Sunday 11th December – The Cuzco Parade
Today I had one
mission – to pull myself out of the downtrodden mood I was in. This happened thanks to Cuzco, but initially
by the girl-half of the over amorous couple from last night. I woke at 10 a.m., sat up in my bed and
looked across the room to see the girl waking at exactly the same time with the
boy-half missing from her bed. She
looked at the empty space in the bed, glanced around the room with a perplexed
look on her face and realised very quickly it actually
wasn’t her bed. After a few curses she
sheepishly jumped from the bed and quickly made her way out with a chirpy
‘Adios’ Where the boy-half was is a
mystery – mostly for her I would imagine.
My stomach feeling
slightly better and crying out for food, I had breakfast, Something I would regret not too long
after. I then made my way out to explore
Cuzco. I’m not sure what the occasion
was, or if it is a weekly event, but there were parades all over the city. The perfect tonic for my present condition. Every square had various troupes of
indigenous people marching and playing music, wearing their traditional outfits
and singing. Cuzco itself is a beautiful
city with lots of plazas and old colonial buildings, surrounded by undulating
mountains. It is very touristy being the
gateway to Machu Picchu and as a result expensive compared to the rest of
Peru, but definitely a place I’ll enjoy staying in for a few days.
Exploring finished,
I headed back to the hostel, attempted some tomato soup and spend the evening
chatting to Will and Sophie and getting tips for the next leg of my journey
once I leave Cuzco.
Then the day
finished on a definite high when I found out Elisha would be arriving in Cuzco
tomorrow.
Monday 12th December – Bad Dancing
Things are on the up
and I’m feeling much better, but not going to risk booking my trek to Machu
Picchu just yet. Another day to recover
is needed. While I was hanging around in
the hostel bar I could hear music coming from the street. After going to the balcony to check out what
was happening a small parade started to round the corner and come down the
street. It was so beautiful. The music was traditional and indescribable
but captivating. Being on a first floor
balcony I had the perfect view as it passed underneath. As they marched along the girls would twirl
around, their golden flowing dresses spinning with them. I was so annoyed with myself for not having
my camera to hand to record it. The
Cuzco parades seem to be an everyday event and Cuzco seems to be a place where you
should never be beyond of reaching distance of your camera.
Then it was time to
go meet Elisha. Fantastic to see her
again. We sat in the hostel along with a
couple of her dormers, Herlan and Gerry, before heading to Los Perros for a bite
to eat, an Australian owned café/bar. I
got the biggest burger I have ever seen.
Normally things like this don’t cause me any trouble, it’s devoured with
ease. Not this. I struggled but there was no way it was going
to beat me. If ever in Cuzco, checking
these out is a must. After this we
headed in the direction of what the locals call Gringo Alley and stumbled in a
place with a live band playing their local traditional music. Not exactly my type of music, but it was a
lot of fun and before long we were all up dancing, me attempting and failing to
copy what the locals do. Once the band
finished it was time for the disco – and a weird disco it was. In some way geared for the gringos in the
crowd we were treated to Come On Eileen and other similar tracks, before
heading into the dangerous territory of the chart music – Mark Anthony, Black
Eyed Peas and countless other woeful bands I’m glad I do not know the name
of. The night ended by handing the dance
floor over the locals again. South
Americans can dance. We only think we
can.
Tuesday 13th December – The Drug Lords
Feeling like I’m
pretty much back to normal today I finally booked by trek to Machu
Picchu. I’m not doing the official Inca
Trail. That needs to be booked months in
advance and costs twice the price, so I have booked myself on the Salkantay
Trek which leaves at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning.
It’s going to be great to get back out into the wilderness again and
climb a few mountains for the next five days.
After getting
everything sorted I went to meet Elisha and Herlan for lunch at Jack’s
Café. Once done I headed back to the
hostel and things started to go downhill again.
I spent the afternoon talking to Leanne, and Irish girl in my dorm who
has what we decided is a phantom pain in her foot meaning she cannot do her
trail to Machu Picchu which she wasn’t 100% sure she wanted to do. Having told her about my recent ills she
informed me she had just completed her pharmacy degree and very kindly went
with me to the chemist to get the right drugs to sort out my stomach. This was much needed as things really started
to get worse than ever. I even tried to
cancel my trek but it was too late, I had to go or I’d lose the money.
After calling over
to Elisha’s hostel and meeting Brian who arrived in Cuzco today with his mates
Avi and Sean, I went back to prepare for my trek and met Leanne’s mates, Sinead
and Catharine, also recently graduated pharmacist. All three were fantastic and offered me
whatever medicines I needed to go on my trek – I think half their suitcases
were filled with various drugs! They gave me a single use antibiotic that they
assured me it would leave me feeling perfect tomorrow. I hope it does, because as things stand, it’s
going to be an interesting trek of constantly having to know where the nearest
toilet is – and that may turn out to be the nearest bush. Fingers crossed this pill works.
Wednesday 14th December – Salkantay Trek – Day 1
I’m not sure what
was in that magic little pill that the girls gave me last night, but it
worked. I got up at 4.a.m this morning
to get ready for my 4.30 a.m. pick up to go on the Salkantay Trek and I felt
back to normal. Seems like I’m going to
be fitting fit to enjoy the trek properly.
At 5 a.m. the guide
for the trek finally arrived. That’s
half an hour more I could have been in bed.
But at least he arrived. Last
night a person from the tour company came round and gave me a briefing on the
trek. He said the guide would collect me
and walk me to the main plaza to meet the rest of my tour group and from there
board a bus to get to the start of the trek.
On leaving the hostel, the guide directed me to a taxi. I questioned this but he said we were going
to meet the rest of the group. Obviously
a change of plan. I’m being very
generous when I saw taxi, as I’m sure this conjures up images of a car. This is a car, but only in the loosest sense
of the word. It’s about the size of a
Matchbox car and I’m sure every single component dreams of being in a scrapyard
rather than suffer the indignity of making this contraption move. We take off and start driving through cobbled
back streets at a speed which I am sure is more than enough to make the whole
thing disintegrate at any moment. But we
eventually reached our destination.
After getting out of the taxi the guide directed me to the bus. We were nowhere near the plaza I was told
about last night. I stepped into the
packed bus and the first thing I noticed was the lack of gringos. It’s full of locals. Several thoughts went through my head such
as, ‘Do locals do this trek? Is that woman
in her sixties, of rather large build and wearing traditional indigenous
clothes, really ready to tackle a five day trek?’. I was seriously confused. Could this really be my tour group? Having no other opinion I sat in the seat
behind the driver and attempted to covertly check out the other members of my
alleged group. We eventually started to
make our way out of Cuzco and I decided it was time to catch up on some
sleep. But as I was about to drift off I
was brought back to life by the crying of a baby from the back of the bus. Right, that’s it, this is not my tour
group. Where are they? Where am I going? Again having no other option I stick with my
guide’s instructions. After a some time
people begin to get off the bus at various stops until eventually the only people
left are me, my guide and what appears to be a rather large bag of bread rolls. On reaching the end of the line in a small
town, I was told, ‘Ok, we are here’.
Exactly where ‘here’ was is anyone’s guess, so I got out looking around
for any sign of a tour group. No
joy. At this stage I was expecting the
guide to point at the mountain in the background and say ‘Go, just walk in that
direction for five days. You can’t miss
it. Big old city on top of a
mountain. Oh, and don’t forget your
bread rolls’. Until a wave of relief
went over me as another bus pulled up and out popped 12 gringos all ready for
their trek.
After a quick
breakfast (in a café that didn’t seem to possess any items listed on their
menu), brief introductions and handing our backpacks over for the donkeys to carry,
we were given a briefing of the trek for the day. Ready to go, we all set off at 9 a.m. We started out from Mollepata at an altitude
of 2900m and gradually made out way to Sayllapata where we stopped for lunch
beside a field of aggressively fighting cows.
The trek was through amazing landscapes of towering mountains with large
waterfalls cascading down their sides.
After lunch it was not long before we came across some of the waterfalls
blocking our progress along the route.
It was the rainy season so it was only to be expected that parts of the
roads would be flooded. But by finding a
few large rocks, we all pitched in and made stepping stones to get us on our
way. At 5 p.m. we arrived at our camp
for the night in Soraypampa at a lofty height of 3900m. This is the highest altitude I would try to
sleep at. It was freezing, with the
night time temperature expected to drop to -5oC. The campsite location was beautiful with
mountains all around. As night fell
after dinner and with no light pollution for miles around, the sky was crystal
clear with amazing views of the stars and The Milky Way. Exhausted and with an early wakeup call we
all crashed at 9 p.m.
Thursday 15th December – Salkantay Trek – Day 2
Up at 5 a.m.,
breakfast and off on the next and hardest leg of our trek at 6 a.m. With the Salkantay mountain towering over us
at a height of 6264m, we began our ascent to the highest point on the whole of
trek, 4650m. As we got higher, the
weather worsened. The rain and the wind
battered against us, and eventually we are getting covered in snow. But none of that mattered to me. Just one look around at where we were was
enough to make the elements being thrown as us enjoyable. It’s all part of the adventure. It’s was not long before we were approaching
the high point with a path that contains lots of switchbacks.
Sometimes we do
things that surprise ourselves and that happened to me as we approached the
top. Two of the group were ahead, but
soon I caught up with them, standing still and not sure what to do. I asked, ‘What’s up?’. They said, ‘There’s a bull! What do we do?’. A few weeks back I would have probably been
back in Cuzco within three seconds of hearing the word bull, but not now. I simply replied, ‘Ah, just walk passed it,
it’s fine’. Unsure of my advice, they
asked, ‘Can you go first?’. Unfazed by
it all, I marched forward and navigated my way around the bull. I even said ‘Hello’ and gave it a jolly wave
(better safe than sorry - when their day comes they might remember I was
friendly to one of their kind).
Shortly after we
reached the summit. It was tough going
at the altitude with shortness of breath, snow pelting down and the wind
blowing. Once we had stopped for a few
group photos to celebrate our achievement, myself and Mark (from Germany)
decided to take the easiest method down the other side – running and boulder
hopping. I love doing that. A lot of fun and you let gravity do most of
the work. Except gravity overdid it a
bit and decided to break the strap on my bag.
Not very convenient while on a trek in the mountains for five days.
All drenched, we
reached our lunch stop at Huayracpampa and ate in the smallest possible room
that could hold 13 people. After lunch
the rest of our trek was all downhill and as we descended the weather got
better and better. We reached our next
campsite, Chaullay, at 2900m. The first
activity was a game of football. I
lasted playing outfield for 10 minutes before taking over as goalie. But even that was exhausting. The locals were running around as if we were
at sea level. I just quit and went to
lie down. At which point a pig ram-raided
the campsite, headed straight for someone’s rucksack and it wasn’t long before it
was running off with someone’s lunch bag.
After dinner and admiring another crystal clear sky and fire flies
lighting up the mountain side, it was bed by 9 p.m.
Friday 16th December – Salkantay Trek – Day 3
Up at 6 a.m. my
first mission was to have a shower after not getting one yesterday. There were two facts I knew before taking
this shower: that it is cold, and that it is in the same small brick building
as a hole-in-the ground squat toilet.
They were separated by about one metre. It was the first time I have ever had a
shower and came out feeling dirtier than when I went in.
Our trek today
started through the fringes of a rainforest which we reached by crossing a
bridge which if a troll lives under should be wearing protective head gear as
it’s sure to collapse sometime in the near future. We all made it across in one piece. As we waked through the rainforest the guides
pointed out the different flora and fauna, included a small tarantula. Then we came across an obstacle. Not a flooded road, but a landslide. The road was no longer there. The guides headed across first as we all then
had to make our way across some very loose rocks. Our in my case run. It’s just much easier that way. If the rocks fall below your feet, you’ll
already be long gone. The guide didn’t
appreciate this tactic at all! After a
few hours the path lead us out of the rainforest at which point I was surprised
and slightly pleased to see a bus waiting for us. This took us to our lunch stop (the toilets there
were shear luxury, by which I mean they actually had a flush toilet), and then
onwards to our camp for the night, just outside a little town called Santa
Teresa.
We then all headed
for a much needed dip in the local baths.
Paradise in the middle of the mountains.
Three heated pools nestled in a valley with mountains all around. At one end they had created showers by funneling
water from a waterfall. This water was
freezing so after a few minutes of suffering under it, the baths felt even more
therapeutic when plunged into.
Later in the evening
we all sat around a camp fire with a few drinks, music, some very unusual disco
lights and telling riddles late into the night with Trina and Mark.
Saturday 17th December – Salkantay Trek – Day 4
Happy Birthday Mark
and Tom!!
Last night we were offered
two choices for the first part of today: get up at 6 a.m. and walk to
Hidroelectrica or get up at 8 a.m. and get the bus. Knowing I was going to be up later than I had
been over for the past few nights I chose to get the bus. Once we started the bus journey I realised this was a big mistake. The road
was along a mountain route with shear drops to the side. At the bottom of these shear drops was a
raging torrent which would have swept everything away (in 1988 it actually
swept a whole town away). These roads
are something I have grown used to during my travels. The issue here was the driver. Instead of concentrating on the road he was
more interested in having a conversation with the passengers in the front sitting
beside him. At one point I was freaking
out when I was sure one wheel actually teetered on the edge of the cliff before
righting itself. I wasn’t the only one
who thought this. The driver was
completely unfazed. I wished I had
walked.
Eventually we made
it to Hidroelectrica – a massive manmade hole in the side of a cliff with water
flowing out. This is used to generate
electricity for the local towns. It’s a
strange and impressive sight. We then
made our way to the railway tracks at which point it was time to walk to Aguas
Calientes, our stop for the night. After
getting through security we approached the train tracks. The first sign I noticed was a very clear one
indicating that you should not walk along the train tracks. Safety warnings and precautions ignored, we
started our walk along the tracks. I
couldn’t help but sing, ‘Lollipop Lollipop, oh Lolli-Lolli-Lolli Lollipop. POP!
Ba dum dum dum’.
After about 2 hours
and dodging a few trains which we were assured would not be there, we reached
Aguas Calientes. After checking into the
hostel the first thing I did was have a warm shower. It’s amazing how good that feels after days
without one. Aguas Calientes itself is
nothing more than a tourist town. Every
establishment is either a gift shop, a hostel/hotel or a bar/café.
While wandering
around the town I bumped into Brian, Avi and Sean. They had been to Machu Picchu today and said
it was amazing. Tomorrow we make our way
up there and finally reach what we have been trekking to for four days. I can’t wait.
Sunday 18th December – Salkantay Trek – Day 5 – Machu Picchu
I woke up this
morning laughing after remembering an incident that happened in the middle of
the night. Myself and Mark were sharing
a twin room (the owner almost gave us a matrimonial room but we quickly put him
straight). I woke in the middle of the
night having no clue where I was but quickly got my bearings. But not less than 30 seconds later Mark woke
up and shouted, ‘Hey you, you, can you speak English man? Where are we?’ while groping the walls. He thought he was in a cave. This startled me as I forgot there was
someone else in the room. I let him know
where he was and that he wasn’t in the cave that he thought he was. To which he replied, ‘Yeah, I know, I know
where we are’. I laughed myself back to
sleep.
Aguas Calientes is a
strange place at 4 a.m. Apart from the
official Inca Trail, all the tours start their final trek from the town and
make their way to Machu Picchu. As I
walked out of our hostel it was still dark.
From all the buildings trekkers were appearing, bleary eyed, with
torches in hand and preparing for the final ascent. We made our way out of town and after
crossing a bridge reached the beginning of the steps leading to the entrance of
Machu Picchu. I’m not sure how many steps
there were, but I’d guess over 1000. It
was a tough and sweltering climb and after 45 minutes we finally reached our
goal, Machu Picchu. It was now 5.30
a.m. and we had a half hour wait for the entrance to open.
Now with our guide
having joined us the gates opened at 6 a.m. (she got a bus up - only yesterday
did we find out that she had been doing the whole trek with a broken toe!).
Being one of the first in we had the best possible view of the ancient city –
with no tourists. The sight was impressive. A lost city in the middle of the
mountains. The first questions that come
to mind are, ‘How did they do it? How
did they build it?’ It looked
spectacular. Very difficult to explain. Our guide gave us a tour for the first hour,
explaining all the different parts of the city and how the Incas lived –
explaining their customs, hierarchy and how it was built. During the guided tour we nearly lost one of
our group. As the guide explained about
how they found mummies near the area of the Sun Temple, I heard a yelp from
behind me. Turning around I saw Lorraine
disappearing down a hole, but thankfully stopped as Mark grabbed her arm. She would have been joining those mummies if
she feel through the hole, it wasn’t a small drop.
Once the tour was over
we were left to wander the city by ourselves.
This was exhausting. There were so
many steps due to it being built in the mountains, and at 2400m, the altitude
didn’t help. There are two mountains
overlooking the Machu Picchu site, Machupicchu and Huaynapicchu. To get a view of the whole city, and see the
condor shape it is supposed to be built to, we climbed Huaynapicchu. A 45 minutes trek up yet more steps. Unfortunately when we got to the top the
cloud had closed in and view was obscured.
And yes, I mean cloud. One cloud
was perfectly placed to block the view.
But a little patience helped and eventually it cleared a bit and we were
able to see the whole city. The trek
back down again was perilous. Steps that
were too thin to put a foot on. Going
down backwards was the only way before rejoining the path we took up.
Once we were back in
the city, we almost immediately made our way to the Sun Gate. I had been told this had an even better view
of the whole city. It was another 45 minute
trek but I knew even before I reached it that I would see nothing. There were too many clouds. After waiting around for 30 minutes (and
wondering why someone would feel it necessary to play music out loud on their
phone, ruining the whole atmosphere for everyone else) it was time to head back
again. Thankfully about five minutes
after starting to walk down the path, the clouds parted and view was
perfect. Worth the trek.
Exhausted and barely
able to stand up I headed back to Aguas Calientes at 2 p.m.. The trek back down again was almost as tough
as up. I forgot how many steps we had to
tackle. When back in Aguas Calientes we loaded up on much needed (but vile
tasting) pizza and while wandering around later bumped into Will and Sophie and
my three Irish pharmacist saviours (this
place is a Mecca for travellers) before we all caught the train and bus back to
Cuzco.
Shattered after a fantastic five days and
reinvigorated for my travels, I crashed for a desperately needed long sleep in
Pariwana hostel with plans to meet up with a few people from the trek for
dinner tomorrow night.
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