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We've recently returned from a much needed vacation to some of Peru's most marvelous destinations. With friends Cathy Porter (Boulder) and Michael Christophersen (Seattle), we explored narrow colonial streets, people-watched in the open city plazas, probed Inca ruins, and marveled at the grandeur of the Sacred Valley. Oh yea, we also dropped a pretty piece of change (collectively) in the art and antique shops. Each of our homes now hosts a mini museum of Andean treasures.
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| The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa | |
We began Oct. 19th in Arequipa (7670 ft), a beautiful city in southern Peru. Arequipa is near the bases of two volcanoes; El Misti (19,200 ft) and Chanchani (20,050 ft). A little farther north is the volcano, Ampato (20,750 ft). For those of you who are National Geographic fans, Ampato is the mountain on which the Ice Maiden (Juanita) mummy was found.
In Arequipa I attended and presented a paper at the Latin American Conference on Ecology. This occupied three days, during which Cathy headed off to the Colca Canyon (arguably the world's deepest canyon) and Nan and Liam took morning walks and enjoyed the green gardens of our hotel (La Casa de mi Abuela).
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| One of the many pleasant views at the Santa Catalina Monastery | |
Michael arrived in time for only one full day of Arequipa. On that day I played hooky from the conference and we spent the day visiting city sites. We visited the Santa Catalina Monastery and the Juanita Museum. The monastery was amazingly beautiful and peaceful. The Juanita exhibit was super interesting and whet our appetites for the Inca ruins we would soon visit.
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| Liam and Mom emerging from one of the chambers of the monastery. | |
We flew to Cusco on the morning of the 24th. After checking into a simple hostal, we set out on a tour of the city's main attractions and nearby ruins. These included the cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, the Temple of the Sun, the ruins at Sacsayhuaman, and a few smaller ruins. At Sacsayhuaman we got our first real taste of the amazing stonework of the Incas. We also stood in a circular structure that strangely altered our voices and was said to be an "energy center."
That first night in Cusco was tough. Our hostal proved to be below even our modest standards. The bed was brutally uncomfortable and the bathrooms constipated us. We would only spend one night there.
The following day (the 25th) we set off in the morning to tour the Sacred Valley. From Cusco to the valley we crossed over a roughly 14,000 ft pass and descended into the fertile valley and the town of Pisac. At Pisac we visited the market and each bought our quota. Michael and I bought felt hats (Indiana Jones style) to protect our heads from the strengthening sun.
After a nice, but pricey, lunch in Urubamba, we made our way to Ollantaytambo. In this small Inca town we visited a large ruin built to appear like a llama from the heavens (from which the gods looked down approvingly). After combing the ruins and listening to our guide's garbled English version of the site's significance, we checked into our hostal on the backs of the Urubamba river. In contrast to the day before, this hostal was beautiful and comfortable. Reluctant to leave this setting, Nan and Cathy passed the afternoon there with Liam while Michael and I set out again to explore a different set of ruins.
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| One of the "warehouses" above Ollantaytambo. | |
We hiked above the town and explored a set of ruins which purportedly served as an Inca warehouse for storing grains harvested from the valley bottom. Like most Inca sites, these ruins took on a larger form when viewed from above. In the manner that they blended into the landscape, they appeared as a man hauling a load of grain on his back. We had the ruins completely to ourselves and spent about an hour and a half moving between all the structures.
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| Looking down on Ollantaytambo from the crown of the man. | |
That night in Ollantaytambo we went to have dinner at the place recommended by the hostal clerk. When we arrived, however, it was closed. As we stood in the narrow street (too narrow for even one car), the window above the restaurant opened and a friendly man told us he would be down to open the restaurant for us. He did and we enjoyed big plates of pasta cooked to order. When we left, I forgot my jacket on the back of my chair. Later, before we even noticed it missing, the restaurant owner delivered it to our hostal (a good 15 minute walk away). Although I did not get a good chance to say so, I was very appreciative of his kindness. That night we all slept well, despite the snake in Michael and Cathy's room!
We caught the train early the next morning an enjoyed a leisurely 1.5 hour trip to km 104. There we hopped off the train and set out for the Trekker Hotel at the Wiñay Wayna ruins. The Tekker is the last stop on the very popular 4-day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu. We had originally wanted to do the entire hike, but with little Liam it would have been too stressful. As it turned out, we chose to do only the most spectacular portion of the trail, effectively skipping the peas and going directly for the dessert.
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| Saying goodbye to the train at km 104. | |
The hike up to the Trekker was tough, and all of us were huffing and puffing, with the exception of Liam who got a free ride from daddy. Michael was suffering most under his over-weighted pack. He drifted back, but we were able to stay in contact via radio. A little over an hour into the hike we descended into a lushly vegetated valley with a beautiful waterfall. We paused at the falls for some time to enjoy the cooling mist of water filled the valley bottom. From there, it was only a 10 minute walk up to the ruins of Wiñay Wayna.
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| At the falls below the Wiñay Wayna ruins. | |
At the ruins we gathered together the entire team and took a much needed breather. Then, while Michael rested further, Nan, Liam, Cathy, and I climbed up to the Trekker. It was a bit of a shock to step from the trail into a boisterous hotel full of beer-drinking gringos (mostly European) and loud music. It must have seemed even stranger to those who had been on the trail three days. We took it in stride, though, and ordered plates of pasta for lunch.
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| Cathy on the steps on Wiñay Wayna with the trail descending in the background. | |
Michael failed to appear, so I walked back to the ruins to check on him. He was there still and returned with me to the hotel. He was bushed and soon began to feel ill. Unfortunately he was to be hit hard by a flu-like illness. He passed the entire night with a high fever. The night was made more unpleasant in that we were all forced to bunk in the same big room. Consequently EVERYONE woke up when Liam woke up.
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| Liam in an Inca trapezoid used to display idols...fit to be worshiped. | |
The hotel came to life before dawn the next morning. The ideal is for everyone to catch their first view of Machu Picchu at sunrise. We moved more slowly, however, as Michael was still feeling ill. I arranged for a porter to carry his pack, and by around 6:30 we were on the trail. With the exception of one brutal set of stairs, the hike to Machu Picchu was tame and scenic. We reached Sun's Gate (the first point from which one can see Machu Picchu) within an hour, but the ruins were mostly obscured in clouds. From this point it was no more than a half hour's hike down to the ruins. We made it easily and installed ourselves at the upper point of the ruins where the view is most picturesque. Liam was out-cold by the time we reached the ruins, and while he napped we drank in the view.
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| Liam, apparently unmoved by the view, naps while the rest of us marvel at the view. | |
We passed the rest of the morning at Machu Picchu. The crowds were small, so we could imagine ourselves as the first gringos to stubble upon this mysterious Inca city. At the highest point inside the main ruin complex (Intihuantana), we lingered an especially long time. Liam came to life here and had a fun time playing on the rocks. The guard there actually encouraged us to pass over the ropes and seat Liam on the most sacred of the ruin sites, the stone used to determine the changing of the seasons. This stone is supposed to be a magnetic center, and later and excited, slightly new-agey, Peruvian told me he had placed a compass on the stone and watched the needle spin wildly! We didn't feel power of that magnitude, but we definitely felt the charm of the place.
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| Basking in the power of Machu Picchu. | |
By mid-day we had enough and caught a bus down to the town of Aguas Calientes. There we had a great lunch of pizza from a wood-burning oven and waited for the train alongside the tracks. Michael was still feeling poorly and opted to fly back to Cusco by helicopter. He took off more than an hour before our train was to leave. A large crowd was gathered with us, and when the train finally arrived it was a mad dash to board. Because we had assigned seats we let the dashing people fight it out and lingered at the back of the crowd. I noticed right away that the train cars near us were of a lower class than what we had paid for, so we began to move toward the front of the train and what we thought was the higher class. When we had nearly reached the engine I finally asked where Pullman class was. In a huff, the flushed conductor shouted that the Pullman train left from another train station on the other side of town!
The other station was a ten minute walk but the train there was to leave before the lower-class train. Our faces instantly took on horrible expressions as we contemplated missing the train and having to spend the night in Aguas Calientes. Seeing our desperate state, a police officer shouted to follow him and we dashed back down the tracks, through the crowd, and up through town. We were all already tired from the two days of hiking, so running like this (with full packs) really inflicted a toll! With lungs burning we made it into view of the other station, but we were still about a city block away. To our horror, we saw the train beginning to pull out of the station!
What happened then was remarkable. A line of venders stretched between us and the train. When they saw us running, they began shouting, in relay fashion, for the train to stop. To my disbelief, the train actually stopped several meters down the track! Our car of course lay at the very front of the train, so we had to run the entire length of the station with train employees scolding us for delaying the departure. In the end we climbed into our car and collapsed into our seats. Remarkably we knew many of the people in the surrounding seats and we all had a good laugh.
That was the climax to a great trip. We pulled back into Cusco around eight that night, and the following day we devoted to shopping and walking around Cusco.
We'll be headed for Miami soon to shop for a house, and within a month we'll leave Peru to begin our move to Miami.
The adventure team at trail's end.