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HOME » Travel Journals » Inca Pathways
Inca Pathways
By : Kathy England
Trip Begins August 29, 2003
Trip Ends September 11, 2003
One of our favorite trips. I had heard of Macchu Picchu since high school Spanish class and finally got to see it in person. It was worth the wait!
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August 29, 2003
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And we're off!
Lima, Peru
Friday, August 29, 2003
It's the same story every time we set off on vacation - in order to get things reasonably tied up at work so you can go away with a clear conscience, the last week or two of work is just insane. This time was no exception. And packing for this trip seemed more complicated than usual. Because we will be camping at high altitudes, we need a variety of clothes and some supplies we don't typically bring, like sleeping bags, pack towels, headlamps, and Diamox (a medicine to prevent altitude sickness). Bob bought a money belt to wear under his shirt. Anyway, after all our preparations the duffel bags are packed, our backpacks are stuffed, we've left the office behind, and we've claimed our free seats on the flight to Lima.
I actually napped quite a bit on the plane, and we arrived early in Lima at about 9:30 PM their time, 10:30 PM our time. We are in the same time zone, but Peru doesn't go on daylight savings time.
A tour company driver picked us up and brought us to our hotel, a drive of about half an hour. We pulled into a less commercial area, and, with many twists and turns, we arrived at a building with a nondescript facade and a small entry with an iron barred gate. Inside the gate was a lovely courtyard with decorative tile floors and many
plants. Off the courtyard were the lobby and our room, among others. The room is modest, though attractive, but there is no heat whatsoever! It's not that the heat is turned off; it is that no heat exists. So I jumped into my long underwear and under the covers as quickly as I could, shivering until body heat warmed us up.
August 30, 2003
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Traveling to higher altitude
Puno, Peru
I was reluctant to get out from under the covers this morning. We had warmed up our little sleeping nest, but the room was cold! Luckily, hot water was available for a warming shower. We dressed quickly, did a little repacking, and walked to the breakfast room. We kept putting on more layers of clothes. The temperature is probably in the fifties, but it is overcast and damp, making it feel even colder. Local people have on what I would consider winter coats. Since the rooms are unheated, you don't ever get really warm. A priest in the breakfast room with us was wearing a long woolen priestly robe and a parka.
When it was time to leave the hotel for the airport at 9:30 AM we met the one other person who was on our tour. His name is Steve and he comes from Seattle. He's probably in his thirties and very tall. He told us that he climbed Mount Rainier in 1994, so we are very intimidated about our ability to keep up with him while hiking.
Only ticketed passengers are allowed in the airport, so our driver had to drop us at the door, but we checked in and paid our airport tax with no trouble. We even found a Dunkin' Donuts in the airport!
From here on the rest of the day was quite fascinating. On the plane we flew from Lima to Arequipa, over a very striking dry and rugged landscape with snowcapped volcanoes. We even saw steam coming out of one volcano.
We landed briefly in Arequipa, where most people left the plane, then continued on that very short flight to Juliaca. This is the closest airport to Puno, our destination for the day. Elecio, who was going to guide us on our trip to Puno, met us at Juliaca. Elecio is a Puno native, with a good command of English and lots of energy. He helped us to find a local lunch place at Steve's request, since lunch served on the plane was barely a snack. We got a fixed price lunch of a breaded baked sweet potato with cheese, a huge bowl of vegetable soup, and a thin piece of meat with the rice and vegetables. Steve got one meal and Bob and I shared one. The cost of this meal was five soles or about $1.50!
We walked to the main plaza in Juliaca, then left for Sillustani, a site with some Inca and pre-Inca burials. To get there, we turned onto a gravel road. Just where we turned, an older local woman put her arm out for a ride. We had lots of room in our van, so we stopped to pick her up, as the next village down the road was a long distance away. Our guide guessed her age to be about 60 to 65, though her face was incredibly wizened, probably from exposure to the elements. She was dressed in a full skirt and had a small hat perched on her head. She carried a colorful blanket wrapped around some things that seemed large and heavy. Elecio told us that she takes quinoa (a type of grain that her family grows) out to the main road where there are more houses and walks around trading her quinoa for other goods. It's primarily a barter economy, not a cash economy. I handed the woman a small pack with two milano cookies that Continental airlines had given us and she tore right into them. She said something to me in Quechua (a local Indian language) that appeared to mean that she liked them.
As we drove along the gravel road, we saw small complexes of buildings surrounded by stone or brick walls. Inside the walls were several small tin-roofed buildings that could have been homes or sheds to house livestock. As we approached one complex, we saw flags and greens had been placed around, and there were some cars and many people there. Elecio told us this is a wedding. People are not specifically invited, rather if you bring something you can come. The party lasts until the food and drink is gone maybe, two or three days later. As we continued toward Sillustani, we saw another wedding. August is thought to be the most auspicious month for getting married.
Finally we dropped off the Quechua woman. As she got out of the van she had a very small coin clutched in her hand that she tried to offer to our guide, but he wouldn't take it. We continued on to a paved road, went through a village where we had to dodge a pig in the road, and finally arrived at Sillustani.
When we got out of the car here it was cold and windy, even though the sun was shining, so we put on more layers and began hiking up the hill to see the burial columns. It's incredibly difficult to walk uphill at these elevations (around 12,500 ft.). On the way up we saw a local Quechua woman and her baby. They were sitting with a five-month old orphaned vicuna. The woman brings the animal there in hopes that people will pay her a small fee to take its picture. The vicuna's eyelashes our incredibly long.
We continued up the hill and saw the Inca and pre-Inca tombs in a gorgeous setting. It still felt quite cool so when we came back down to the car Bob and I both bought alpaca sweaters from the vendors who gathered at the bottom. Mine cost about five dollars; Bob's was about eight dollars since his was made of baby alpaca wool.
We continued on to Puno, arriving at dusk. We said goodbye to Elecio and met Vidal, our guide for the rest of the trip. It's cold in Puno, but our hotel room does have a space heater (no other method of heat). We took about half an hour to regroup, then went out for a walk around Puno. We saw some local plazas and went to the market. The market is held every Saturday, and by 6:30 to 7 PM when we arrived it was almost over. But there were still lots of people there, most in local dress, which for women includes a full skirt with a half skirt behind that is often covered with sequins and is very colorful and shiny. We saw a whole street where bread is sold. Bins and bins of bread were still left. As we passed by a church, Vidal explained that although 90% of the people of Peru or Catholic, most also still believe in Pachamama (Mother Earth) and Pachatata (Father Sun). Vidal even heard the priest in this church in Puno include Pachamama in a sermon he was preaching.
We walked along a pedestrian street, where I bought two knitted finger puppets to hang on our Christmas tree, and then went into a restaurant to eat. The menu was diverse, including pasta, chicken, pizza, guinea pig, and alpaca. The pizza oven kept it very warm, which we greatly appreciated. We ate dinner and went back to the room to repack, since tomorrow when we do our overnight trip to the islands in Lake Titicaca we will take only our daypacks and leave our suitcases in the hotel in Puno.
August 31, 2003
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Gasping for breath
Amantani Island, Peru
We woke up at six this morning to get ready for our excursion. Breakfast at the hotel was good, with fruit, cereal, breads, and eggs cooked to request. Then we went outside the hotel where bicycle taxis looking like tricycles with a two-person passenger seat in the front were waiting to pick us up.
We were biked down to the docks. On the way, a minor disaster happened when the video camera fell apart. We were incredibly lucky that none of the pieces fell through the slots on the floor of the bicycle taxi, but we were uncertain if we could get it back together again.
We stopped at the market by the docks and picked up some gifts to take to our host family on the island where we will stay. Two full bags of groceries and a few toys came to $10 and we split the cost.
Next we got on a motorboat and drove off for our first stop on the floating islands. During the boat ride of about one hour, Bob managed to get the camera together with the help of some tape from the boat's first aid kit. He finished the repair just in time, as we arrived at the floating island.
The islands were inhabited by the Uros people. These people had lived on the lake shore but were driven offshore by the invasion of another tribe, so they made these islands of reeds, many feet thick, and built reed houses on them. The islands are anchored in place by rope, but can be untied and moved. Now they are pushed by motorboat but in the they were past moved with long poles. The older parts of the island are more stable, but the newer parts roll like a waterbed. The islands rot from underneath and more reeds are placed on top. The families fish and kill birds. They keep domestic birds like cormorants and heron as well as a type of chicken. Tourism is now a means of income. In the past, both the men and women had to go out to fish, leaving the children to watch the island and cook. If the children didn't set the rocks under the cooking fire carefully enough, there were times when they set the entire island on fire. Now children are rarely left unsupervised since the women stay on the island during the day to sell handicrafts to tourists. [see the pisture of me with two local ladies selling handicrafts in the album that accompanies this journal]
On the first island where we stopped the people were friendly and the children were adorable. One man gestured for me to look inside his one-room house. There was a solar cell outside and he proudly showed me the electric switch that lights one tiny bulb and a portable TV that, he explained, receives two channels, operating for only a few hours in the afternoon. A small bird startled me by walking out of the house as I stood in the doorway. We bought a few things and I played with some of the children, who were really cute.
We rode in a reed boat to a second floating island. We spent just a little time here, but a small, very serious boy approached me with some pictures he had colored in school that he was trying to sell for about $.60. Kids begin to work at a really young age. I'm a sucker for the kids, so I asked him to pick the best one for me, and got him to sign it. When I asked him how old he was he said eight years. He looked a lot younger than that, but who knows?
Now we're on our motorboat again for the three-hour ride to the island where will spend the night. One worrisome moment occurred when the motor stopped. When the driver opened the motor compartment, smoke came out. He worked on it a while, doing something that included the use of lake water, and luckily we were underway again fairly quickly. Now I'm writing in the diary, some people are sunning on deck, some are playing cards and Bob is resting. He has a headache despite taking Advil, drinking coca tea at breakfast, and taking Excedrin and aspirin. I hope that something works for him soon.
We arrived at the island of Amantani, and what a fantastic place it is. It's not a huge island, and it is completely terraced, as it is very steep and mountainous with the lowest point, lake level, at about 12,500 feet.
When we pulled into the dock, there were a few men but mostly women waiting to meet us. The women each wore a very full black skirt, about knee length, a white embroidered blouse and an embroidered black shawl, draped over the head and then thrown over the shoulders to trail down the back. Many were carrying knitting needles and wool, and were knitting as they waited or walked.
As our boat approached the island, our guide ran through a few phrases in Quechua for us. It's a difficult language and luckily most people to speak Spanish, although that is a second language and they may not be completely fluent in it.
Our guide, Vidal, the other guy on our trip, Steve, and Bob and I were assigned to a woman named Luisa, who walked us slowly up to her home. Even though she went slowly, the steep terrain was a killer because of the altitude. Her house is actually nice-a small front yard with lots of flowers but no grass. The building housing the kitchen was to the right. If you went straight it took you through a doorway into a courtyard of small black and white stones forming designs. There are two floors in the buildings around a courtyard. The first floor is for the family and a second floor is for guests. Our room on the second floor had a rough wood floor and burlap tacked on the ceiling. The walls were painted pink. It had three single beds and a small table with chairs. It was clean and pleasant, with no electricity and no heat. Some years ago the island was wired for electricity and a generator was built, but the 4000 residents of the island couldn't afford to pay the fee of 12 soles (less than four dollars) per month per person that it would cost to run to generator, so the electricity never works. It was chilly even at midday, and at night the temperature can drop below freezing.
We were called to the kitchen, since Luisa was preparing lunch. [see the picture of Luisa of Luisa cooking in the album that accompanies this journal] She cooks over an open fire with iron pots and pans. We met her husband, Antonio, her daughters Lourdes (age 13) and Maria Elena (about 11) and her son Juan Carlos, who is about 8. She has an older daughter who is married and lives elsewhere in the village. Everyone was eager to be friendly and talk.
For lunch we ate a bowl of potato soup, then fried kingfish, with various kinds of potatoes. Potatoes are the staple crop here, and the locals eat them three times the day. We ended the meal with tea made of boiling water stirred with some sprigs of a local plant.
During and after the meal, we all asked questions. Mostly Vidal spoke Quechua with the family and translated for us, and sometimes I spoke Spanish with them. Antonio told us that he and Luisa have been married for 22 years. When we asked who married them, he said their parents did. The parents announced the intention of their children to marry, and organized a party. The bride and groom stood up and said they were marrying, the village celebrated, and that meant they were married.
After the late lunch we hung around the kitchen talking. I had brought pictures from home and showed them to our hosts. They were most interested in pictures of our family, pictures of us by Lake George (I think they could relate to the lake) and our wedding picture. We also paid a visit to their guinea pigs, kept in a pen outside to be used as food on special occasions like birthdays or holidays. They had five.
We sorted out our backpacks and a little after 3:30 PM we came downstairs. Our hosts lent us local knit caps to wear that evening, as it was getting quite cold. Maria Elena walked us up the hill to the village soccer field. Again, it was really hard to get up the hill! At the fields a soccer game was in progress, visitors versus locals, where a few brave visitors agreed to compete. The locals won the match, needless to say, as the visitors gasped for breath after each play.
After the soccer game, our guide walked us up to the top of the hill behind our village, one of two high points on the island. To be frank, when we arrived and the guide pointed it out and said we were going to go there, I didn't think I could do it. Going uphill at all at this elevation is unimaginably difficult and we are not much acclimatized. But we started out, watching the girls tend their sheep, seeing the sun setting over terraced fields, listening to boys playing Andean pipes and drums, and looking across the water to the snow-covered mountains on the Bolivian side of the lake. The beauty and peace almost make you forget the climbing - but not quite. This is much harder then running two and half miles at home! But we continued on and as we neared the top we saw local women who had carried up water, soda, candy, and various knitted goods for sale to the tourists. I really couldn't focus on the knitting, just on putting one foot in front of the other, but Bob did stop and buy some chocolate candy and I managed to eat some (no surprise).
We stopped at some pre-Inca ruins at the top, which were quite impressive. There were some clouds around the horizon and the wind was blowing so we didn't wait for full sunset, but started down. Still, it was getting dark as we returned to the soccer field.
Because of the terracing and the lack of true roads, the village layout was confusing, but someone guided us part way back to Luisa’s house. We found the rest of the way ourselves, arriving after dark, and went straight to the kitchen to warm up because that's the only room with a fire. Lourdes and Maria Elena were preparing dinner by the light of the fire and a single candle when we came in.
Again, Lourdes was eager to talk. She goes to the only high school on the island, in a village on the other side of the island. Each day she walks one hour to get to school and one hour back home again.
By 7 PM we had dinner - potato and pasta soup and a dish with the rice on one side and various types of cut potatoes in a white sauce on the other side, then the same herb tea we had at lunch.
After dinner I almost managed to lock myself in the outhouse! I squeezed out, but someone had to fix the door so it would open freely again.
Next Lourdes came to our room and helped us dress in local clothing. Bob wore a poncho and a hat, and I wore one of Luisa’s skirts, one of her embroidered blouses and the shawl that drapes over your head. I could not keep that shawl on my head for even two minutes, so I ended up wearing it draped over my shoulders.
Then Maria Elena walked us a short distance downhill to the local dance hall. Here there were two bands playing Andean instruments and music, and a man sitting at a card table selling bottles of water, soda, and other drinks. All the guests staying in town were there, along with their host families. Luisa showed up just a little while after Maria Elena had brought us there. The hall was dimly lit, since there was no electricity, but the bands began to take turns playing with enthusiasm. Maria Elena asked Steve to dance; Luisa asked Bob, and our guide Vidal danced with me. Each song went on for a long time, and the dances were very energetic.
The Amantani ladies seemed to have an inexhaustible love for dancing, and at 12,500 feet I couldn't begin to keep up. I don't know which was harder, climbing the mountain or dancing! The local dances were fairly easy to learn. One included a long line of people holding hands and snaking around the room. I danced with Luisa, with Bob, with Vidal, with another guide, and with some people I didn't even know. It was a great party, and we danced until we were ready to drop! Then Luisa and Maria Elena walked us home at about 10:00 PM.
We were so hot from dancing that the room didn't even feel cold. We got ready for bed by candlelight and hopped under the covers.
September 1, 2003
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Goodbye to our new friends
Amantani Island, Peru
This morning we woke up early, and we grabbed our clothes and stuffed them under the covers to get them warm so that we wouldn't freeze later getting dressed. We finally got up around sunrise, got dressed and threw on enough outerwear to get to the outhouse. Antonio brought a bucket of (ice cold) water to our door to wash up, and then we went down to the kitchen for breakfast. We had one small pancake (like a crepe) and a triangular piece of bread. An almost empty plastic cup of jelly was offered, but I hesitated to use too much of it because it seemed like a rare resource for the family.
Luisa was cooking breakfast wearing an aqua sweater and an orange skirt, with aqua showing underneath. She cooked potato soup for her family for breakfast, and when she was done cooking she took off the orange skirt, which was dirty from cooking. Under it
she was wearing an aqua skirt just like the orange one. We realized that the orange skirt was acting as an apron. You can also see that the women wear multiple skirts for warmth. I can tell you from wearing one last night that the heavy skirts are surprisingly warm, although wearing them with bare legs as all the women do would be too cold for me in the climate here on the island.
After breakfast Luisa, who had now changed into her good black and white outfit, came to walk us back to the dock. A small sailboat was at the shoreline loaded with firewood to sell to local women. We were sad to say goodbye to Luisa and her family.
Our boat was waiting at the dock to take us on a 45-minute ride to Taquile, a nearby island. People live a very rustic lifestyle here, with their own unique traditions. We hiked uphill and around the island to the center of the main village. The views were beautiful. Women here often wear hot pink or lime green tops and shawls with very large pom-poms instead of the embroidery we saw on Amantani. The men walk around constantly knitting. They wear caps that they have knitted themselves, all red if they are married and red and white if they are single. The hats are floppy stocking caps and grown man tend to wear the tail of the hat hanging to the back, while teenagers where it hanging to the side - kind of like teenagers at home with their baseball caps on backwards. When a man here marries, his wife cuts her hair and he weaves it into a belt that he wears from then on.
We saw the town square and the local market. Women from the nearby mainland also come here to sell things. You can recognize them by their flat square hats with pom-poms on them. We bought the local version of popcorn, bigger kernels than at home and slightly sweet, from an old lady in the market. A bag was $.30. A young girl was wandering around, seemingly on her own, and we gave her some of the popcorn although she didn't beg from us.
After visiting the market we walked uphill to a pleasant little restaurant where Bob and I each had an omelet, then walked steeply downhill to the boat. On the way we passed people going steeply up, including a local woman with some children and two small lambs, one of which she picked up and carried, and a man leading two giant bulls (we got out of his way!) as well as numerous man and women carrying heavy sacks.
Our boat left Taquile, and we hadn't gotten too far before we realized that we had forgotten Steve, so we went back for him, then started out again on our three-hour ride to Puno. I used the time to catch up on the journal.
We arrived back at our hotel in Puno, the Qelqatani, a little after 4 PM. It felt great to get a hot shower. We went to dinner at a restaurant that had three pots resembling chimineas with blazing open fires placed around the room for warmth. The food was good, even the alpaca that Bob ate. Vendors are prevalent on the pedestrian walkway outside. They can’t come in to the restaurant, but kept coming to the door and waving their goods. One vendor was determined to get Steve to buy a sweater, but he didn’t succumb. After dinner we walked around for a while and even shopped a little, then went to bed.
September 2, 2003
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Llamas and high passes
Cusco, Peru
Bob actually woke without his headache this morning. Maybe we’re getting used to the altitude. I never thought I would long for humidity, but my hair is full of static and my nose bleeds because at these elevations the air is so dry.
A bus came to pick us up for the ride to Cuzco. Our guide had bought us tickets through a local tourist service. There are about 15 people on the bus. It is a long drive, partly because some stretches of road are very bad, but there have been several stops planned to break up the drive.
The altiplano of southern Peru is a very striking landscape. We are on the only real road in this part of the country. Occasionally we pass through a village full of bustle, stands for selling, people in bicycle taxis, etc. The vast majority of people wear local dress, although you do see a few people in their twenties wearing modern clothes, but they are the exception and tend to stand out.
Our first stop was in a town called Pukara, where there is a very small museum of stone carvings and ceramics from some pre-Inca people. The town has only small one or two room homes but incongruously there is a large Spanish colonial church here, now crumbling around the edges but still looking far too grand for its surroundings.
When getting back on the bus in Pukara we saw a young boy of five or so with a brilliant smile and black growths all over his hands and face. Yesterday at the market in Taquile we saw a boy of about two with terribly crossed eyes. Obviously there are problems here.
Our next stop on the bus ride was Las Rayas, a high pass along the road. The pass was 4385 meters or 14,381 feet. There were beautiful snow-covered mountains and distinctive people with colorful goods to sell.
After the pass we continued a short distance to the spot where we had a very nice buffet lunch with fresh vegetables and dishes like lentils, chicken in peanut sauce, some type of meat ball, fried sweet potatoes, breaded fried quinoa (a local grain), and the ubiquitous flan for dessert. The restaurant had three star banos (bathrooms) and even supplied toilet paper.
We looked at goods sold by vendors on the restaurant grounds and even bought a clay ocarina (a musical instrument) for 60 cents.
In a short distance we came to some Inca ruins called Raqchi. The ruins included a large temple to which people made pilgrimages, a plaza, many homes, and 365 storage buildings. The organization of the Incan layout actually compared favorably with that of the village dating from Spanish colonial times that it is adjacent to.
On the road again, we made one last stopped at a Spanish chapel. It was incredibly ornate, with geometric ceilings and heavy gold leaf frames around gigantic canvases that circle the room near ceiling level. Evidently the Catholic Church invested in hugely impressive chapels that overwhelmed their surroundings in order to awe and impress the locals and thus facilitate conversion.
We then drove the final leg on our journey to Cuzco. Along the way a sudden drenching downpour broke out, even though the sun was shining. In fact, we saw a gorgeous rainbow that came all the way down to the ground in front of the mountains. What a welcome to Cuzco! We arrived in the town at around 5 PM. Even though the trip took all day, it really flew by. I thought the long drive would be tough, but the frequent interesting stops and fascinating scenery made it seem short.
Our hotel in Cuzco is El Balcon. It is on a hill a short walk away from the main part of town but quieter and with a great view. It is more rustic than the hotel in Puno, but certainly acceptable. The hotel itself is a renovated building dating from the 1630s. We spent about an hour unpacking some essentials (we’ll be here two nights) and reorganizing our things yet again. Then we met in the lobby of the hotel and walked down to the Plaza de Armas, the main square in Cuzco.
It was dark, and the two magnificent churches on the square were lit, giving a really striking effect. The square is large and open, with shops on the two sides of the square not occupied by the cathedrals.
We exited the square and walked to a restaurant on the second floor. We sat at a table in the window alcove, and had a really nice dinner.
Finally we came back to the hotel. On the walk back we noticed the Spanish colonial architecture all around, but Vidal had pointed out to us that many of the buildings had been built on Inca foundations. In fact some present paved roads have been built on old Inca pathways.
After dinner we walked back up the hill to the hotel tailed by children wanting to sell us postcards or shine our shoes. Cuzco is at a lower altitude than Puno, 10,900 feet as compared to 12,500 feet, and I felt as if I could run up the hill!
September 3, 2003
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Inca encounters
Cusco, Peru
This morning was a little more relaxed, since Vidal, our guide, was not meeting us until 9 AM. We showered and had breakfast, watching a parrot in the courtyard while eating. Almost by chance we climbed to the second floor of the inn and realized that we had a great view of the town, including the cathedrals in the main plaza.
Vidal whistled down a taxi; almost anyone who owns a car in Cuzco will use it to provide taxi service, all you need is a driver's license. For 6 soles (less than two dollars) the driver took us out of town to the Inca ruin of Sacsayhuaman. It's a huge ruin in a gorgeous setting with the what was once a man-made lake (now dry) underground passages, and natural rock slides. There is a zigzag line of Inca stonework variously attributed to be either a fortress or a religious construction. Items symbolizing the puma are often found.
We saw several local people enjoying the area, including some families and some school groups. After enjoying a long walk around the ruins, we continued downhill toward town and noticed narrow streets lined with buildings constructed on Inca walls. Most of the city now has a Spanish colonial feeling, but traces of the Inca past are easily found. For example, we toured the church of Santo Domingo, focusing on the archaeological museum inside containing old Inca buildings on and around which the church was built and which were the only parts of the church undamaged in a 1950 earthquake.
We took a leisurely walk back to the plaza, and then stopped to have lunch in a restaurant on the second floor of a building on the plaza. It had a great view of the cathedrals.
We received the two spare duffel bags that the Adventure Life Company provided for us. We are to put in those duffels the items that are going on the Inca trail with us. Anything we don't need for the trail will stay in our own duffel bags, which will be left at the hotel in Cuzco. We stopped at a small store and bought some plastic garbage bags so we can put our belongings in them inside the Inca trail duffel. It rains fairly often on the trail and the plastic bags will help to keep our things dry as the porters carry them.
We all met in the plaza and toured La Catedral, Cuzco's main church. The gold leaf and silver altars were totally over-the-top ostentatious. We saw religious paintings from the Cusqueno School, including one of the Last Supper where the main dish was baked guinea pig.
After this tour of the cathedral we walked to the San Pedro market area. Here you can find things like clothing, souvenirs, fruit, nuts, whole pig’s heads, chicken feet, sheep's stomach, and other fresh meat, all completely unrefrigerated. One section of the market is called the Witch’s Market where they sell things like condor feathers, powders, and dried llama fetuses to be used as gifts to Pachamama, as well as in love potions and other spells.
In the more conventional portion of the market I bought a plastic bag for one sol (about $.30) to carry home the things that we buy here. I enjoy having interaction with the local people and at the end of our transaction the older man selling the bags said that I was “muy amable” meaning very agreeable. I am pleased that my fractured Spanish allows some communication.
Next we went to the San Blas area of the city, newly gentrified and an artistic district. We watched a local craftsmen put bronze leaf on a wooden frame.
We stopped back at the hotel before dinner, which we ate in a nice local place. Bob ate hot peppers stuffed with meat, vegetables, and some cheese. I had a rice dish. The topper was Steve, who ordered the baked guinea pig. It came out completely identifiable, with its four stubby legs sticking in the air and worst of all the head was complete with eyes, ears, and teeth in a crackling skin covered with barbecue sauce. It was obviously very hard work for Steve to get at the meager meat (kind of like eating a whole lobster) and at one point, just like high school biology, we found something that looked like the liver. After the meal Vidal picked up the head, faced it toward us like a puppet and started talking in a high, squeaky voice! Bob and I both had a taste of the guinea pig and it had a strong flavor, although I don't know if that was the meat itself or the spices.
After dinner we did a little shopping, including spending three dollars each for two sturdy rain ponchos that were recommended for the Inca trail, then went home and to bed.
September 4, 2003
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An unplanned medical adventure
Sacred Valley - OIlantaytambo, Peru
Well, this morning we had an interesting but completely unplanned experience.
Bob had a spell of running to the bathroom in the night, although repeated applications of Pepto-Bismol had cleared it up by morning, leaving him feeling OK if a little weak. But I woke up with a very swollen left eyelid, obviously an infection. So I got dressed and actually had to wear my glasses instead of contacts.
When Vidal arrived a little after 8 AM, I explained that I needed to see a doctor. Vidal knew of a private hospital, so we went there. As we were all trooping into the clinic, the others were teasing me that the llama fetuses we saw in the market yesterday were likely to come into play. A very nice doctor immediately took me into a large office with Vidal to translate, Bob for moral support, and Steve so he wasn't the only one left behind. The doctor diagnosed blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelid.
The doctor gave me two prescriptions, one for drops and one for pills, and a receipt and diagnosis in Spanish to submit to my insurance company. Since the total bill was about $15 it's less than my copay. They were able to fill one of the prescriptions at the pharmacy in the clinic (less than seven dollars for the pills) and the other at a nearby pharmacy (about seven dollars for the drops). And the entire thing took less than one hour! Way better than at home.
Finally at around 9 AM we set off to our first stop of the day, Tambo Machay. These are small ruins near Cuzco, not too far above Sacsayhuaman, where we went yesterday. With a brief walk you can see the remains of a temple and water driven in channels.
Leaving there we headed on into the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The views are really quite spectacular. Descending into the valley, we approached the town of Pisaq. On a steeply terraced hillside far above the town are some Inca ruins. We drove the winding road up to the extensive ruins of Pisaq. Of course, the ubiquitous vendors greeted the van, and then we walked onto the military ruins that began the complex.
As you walk through the military barracks section and around the corner you come upon a striking bowl of steep terraces. On the opposite side of the bowl were the homes in this complex. Walking over to that section we saw Quechua women talking and knitting. They had just completed the breathtakingly steep climb up from market day in Pisaq, and were resting before crossing over the mountain to their home, which Vidal estimates is a four hour walk from here. One of the women approached us to see if we were interested in buying her woven belts. Vidal asked her how far it is to her home and she said maybe one hour, maybe two, maybe three.
We continued on past Inca graves (caves in the hillside) and passed the area of Inca homes we had seen from the other side of the hill. Then we walked on a hair-raisingly narrow trail with steep drop-offs and the occasional steep and narrow set of steps. The views were gorgeous, but if you wanted to have a look you really had to stop in order to avoid walking off a cliff.
We came to the religious temple area of Incan Pisaq and walked around there. In many directions you could see the walls of additional Inca buildings. It was a really lovely place.
At mid-day we left the temple area and began walking down to the town as quickly as we could. Even so, it took 40 minutes to climb quickly down the steep slopes and we entered town at about 12:30. In town we had a Quechuan buffet lunch, then walked through the extensive market for a while. Thursdays and Sundays are the market days in the modern town of Pisaq. The large and thriving market originated as a place to sell items looted from the Inca graves above.
Next we visited the salt mines at Maras. We climbed in the car up to the other side of the Sacred Valley and saw snowcapped mountains. We crossed an empty plateau, seeing only the occasional animal herder, then descended began to the salt mines. The mines were first established in pre-Inca times and were extended by the Incas. They are not worked at their full capacity now, but do still supply people in the local region with salt.
A salt-water spring bubbles up high in the fold of the valley and below it a series of terraced shallow salt pans had been built. The salty water flows in, gathers in a pan, and the water evaporates leaving salt behind. The salt pans form terraces steeply down one side of the hill. Our driver dropped us off at the top, and then left to meet us at the bottom. As we approached the mines we saw donkeys going by us loaded with salt and tools such as baskets to strain salt out of the water.
We began to walk on the thin layers of earth between the pans. It really felt like tight-rope walking. Partly that was because the ledge was narrow. Partly it was an optical illusion. The layers of the ledge had become covered with salt and it looked like ice. So even though the traction was very good, you expected it to be slippery.
We picked our way through the salt pans, seeing people at work gathering salt in some distant pans and watching a boy skip among the pans. Eventually we came to a dirt road and continued walking down the hill. We came upon a family coming down to their village after a day of working in the mines. They had stop to gather some rocks. When Vidal ask them about it, they said that the rocks can be broken to release mica, a crystal which is boiled with beans to improve their taste. The family filled a blanket with rocks and carried it down with them. We talked a bit with them (mostly through Vidal’s translations) about the use of herbs.
Atthe bottom of the hill we met our driver, who brought us to Ollantaytambo. This is a small town located near more Inca ruins. There was about an hour until sunset, so we could tour the Inca site but a) we already had had a full day b) we could get a look at the ruins from our hotel and c) I thought a shower might be a higher priority considering that after this I will be three nights without one. So we went to the hotel.
It is a small hotel but very attractive and relatively new. There was no heat at all, but we are getting hardened to the cold and it didn't seem that bad. The temperature was probably in the 40s. With the bathroom door closed the hot water of the shower warmed things up enough to be tolerable. I couldn't call home directly from the room, but I got the desk clerk to put the call through. We had dinner in the hotel (the rest of the village is a very minimal) and went to bed. I confess that I'm feeling a little scared about the difficulty of the Inca trail hike that we begin tomorrow, especially the second day which is supposed to be the toughest.
September 5, 2003
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And finally the Inca trail
Inca Trail Day 1: Huayllabamba, Peru
This morning we got to the trailhead a little early. I'm glad that we don't have to feel rushed. Lots of women were waiting at the trailhead, carrying baskets of hiking related items such as water, candy, gloves, hats, ponchos and bamboo walking sticks to sell to the trekkers. I bought a hat shaped like a baseball cap but in fabric woven in brilliant Quechua colors.
Our porters gathered the supplies together and we were officially underway. The porters are carrying our duffel bags, food, propane gas tanks (burning the scarce local wood is not allowed), tents, air mattresses, etc. There was a scale where we entered the trail and officials checked to make sure that no porter carried more than 55 pounds.
We walked along the river for a while and then the trail diverged from the water. It was cloudy, with occasional breaks of sun. It was actually very pretty. We stopped several times to look at the scenery or to see small homes. Some people still live in this protected area. They can continue to live here but are not allowed to sell their property.
Our first break was a rest stop where several homeowners had set up small stands. Some offered soda. Another area was more targeted at the porters; the women there had large plastic tubs of chicha, a kind of local beer made from corn. There were several tubs of the milder purple chicha and some of the stronger yellow chicha, made from different colors of corn. A pan of water lay on the ground for washing the glasses used to serve the chicha. A chicken came by and drank out of the dishwater. A baby pig was scampering around trying to eat whatever anyone had dropped on the ground. A small boy of six or so came and chased the pig around. The baby pig panicked and retreated to another part of the yard, where he backed into a rooster who squawked and scared him again.
We set off again and this time we hiked up a large hill until we arrived at a ridge, where we started to see a lot of yellow flowers. This was particularly pretty. As we got higher we could catch glimpses of the snowcapped mountains in the distance. It became a little misty here, but it wasn't actually raining. Along the ridge we came to a spot where you could see extensive Inca ruins, called Llactapata.
We continued on and the mist got a little wetter, until we crossed a bridge and came to our lunch spot. A large tent was set up with a tarp hanging in the middle as a divider. On one side we found a small card table with four camps stools, which is where we will eat, and on the other side of the divider the porters had set up a mobile kitchen. Tent flaps opened on both ends. We were served a large bowl of soup, then a main dish with chicken legs and cooked beans, carrots, cauliflower and tomatoes. There was also a platter with peeled raw cucumbers, tomatoes and avocado. Everything was quite good.
The misty rain stopped while we were eating, and we set off again. We were more than halfway through our day’s hiking at lunchtime, so we had a shorter walk after lunch, which toward the end became continuously uphill. The last bit felt pretty hard, and that's how steep it will be all day tomorrow.
We arrived at our camp, which the porters had already set up for us. The way the day’s routine works, we set out in the morning. After completing camp chores the porters run up the hill past us with their heavy loads, arriving at the lunch spot where they set up the tent and prepare lunch. We arrived to be served lunch, and leave when we are done. After we leave, the porters clean up (washing dishes in the local spring!), and then run up the hill past us once again so that they can get that night’s camp is ready for us by the time we arrive.
Our camp tonight is in a terraced area with the highest level holding the kitchen/dining tent. The next level down holds two tents, one for Bob and I and one for Steve. On the next level down is a smaller tent for Vidal. The porters sleep in the dining tent after we are done eating. We have one cook and eight porters. They set up all our tents, blew up the air mattresses, boiled water, and brought two bowls of hot water and soap to our tent so we could wash up.
We unpacked and settled our belongings in the tent, which took a little doing. The sky was getting clearer and clearer. We sat in our tent for a while, as I wrote in the journal. We were both looking at the view as beautiful snowcapped mountains presented themselves right in front of us. Bob napped a bit, finding the air mattress quite comfortable. While we rested we heard chickens, roosters, and donkeys around us.
At 4:30 PM we were invited up to the dining tent, where our cook had set out a snack of popcorn and fried wontons with cheese in the middle. It was great. We were also offered hot drinks. We nibbled a little and walked around the campsite, then went back to our tent to read until dinner.
We strolled up to the dining tent at around 6:30 PM and ate at around seven. Of course it was pitch dark by then, but we had a battery-operated lantern on the table. Dinner was lomo saltado – which is alpaca with rice, tomatoes, and fried potatoes and onions. We started with vegetable soup and ended with a peach.
After dinner Bob walked me down to the bathrooms since I didn't want to use a bush. We used headlamps to make the long walk downhill, then struggled way back up again. But the bathrooms were nice, no flush but reasonably clean. Finally we returned to the tent and went through the lengthy process of getting ready to sleep, clipping our headlamp to a loop at the top of the tent to cast some light as we prepared for the night.
September 6, 2003
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Conquering Dead Woman's Pass
Inca Trail Day 2: Pacaymayo, Peru
Well, all things considered we slept pretty well last night. It was not too cold when we went to bed. I slept in a long underwear top and bottom with a sleeveless fleece and socks. I put some of tomorrow's clothes in the sleeping bag with me so they would be bearable to put on in the morning.
In the night we heard barking dogs a few times and toward morning the chickens were right outside our tent, rooster crowing. I dressed inside the sleeping bag as much as I could. The porters brought tea and bowls of hot water to the tent. We weren't going to compound the difficulties of our hike today by going way downhill to the bathroom and struggling back up again, so we found a nearby bush. Vidal told us that when Peruvians use a bush they say they're going to send a message to the president, meaning George Bush.
For breakfast we had sweetened quinoa, which is like cream of wheat, served with fruit, homemade granola, and toasted local bread. So after breakfast it was time - the dreaded second day hike begins!
The hike was continuously uphill with almost no level ground. Sometimes it was modestly steep and for long stretches it was punishingly steep. When we started out at 7:10 AM it was the least steep portion of the day, and we were lulled into a false sense of security. So we were pushing along, feeling like we'd be OK. I was reluctant to take a long rest break, so we would walk slow steps until I got out of breath, stop for a few seconds, and then do it over again. It was hard, but I was making progress.
Then we came to a long (long, long) section where was extremely steep, so much so that in earlier days the Incas had built steps here instead of just a pathway. The steps were generally a little long for my legs and my calves were burning with lactic acid due to the lack of oxygen. We would climbed all the steps in view, then turn the corner hoping to see level ground, only to find another row of steps. I actually think that was the hardest point. There was one guy who was feeling very ill. I was relieved to see the end of those steps.
Shortly after that section we came to a more open area at the foot of a valley. We found some women selling soda and candy and there were lots of trekkers resting and eating. This was our first real rest stop. We enjoyed the opportunity to sit on a rock and eat some snacks. There were also some flush toilets here. We rested and at 10:30 we continued uphill.
We followed a path that goes up one side of this valley and you can see at the end of the path there is a U-shaped cut in the ridge that is Dead Woman's Pass. The pass is at almost 14,000 feet in elevation and we had started the day at 10,000 feet. Once I could see the pass I thought we would get there pretty quickly but that was really over-optimism. As we got higher we would take 10 steps and stop, 10 steps and stop. We saw the same people over and over as we passed them, then we rested and they passed us again, and so forth. It was encouraging to see that our pace was similar to that of many others. It was easier to proceed when you could see the goal (the pass). It was sunny almost all morning, although it clouded up and a few drops of rain fell just before noon, but not enough to cause us to put on rain gear. Finally, we arrived at the pass. SUCCESS!! [look in the album to see the picture of me celebrating my rrival at the pass]
That walk was really, really hard. Steve was already waiting up at the pass, having practically run up. We
got to the top at 12:10, five hours after we left camp.
We took a brief moment to celebrate, then started down the other side of the pass. Once over the top it was cold and windy, but a ten-minute walk brought us to the dining tent. We went in and gratefully sat down. At first I felt like I couldn't eat - maybe because of the altitude or the exertion, but I was able to have some of the good soup, chicken, and french fries.
While we were eating it began to rain, so we put our new rain ponchos and set off. We stopped at an outhouse near the rest stop, and then continued down the hill. I told Bob that he looked like a giant garbage bag in his black plastic poncho and I looked like a giant bag of medical waste in my reddish-orange poncho. The ponchos proved to be so unwieldy that we took them off again.
Since we were coming down from our high point, the hiking was all downhill after lunchtime, and as it was lightly raining the stone pathway was wet and slippery and walking was tough. About 1 1/2 hours after the lunch stop we got to camp. The rain made it more challenging to settle ourselves in the tent, but we managed to set up our belongings and actually took a brief nap.
At 4:30 Vidal called us for a snack of popcorn, homemade potato chips, and cookies. When we emerged from the tent we found that it had stopped raining and you could even see a glimmer of blue sky. We lingered at the table until dinner. Bob, Steve and Vidal played a version of 20 questions. Interestingly enough, the subjects chosen for the twenty questions game prove that Monica Lewinsky is even known in Peru. Dinner started with soup (of course) and included a chicken dish with rice and Jell-O for dessert. Then we struggled downhill to the bathrooms and back up to bed.
And we have survived the dreaded day two!
September 7, 2003
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Hiking and rainbows
Inca Trail Day 3: Phuyupatamarca, Peru
Well, last night was an interesting night to say the least. We got ourselves ready for bed and settled into the sleeping bags. At sometime during the night I drifted awake and heard a sound. After waking a little more fully and listening more harder, I realized it was driving rain. The tent held up remarkably well except that I felt one little drop hitting my head. I slid my sleeping bag out of the way and just let it drip. Luckily, the rain let up very soon and the drip stopped. Later the rain stopped completely, but a cold front was passing behind the storm. We finally got warm enough to fall back asleep. When we woke up in the morning it still felt chilly in the tent, but we came outside to find clear skies. We were so lucky that the hard rain came through when we were inside trying to sleep and not when we were outside trying to hike.
Breakfast was an omelet and a French toast - very good. Then we began to hike. And guess what - day two (yesterday) of the Inca trail was hyped as the really hard one, and it surely was, but day three was pretty darn hard as well! It was almost as tough as day two in its own way. After reaching Dead Woman's Pass yesterday, we descended about 800 meters to camp. Well today the first thing we did was climb right back up 600 meters. The steps were steep and it was a struggle, but the views were fantastic. We reached the top of the second pass and started slogging down the other side.
When you've just gasped your way up, down sounds good, but it's hard in a different way. On the steep parts there are steps made from stone by the Incas, since we are traveling an Inca pathway, but the steps are usually not wide enough to place your foot easily on them. You always steps sideways. And the steps are extremely high, so you land with a big impact. Even the gentler downhill slopes have awkwardly placed stones. And if it's wet, for example from the rain last night, the whole thing becomes incredibly slippery.
So we went downhill for a while, and then reached an Incan ruin called Runkurakay. The ruin was explored by climbing 99 narrow and exposed steps, and as I did it I thought I must be crazy to voluntarily do more climbing. But it was quite interesting and had some more fantastic views. Across the river you could see a tambo where Inca runners, like the pony express in the U.S., relayed messages across the empire.
We descended to cross the river, then after a slight uphill climb we came to our lunch spot. Our tent for lunch was set up with a wonderful view and we relaxed, talked and took photos while Felix, the cook, prepared soup and a stuffed pepper.
Over lunch we discussed what to do next. It was fairly early as we finished the meal, and our assigned camp for the night was only 1 - 1 1/2 hours away, but that would leave us a long walk from Machu Picchu the next day. We could probably go to the next camp, which is the only one closer to Machu
Picchu, and talk our way in without a reservation, but that was another good two hours beyond our assigned camp. After discussing it, we decided to head for the closer camp so that we could make it to Machu Picchu in time for sunrise tomorrow morning.
We set off after lunch, and though initially it was a continuous uphill climb, it was gradual and the overall elevation was still lower than that two tough passes we’ve already done. We gained about 100 meters in altitude and crossed a small pass and just after that was the camp where we were intended to stay. We made a rest stop there, having been hiking for about one hour and 15 minutes since lunch, and then set out again for 2 1/2 hours of continuous forced marching downhill. Almost immediately after beginning we came to another Inca ruin, Phuyupatamarka, which was also interesting. As we heard Vidal tell us about the ruin, we realized again that much of what is thought about the Incas is somewhat speculation, since they had no written language.
Until this point the skies had been clear, but here some raindrops began to fall. It was never really hard rain, but it lasted on and off almost until we reached our next camp. We even heard thunder in the distance.
The first hour of going downhill was bearable, but after that it was just a test of patience. You almost began to long for an uphill to have a brief respite (how quickly we forget)! But just when I realized I had developed a giant blister on my big toe from all the sliding downhill, and when I was ready to scream at one more step, the sun created a giant rainbow over the valley, a row of dramatic snowcapped mountains came into view, and we reached camp.
This is a big camp, with a stand where we bought fanta and Cheezitos (kind of like Cheetos at home) while we waited for the porters to set up our tents. As we sat, we greeted people coming into camp - familiar faces we have passed many times on the trail. Walking to our assigned tent spot we passed by the tents of another group where the friendly campers traded us some fried wontons with peanut butter (actually very good) for the remains of our Cheezitos.
Our tents are located on a quiet ledge at the edge of camp - just don't sleepwalk off the narrow edge - with a great view of the mountains. [see the photo album for a picture of Bob peeking out of the tent here] It's warmer because it's much lower, and we enjoyed getting cleaned up and settled in the tent without shivering. Now that it's our last night of camping we've got the tent routine down pretty well. So we got organized and I caught up on the journal until it was time for dinner at 7 p.m.
Usually we have been getting into camp at around three to find tents already set up. So hiking in at 4:30 and into tents at five made for a long day. Dinner was soup and spaghetti, which was wonderful, with chocolate pudding for dessert. Then we went to our tents and to bed.
September 8, 2003
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We did it! Macchu Picchu!
Machu Picchu, Peru
We’re finally getting this tent thing down pat. The nice thing is that at a lower elevation (about 8700 feet) it was relatively warmer and we slept well. Four o'clock wake-up came early, and it was a little difficult to get up, get dressed and pack in the dark. By 4:30 we presented ourselves at the breakfast tent and by five o'clock we had set off, wearing our headlamps.
Leaving our campsite, we walked down a slippery dirt path, occasionally encountering some uneven stone steps. Hiking was very tough for me in the uncertain light of the headlamps. Then we got on a stone path that initially continued to go down. There were many people in small groups strung out along the trail, since basically everyone in camp was intending to arrive at Machu Picchu for sunrise. When we went to bed last night there were patches of clouds, but this morning we were kind of excited because the sky was really clear and you could see lots of stars, so we were hoping for a good view of the sun this morning.
Eventually it got light enough to turn off the headlamps, even though the sun hadn’t broken the horizon yet. We were all pushing our pace because we were unsure exactly how long it would take us to get to Machu Picchu and we didn't want to miss sunrise. The last stretch of the trail climbed to cross a pass, including some very steep steps almost like the ladder. I wasn't the only one using hands and feet to get up those steps, and I was sweating and panting when we reached the pass at the top and found ourselves at an Inca construction called the Sun Gate. From there you could look down at Machu Picchu and at some distant snowcapped mountains. The sky was light, though the sun hadn't yet crested the mountains to the east. We lingered at the Sun Gate for a while with the rest of the people from camp, and then we walked forward along the trail for another 15 minutes or so to a spot where there was another outstanding viewpoint of Machu Picchu. It was closer to the ruins than the Sun Gate was, and there were only a few people there.
Vidal knew about this spot because in his career he has hike the Inca trail almost 300 times. Based on his own experience he told us that there were only a few other times that it was so clear that you could see the snowcapped mountains in the distance as plainly as you can today. I feel so incredibly lucky.
While we waited, the rays of the sun began to spill over the tops of the mountains to the east like a spotlight, hitting the highest peaks above Machu Picchu. As the sun continued to rise, the line of sunlight came down the mountains and finally Machu Picchu itself was lit. What a sight!
After the abandoned city was completely lit by the sun, we walked down the trail to the
ruins themselves. You enter near the spot with the famous view of Machu Picchu that you see reproduced everywhere. [see our version in the attached album] The weather was so clear and the early rays of the sun were so striking that it was a postcard picture perfect view. We even saw some wild llamas grazing nearby. We were so stunned by all this that we could only stare and stare. [see the album also to see our picture at this spot, after three days of no showers or blowdryers]
Finally, we were ready to continue with our
tour. We entered the immediate area of the ruins and Vidal gave us an excellent tour. He is very knowledgeable. The ruins have several clear sections: the agricultural section, the home of the nobles, the religious area, the homes of the lower classes, and a manufacturing/industrial section (weaving, pottery, making of chicha, etc.). Only in the religious buildings and in the royal residence do we see the best quality of Inca stonework. Archaeologists estimate that 1000 people once lived here.
We saw the Temple of the Sun, a rounded building similar to Inca temples to the sun we have seen in other cities here in Peru. In another area on top of a pyramidal structure is a large stone carved to have a post rising out of it. The Incas believed that as the shortest day of the year approached, the sun was running away from the earth. So on that day they held a ceremony to figuratively “tie the sun” to this post. The fact that days began to get longer was taken as proof that the ceremony worked. Incas did sacrifice men and women, and we saw a room where bodies were brought after the sacrifice, with channels carved in the stone for blood to run off.
Incan nobles were practically a different people than the commoners. They spoke a different language, which has since disappeared, and they worshipped the sun. The common people spoke Quechua, still widely spoken today, and worshipped the earth. Echoes of this can be seen in the way the present Quechua people pay honor to Pachamama despite their veneer of Christianity.
We spent several hours wandering Machu Picchu. We saw a series of channels that brought water from a spring in the mountains to the city. We looked at the steep peak called Huayna Picchu that rises behind Machu Picchu and saw a stone house perched precipitously near the top, with terraces just below it. It was amazing to walk through the ruins and get a different an exciting view each time you turned a corner. I couldn't believe we voluntarily walked lots more stairs in order to see the entire site.
After Vidal gave us a thorough tour lasting over 3 1/2 hours it was still only 10:30 AM, although it felt much later since we had gotten up so early. We split up and agreed to meet at the hotel at 6:30 PM to go out to dinner. I fell into a conversation with some American tourists – we haven’t seen too many other Americans here. Bob and I walked around a while, then it when it was almost noon we walked down to the entrance of the ruins and to the small snack bar located there.
As we were walking out, we realized that the tourist train must have arrived. At the earliest part of the morning only the trekkers are present. At some point a little later the tourists from Aguas Calientes, the town directly below, arrive by bus. Finally, the tourist train comes. A long line of people with designer clothes, fancy hairdos, and mildly impractical shoes were entering the sanctuary. They looked like people from another planet to me and I am sure that being four days without a shower, blow dryer, curling iron or even a real toilet, we must have looked equally bizarre to them.
We ate lunch, then took the bus down to Aguas Calientes where we are staying tonight. A bus sits at the entrance to Machu Picchu until it fills up, then it drives down to town. The terrain is almost unbelievably steep and the bus goes almost horizontally across the hill, making one hairpin turned after another. The ride is a bit hair-raising.
When we got into town, we started walking to our hotel, the Machu Picchu Inn. To get there you walk through a big tourist market selling T-shirts, wall hangings, T-shirts, rugs, T-shirts, carvings, T-shirts ... you get the idea. We walked very slowly as we browsed the wares. In fact, Bob bought a T-shirt and together we picked out a rug that cost about $20.
We strolled slowly through the market, across the railroad tracks, and on to our hotel. It is a modern and nice hotel, and as we came in from the midday heat it was cool enough that we thought it was might be air-conditioned. In fact, it is just well- insulated and as the sun began to go down and we got cold we realized that not only is it not air-conditioned, it is also unheated. But since we are at a lower elevation here it doesn't get too cold.
After we checked in, we went out to change money and we bought a 2-liter bottle of cold water. When we came back to the room I drank three glasses without stopping. It felt so good to have something really cold. I organized my things to get out my only remaining clean clothes (not much) and we took a brief rest, feeling almost jet-lagged from getting up at 4 AM. Then I had a wonderful hot shower. I'm so grateful to be clean! And my hair looks human again. I also put my contacts back in for the first time since I got blepharitis.
At 6:30 p.m. we met for dinner. Vidal had brought Miguel, an acquaintance, with him. We walked down by the railroad tracks. The line goes between Aguas Calientes and Cuzco, and trains come along about five times the day. So restaurants and small vendor stalls line the tracks and people walk on the tracks when they know that a train isn't coming. We ate dinner outside at one of the restaurants. I had a dish of quinoa, rice, cheese and vegetables, which was really good. Then we walked back to the hotel, as we were quite tired.
September 9, 2003
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A real bathroom again
Cusco, Peru
Getting ready for bed with access to a real bathroom (even if you can’t drink the tap water) having electricity and sleeping in a real bed were such luxuries!
This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we packed up and set off for Cuzco. This morning you can see the sun but there are lots of hazy clouds around so we really had the right day yesterday to view sunrise over Machu Picchu.
There is an elementary school just down the street, and we saw the children in their uniforms running and skipping down the hill to school. One little boy had his hair wetted and combed back nicely. Two little girls walked together hand in hand. As we walked by the school we could hear the children inside reciting.
Vidal was still waiting for Steve, so Bob and I set off for the train station. As I watched Bob walking ahead of me with backpack and duffel, past women setting up their small stands along the railroad tracks in this Andean town, it really struck me to think what an experience we were having.
We caught the 8:35 train to Ollantaytambo. The train had only one car, which seemed clean and new. All the passengers were tourists. Mostly the train went very slowly, and one of the workers hopped out every so often to change a switch in the tracks. The train rode along the Urubamba River in the Sacred Valley and the scenery was spectacular. We kept staring at the sharp mountain peaks, the rushing river, the cows running off the tracks, and the people nearby. The trip to Ollantaytambo took about two hours by rail.
At the train station in Ollantaytambo we hopped on a motorized tricycle to get to the center of town. When we arrived, Vidal found a man driving a private bus who had just dropped off a group of tourists from Cuzco. He was making the return trip to Cuzco with an empty bus, so he was willing to take on passengers. In fact, this must be fairly standard practice, because he yelled, “Cuzco, Cuzco” in the square and several other local people hopped on the bus. Whenever we stopped at an intersection, he opened the door and called out “Cuzco, Cuzco”. All the passengers he picked up along the way were local. Sometimes their destination was another city along the way, such as Chinchero. One man stood in the middle of nowhere with his arm raised, and the driver stopped for him. He got on the bus carrying a briefcase. Where did that come from?
As we approached Chinchero, we saw a large group of people parading down the road. They were dressed in fancy costumes with lots of spangles, playing music and carrying a banner at the front of the parade reading “St. Paul”. A van full of people dressed the same way was coming from the other direction to join the parade. Vidal told us that this is a local tradition in which the people will march and dance in honor of St. Paul, parading over to the nearby mountain where they pay their respects to Pachamama (Mother Earth) in a kind of compilation of cultures.
When we stopped in Chinchero to let someone off, a bunch of school kids got on. School here typically has two sessions, 7 AM to 1 PM and 1 PM to 7 PM. These kids were in the 1 PM session and were trying to get to their school in Cuzco, which was maybe 45 minutes away by bus. There is a public bus that will take them to Cuzco for three or four soles (around one dollar) but by taking a private bus and paying maybe 50 centavos ($.15) they save their families money. The children have far to travel to school and it was touching to see children of age 10 or so carefully digging out coins to pay for their trip. It's striking to realize how hard life is for others. If I really thought about it I couldn't go on living my own life in the same way.
We got off this amazing bus (what a great experience) in Cuzco just up the street from El Balcon, the hotel where we stayed while in Cuzco before and to which we are now returning. After checking in, we walked down to the main square, the Plaza de Armas, and had lunch on the balcony of a second-floor restaurant, people-watching in the square as we ate lunch. After lunch we walked several blocks to an artisans market and enjoyed some minor shopping. We picked up an unexpected companion, a shoeshine boy named Raoul, who was determined to walk with us. But he was entertaining and after our shopping we gave him a few coins.
We dropped packages off at the hotel, then went to sit in the main square and relax, after which we came back to the hotel. That left us time to get ready to meet the others in the main plaza for dinner by 7 PM. We had dinner at a nice local restaurant, and then came back to the room and to bed.
September 10, 2003
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There's no place like Cuzco
Cusco, Peru
We had a more leisurely start this morning, since today is a free day in Cuzco. We re-packed yet again (this must be new packing record) to incorporate the little things we had bought into our main luggage. Then at 10:30 AM we went to meet Vidal in the Plaza de Armas, the main square.
First we went to an interesting local museum where Vidal explained artifacts of pre-Inca and Inca people. Then we went to lunch at a small cafe. As we walked through the streets of Cuzco, we noticed once again how current buildings re-use the Inca foundations.
Next, we got a taxi that, for about two dollars, took us out of the city and up into the hills overlooking Cuzco. First we walked through some trees to reach an unnamed rock formation. There are lots of carvings of seats, altars, pumas, snakes, etc. among this anonymous formation. It is easy to find spots where fresh coca leaves have been left or other offerings have been burned. The local Quechua people still come here regularly to make offerings to Pachamama.
We walked further downhill to the site called Q’enqo, the Inca Temple of the Moon. Here, as at other ruins, when you see carvings of puma, condor or snake, the head has generally been broken off by the Spanish during the colonial period when they were trying to eradicate the old religion. It still hasn't worked.
We took a long and leisurely walk downhill and into the city of Cuzco, back toward our hotel. We stopped for a little shopping along the way. We got back to our hotel room at around 4:30 and rested until dinner at 7 PM. Then we went back to bed for last night in Cuzco.
September 11, 2003
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Do we HAVE to go home?
Lima, Peru
We were picked up at the hotel at 8:30 this morning to get us to the airport for the flight to Lima. The flight lasted a little over one hour and was kind of rough.
In Lima we were met by the same driver who picked us up when we first arrived. He helped us check our duffel bags at the airport, since it's now around noon and our plane home doesn't leave until 11:55 PM. The driver then took us to Villa Molina, the hotel where we stayed on the first night of our trip, and gave us a little time to get something to eat before we left on a city tour at 2:30 PM. From the hotel we got a map and directions to an intersection where several restaurants were located. We opted for McDonald's (where we would NEVER go at home), and enjoyed the comfort of familiar surroundings and food.
After the snack break our tour guide met us back at Villa Molina. Our tour of Lima included the archaeological museum, which had excellent artifacts from Inca and pre-Inca cultures. Then we went to visit the San Francisco church and monastery, including catacombs under the church filled with human skulls and other bones. We also went to the Plaza de Armas, the main square in Lima (and the name of the main square in every South American city), and saw the home of the president, some other official government buildings, and a cathedral.
After seeing the main sights of Lima, it was about 7:30 PM. We dropped off our guide, and our driver took us back to the airport, where we arrived at about 8:30 PM. We ate some supper, got dessert at Dunkin' Donuts in the airport, and picked up our duffel bags so we could check in for our flight. We picked up our last bottle of Inca Kola, a poisonous looking neon yellow soda that is found everywhere in Peru. On the flight home we stopped in Houston, where it took an excruciatingly large portion of our brief layover to clear U.S. Customs, then we boarded the plane to Newark, arriving at about noon.
This was really an extraordinary trip. I had lots of opportunities to interact with local people, giving my rusty Spanish a workout. Meeting Luisa and her family on the island of Amantani was very special, and attending the local dance was great! The beautiful scenery and colorful clothes of the people really leave an indelible impression. The awesome beauty of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu were unforgettable, as was the satisfaction of meeting the challenge of the hike. And even though Peru is undeniably a poor country with many problems, the friendly smiles of the people will stay in my memory.
My Photo Album: Inca Pathways
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