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Published: March 9th 2008
Well.....one of my most ¨must do¨ things has been done! Machu Picchu checked off!! It was an amazing experience!! It has been 5 days since I was there and I am still in awe. What a magical place!
The trek started out with us meeting our group for the trek at 8am last Saturday. There was myself, Martin (my irish buddy), and Nicole.....and then 7 Argentinians along with your Peruvian guide Marco. At first we were a bit worried about the language barrier with the Argentinians but we soon found out that a few spoke english quite well and wow...some fun times to come!!
The bus ride to our first stop, Abra Malaga, was about 3 hours long and consisted of a continuous ascent. Cusco is at an elevation of 3375m which is rather high as it is. I was feeling the effects of altitude sickness there quite a bit....VERY short of breath on leisure jaunts around the city...so I was a bit concerned about our ascent to this village.....4350m! As the bus continued up through the mtns my chest began to feel heavier and heavier and I began to feel even more short of breath. I tried to keep myself relaxed cuz I think that is key...panicking would most certainly be disastrous. By the time we arrived at Abra Malaga, I felt like I had an instant chest cold...what a weird feeling! The good news is that our first day consisted of mountain biking for 58km....for the most part all downhill. The other good news is that we actually made it to the drop off point!! The bus ride there was well......adventurous to say the least!! It gave me a good glimpse of what Bolivia will be like....narrow roads with massive drops on one side. We even encountered a rockslide that had blocked the road. The construction crew was already there clearing it so we didn´t have to sit there too long but when we did go....it was not fully cleared and was a bit unnerving. The bus driver (who was nuts by the way) yelled for everyone to close their windows on the right side of the bus cuz we were going and rocks were still falling and rocks were sticking out as high as the windows where we were going to attempt to squeeze through...without plunging over the edge on the left side. I wasn´t too concerned figuring he knew what he was doing but when I notcied Marco...our guide...who does this trek 3-4 times a month....gripping his seat white knuckled....I thought crap....this doesn´t look good. At one point the bus totally tipped as it went over some rocks and Marco jumped up and seriously thought we were plunging. Yikes! Luckily we didn´t....but it wasn´t a far cry from the true possibility of what could have happened as I noticed a cross and a broken up car frame at the base of the mtn. Yikes!! The rest of the bus ride was rather unnerving as well cuz frankly....that driver was going waaaay too fast for those switchback corners and tight road.....every corner the bus would shift so bad some ppl were falling out of their seats and you could hear the bikes on the roof being tossed around madly. Nuts!! Anyhow....we made it....and Marco said it was the scariest ride ever that he has had going up there out of ALL of his treks. Lucky us. 😉
The mountain biking took about 5 hours and was truly spectacular as far as the view and fun. Our end destination that day was Santa Maria which is at 1250m so quite a descent for sure! We stuck to the road for the entire biking which included about half of it being paved and the last half full of massive potholes, mud, etc. We also crossed over many waterfalls that spewed across the road leaving us quite drenched. I just thought it was too much fun to fly through the calf deep water so needless to say.....I was beyond soaked by the end. Most others slowed down to avoid getting sprayed too much......babies. haha The dumb thing I did though was wear my runners for the biking. Those that know me know that I virtually live in sandals....why on earth I did not wear sandals I will never know. My runners took 4 days to dry even though I did not wear them again after the biking. Sigh. Anyhow, back the biking....Martin and I are a bit of a kamikaze pair so we FLEW down a large part of that descent. I surprised we lived to tell the tale. haha We even stopped at a tiny village for a quick beer before hopping back on for the last third of the descent....biking under the influence....hmmm....perhaps not such a great idea. But hey, all turned out fine and it was quite the adventure!
Once we arrived in Santa Maria, I was quite relieved to be honest.....my butt hurt!!! We were set up in a hostel for the night which was quite cozy and full of birds. They had many pet budgies and a couple of pet parrots (one baby and one juvenile) that walked around. I am not much of a ¨pet¨ bird person but I will say....they will rather cute and definitely well cared for. I just about had a heart attack when the juvenile parrot made a leap up on to my arm and was fluttering madly about while he was slowly losing grip. I didn´t know if he was trying to kill me or what.....until Marco (our awesome guide) told me to catch the parrot cuz it couldn´t really fly and was sliding off. Unfortunatley....I was too late and it fell to the ground but by then I was crouched so it wasn´t a bad fall. I am glad Marco was there cuz I seriously was about to panic but he reassured me the bird was just trying to sit on my arm. Phew! Sorry Kristie....but your parrot has NOT helped my bird phobia!! haha Anyhoot...moving on...... That night we had a great dinner at a family restaurant that included the family bringing out a strange little pet animal. I have never seen one before....kind of reminded me of an anteater? It was pretty darn cute! After dinner, we had a few beer....and then hit the sack as everyone was quite exhausted. The sleep was a bit tainted by a MASSIVE bug....no idea what it was but it looked like an oversized fly. It fluttered around the light like a moth but had transparent wings. After wasting energy trying to ´guide´it out of the room....we gave up and hoped it would quiet down once the light went off. Lucky for me....it decided my corner of the room was a refuge...not sure if it was on or under my bed but definitely in my corner of the room....and it chirped sort of like a cricket every now and again. Ugh. Luckily I was so tired I was able to put it out of my thoughts and fall asleep....eventually.....
The next morning we were up at 5am for breakfast. I should mention....Santa Maria is a much different climate than where we started. It is more tropical jungle weather.....very wet and warm. Hence the oversized bug. lol Breakfast was great and we were off trekking by 6am. This day consisted of the hardest trekking out of the 2 days of walking. We only trekked about 23km but it felt longer since the majority was on an Inka Trail and was rather challenging at times. Nevermind the fact it rained virtually the entire time. Yeh for ponchos!! I decided that day that the Inkas must have been nuts to build rock steps on the sides of mountains....waaaay up there. Wow. Not to mention how good of shape they must have been in!! We had a 30 min break at a farm house along the way where they sold some goodies and such. There was also 2 young boys....about 7 yrs old.....that had traditional outfits on OVER their normal clothes (surely for the tourists sake) and had a baby pet each. OMG......soooo cute. One had a baby monkey that clung to his shoulder while gently playing with the boys face.....and the other had a rather peculiar animal. The same one we had seen the night before at dinner. I just spent a good 20mins trying to find it with Google and cannot find it for the life of me. When I figure out (aka remember) what that animal was I will be sure to add it. Or perhaps when I get some pics posted....one of you might know? All I remember is that its Scientific name consisted of the same word twice (same genus and species name). Any guesses? lol Anyhow....I got many pics of this cute critter....with it even sitting on my shoulder gently licking/chewing my neck.
After the break, we continued up the Inka Trail that again...proved to be rather challenging at times. The good news is that we were heading towards a hot spring tucked away in the middle of the jungle. Unfortunately, due to having one person in our group that was quite a bit slower than everyone else, it took us a bit longer to get there....but we made it! And wow, was it nice!! It was full of gringos that were trekking to Machu Picchu. We stayed there a good 3 hours or so....it was sooo relaxing and perfect after 2 days of trekking. We were all so sick of being wet and muddy from the rain so it was nice to be in nice warm water and get cleaned up. Everyone put on their ´cleaner´clothes afterwards cuz we all decided to catch a bus from there to the hostel rather than trek another hour. Unfortunately....the sun had dropped so it was dark....and we had no idea what we were in for to get to the bus. A MASSIVE mudslide had occurred just up the road from the hot spring so the buses could not get through....we had to get to the bus. No problem right? Well....the mudslide was pretty fresh and it had rained and rained therefore it was super difficult to climb over...in the dark nonetheless!! Luckily I had my headlamp...I was one of few....and got across fairly quickly. The mud was very soft and wet and full of boulders and so I sunk in a few places. It was sketchy at times but I made it through looking more ¨clean¨ than most. Many fell....many lost their shoes and some were not recovered.....many took a long time to come across, etc. So much for us being clean! Sigh. We finally all made it to the village of Santa Theresa via the bus....looking like we had trekked through the mud for the entire day....grr. Sort of a bitter ending to our nice hot springs. Ah well. One of the funniest things though was Juan...one of the Argentinians....he was wearing his flip flops (many were since their shoes were wet and they assumed the trekking was over once we departed the hot springs)....he lost his right flip flop in some deep mud in the dark. He was rather thrilled when he reached in and found it and then carried it through the mud to the bus so that he didn´t lose it again. When he went to put them on at the bus...he was in for a surprise!! He had plain black strapped flip flops. He was still carrying 2 plain black strapped flip flops. However....one glitch....they were BOTH for the left foot!! LMAO!! It was rather hilarious to think that someone else had lost their similar looking flip flop in the same spot and he pulled that one out instead of his own. What are the odds!!? hahaha Ah well...he got use to wearing two left sandals for the rest of the trip....I even have a picture of it. lol
That night we got cleaned up as best as possible, had a great dinner, had some beer at a local night club (picture a tiny village with a nightclub that is basically someone´s living room....with boys of about 12 yrs old dancing infront of mirrors like gangsta boys....too funny!!), and then settled in nicely into our cozy hostel beds...resting for another day of trekking.
The 3rd day....we were up at 5am for breakfast and started our trek at 7am. This trek was to be easier compared to the 2nd day but I gotta say....it was my least favorite by far. It was to be about the same as the previous day....approximately 23km....but with less uphill climbing. No problem right? The morning was us ascending up a road for 2-3 hrs....switchbacks. It was monotonous but not too bad. Some nice scenery and all was good. Had a great lunch at a hydro plant village and then trekked on. The not so fun part was the afternoon....walking for 3 hours along a rail road track. You would think it would be the easiest part since it was flat but wow....it was incredibly grueling. I think the worst part was that you had to walk on the planks of the railroad track or else on the loose rock which proved to be much more difficult. So there you walked....staring at your feet watching for EACH and EVERY step as you manoevered from one plank to the next to the next. It was mentally exhausting not to mention a bit challenging physically since they were all spaced unevenly. You weren´t really able to look up to check out the scenery unless you stopped and this left you quite dizzy so it was rarely done. Martin and I played ¨20 questions¨ over and over until our brains wouldn´t work anymore. I even encountered a long bridge that crossed over a large river....quite the drop below it. Without even thinking....Martine (the Argentinian Martin) and I started to cross the bridge stepping from plank to plank with HUGE gaps in between that we would have surely plunged through to our deaths if we even took one wrong step. We were about 1/4 the way across when we realized everyone else was walking on a flat platform on the ride side of the bridge. haha Good grief. We were soooo zoned into each step that we neglected to realize there was another way....a much safer way...to cross the bridge. At this point we decided to just continue on rather than retreat. Everyone thought we were crazy and many were snapping photos at our perhaps ¨last step¨. Funny to think about it now but maybe not so smart at the time. haha We did make it....we stepped on a few planks that wobbled and almost through us off balance but we managed to keep it together. We even started to get rather dizzy cuz of the flowing water under the bridge....in every gap as you stared at each plank. High five at the end and off we went as everyone looked at us in astonishment. Too funny. Mom...it is ok...I know you are not thrilled reading this....we made it and all is ok...I promise to not cross anymore railroad bridges on the track itself. Especially since I have no idea what we would have done had a train come. lol
After our grueling railroad track trek....we FINALLY made it to Aguas Calientes. This is the village that is at the base of Machu Picchu. Everyone goes there when heading to Machu Picchu. Most spend the night and then commence their ascent up Machu Picchu very early the next morning. We were sooo relieved to have finally made it....everyone looking rather worn out and dirty. We all had HOT showers which were sooooooooooo nice and got cleaned up as much as we could before heading out for some beers and then dinner. It was great to finally be at the base of Machu Picchu! We had a fantastic supper and then all of us stayed out late (except for Nicole and 3 of the Argentinian girls) drinking beers and playing drinking games until about midnight. We played ¨I have never.....¨ which for yáll that know this game....can be rather interesting and well...informative about your mates. haha I learned some things that night about these mates that I probably would rather not know....haha Fun times!! I also saw the coooooooolest but that night in the pub! It was HUUUGE. I would say a good 7 to 8 inches long and sort of reminded me of a praying mantis. It had that triangular head with eyes on the side. Huge pincher looking things coming off of the front with big mouth pinchers off its head. Its antennaes were just as wide as it was long. I asked the guy at the restaurant what it was cuz my guide Marco did not know (he is from the jungle and has never seen one before). The guy at the restaurant said it was a butterfly eater and that it has a ferocious bite to humans as well and can be quite dangerous. He went to pick it up by pinching its body just below its head and it violently threw its head back over and over trying to grab him his hand with those massive pinchers. It was creepy!!! He threw it out on the roof so that none of us were at threat. Ick. Creepy looking bug!! I saw one flying about later.....they are HUGE!! That same night I saw bats flying about a light too....catching insects...pretty neat! We staggered home around midnight...somewhat intoxicated......to get tucked into our beds for our early morning start up Machu Picchu....4am wake up call.....
The alarm went off at 4am and Martin, myself, and Nicole looked out the window.....pouring rain!! Grr. There are two ways to get up to Machu Picchu. You either walk up the stairs that take a good 1h 30mins of straight up stairs....or you can catch a bus for $6US. After looking out the window....the 3 of us said screw it....we are taking the bus and went back to bed for 1 hour. lol At 5am (first bus at 5:30am) we got up to find we were the ONLY ones out of the group to take a bus...everyone else was out trekking up the stairs already. Wow....they are nuts! Call me weak but I say....we are smarter. haha There we were on a nice warm dry cozy bus going up the switch back road to Machu Picchu...passing the stairs that guided our hardcore (and less smart 😉 ) Argentinian friends up the hill. We left after them and made it before them. They looked soooo beyond exhausted when they arrived....it just reassured me that I made the right decision. :P I also knew that I wanted to climb up Wayna Picchu once we arrived which was apparently another 1 hour steep ascent up stairs. So I was conserving my energy....teehee
The morning at Machu Picchu was a bit of a downer...the view was quite hidden behind massive clouds and it rained and rained and rained some more. Our guide (a Machu Picchu guide) assured us it would clear by the afternoon so all we could do was try to stay dry and hope he was right. The guided tour lasted about 2-3 hours around Machu Picchu and was super cool even though the weather wasn´t cooperating. At the end of it we jetted back to meet the others (they went with a spanish tour guide)...we had lunch and then set out to climb up Wayna Picchu hoping for a better view. This climb turned out to be not as difficult as we had originally thought....Martin and I sped up the mtn in about 25-30mins. Surely it would have taken us longer had we climbed up the stairs up Machu Picchu that morning....but hey....we were smarter. teehee The view up there was SPECTACULAR!!! We ended up staying up there for a good 3 hrs....just soaking it up....the surreal view infront of us was hard to take in at times. The clouds cleared and there we were....looking down at one of the 7 wonders of the world.....Machu Picchu!! The view was breathtaking.....I had the feeling of never wanting to leave....there we sat...Martin and I and a few of the Argentinians....on a huge rock to ourselves....soaking it in. The feeling of never wanting to leave eventually ceased as it clouded over and started to sprinkle and well...nature was calling....and there are NO bathrooms anywhere on Wayna Picchu and only at the entrance of Machu Picchu....a good hour away. Don´t shoot me but I gotta admit...there was no way I was going to last so I had to go amongst some ruins on Wayna Picchu. Surely I am going to hell.....
The small group of us trekked down....including ¨Lefty¨.....aka Juan with 2 left sandals....lol. Once we got back to Machu Picchu it was raining pretty hard but there were less clouds. So I did my best at covering my camera with plastic and getting the pictures of Machu Picchu I wasn´t able to get earlier as I slowly made my way back to the entrance. What a spectacular day it was. A dream come true. 😊
We all caught a bus back down to Aguas Calientes and hopped on our 6pm train to Ollantaytambo. There we caught a bus with our tour company and rode the last 2 hours back to Cusco....arriving at about 10pm Tuesday night. We all decided to clean up and meet back at the Plaza at 11:30pm for some grub and a night of celebrating!
That night, we had a super time at Mama Africa´s and then migrated over to Up Town around 3-4am which was even cooler. We partied hard there until well beyond the sun coming up.... We ended up staggering home at around 9:30am....Martin and I (and a cute Peruvian boy I met...a story for another time....teehee) while locals were either heading to work...or were already on their morning coffee break. Good gawd! We must have been a sad sight! I found it rather amusing....Martin was all parinoid about how ridiculous we looked. lol And surprise surprise....while walking to the hostel to go to bed....we ran into Nicole!! Too funny!! She was already out and about and getting errands done and we were JUST getting to bed. LMAO! It was a great night and one I won´t forget for a long time to come. Cusco definitely lives up to its nickname.....¨the city that never sleeps¨. lol
This leads to the time of us going to bed and I am going to end it here for now cuz well...I am starving and Martin just got up....breakfast time at 2:45pm in Copacabana, Bolivia. Wow....we are bad. I will try to fill in the 5 day gap to that late night/morning in Cusco to now in Bolivia later on today...or in the next few days......
Ciao Amigos!!
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Dan
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Love your blog
Your blog is one of the best written that I have read! Thanks for making us feel like we were there:) And your pics are top notch too!