Machu Picchu

South America Day 14

Machu Picchu

 

An advantage of staying in Ollyentambo vs somewhere up the valley was that we didn't have to get up quite so early. There were some shenanigans with another GAP group who were a tourist permit short for the day at Machu Picchu. Roberto (or tour leader) had to go early so he could get a ticket as a Peruvian resident. It was all very nerve racking for a bit but we got away with it and all got on the train (below) OK. There are only a certain number of permits/tickets to Machu Picchu each day to reduce the people traffic on the ruins. The ticket limit also applies to the trains. The trains are the only way into Aguas Calientes (the village in the gorge below the ruins). The only other way to get to Machu Picchu is to do the 3 day hike of the Inca Trail.

 

 

The train ride wasn't that long and the last part of it turned from the arid landscape we'd become accustomed to over the last couple of weeks, to a lush green jungle at the border of the Amazon rain forest. We reached the village of Aguas Calientes, followed Roberto's directions and managed to find the buses that run up to the ancient city.
Our first look at the world famous Machu Picchu was pretty good (above). The peak behind it was shrouded in cloud, but the main part of the ancient city was in full sunlight.One of the girls even shed a tear.

 

 

We were taken on a tour of the ruins by yet another "Local Guide" who rambled on a bit, but the one thing that stuck in my head was that the names of the buildings and other features were names assumed by westerners when they discovered the site.
Above is the Sun Temple (well it may have been called that). It seems to be to central point of the city and would likely be a place of worship. The Inca were a sun worshiping people, so the name makes sense.

 

This doorway is so typical of Incan Architecture. They fit all their stones without mortar and the gap tolerance is next to nothing. Also typical is the 3 deg angle on the stonework. They discovered over a period of time that having this angular design protected their buildings against the frequent earthquakes in the west of South America. Its a design that the Japanese have apparently adopted to some extent.
The one thing I did notice was the general size of the stone blocks at Machu Picchu when compared to Sacsayhuman. The Machu Picchu blocks are way smaller. I guess it figures since Cuzco was the seat of power and the rulers would have made sure everything was bigger and better for their "Head Office". Machu Picchu is only famous because it survived untouched by the Spanish marauders. Don't get me wrong though, the setting is quite spectacular (more on that in a bit).

  

They were busy little ancients with their stonework. They liked to make their structures out of the fewest blocks as they could. These ones pictured aren't exactly your standard rectangular house bricks are they?

 

Even the world heritage listed Machu Picchu has Llamowers and why not? Llamas are very effective at controlling the length of the grass, you don't have to pay them, they don't back chat, they fertilise as they go and they don't use fossil fuels. A good solution all round don't you think?

 

Machu Picchu is not just a series of old building ruins, above is the agricultural part of the city. The terraces are all fully irrigated with a series of channels that are fed from the surrounding peaks.
The small hut at the top is pretty much the high point of the city. We decided that going up there for a good view of the ruins was a good idea. We hadn't done any hiking up any hills for a day or so and it was starting to feel a bit strange. So a view from above, it was then.

 

 

 

And this was the path up to the viewpoint. The steps from hell! Apparently nothing in comparison to the steps on the Inca trail, but after the trek we'd just done, our bodies weren't exactly thanking us. I could have been worse and there been no steps.

 

At the top of the seemingly endless staircase, we took a break. Even at that point the view was quite different. The cloud was starting to clear revealing the peak behind it, Wayna Picchu. If you have enough time you can hike up Wayna Picchu, but we had no chance.

 

After a short walk we reached a nice outlook point just under the hut I spoke about. The effort to climb to the top was easily worth it. You can see where all the tourist brochures and postcard shots are taken from.
You will notice in this photo that I'm wearing shorts. I made the mistake of wearing shirts instead of my long pants (because the pants were wet and muddy from the slip on the trek the day before) but I thought it would be warm enough not to worry. I started to notice little blood spots on my exposed legs. Initially I thought I'd brushed against some sharp plants, but eventually I spotted one of the culprits. They were flesh eating flies! They were somehow able to bite off little chunks of my skin without me being able to feel it. By the end of the day my legs were a mess. (Footnote: more than a week later they were still itching!)

 

Group Photo time.

Well a half the group photo anyway. One of the better locations for a photo during the trip.
The big group was already starting to splinter somewhat. It could be because there was already some friction among personalities or maybe because South America wasn't so scary after all and everyone was becoming a little more independent.

 

Of course there was always someone to act the goose in such a terrific setting. Mike and Polly had been planning this one for some time. There were other shots that were far less tasteful.

Of course there was always someone to act the goose in such a terrific setting. Mike & Polly had been planning this one for some time. There were other shots that were far less tasteful.

 

Machu Picchu was pretty impressive, but I was more impressed by the Sacsayhuman. The big thing about Machu Picchu is that it's untouched by the Spanish. For me the biggest thing is this view. As usual its a small part of the bigger picture. The valleys created by the river are stunning. The lush green jungle tops it off. I think I spent more time looking at the surrounding landscape than the ruins.

  

 

The Postcrad shot.

Here's one more shot from the top before I move on, this time without the clowns in front and without the clouds. Impressive place regardless of what I've already said. Between the ruins and the surrounding scenery, it's one of those bucket list places.

 

The only place that you can get a better view if from the Sun Gate at the top of the ridge high above the city. Those who walk the Inca trail, rise early on the final day to reach the Sun Gate before the tourists enter the ruins. Great theory, but on most occasions, the fog or cloud blocks the view at least partially. Apparently if you hit it on the right day, it's amazing.

  

This is one of the irrigation channels I was speaking of. Nothing particularly spectacular, but brutally effective. Hundreds of years after the city was abandoned, the irrigation system is still working. How many things we have in our modern towns today operate pretty much on their own and survive for centuries?

Aguas Calientes

Our timing for the day couldn't have been better. We were given a time to be back at the train so we jumped back on one of the many buses head back down the Aguas Calientes. No sooner than we did the rain came down in buckets! It's probably not apparent in this photo, but the rain didn't let up for some time.

 

 We found our fearless leader in a Pizzeria and set about finding something to eat. The weird thing was that instead of the car traffic that you become accustomed to when dining in alfresco restaurants, it was replaced by these trains. Not as frequent, but conversation certainly grinds to a halt for a period.

 

We boarded the train back to Ollyentambo. As soon as we arrived there we were herded onto a bus for our trip back to Cuzco.

 

Lares Trek (Leg 3)

 

South America Day 13

The next morning we woke up to a white surprise. When we went to sleep I'd expected to wake up to more rain. Well the night must have got much colder because there was a couple of inches of snow that wasn't there when we went to bed. The rain had stopped and the winter wonderland that we'd become accustomed to in Canada had followed us into the heart of the Andes mountains.
The contrast from the horrible day previous, was astounding and very welcome.

This is what we saw when we stuck our heads out of the tents. The air was still & crisp, the world had turned white. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the tale.

  

  

 

 

Here's our little mate who had followed us the previous day, Arfa (arf-a-tail). He probably slept in the cooking or dining tent during the night. Sure enough, he was there to greet us the next morning when we crawled out of our tents. He was particularly fond of Vixy for some reason (I'm guessing because she gave him snacks and didn't scald him like the rest of us). He was such a nice dog. It's just a shame he, like most of the dogs in South America are semi-stray at best.

 

 

Here are our two trek guides, José & Julio. Julio was the leader & José, his assistant (also our new favourite friend).

 

Of course there was time for on group photo with our cooks/porters/animal handlers before setting off for the last leg of the hike.

 

We packed our bags and, with sore muscles, started our descent toward the bus. The trail was slippery as hell thanks to the melting snow and mud. Picking our way down was going to be a bit more difficult than we had first thought.

 

As the last leg of our trek continued down the valley, the snow started to dissipate as did the cloud. It turned out to be quite a nice day in the end.

 

The last part of the trek was almost uneventful.

The local children were all out playing on the hillsides (José was once one of these local children). Everyone gave away the toys that they'd bought in the market a couple of days previous.
The only incident of note was me going arse up after losing my footing on the trail around half a km away from the finish! It was very slippery all the way, but the trail started to incline sideways. I put all my weight on my left foot only to find it suddenly under my right side and then the ground was parallel instead of being perpendicular. I had mud all down the left side of my (only just) dry pants and my left shoulder was in a whole lot of hurt! I'd come down on my elbow and compressed my shoulder joint. I was OK, but my pride was severely damaged thanks to being at the head of the line so everyone saw me.
We made it finally despite the hardship over the previous 48hrs. I wouldn't say it was the best hike I've done, but because of the difficulties, we all had a sense of achievement.
The Finishers from left to right. Gemma, Mike, Vixy, Polly, Kerri, Emma, me, Melissa, Richard.
One further note. Thanks to some dodgy advice from a couple of the girls, Emma hiked the last day in her light blue pyjama bottoms because her hiking pants were wet. We laughed about it for some time after. We were so glad it was over....
We didn't get the chance to hike the Inca trail because by the time we'd booked, all the permits were issued. If given the chance take the Inca trail option. At least there's a result at the end and apparently the scenery is much more interesting with the last day of hiking through jungle.

 

 

Before we'd started out on our hike, Peru was about to go into a state of protest and blockade. Roberto had spent lengthy periods on the phone trying to organize alternate routes and accommodation to allow us to stay in Ollyentambo instead of somewhere way up the valley.
The Peruvians were striking and blockading the roads in order to bring the country to a standstill. Our problem was the blockade was going to make it difficult to get out of the little village we'd come to and would also make it hard to get to Ollyentambo to catch the train to Machu Picchu the next day.

 

Roberto managed to get us a night in Ollyentambo, so all we had to do was get back there. It turns out we'd come down a different valley to the normal route so that we could hike out if necessary. Lucky we didn't because it was about 16kms I'm told. The bus had come up early that day (or maybe the night before?) before the blockade, with another group who we passed earlier in the day. By the time we were on the road the blockade was in full swing.Despite the possible retributions, the porters & Jose jumped out of the bus where we came to a road block & cleared a path for the bus. These guys had been lugging gear for the last 3 days & they were still as energetic & happy as the day we set off. Mike chipped in to help as well as did I the first time before I realized that trying to help with a stuffed shoulder was useless & decided instead to stay in the bus with the girls.

 

We finally got our hot shower and a dry warm bed in Ollyentambo (not to mention convenience facilities). I can't tell you how welcome civilization was. We crashed and burned fairly early with an exciting day the next day with the day trip to Machu Picchu.

Lares Trek (Leg 2)

 

South America Day 12

During the first evening of the trek there was much talk about hardship on the hike and not signing up for this. We found out later the guides had concerns at that point about people not being able to make it. By the next morning there was a band of 5 heading back down to Lares. Vincent, Nora (who can be forgiven because the hike turned out to be far beyond their bodies' capabilities), Smita, Hina, and of course Special K, took the option to bail out. Each to their own. Our tour leader, Roberto, led them back down the valley to Lares to link up with a bus back to Ollyentambo.We headed off a little before the five, but quickly gained altitude. Before long they were little ants in the valley below (above). We survivors all seemed to be ticking along pretty well for the first while. Everyone was pretty up beat for the start of the biggest day of hiking.

 

The first section of trek day 2 was a steep ascent that transverses up the side of the valley. It's hard to show with a photo (above) but even with the traversing, the angle was pretty fierce. It was a bit of a challenge, but everyone was up for it.

 

Very quickly we climbed up into the clouds leaving the campsite far behind. You can kind of see it way off in the valley below (roughly centre of picture). It's surprising how quickly you can go when you put your mind to it.

 

As we pushed through Alt 4000m things suddenly started to get a bit more difficult. There seems to be a barrier right on 4000m where everything remotely resembling exercise hurts. Not long after that we stopped at a rocky outcrop for a break. It was quite the impressive outlook from up there. What wasn't so impressive was the view back up the hill toward where we were going. It looked like a never ending track upward. It was all the more daunting with the oxygen deprivation.

 

The last climb to the first summit of the day was quite difficult. The altitude claimed a few victims and caused the group to spread out quite a bit.

 

We eventually switched back one last time and were all of a sudden on the top of the ridge. Behind us far below was the valley we'd hiked from earlier that morning and in front of us were a pair of lakes. The wind and drizzle backed off long enough for us to appreciate the view for a few minutes. We were standing at 4150m above sea level.

 

Above is the second lake. It was down below us a little compared with the last one. Something to note in this photo is the path that we were about to take. It was to wind down past the lake, away to the left and down into the valley in front of us. Seemed like a good idea until the guide (Horacio) told us were we were headed. You'll be able to see the saddle in the range in the background about centre of shot. That was the target. We had to descend about 300m only to climb up the other side and add another 150m! This wasn't going to be easy.

 

We were still reasonably up beat when we started down the valley despite the altitude starting to take its toll on some. We set off with our camp right there in front of us on the mules. We knew they'd be there well before we arrived. My knees weren't liking the downhill much, but I wasn't too bothered. The group stayed together pretty well on the downhill as expected. Just as we hit the low point in the valley, the drizzle turned to rain and looked to be settling in. Not the best sign just when we were about to go vertical again.
The camera didn't come out much after that. The scenery disappeared behind the rain and the risk to the camera was too much. We stopped at a small village for a snack break. One of the local stray dogs (I nick named Arfa because he was missing half his tail) liked snack time and followed us for the next 24 hrs.
After the snack we trudged up the hill in driving rain, higher altitudes and ever dropping temperatures. Before long we were soaked to the bone from head to foot including gloves and boots. It was miserable. The next stop would be for a late lunch before the last push to the top.
Kerri was struggling as were a couple of the others and I elected to stay back with them and our assistant guide, (Jose') who we'd become quite friendly with by this point. The group quickly splintered as Horatio was setting a fairly solid pace leaving the people in the middle of the group in a lonely place. There were some cranky hikers trudging through the rain.
By the time we reached the tents at lunchtime, the will to continue was waning among the tail, but there was no turning back from there. Some hot food and a rest restored a bit of faith, but leaving the dry warm tent wasn't really very inviting.

 

We left the tent with the rain back to a drizzle initially. There were a flock of about 12 mountain caracaras (more later but they're a hawk of sorts) circling over us. I can't say it was an encouraging sign.
The trail was getting increasingly slippery the higher we went and the temperature was rapidly decreasing. Not long after we set off, the rain started again, but this time it was serious. The group scattered more quickly this time and finding the right trail became more difficult. The rain got heavier and eventually turned to sleet. Kerri wasn't impressed. Apparently princesses aren't meant to hike in mud in near zero temperatures at 4000m above sea level.
We eventually reached the summit in driving sleet with most of the group already at the campsite below us.

 

We were just thankful that the vertical ordeal was over and a hot meal and a sleeping bag were waiting for us. 20mins later we would be laying down in our tent.
A big thanks to Jose' (above in yellow) for his encouragement and patience with us particularly during the last couple of hours of that trying hike on that day.

We crashed and burned after dinner that night. We were exhausted. The night was a bit rough considering our gear was so wet and the tent made it worse every time we touched it.

Lares Trek (Leg 1)

 

South America Day 11

I woke up still a little dodgy, but much better which was fortunate because we were about to start a 3 day hiking expedition.
Our first stop was the small town of Calca and the local markets for supplies. Calca is the gateway to the road to Lares (the start of our hike). The markets would allow us to buy toys and stuff for the children along our hike. For me, it was more about finding an inner sole for my recently repaired hiking boot. I was sent off with the assistant guide, Jose', who managed to find one nice and quick.

The road to Lares was long and windy. The photo above was taken from the high point as we crossed the ridge. I saw a condor briefly which was all very interesting, but the trip was still a bit tedious. The scenery was interesting enough.

 

The start of the trek was the hot springs just outside Lares. You can see the buildings in the background of the shot above. We got done big time by the guides (it was to become a pattern). We had nowhere to stop for "relief" along to long drive from Calca and with a bus full of girls, there was some desperation involved. The issue was that the only place to relieve ourselves was at the hot springs complex which cost quite a bit to enter regardless of whether we wanted to use the baths or not. Turns out the springs were a disgusting milky brown colour and  the locals seemed to have come to wash themselves in them. It wasn't at all inviting.
Never the less the cooks/porters cooked us up a nice lunch and we set off from the back of the hot springs complex across the bridge in picture. Again an opportunity for a group shot. This one had the entire clan but the shot at the end of the trek looked a little different.

 

We set off up the Lares Valley toward our first camp. It wasn't that difficult to start with as it was a fairly gentle incline. The hike in Colca Canyon some days earlier was harder. It was quite pleasant wandering beside the small stream.

 

Despite the easy going, we still seemed to spend a lot of time stopping and waiting for stragglers (this was the first). Special K was the first casualty and started the "I didn't sign up for this" saga. Actually she did sign up for this because it was pretty clear in the GAP trip description and difficulty rating. There we a few others that were finding it difficult while some of us were wondering how this was going to play out over the next few days.

Above is the view of the opposite side of the valley at our first rest stop. Although the incline wasn't too extreme, we'd been steadily gaining elevation.

 

  

Along the way there was no shortage of birds including this little humming bird. The purple flowers are apparently used a lot by the locals as a clothing dye.

 

Base Camp 1

We continued up the valley into the fading light at the end of the day. The stragglers were left behind with the trailing guide. As the light faded, the temperature dropped sharply and our core temperatures went with it. I thought I was getting a bit of a pinched nerve in my right arm from carrying the back pack and camera, but it turned out to be circulation.
As we reached the camp at Wakawasi we realized the porters and the mules had beaten us there. The tents were all pitched and dinner was in progress. My cold arm was more of a problem than I first thought and it took half an hour curled up in the sleeping bag to bring it back to normal. I've got to say I was worried for quite some time. Mental note for the next day to make sure I have warm gloves.