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Itīs christmas eve and we arrive at the TAM airport (Transporte aereo militar) just on time at 8am for our 9am flight. We were running a bit late with trying to find a taxi that early in the morning in La Paz but we made it. Woo! ready for the jungle. Itīs only an hour flight so we were excited about spending the rest of the day in next to a pool or some where since La Paz had been depressinly wet and cold, and of course the best thing about it all is that the jungle is only 300m above sea level....woohoo!!
so back to the airport...waiting in line to check in our bags. There are heaps of rich bolivians all dressed up to visit relatives for christmas, big gift packages everywhere and kids running around the departure lounge/checkin desk area. We arrive to the front of the queue only to be told that check in for the flight to Rurrenabaque has been moved to 10am instead of 8am. Why? who knows, not us. So we sit and watch all the rich Bolivians, becuase theyīre there. The airport gets colder and colder and I canīt understand how the rich Bolivian women, in there 5 inch heels and their tight skimpy polyester clothes are coping. While i in my 2 layered Kathmandu polertec-whatever fleeces and my hiking boots is freezing just sitting there watching 7th Heaven dubbed in spanish.
Well we did check in at 10am (2 hrs of waiting and counting) and expected to board at 11. 11 came and went and so did 12. By 12:30 i was getting hungry since we missed breakfast and didnīt have any food with us. B finally gave in to my whining about the lack of food (not a pretty sight) and we went into the cafeteria with the ducth couple, Resi and Harm, who were also in the same boat. We sat, ate our almuezos (lunch meals) and eaves dropped on the conversation on the next table between 2 israelis and 2 americans diagreeing on the current events in the middle east. A woman popped her head into the restaurant to announce that the flight will leave at 1:30. Thatīs nice isnīt it. Ok finally 2:30pm we are on board and propellers are working. The stewardess comes along and passes out small white packets, ooh mints! no they were 2 balls of cotton wool to fit into your ears because the noise from the propellers.
The flight was a little bumpy but to see the altiplano and then the start of the jungle with bit dark peaks covered with clouds that looked like spilt cream was amazing. We were served some TAM biscuits and a cup of very sweet black coffee. An hour later we landed safely on a grassy runway.
The contrast of the greyness of La Paz and the bright lush greeness of Rurre was astoundingly wonderful. Rurrenabaque is a small dusty, lazy frontier town. There are more motor bikes here than cars and everything moves much slower here. We had our trips to the jungle and the pampas all sorted out from La Paz so we had time to find a place in town to call OZ for christmas. That was not an easy task.
B: Calling home did turn out to be an ordeal, with one lady insisting we got Linn's home phone number wrong, hmmm. The other place had a boy who looked a little outof it and the booth with the phone was stinking hot. It was great to call home and speak to everyone. Linn's phone call to about 5 mins mine too half an hour. Great to hear all those voices again and have mum get upset about my hair and so on. chuckle chuckle. Despite the phone place, we both enjoyed being warm for a change.
From :
Linn (& Blair)
To get to the jungle it took 3 hours on a long canoe with a motor at the end. Not the most comfortable trip since the boat is only wide enough for 2 people to fit on one wooden plank. Our campsite was two large tarps strung up and held up with large trunks of wood. Our toilets were 20m away. 2 pit toilets, each with 3 walls and a ceiling - no door. Our beds were roll mats on slats of wood that were raised 1.5m off the ground with a mosquito net - no doors. The other tarp was the kitchen and dining table. It was very basic but adequate none the less. There was a cook, Maggie, her son and our guide, Rene. Our group comprised of 2 swiss (herman and eva), 2 dutch (resi and Harm), 1 italian (manuel), 1 irish (Ita) and us.
We went for a walk nearby before a huge lunch and then a 3hr walk after that. When you have 8 foreign people trapsing around in the junge there really isnīt much luck of seeing much wildlife. But we saw plenty of big bugs and rene showed us this tree, whose bark smells like garlic - phew. He showed us other plants that have medicinal properties.
Dinner was also huge but the pasta wasnīt quite fantastic. We had some bolivian champagne to celebrate christmas. I had completely forgoten that it was christmas. Not much of one really without the fam. The champagne was awful. Reminder donīt drink the wine in bolivia. Ita had been given a very small christmas pudding in a tin and shared that around much to everyones delight. Starting to feel like christmas. That night we went for a short 30min walk in the jungle. [B: We all had to wear hats as apparently some snake likes to jump out of trees onto unsuspecting white tourists devouring them whole and only leaving the fingernails to soak into the sodden earth.] There was a loud screaming in the distance like someone been tortured. Rene said they were tucans talking to each other. He grew up in the jungle and has been a guide for a long time. He says you canīt expect too much on seeing wildlife in the, the jungle is more an experience than to count the wildlife. The night walk was quite amazing actually. We saw these fireflies buzzing about, which was incredible and the noise of the insects was like a heavy blanket thatīs constant around you. The humidity in the jungle was unexpectedly like in the day time. It was not cooler at all. We got back and went to bed.
The next day it was an early breakfast then a 4 hr walk in the jungle. We saw tracks of wild hogs and some birds high up in the tree. We stopped at one point and rene started hacking a branch with his machete without explanation. Then he brought the branch to us and held it verticle. Water bagan to drip from one end. So you donīt need to carry water in the jungle. But i donīt think iīd be able to recognise that tree again and itīs probably better to carry a water bottle than to go around hacking aimlessly at trees. On our way back we saw a bright green snake. Rene held it down while we ran away. Also this big ugly frog that was really well camoflaged. Then back for lunch.
After lunch we got back into the canoe to go up stream a bit. we then got off and walked a bit. Rene said the walk was going to be hard but not impossible. We finally got what he meant when we arrive at a small ravine type crack in the mountain. It was really steep but he managed to climb up and tie a rope down for us. One at a time we climbed up and got to the top. There was a viewing point at the top. we were just above a cliff where the parrots nested. Once in a while we saw brightly coloured parrots fly out in pairs. That was so cool. There were blue and red ones and big green ones with long tails. Unfortunately we were all sweating like sponges being squeezed and there were a million flies bugging us. [Note: Rene, Maggie and her son hadn't even broke out in a sweat!] Love the jungle just canīt handle flies. We went back to the campsite and packed up and left for another 3hr boat ride back to rurre. It was a really great trip. But it was only a tiny taste of what a jungle is.
From :
Linn
Leaving the jungle and getting back to Rurre was a relief, the heat was amazing in the jungle, and I`m sure I lost another kilo. Plus with it being a little drier my hat stopped stinking, the agency put us up in a hotel and we all met for dinner. Listening to Herman and Eva talk about there time in Bolivia is really interesting, intersperse this with the crazyness of Manuel and a bit of Irish from Ita made for a good dinner.
Herman, Eva and Manuel had already done the Pampas and had these horror stories of mozzies filling the sky in a kind of black haze. They said they ate, slept and breathed mozzies. Hmm Harm, Resi, Linn and I looked worried, hmm better have the garlic fish, might keep the suckers off for a while!!
In the morning we went out and bought a mosquito net for a bed and cut it in four and turned them into handy covers for our hats. Definitely a genius stroke except for the fact that they are bright green and not very conspicous. Linn returned from another small shopping venture obtaining a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt for 35Bs, only $10 Oz. She was happy, the pant fit better than anything else she had. Well we were as ready as we would be for WWIII: In the Pampas.
The transport to the Pampas arrived, a 4WD, a little beat up, we are joined by 2 more people, a bolivian couple, a new guide Tonino (?) a new cook (Mabel) and two drivers. That makes 10, a little squishy to say the least. Now the Pampas is only 120km away but the road is so bad it takes 3hrs, we have lunch at Santa Rosa. We walk to the restaurant because the car gets bogged trying to avoid a massive ditch someone dug right across the road and didn`t fill in. The walk to restaurant went past the town square, now this square has more big, bright yellow park benches than I have ever seen. There is definitely more than enough for every man, woman and child, dog, cat, goat, cow, sheep and bird in the whole village. Not including the few spare for the occasional visitor. I counted at least 60, but there could be more.
Lunch was good and after a little while the guys turned up with the car and we were on our way. From the starting point in the Pampas its a 3hr boat ride to the campsite. Even before we get on the boat we see a white river dolphin, very excited as you can imagine, these little birds were also diving into the water catching fish. To make it even better within about two minutes of being on the boat we saw Capybara`s a kind of wild pig really cute and a little rare nowadays, an aligator and lots of other birds.
The Pampas is a series of canals and grassland which criss cross the entire area and we were navigating the channels in a long flat boat. The sides are covered in trees and bushed, just filled with birds and every now and then monkeys. We came across these tiny little monkeys which were impossibly cute and some of them had young on there backs (smaller and cuter) and our guide pushed the front of the boat right up to the tree they were in. He then got out some bananas, cut them in half and told us to hang on tight to them. Ok no problem I thought grabbing a banana and holding it out towards the tree, about three or four of them jump on my hand, attacking the banana. Their hands are really really soft as they fought to get prime position on the rapidly disappearing banana, and then as the banana ran out it got whipped out of my hand and carried up the tree. Cool except for the monkey slobber and mashed banana left all over my hands. Would have washed my hands in the water but there are piranhas so I wait.
The rest of the trip was highlighted with the spotting of: Tucans (light and dark types), herons (grey ones and white ones), jabirus, kingfishers, parrots, eagles, pescadora eagles (white hoods), vultures and the condor of the pampas. Finally we arrived at the campsite, which consisted of three huts on stilts in about a foot or so of water. The huts each had mosquito netting around the outside a helped a little to keep the mozzies out.
The dinner was huge and really good, but we were being eaten alive under the table. After dinner we went out on the boat again to catch an aligator. After quite a while of searching we caught a female about 1.5m, it didn`t seem too happy about being dragged into a boat. But our guide explained all about it and after a while we let it go. It had beautifully soft skin and I think we all felt bad that we had tormented it so. The most off putting part of this experience was that he turned it on its back and stroked its tummy till it went asleep then took all the ropes off and it just lay there, so after pointing a few things out he asked me to help put it back in the water. Hmm ok. Needless to say it woke up halfway through the procedure and we had to throw it in the water. Just call me Steve Erwin.
Harm and I were hoping for some piranha fishing but there was too much water and this also meant there could be no anacondas, it was too dangerous to go looking for them. Well we went back to bed and I slept quite well but Linn had a bad night, too hot and she had mozzies inside her mozzie net that covers her bed. Plus apparently the bolivian guy snored like a pig. I heard nothing. In fact I was surprised to be woken up I thought we had only just got to sleep!
We got up at five to leave so that we could watch the sunrise and listen to all the noises of the Pampas in the early morning. All the birds were calling, the monkeys were making a racket and we just slide quietly across the water. Magical.
When we got back Mabel had prepared a massive breakfast and there was no way we could possibly eat it all. The food on this trip was great in fact it was better than any restaurant we went to in Bolivia. We get back on the boat, ow my bum hurts, to go find dolphins. It didn`t take too long and there was about 10 dolphins all swimming in the one area. Now the water is filthy, I mean put your hand in more than 10cm and its gone! Plus it stinks, and has crap in it. This was the bit where we were going to go for a swim, hmm the guide did say that the dolphins scare the piranhas away, hmm should be safe I suppose. There was a lot of thumb twiddling, when there was a huge splash and we turn around to see our guide in the water, hmm ok its safe, just hope the aligators and cayman crocs aren`t around.
I strip down into my bathers, stand on the edge of the boat and jump, don`t drink the water, don`t drink the water! The water is cool, but stinks and you can`t see anything underneath, I have no idea where the bottom is or what`s lurking down there. Don`t think I`ll stay in too long, I try swimming over to a dolphin but they only pop up and down and you can only see them for second before they go down again, Harm and Resi are also in the water, the bolivian guy eventually gets in but Linn and the Bolivian lady stay out. I`ve had enough I get back in the boat, swimming in filthy piranha water with god knows what else is finished, I can tick that off. We head back for lunch.
The pet aligator of the campsite has arrived our guide tries to feed it but it doesn`t seem hungry, after staring at an aligator that doesn`t move we pack up and get back in the boat for the three hour trip back. This is followed by another three hours in the 4WD to Rurre, am I glad to get out of that car, we stay at Hostal Beni again, bought our own fruit salad and went to bed. Didn`t see that big tick between my toes until the morning, oops.
From :
Blair
Had Breakfast with Harm and Resi, said goodbye and then went off to catch the plane back to La Paz. It was rainy there, it was sad to be leaving Rurre, we go back to El Carreterro and decide to spend the night. We went and found Ita from our jungle trip and had dinner with her in a quaint little cafe near the witches market. Nice to see her again, she wimped out on the Pampas tour and spent the day by the pool, clever girl. We are still having trouble with the altitude, really starting to dislike it now!
From :
Blair
(30th Dec)The bus ride to Copacabana was reasonably uneventful except for the channel crossing which involved everyone getting out of the bus and onto a ferry (we pay) chug across the strait then back on the bus. Copacabana is a small nice town on the edge of Lake Titicaca, its at 3800m, the altitude is quite noticable and we think twice about walking up stairs if we can avoid it. The town is dominated by a huge moorish style cathedral. It is very beautiful and very photogenic. The statue of the virgin mary on the inside apparently caused a few miracles to happen in the area and so now people flock to Copacabana to get things blessed. The most obvious of which is the procession of cars and trucks parked out the front waiting or in the process of being blessed. The people doing the blessing look decidely unreligious, sort of old men and women with incence and flowers. The cars and trucks get covered in flowers and have flowers attached to the windscreens, they also have miniature trucks and cars so you can get them blessed in the hope that in the coming year you might actually get them. Not the kind of Catholicism I know about!
We had dinner in a very nice restaurant called La Cupula. It has a lovely view of the town, unfortunately we had to climb the hill to get to it! The food was good and since we couldn`t finish it we got take away. He was going to give us the plates but when we explained we didn`t stay at the adjacent hotel he just slopped it into the plastic bag. No problem we thought that`ll be nice for tomorrow.
New Year`s Eve
We organised to do a trip to Isla del Sol, the birth place of the Incas. This is where primary gods of the Incas instructed the first Incas to go to Cusco. The small boat chock full of tourists chugged out for three hours across the crystal clear water of the lake to the north end of the island. The tour continues to Isla del Luna where the virgins were kept but we decided to meet the boat at the south end of the island and walk it.
Wel after getting off the boat we were having trouble keeping up with the other tourists, plus after paying for the `tour`, you have to pay for entry to the sites. Hmm a bit of a rort if you ask me, but we trundle off after everyone else. This kid seems to be the guide.
We come across this pen full of sheep and I go to take a photo and this womean is in the pen and she wants a boliviano. I explain I`m taking just the sheep so I frame her out, take the shot and she still wants a boliviano. I didn`t have any money on me, but surely taking photos of sheep doesn`t need paying for!
The tour sort of starts at this stone table with stone seats around it and from what I could understand its aligned so that on certain time (summer an winter solstice) the sun casts a shadow on the right part of it. The nearby rock also resembles a puma. The Incas have three representations of the three realms. The Condor represents heaven and is the link with the gods, it connects earth and sky. The Puma represents reality, it is the strongest animal and thus rules the earthly realm. The Snake represents the underworld, the place where you go to die, and because it lives undergroudn it connects the underworld to the real world. Anyway the Puma rock is obviously very improtant to them. Nearby is a ruin of the old Inca settlement.
At this point I wanted to walk the length of the island, but Linn wasn`t feeling well. But I was insistant plus we ummed and ahhed so much I figured we`d missed the boat anyway. So off we went.
Well the walk as pretty as it was was very hard, not up and down a lot but just high, averaging around 4000 - 4100m I guess. It took us four hours. We passed small ruins and town where people still farmed the hillsides with terraces. There was even a small forest of eucalyptus, probably doesn`t date from the Incas. By the end we were exhausted, Linns chest hurt, I felt completely drained. I sort of ran the last bit to make sure the boat hadn`t left and then tried to go back for Linn who was moving very very slowly. I almsot passed out trying to climb the steps too quickly.
We made the boat and met up with Herman and Eva from the jungle and caught the boat back with them. The boat visits another site and I got out to take a photo but the guy wanted more money since the entry ticket I bought at the other end didn`t cover these ruins. I told him very politely (very very politely grandma) I didn`t want to see his ruins then. I have to say, Bolivia treats its tourists really badly especially the gringos, its just a big money grab. If people can`t sell you something they`ll just ask for money instead, it wears on you a bit after a while.
That night we met up with Herman and Eva for dinner and picked what seemed to be a nice quiet restaurant with a fire place. Unfortunately what we couldn`t hear was that the sound system was cranked up so high you could feel it. In fact the distortion was horrible and the glass doors rattled with the bass. We tried to get them to turn it down but to no avail. They were obviously getting ready for New Years Eve party but we were the only people in the place. We ate and left with minimal conversation as you can imagine. From there we headed off to a pub that the people in our hostel said they were going.
The next surprise of the night was to walk in and Susan and Marie from the Navimag trip in the pub, they took the car from Rurre to Coroico, the cars axle snapped ro something and the driver left them for hours while he went off, it took some ungodly length of time I`m glad we flew. We caught up with them, talked to a South African/dutch and Australian/pom couple Dale and Nicky about working in London, went out the back and listened to people playing and singing on guitars. Listened to the travels of Mal an ozzie and Michael a dutch wannabe ozzie. They had a rather hairy busride in Peru where the bus met a truck and the road wasn`t quite wide enough and the bus scraped down the side of the truck and would have gone over some massive drop except for a randomly placed pile of gravel which stopped the other front wheel from going over. Needless to say they are flying to there other destinations. At midnight the kid from the pub lit fireworks in the street and us gringos dived for cover when the odd firework that took off looked like it was going to hit us. Good night over all, glad to get into bed though.
From :
Blair
Glad to get out of Bolivia is an understatement, though I had heard some bad things about Peru so wasn`t overly wrapped about it either. We had to wait in Puno for a bus to Cusco so went for dinner with Me, Linn, Dale, Nicky, Roger (English guy, Linn jealous of his 500mm zoom and two camera bodies) plus a Spanish girl who is working in Peru. Well we got the waiter from hell, he took forever in getting the order right, forgot to give us some of what we ordered took forever in doing it then basically demanded the change as a tip, we were so stunned we gave it to him. Oh well welcome to Peru.
The bus to Cusco was awful, the seats were really uncomfortable and we couldn`t sleep. I suppose that`s what you get for taking the cheapest bus.
From :
Blair
We arrived at 3:30am and we caught a taxi to a place that Clare from Puerto Octay had recommended. Dale was sick and we were dropped off in this street that seemed to be in the middle of surburban nowhere and the lady when she answered the door had no room left. Hmm, cusco 4am, exactly what I wanted. Luckily a place down the street had room, but not one ready, we slept on unmade beds till the morning, just glad to be lying flat.
We went for breakfast on the square near the Cathedral, at Cafe Ayllu and discovered a new juice combo, orange and strawberry, very nice. We discovered the markets and bought a mountain of food for 20 soles and cooked pasta for dinner with a bucket of fruit salad for dessert. Nice to have a home cooked meal, plus the place had cable and we could watch movies in english!!
From :
Blair
My Birthday!
Cusco is a really beautiful city, a mix of inca and spanish construction. It seems the spanish did the best they could to destroy the city and its temples but some of the foundations were so well constructed and consisted of such large stones that it was easier just to build on top. The inca stonework is just as I invisioned it, amazingly precise finish. The city is littered with buildings that have inca stonework. At the tourist office we purchased a tourist ticket which allows us to visit most of the ruins around cusco and some of the buildings in cusco in 10 days.
The first ruins we visited were Tambo Machay and Puku Pukara. The first is site of ceremonial bathing, the incas has channelled the water from a nearby spring to run through the ruins and created several baths and showers. Across the road is the ruin Puku Pukara, which is meant to mean Red Fort. Apparently it was hunting lodge for the rich, the ruins are great and had a few llamas roaming around for some great photo ops.
The four of us (B,L Dale and Nicky) were going to walk to the next two on the way back to Cusco, but the weather here seems to like raining in the afternoon, so we abandoned the thought and caught a bus back to town.
Birthday dinner was in a pizza place which had a really ornate pizza oven, we ought a bottle of Concha Y Toro wine which cost more than our meal, very very nice though. Afterwards we headed off to the bar Los Perros for a drink some choccy cake, Mmm Mmm and then off to bed.
Jan 4th.
Our next set of ruins was a trip up to Pisac, the bus took about 2hrs and at the town we caught another bus up to the ruins. The ruins have a massive set of inca terracing and altitude here makes the air a little thin. We climbed up to the top of the terracing and from there you can see that there are three main parts to the ruins. The first is a military outpost, a veyr impressive set of ruins right on the side of the hill, amazing location. The second is living quarters which is also set on the on the very edge of the hill overlooking the valley. The third is reached by a path which curls around the mountain on a thin path and disappears around the corner.
We explore the military outpost first and discover that some of the original mudwork remains intact. The lower half of the walls were stone, while the upper half and roof support was mud for some reason. At the peak of the ruins we note the presence of an inca cemetary, hundreds of holes in the cliff, each one supposedly for a priest or holy person, the site also has a bathing area, with water channels which still work.
The living quarter area is amazing too, the view over the valley is incredible and the ruins equally impressive. It must have taken a phenomenal effort to construct this site. Curisosity got the better of me and I had to go and see the other set of ruins. At first it seemed that there were two paths to them, a high path from the outpost and a low path originating from near the terracing. We took the high path and found that it snaked up the mountain passed through an inca tunnel, there are ruins all the way up the mountain, in seemingly impossible places. Then the path pops out and there is this other set of ruins, obviously a temple as every building has beautiful stonework. It is located above the ruins we thought we were heading for and are stunning. They too have a working water system which comes from somewhere! The incas had this fascination with water, and the way they controlled and used it is staggering. Again the views are just panoramic and the set of ruins below us is in a semicircular shape, conforming to the contours of the mountain.
The inca presence in this valley must have been overwhelming. From here we took the path back to Pisac, passed yet another set of ruins, precariously balanced on the side of the hill. The path curls around the mountain again and then zigzags down past yet another collection of terracing and finally to the town. Huge dark clouds gathered over the ruins as we climbed down and massive claps of thunder rang out across the valley from the other side of the hill. We just made it back to town before the rain came pelting down and we clambered on to a bus and made our way back to cusco, fantastic!
Jan 5th.
Today decided to do the museums and cathedrals in Cusco. The museos turned out to be some nice buildings with a lot of religous art, I mean alot. Jesus, Mary, hmm, Jesus and Mary, hmm, Jesus by himself, Mary by herself, ohh look, Mary with baby jesus, and so on. The cathedrals were amazing, it is nice to know that not all of the inca gold left cusco, but just got transformed. Amazing all the same. Some of the woodwork was incredible to if a little strange. Hey look that priest guy/saint is holding his head, ... in his hands, ... without it being connected to his neck! The Pulpit at San Blas was amazing and worth a visit incredibly detailed. We also saw the Puma rock, a collection of rocks which the incas made into a puma shape when constructing the wall, the snake incorporated into the puma and 13 and 14 edged carved stones.
The highlight of the day was perhaps the discovery of the īBien Pastelī bakery and its yummy pastries and empanadas. Linn watched tv when we got back Iīm rather heavily into Lord of the Rings and so read that.
Jan 6th.
The day after we went to visit the ruins of Ollytaytambo (pronounced O-yay-tay-tambo). This is the site of the only inca victory over the spanish. The Spanish called it a fortress when in actual fact it was just a temple.
The ruins are located on a mountain which juts out from the valley walls and pinches the valley to a narrow pass. On one side the inca terrracing reaches up to the main structure which again consists of some amazing stonework including some truly massive pieces of stone. A little reminiscent of those found in Puma Punku at Tiwanaku. It is a beautiful set of ruins which clings to the sides of the cliff and follows around to another set of ruins which look soley for religious purposes, including more baths and little inca water falls. The water channel near the ruins was inca made and stretches for 13 kms. For lunch, we climbed up high on a cliff face with carved out steps, and little alcoves.
The town was celebrating something as we left and had a rather interesting parade through the town to the church. We we going to visit another site on the way back but nobody moved when we arrived so we skipped back to Cusco. Well the clouds were closing in again so maybe it was a good thing.
From :
Blair
While trying to organise the trip it became pretty clear that in doing this you either did the best (most expensive) or the rest and pick the cheapest. You can try and guess what we chose. After seemingly endless numbers of tour agencies we end up in one and meet Steve (Ozzie) and Kathrine(Seth Efrikan)and basically start discussing all the prices we have recieved at all the other agencies and then proceed to bargain the tour guy down till we got a good price if we went collectively. So problem solved, no more thinking about who to do the tour with!
Day 1
We get up really early and wait for the guy to come and get us, and we wait and we wait. Eventually he arrives and we pile in and they drive us down to the square, I'm not sure why they didn't just tell us to walk. But we were practically the last people on the bus. Actually I think Matthew the english guy was officially last. He did make up for this on the trip by consistently being 4hours ahead of everyone else.
Anyhoo off we bused back past Ollytaytambo and down to the Km88 mark. This is a marker on the railway as the distance from Cusco. We were all marshalled there, I bought Linn and I some walking sticks, I was given that piece of advice from a victorian lady we met in Puerto Natales. Our group was meant to be no larger than 16 but since they didn't want to have two small groups they lumped us together and we had 22 in all. Sounds bad but really you don't notice it when you are on the trail. When you are right at the back like Linn and I you hardly see anyone!!
The trail we walk on isn't the real Inca trail but a trail leading to the Inca trail. It climbs slowly but steadily through some pretty countryside, we were almost at lunch when a Brazillian girl slipped and turned her ankle and had to go back. A little disappointing for her, but her boyfriend went on and she caught the train up. We saw one large set of Inca ruins from the trail as we climbed higher up to the first campsite.
Our first night was located at the end of a valley next to a medium size Inca Tambo or way station. Everyone is getting along well, we have made friends with Roudi and Tony two english people who have been teaching english in Chile for the past year (and not liking it). There is David Borowich, a new yorker who is going to do some mountain climbing Mt Aconcagua in Argentina??, Nicola (Seth Efrikan Entrepreneur), Kathrine (Seth Efrikan), 2 Argentinian brothers (mad soccer fans), Pedro the brazillian, Matthew (mad englishman who is determined to keep up with the porters), Tali (Very energetic Danish girl), Nicola and Dale, ...
After some popcorn, and enjoying the outside air plus a brief shower (cold) and watching the local boys play soccer, Linn and I call it a night. The sun setting over the valley can be seen from the door of our tent. Very nice.
Day 2: Up! Up! Up!
Waking up early and opening the tent up the whole valley has a layer of soft clouds floating lazily near the floor as the mountains soar up on either side. The sun hasn't even peaked over the top when we've had breakfast and started the hardest day out of the four.
Yesterday we climbed from around 2400m to 3000m, but today we climb up to 4200m at Dead Womans Pass then down to 2600m for the night. Something you shouldn't think too hard about when you do it! Tali, Linn and I were as usual right at the back taking our time and enjoying the scenery while everyone powered on ahead. Tali found a stick to use and when she found Nicola's (SA) sock on the path she started using it as padding on top of her pole like the little woven wriststraps we had on ours. As you can imagine it got pretty festy pretty quickly.
The path rose up and up ascending into the cloud forest, a beautiful area where the clouds swirl between the trees which are covered in moss which hang off the branches. The argentinian boys fell in a creek while Tali was taking a photo for them, and in true form took another photo of them floundering in the water instead of helping. We thought it was all quite funny.
After seemingly forever, the path reached a large flat area which double as a campsite and rest area before the final ascent to the top of the pass. Linn and I were tired, it was hard work and the lack of oxygen made the going tough. By the time we had arrived most people had been there for a while and look quite relaxed. We however looked not-relaxed. But we were happy nonetheless, I was thoroughly enjoying it. After about a half hour break we were at it again. This time we had left the cloud forest and all that was left was the long snaking path which went all the way to the pass. From the rest area we could see the other trekkers getting smaller and smaller, the ones at the top were barely dots. This could be difficult.
People we had met before all said that this was going to be the hardest most challenging thing we will do, but although it was hard it wasn't impossible. It was just long. Linn and I took our time and trudged our way up, using our walking sticks as crutches to haul ourselves up. The view was amazing with the grassland around us supporting a local herd of llamas, probably managed by one of the villages we passed through yesterday. The wind blew, the sunlight played on the mountains and Linn and I almost burst a lung trying to get to the top!
As we made our way up we could gradually see and hear all the people in our tour up there encouraging the rest of us and anyone near the top to make that last effort to reach the top. The last 15 steps were steep and reaching the top we congratulated everyone on making and flopped onto the ground.
It didn't take long before we realised how cold it was at the top and quickly rugged up, took our photos next to the altitude sign, waited for the stragglers and then continued the walk down to the campsite through some beautifully lush vegetation. In the final descent to lunch, a waterfall cascaded down the valley and into a stream which rushed past the campsite. From up on the ridge you could see all the tents set up as the porters had been there hours before and were now getting lunch ready. Matthew (mad englishman) managed to keep up with the porters to the top of the pass, but since they actually ran down to the campsite he let them go ahead.
The rest of the day was spent eating and lazing around, we were all pretty tired, but it is amazing how quickly you can bounce back. By the end of the day most people had regained their energy and enjoying the surrounding area.
Day 3: Down, down, down!!!
Machu Picchu is actually lower than Cusco at 2400m so in actual fact you spend more time going down than up. The start of the third day involved climbing up to the next pass, which was up and out of the valley we camped in. Near the top of the second pass there is another Incan Tambo which is semicircular in shape and affords a view over the entire valley. A large pond nearby reflects the mountains and sky, a really stunning picturesque spot.
From here on the trail is all down hill, it seems there are two ways to do it. The first is to run and the second is to go really slow. No prizes for guessing which one we chose, and in case you were wondering the porters chose the first option.
Before lunch we arrived at an amazing set of ruins located right on the ridge of a mountain with both sides dropping dramatically off either side. They were beautiful, as with all inca ruins they are high up with majestic views of the surrounding mountains.
The entire group is really enjoying themselves and getting along well, Tali, Linn and I are still the slowest and it showed as we trundled down to the final camping spot on the hillside one ridge around from Machu Picchu. The scenery is as beautiful as always and located near the campground is a massive set of ruins with about half the hill side covered in Inca terracing. We can all recognise the semicircular building as temples and the trapezoidal windows and doors are now familiar. All that remains is the final push to Machu Picchu tomorrow morning and we've done it!
We aren't however going to leave without a party. The campsite here has a large dining hall, amenities and a small museum. With dinner out of the way the music starts and with some secret reserve of energy we all dance the night away. Be warned that playing the maradona song near argenitinians could be dangerous for your health. Most of crash into bed and a semi-reasonable hour while others party on. I didn't need to be asked twice if I wanted to sleep.
Day 4:Rain Gate, Machu Picchu and Llamas in the Mist!Getting up early is ok but I think it was around 4 am they woke us for breakfast and then to start walking is all a bit too much. I mean the sun hadn't even come up, I suppose that was the point, we were meant to get to the Sun gate by sunrise. With all the groups meeting and leaving at the same time, it was practically a stampede. We marched our way to the Sun Gate, people pushed past as if there was something incredibly important up ahead and you needed to get there first. I thought the rush was unwarranted and made sure I enjoyed the view, which was incredible. The dark green of the mountains with the low cloud swirling around them, just stunning, the path in the final bit is also quite beautiful, winding in and around the steep mountain side with lush growth on either side. The last steps to the Sun gate was essentially a vertical climb up a very steep staircase. From the Sun Gate you can see Machu Picchu spread out before you. Well you should be able to except the cloud was now so thick you could barely see anything. Then it started to rain, well Sun Gate Shmun Gate. A few people were obviously disappointed, I think they felt the entire walk was a waste, but me I was happy, very happy. I knew I was at Machu Picchu and I had done it. It didn't bother me in the least that I couldn't see it, that it was raining, I was there.
After waiting for a while we decided to walk down, all of us wearing our brightly coloured plastic ponchos. The walk to the ruins is about 45 mins and as we progressed, Machu Picchu came in and out of view as the clouds swirled around the mountain. By the time we reached the ruins themselves, they were still covered in swirling mist but we could see more of them. It was magical, there were llamas grazing in the open areas, the peak of Huayna Picchu (Check Spelling) occassionally peaked through and I was over the moon.
We all had to go leave our packs and extras in storage before we could look at the site, it was a bit strange seeing all these modern conveniences and stores after 3 days of walking. Our guides gave a us a complete tour of the ruins before it opened to the public who stayed in the town and expplained all the theories and pointed out the different features and temples. This took about an hour and from then on we had the rest of the day to explore and would meet up later to catch the train home. Nicola, Dale, Linn and I still had to buy train tickets to get back to Cusco but it wasn't really on our minds.
Linn and I explored a bit and after remembering to go get Ken we took our photos and then just sat and watched. The day heated up quite quickly and the clouds rose still swirling around the mountain. We just lapped it up, a lot more people arrived from the train and the place soon was quite busy. Despite this I could never get tired of just looking at it even with all the people. I would have like to have climbed up to the Moon temple at the top of Huanya Picchu but my legs wouldn't have made it. I was content to sit and enjoy it from where I was.
After getting a bite to eat we decided to walk back to the town around the corner. The path is quite steep and part way down we saw a local kid all dressed up in Inca clothing by the side of the road. I had remembered somebody telling me about these kids and knew he'd wave to the bus then run down and as the bus wound its way down the mountain would catch up with it and wave again. I was not going to miss out on this. The bus came past, I waved did something stupid then before I knew it the kid was off and a few of us bolted after him, running full pelt down a rather steep irregular staircase. The path went down and down and we could barely keep up with the kid, but then we popped out on the road, just caught the bus waved did stupid things again, but no cigar. The kid got some money or lollies, we got nothing. I think we got the wrong part of the corner to collect from, oh well. The kid took off again, but I was too tired to do that again and let him go.
Back to Cusco: Taking the trainThe township of *** had a market with all the inca trinkets, quite a few cafes and the train line ran right through the town. I tried to buy tickets but they had none left for the train we wanted but we could have gone tomorrow if we liked. Linn and I just wanted to get back, have a hot shower and go to bed. So we went back to our guides and asked their help.
Well their was a bit of running around and one of the other guides had some tickets, but he is not legally allowed to sell them on. So we are standing around the train station and my guide and the other guide gestured me over to the alley way next to the station to make the purchase. It felt very dodgy, but money changed hands and we tickets to Cusco, albeit they had other peoples names on them.
Back at the cafe where people were meeting up, we showed them our tickets and it turned out that nobody had tickets that had their name on them. We swapped tickets so we could sit near the people we wanted to, did some shopping and then raced up to the train as the skies opened and it started to bucket down!!.
The trip back was nice we laughed a lot with Rouhdi and Tony talked about cards and Chile. The train chugged its way through some beautiful mountain valleys and finally came out near Cusco affording a fantastic view of the city at night. It seemed like we were really close but the train uses a switchback system to get down the mountain and it became really painful, really fast. We were very tired and finding a bed was a high priority.
At the station David B. organised a minivan to take us all back to our various hostels and hotels. It wasn't long before we were back in our hostel and in bed ready to sleep. Machu Picchu was done and we were both really proud that we did it.
Aside: It was about now that I realised that the entire reason I had wanted to go to Machu Picchu was to do Tai Chi while overlooking the ruins. Hmmm guess I didn't count on being exhausted when I got there!
There is definitely a point in every travellers journey where if you see one more church, cathedral, ruin, significant ritual site you are going to snap! We were quite close to this, especially with cathedrals, but I couldn't leave cusco without seeing the ruins of Sacsayhuaman (pronounced in gringo speak "sexy woman"). These ruins formed the foundation of a great temple overlooking Cusco. The Spanish fought a very bloody battle here with the Incas. At the end of the battle, hundreds of condors descended into Cusco to feast on the dead bodies. This is the reason why the coat of arms has 12 condors on it.
After the battle the Spanish dismantled as much of the building as they could, however the foundations of this building was so solid they couldn't budge it. These stones are on average two metres high some just as wide and then set back quite a way. All beautifully fitting together, just a shame the rest of it was pulled down.
Across a little way away is the moon temple ruins of Q'enko. Most of this temple is carved into solid rock. We wandered around for a while and then caved in and hired a guide to show us around. It was really good and we definitely learnt a bit. Most of which I can't remember. Except look for the photo we took where the light from the sun plays on the rocks in such a way that it looks like a llama, even the notch in the rock makes the eye.
Adjacent the site is a small forest reserve of Eucalyptus and I did some Tai Chi while Linn just lapped up the day. It was about this time that I think I lost my ring. The weather had been cold, and maybe my fingers lost weight but the ring went and I was a little annoyed because we then spent the rest of the day double tracking everywhere to find even hiking back up the mountain to Q'Enko to look there. All to no avail unfortunately, that's the second time I lost one of those rings!! {Linn wasn't very happy with me}
From :
Blair