In the Land of the Inca

South America
September 23rd 2010

Published: October 4th 2010

Buenos Dias,

So after our arduous bus journey and the debacle with the protestors, we made it to Cusco. The city is located at 3300 metres above see level, but Valerie and Peter are both becoming increasingly used to the high altitude now so it's not really affecting them.

Cusco used to be the capital of the Inca Empire. The surviving stone work, that the conquistadors did not steal in order to build their houses and churces, is incredible. There are large stone blocks everywhere, fitted together perfectly without the use of any mortar what so ever. A lot of the buildings consist of these blocks for their lower walls and it is amazing to see how structurally intact they are, especially with Cusco's history of earthquakes.

We were exhausted after our bus ride so we didn't do much for our first day in Cuso but we did eat. Soemtimes it seems like we are eating our way through Peru. We went to a place called Two Nations for dinner, which is an Australian/Peruvian fusion place. It was amazing!!! We split some nachos, where the chips were light and bubbled, unlike chips back in Canada, and we actually ran out of chips before we ran out of the amazing salsa and guacamole. For dinner, we each had different alpaca sandwiches which were fantastic, as well as the largest pisco sours we had seen in Peru yet! The fusion restaurants in peru really know how to make excellent food. After dinner, we went out for a drink with Martin, Jeanne, Danny and Mikey, who we met on our bus ride/protester march the night before.

The next morning, Danny, Mikey, and us went up to Sacsaywaman. It is a large Inca fortress that overlooks Cusco. It has massive stone fortifications that are all cut together to fit perfectly. Some of the stones were huge. One of them was about three times taller than Val! There were also commanding views of Cusco from the summit. Afterwards, Val and Peter continued into the Sacred Valley for a bit and went to Q'enco. Q'enco is a ruined ceremonial structure where there were sacrifices and rituals were believed to have been performed. During the evening, we attended the quiz night at the bar in the hostel. We were a team of two, going up against 5 other teams consisting of at least 5 people on each team. We came a respectable thrid, only a couple points adrift of the leaders.

We woke up early one morning because we had joined a tour that was going further into the Sacred Valley. It was just easier to a tour because of the distances and public transportation is woefully inadequate and unpredictable in parts. Our first stop was Pisac, which was an Inca community located high up on a hill top with commanding views of the Sacred Valley. It had many terraces on the flanking hills and had three seperate communities depending on what ones social class was. We then went to Urubamba for lunch, but both Val and Peter were feeling sick so their lunch consisted of Chips Ahoy and Sprite. A great lunch in our opinion. We headed to Ollantaytambo next. Both of us reay enjoyed the Inca site. It was the site of one of the few battles where the Inca actually defeated the Spanish. It consists of terraces and steps leading up a hillside and culminating in the Temple of the Sun at the top. There is a mountain across the valley and an area that looks like a face. From this "face", the sun reflects on to the Temple of the Sun at the equinox, so many think that the site could have been some sort of calendar as as well. There are commanding views of the rest of the Sacred Valley and to top it all off, the complex was built in the shape of a llama. As we exited the complex, we came across the Temple of the Water which Val was very interested in. It had channels and spouts with water flowing through them and was very interestig to see. We also came across a coffee plac that was called Inca Bucks ha ha ha. On the way back to Cusco, we stopped at Chinchero which has historically been one of the main weaving centres in the Inca culture. We got to watch a demonstration of how many of the dyes are made using natural ingredients and then we watched some weaving. The colours were beautiful and the patterns very intricate. There was also a church in the city, not surprisingly, where almost everything possible pertaining to religion was crammed inside. There was a very beautiful painted ceiling and beams, but apart from that it was a little over the top. Think "Baroque" but more liberal use of paint and stone.

Our next day in Cusco was our last before we were to start the Inca Trail so we took it fairly easy in order to prepare a little for the four day trek that we were about to undertake.

Inca Trail

Day 1: We were picked up at the hostel at the crack of dawn and driven to Ollantaytambo where we had breakfast and met our guide David, and the rest of our trekking group including Åse, Belinda, Lauren, Catherine, Christian, Tammy, Peter (an other one), Tom, Cat, Andrew, Rebecca, Jackie, Miguel and Olivia. We got a good group of people and we really bonded with our group as the trek continued. We were collectively known as the Super Dooper Llama Troopers as we hiked the trail! We bussed to KM 82, crossed the suspension bridge and then we were officially at the start of the Inca Trail that would culminate in arriving at Machu Picchu four days later. Shortly after arriving at the first restpoint, Catherine and Christian had to turn back as they were both having trouble with the altitude. The rest of us continued on to lunch where we had a feast consisting of salad, chicken, trout, vegetables and tea. It was amazing what the chef could do with a propane stove and a tent! We continued on to the campsite (Val and Peter were first into camp) where we would spend our first night. Apart from being hustled by some local kids at soccer (it's hard to play a game at 3000m), the nights was good. We were able to get spectacular views of glaciers and snow-covered mountains and we had some more amazing food for dinner (this was a welcome relief and a trend that would continue).

Day 2: We were awoken at 530am by the chesky's (the porters who carry all of the tents and gear with the exception of our sleeping bags, matresses and personal affects that we carried in our backpacks. Val and Peter were each carrying at least 12kg on their back during the trek!) This day would prove to be the hardest of the trek. Val and Peter led the group, as usual, us the grueling mountain to the summit of Dead Woman's Pass which, at 4215 metres, would be the highest point that we would reach on the trek. After enjoying the view for a bit, we descended 800 stairs to our next campsite at 3600m where we recouped from the epic climb of earlier that day. The rest was much needed but, once again, Peter and Val were first into camp, this time by about 20 minutes. We tried to go to bed early to catch up on some rest after such a steep and difficult hike, but the campsite wasn't particulalry level and the sleeping bags were the mummy style ones so neither of our intrepid travelers slept well. A brief word on facilties now. There are bathrooms at many of the rest breaks and all of the campsites along the Inca Trail. While the Inca Trail, the food, the terrain, the views, the ruins and the people are great, the bathrooms are not. Normally, we would have something witty to say but Lonely Planet says it best in regards to the bathrooms along the Trail. "They are a mix between Europe Music Festival porto-potty Day 2 and Bangkok Nightclub bathroom at 5am". Enough said.

Day 3: Another early wake up call and another steep morning hike. We walked past our first major Inca ruin, a fort and rest house and continued up to the second highest pass of the Inca Trailt at 3800 metres. We continued along a stretch that our guide liked to call "Inca Flat", which meant continuous up and down and an unforgiving rate. We got to the lunch point first again, where we actually beat two other trekking groups who had left before us by over an hour. After lunch, we had to descend 3000 steps, a section that the guide affectionately referred to as the "Gringo Killers". He had affectionate names for everything! It turned out that it wasn't as bad as he made it out to be and Peter and Val wound their way down through the beginnings of the jungle and made it into the third campsite over an hour ahead of the rest of our group. By this time, we were getting familiar with members of our groups as we were passing them with such frequency. It's not that our trekking group was out of shape, because they weren't, but we were apparently more used to hiking. I guess the Grouse grind and the Chief will do that for you. At Camp 3, we relaxed for a while. There were hot showers and a bar available to us so we relaxed for a little bit, but not too much as the final push to Machu Picchu would be the next day. Some other trekking groups decided to play drinking games despite the fact that they had to be up early for Machu Picchu the next day. Needless to say, we did not end up seeing them at Machu Picchu. That night, our chef Cristobal served us cake that he had made without the use of an oven (he used a pan and it took him two hours to make) that was incredibly moist and delicious! It was the best cake that Val and Peter had eaten for ages.

Day 4: The wake up call was at 320am this time. #*~€*$%&*!!!!! We had our last breakfast, said goodbye to the chesky's and went to the hut where we would have to wait to hike the final section of the Inca Trail. It opened up at 530am, and the race was on but there was one group in front of us so we would see if it would be possible to make it to Machu Picchu before them. The gates opened and the race was on. It turned out it wasn't much of a race. Peter, Val and Åse (who we gave the status of "Honourary Candian" to for her strong effort) sliced their way through the group from GAP Adventures with Peter arriving at the Sun Gate 15 steps behind a guide from another group, beating a Calgary Flames fan in the process!. Unfortunatly, there was heavy cloud and new view of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate so we continued on the path and into the city, becoming the first hikers along the Inca Trail to arrive. It was spectaular. The city was shrouded in cloud and mist as we arrived but it began to lift once we were there and eventually, Machu Picchu unveiled itself in all of its glory. It lives up to the hype!!! The first glimpses of the terraces, houses, temples, mountainous setting, and precipitous valleys were stunning. Superlatives really cannot do it justice. We were able to take some magnificent photos of the city before we were given a two hour tour of the place, followed by approximately 3 hours of time to wander. We saw the intricate stoe work of the houses and terraces. The large-scale irrigation systems, the healing stone, the temples and the postcard views from the Watchman's hut. The whole area was amazing and it was well-worth the exhausting but exhilerating four day trek. After spending 6 hours at the site, we descened to the tourist town of Aguas Calientes where we waited for seven hours before we could take the train back to Ollataytambo where we would meet a bus that would take us back to Cusco. We arrived in Cusco around 11pm, covered in bug bites from a whole host of nasty little creatures, pushing our day to 21 hours and we checked back into Pariwana hostel where we could finally sleep on a level bed!!!

We both whole-heartedly recommend the Inca Trail to everyone. It is challenging, but the path that winds its way through jungle valleys, along steep ravines, skirting precipitous cliff faces and over mountainous passes is an incredible experience and well-worth undertaking.

Back in Cusco, all of the hills seemed a little steeper! We took the next couple of days fairly easy, visiting the cathedral where we got to see a painting of the last supper where, instead of eating lamb, the disciples ate chinchilla. We also caught up with people from the Inca Trail. They were very cool people and both Val and Peter are hopeful that we will see them again.

Well, we did see them again. We went to Mama Africa's, a club in Cusco, to meet Belinda, Lauren, Åse and their friend Danika. Unfortunatly, Peruvian law states that they can´t serve alcohol two days before their elections or one day after and since the elections are on October 3rd, we were unable to partake in any adult beverages. Once again, these Peruvian elections were throwing a wrench into our plans. That being said, our hostel was not abiding by the "no serving alcohol" rule so we were able to celebrate a little back at our hostel. We also learned that alcohol is a lot more potent at 3300 metres!

On our last day in Cusco, we checked out of the hostel, backed up some photos and then went back to Jack's for lunch. Once again, the food was amazing. We were able to watch our first soccer game in english this trip, Man U vs. Sudnerland, at an Irish bar before we got together with people from the tour to have dinner at Two Nations. It was a night of great food, great people and great memories. We wrote our group name "Super Duper Llama Troopers" on the wall and the signed our names under it so everyone would know that we were the first group into Machu Picchu on September 30th, 2010. It was great to get together with everyone one last time as they were such a good group of people. As we were getting ready to leave, Nelly Furtado's "All Good Things Come to an End" came on. It was a fitting song to end our time together. Hopefully, we can see them again in the future. We then bid farewell to everyone with the exception of Belinda, who was heading in the same direction as we were, and then boarded the night bus to Puno.

Bye for now,

Peter and Valerie

Things we learned in Cusco:
-Peruvian children have bucked the trend. They are not cute. Instead, they are loud, whiny and obnoxious.
-Inca Kola is an intriguing drink. Those Inca were smart!
-Peter has only purchased one book so far in 34 days.
-Lada's are making a comeback in Peru.

In the Land of the Inca

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