca trail to Machu Picchu. NOT A GOOD IDEA as my butt and legs were superbly sore the next morning.
We were picked up at 5:30 am for the 3 hour drive to KM 82 for the start of the trail.
The folks in my hiking crew consisted of 2 Canadian Mounties (Yes they wear those cool outfits), an Irish Doctor, two Physical Therapists (Scottish & Aussie), two funny German airline traffic controllers, a British mine engineer and a crew of 13 native porters & 2 guides.
We started day 1 with what they an easy 14 KM walk over the hills. We were immediately introduced to the dreaded steps. The INCA TRAIL was supposedly the trail of steps created by the Incas to supply their inner-mountain cities with commerce. The only thing is that we would not hit the actual original Inca trail till day 3. So, the day one version was more recently built & it was not built very well. The steps are way too high and you have to concentrate on each step you take. Keep in mind that this is required over the whole 45 KM so it can be quite hard on your neck as you are still carrying your pack full of clothes and things.
It rained throughout the whole 14 KM´s which made the day pretty cold.
By the time we made it to camp, I was pooped. We had a fantastic dinner and were in bed for the dreaded day two where we would cover over 25 KM´s while traversing two passes (Dead Womans Pass- 13,779 ft, 2nd pass- 11,700).
Here´s the thing about trekking that I learned very quickly. You really dont want too many down hills on a long trekk because you realize that you will have to re-climb that height all over again. This was so the story of day two. We would hit these switchback´s that would give you false hope. You would think you were almost at the top only to come around the corner and see a massive hill to come.
Here´s the other thing- once you pass 8,000 feet, the oxygen level is much lower as you traverse higher. So as we climbed to get to the Dead Womans Pass, it was getting exponentially more diffcult to breathe. Towards the end of the 13,700 foot level, I would take 5 steps & break for a 20 second breath break. This made the day more grueling because it was also very cold up there.
We all made it up to the first pass fine though & took some great pictures. Then the downhill portion killed me. You would think that would be easier but because this section of the trail was still not the original Inca, the people who put the steps in did a lowzy job so the steps are all over the place. Imagine walking on a river bed with jagged stones. Now imagine doing it while staring down at a major drop as you try to make it down this mountain. Not fun
My left quad was done by the time I made it to camp. During lunch, we were all so tired that we did not talk about what we were about to do. The next part of the day required a climb from 11,700 ft to 13,123 ft in a relatively short area which converts to a very steep climb up this massive mountain.
I have a fear of heights (Virtigo) that causes me to get dizzy as I walk along sharp cliff edges. Knowing that I was about to go up this mountain made me nervous to say the least. We started the climb to an Incan ruin which would serve as a break point half way up the mountain. There were some very small walking paths about two people wide but we all made it up fine
(I have some great video footage which I will put together with my pictures when I have time & post it on Youtube or you to see)
By the time we made it to the second pass, we were all dead and grumpy from the cold, altitude, and uncomfortable walking conditions.
Our camp at day two was beautiful though with a spectacular view of two 21,000 + snow covered mountains. I spent that whole night in my tent watching the stars as my quad was throbbing. I think I did not really fall asleep till 2 am which was not good as we had to be up at 6 to start hiking again.
Day three was filled with a lot of pain killers and anti-inflamitories but was probably my favorite personal hiking day. I put on my IPOD and just started to walk and really take in the beauty that surrounded me. I also shot some good video of the various plant life and such. There is this amazing eco system in Peru. They have cloud forrests. So as you climb up and down & traverse these different eco systems, you learn to recognize the different vegetation and truely take in the amazing oxygen being produced by them. By day three, we all felt better as our bodies had become relatively used to the higher altitudes by producing more red blood cells. What that means basically is that the hike becomes easier as your body adjusts.
We made camp by one but not before seeing this one ruin. This place was special as I had an opportunity to explore it alone. It was massive with terraces that stretched down the whole mountain. I dont think the pictures will do it justice but pray that they at least attempt to do so.
That night consisted of many celebratory beers and some pretty interesting poker.
The final morning, we woke up at 4 am so that we could be at the SUN GATE before sunrise.
This was a very exciting moment for me as I had visualized it in my head a thousand times while in spin class or other training regimines. The sun gate is where the mountain pass is just above Machu Picchu. If you are the at the right time, you can actually see the sun rays hit Machu Picchu bit by bit exposing its beauty one ray at a time.
We made it to Machu Picchu only to be swarmed by the 400 or so "train people". There is this unspoken thing between the train people & the trekers as the people who actually hike the 4 day trail feel they earned the right versus the train folks who took a two hour train there
either way, I thought it was funny
Machu Picchu itself is beyond words because of the enormity of the complex as well as its sorrounding peaks
The quality of the stonework and attention to detail was captivating but the lack of actual real facts about the purpose of the city was a bit boring.
if you left your guide & listened to another, you would hear a different story
After leaving Cuzco this morining (april 17th) , I am sitting at the Lima airport awaiting my flight to Iquitoz. I am actually glad I had a long lay-over as it has offerred me the time to see Lima. I have seen enough =)
The mosquitos have been attacking me already. Infact earlier, I heard two of them talking & one said to the other "The Rodney calf tastes quite good today".
I should be writing you all again next week so you can leave me a note here or email me at rodneylazar@sbcglobal.net
rod
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Nicolas
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Great anecdote. You truly inspired me to do explore other places....If i could only travel for a year in South America....ahhhhh! can't wait to see the pictures and the footage from your climb to Machi Pichu.