Peru
July 22 - August 5, 2005
All photos are copyright 2005 by Stephen Bay. They may not be used without permission. You can see many more pictures of our trip to Peru on Bay Images.
I am not sure how Stephen and I happened upon the idea to go to Peru for vacation this year. Personally, I knew next to nothing about Peru, except that the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu could be found there. Two of my main travel interests are history/archaeology and animals, so I figured any country that had opportunities to experience both of these things in abundance must be pretty good. Pretty good turned out to be the understatement of the year. Peru is a beautiful, amazing country and I am so glad we had the opportunity to visit.
Rather than booking through an American travel agent, we took the advice of some friends who had honeymooned in Peru and booked directly through a Peruvian tour company, Explorandes. This was the single smartest decision we made in planning our trip. Explorandes has operated in Peru for 30 years, and they made sure that every aspect of our adventure went as smoothly as possible, even when the unexpected happened. They were easy to work with and extremely knowledgeable. We chose the Classic Adventure tour package, and added on a two-night stay in the Amazon rainforest. I made all the arrangements via email with Vicky at Explorandes and it couldn't have been easier.
LIMA:
Friday, July 22, 2005
A shuttle picked us up at 4:30 a.m. for our flight out of San Francisco. We live quite close to the San Jose airport, but we saved $800 by flying out of SFO, so we sprung for $100 round trip for a van to the airport. We flew on Delta, with a plane change in Atlanta, and the trip was thankfully uneventful. We arrived in Lima around 10:30 p.m., and the airport was not very busy, so we flew through customs. There is only a two-hour time difference between California and Peru, so it was pretty easy to adjust. As soon as we came out of the passengers only area, we saw the Explorandes driver holding a sign with my name. Vanessa from Explorandes was there to meet us and we chatted with her on the 20 minute drive to the Hotel Mundo. Our hotel was in the Miraflores section of Lima, which is really the safest spot for tourists. Vanessa went through our whole itinerary with us to make sure we had all the correct vouchers for the various hotels and tours, as well as our domestic plane tickets. The hotel room was spare*, but clean, and we zonked out pretty quickly.
*Everybody keeps telling me "spare" is a typo. However, the AmErican Heritage dictionary says that when used as an adjective, one of the definitions is "Not lavish, abundant, or excessive: a spare diet". I may be the only one who actually uses it this way, but it's not a typo darn it! Interestingly, no one called me on using zonked. I looked it up and it actually means either "stupified" or "intoxicated with drugs or alcohol". Since the latter is quite improbable, I guess we were stupified.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Because we had added an Amazon rainforest extension to our trip, which replaced the Lima portion of the tour, we flew into Lima a couple days early so we could see the city. We had absolutely no itinerary for this portion of our trip, so we just played it by ear. One of my co-workers had a connection with a government official in Lima, so we had been promised a tour of the city. After a light breakfast at the hotel (most of our meals were included in the package), we called our contact and she sent over a driver. The driver was extremely nice, but he didn't speak English and we don't speak Spanish, so it was a very quiet trip. He took us on a two-hour tour over the whole city and even south of the city on the coast. Lima was larger than I expected. It has a population of a little over eight million people, which is about a third of the country's total population.
After the tour, we took a walk around nearby Kennedy Park (yep, named after JFK), which has a craft market, lots of shoe shiners, a little amphitheater, and lots of painters displaying their work. Many of the painters were quite good, and I found I really liked the style of art. The craft market had some interesting things, but apparently, most of them are made in factories. We soon realized you could find the exact same products all over Peru.
Luckily, the Huaca Pucllana adobe pyramid was also near our hotel, so we walked over to check it out. Sadly, much of the structure has been destroyed by urban development, but they have archaeologists working to uncover of much of it as possible. They have uncovered lots of bones (all women) in ceremonial gravesites, but they are not sure if they were sacrifices or simply buried in a special way due to their status. They had some Peruvian dogs there, which turned out to be the only time we saw actual Peruvian dogs, although there are tons of dogs all over the country. The dogs are basically naked, with a crest of golden hair on top of their heads. They are incredibly homely dogs, but the ones we met were very sweet and happy to have people pet them.
The ugly but sweet Peruvian dog. Okay, he's kind of cute, in an E.T. sort of way.
We walked back over to the craft market and bought a traditional Peruvian outfit for my niece Catherine. When they gave us the price, which was 120 soles, we hesitated because of concern about what we could fit in our luggage. They must have thought we didn't like the price because they then asked for 100 soles. That's about $30.75 US. For all we know, we overpaid a lot, but they are trying to make a living, so we didn't worry about it. Pretty much everywhere you go in Peru, people are trying to sell you something. There's a real entrepreneurial spirit, so you just have to get used to saying "no, gracias" about every three feet when you're walking down the street. Even the restaurants have people standing outside with menus chasing after you to entice you to eat there.
We were pretty tired, so we decided to just relax that evening and we went to see The War of the Worlds, since it was showing in English with Spanish subtitles. The tickets were about $3 US, and the theater was comparable to any decent suburban theater I've visited in the US.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
We took a cab downtown for 6 soles (about $1.85) and walked around looking at all the government buildings and churches. We went to the Museum of the Inquisition, which is free, but only with guided tours. Unfortunately, they didn't have any English tours scheduled for that day, so they told us we could just wander around on our own. I hadn't really been aware that the Spanish had brought the Inquisition over to South AmErica as well, but since all the signage was in Spanish, we didn't learn too much about it. They had plastic dummies in various stages of torture, which was incredibly creepy, but not as creepy as the underground dungeons. I could have managed to walk through them on a tour, but since Stephen and I were alone, I walked about five feet into the dungeon and had to run back upstairs before I had a panic attack. I am nothing if not a wimp.
After walking around and taking lots of pictures, we sat down on the one empty bench in the main plaza (Plaza Mayor). We quickly discovered why it was empty. We only noticed it was under a street lamp when a pigeon pooped on my head. Pigeons are evil. We walked down from Plaza Mayor along a pedestrian mall. The mall actually had a cathedral and I let a teenage girl sell me a picture of a saint and a little cross for 1 sole (about 31 cents US). We found a grocery store, so I ran in and bought a can of Peruvian cat food - Ricocat - for my friend who collects cat food can labels from all over the world. It was a whopping 37 cents US, since I bought the flavor (sardines and chicken - yum) that was on sale.
Upon our return to Miraflores, we were chased by several people wielding menus and allowed ourselves to be enticed into one of the restaurants. Nearly every restaurant in Peru seems to offer pizza and pasta along with more traditional Peruvian foods. The Peruvian food was quite good, especially the Aji de Gallina (chicken with a sauce made from yellow potatoes and nuts, among other things), which Stephen had that evening. We did, however, have to limit ourselves regarding what we could eat - no lettuce, for example, because it is washed in tap water. We were always very careful to brush our teeth with bottled water, as well.
Another interesting thing was that toilet tissue was supposed to be thrown into the trash bin rather than the toilet. It is amazing how difficult it is to remember to do that, when I've been doing it one way my entire life. When we were shopping for our trip, I bought some travel packages of toilet paper from REI. Stephen laughed and asked me if I thought they wouldn't have toilet paper in Peru. Well, sure, they had it in our hotels and at restaurants, but we encountered many bathrooms without toilet paper. We both wished I had brought more in my backpack.
OFF TO THE AMAZON:
Monday, July 25, 2005
We got up early and met Vanessa for our trip to the airport for our TANS Air flight to Puerto Maldonado. The flight isn't that long, but it stops in Cusco, which slows things down. When we arrived at the Puerto Maldonado airport, we saw that you could buy a yellow fever vaccination as soon as you got off the plane if you needed it (we had ours already).
We met our rep from Reserva Amazonica and headed across town to the dock. The town was FULL of little motorbikes, and we learned that these were actually taxis. We saw one with two adults and three kids! Our lodge was about an hour down the Madre de Dios River (a tributary of the Amazon) from Puerto Maldonado. By a stroke of luck, the weather had cooled off the day before we arrived and the jungle was not sweltering while we were there, as we had expected. The temperature was pretty much perfect.
Taxis in Puerto Maldonado. Notice that the taxi drivers have helmets but their customers don't.
We took a boat just like this one to Reserva Amazonica.
The cabanas where we stayed were quite nice, with running water and (cold) showers. There is no electricity in them, so the lodge provided kerosene lanterns. Luckily, we had also brought headlamps, which proved quite useful. Lunch was served as soon as we arrived. One thing I quickly learned about the cooks at the lodge is that they like to use cilantro in just about everything, and cilantro is the one food I fear above all others. It has such a strong taste to me that I can detect trace amounts in any dish. Happily, whatever spices they used at the lodge managed to totally disguise the cilantro taste so I did not have to starve during our time there.
We were supposed to have eight people in our little activity group, but one couple got booted from their plane (which we soon learned was a common occurrence) and didn't make it until late the next day. And it was their honeymoon too! There was actually another honeymooning couple in our group as well - we met a lot of people in Peru who were either honeymooning or celebrating an anniversary.
After dinner, we took a short hike through the jungle to Canopy Inkaterra, which is a series of suspension bridges at the canopy level of the trees. In three days, it was scheduled to be closed, and upon reopening a week later they were going to start charging $55 per person for the canopy walk. Luckily, we got to do it for free. I don't recall ever having been afraid of heights as a child, but I have certainly developed a fear in the past few years. The bridges were about 35 meters (113 feet) off the ground. That's really high. Take my word for it. They didn't feel stable at all (they were pretty safe, but it just didn't feel that way), and some were quite long. I just tightly gripped the rope railings and kept my eyes glued on the end of each bridge. Afterwards, I felt as if I had run a marathon - probably because I didn't breathe the whole time. Stephen got a lovely picture of me traversing a bridge with a frozen smile on my face. Yep, pure terror!
See how much fun I am having on this suspension bridge? I mentioned how high it was, didn't I?
Earlier we saw a funny little animal (about the size of a big cat) that looked like a miniature capybara. It turned out to be an agouti, and they were plentiful in the area, though we never managed to get a very good picture.
This is about the best picture we could get of the agouti.
We were just about ready to get into bed that night, when Stephen looked up from brushing his teeth and saw a gigantic spider on the wall. If there's one thing that scares me more than cilantro, it's spiders! It was about the size of a tarantula, but grey and not hairy. I went to find help while Stephen took pictures (of course). The moment I walked back into the cabana with a staff member the spider crawled behind the bathroom mirror and we were never able to locate it again to usher it outside. A short while later, I saw two giant cockroaches, but I barely batted an eye at them after encountering the giant evil killer spider. Luckily, there was a thick cottony mosquito net covering the bed, or I never would have gotten myself in bed in that cabana. I ended up lying awake much of the night listening to critters skulk about outside.
This is the giant evil spider that was in our cabana. Guess I can't freak out over Daddy Long Legs spiders anymore.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The next morning we told our guide, Ana, about our close encounter with the spider. She said it probably wasn't dangerous, but I include potential heart attacks in the category of dangerous.
We had breakfast at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. The lodge staff had rescued a baby ocelot whose mother had been killed by hunters. She was about four months old, and though they hope to release her back into the wild, she seemed awfully acclimated to humans. While we were breakfasting, she attacked Stephen's backpack straps with gusto. When he put his backpack up, she attacked mine. When I moved mine, she grabbed Stephen's hat and ran away with it. He had a heck of a time retrieving it. She did NOT want to give it up! She was absolutely adorable, but it was obvious she was no housecat.
This is the ocelot kitten attacking Stephen's backpack shortly before he rescued it.
After breakfast, we took a short boat ride so that we could head into the Tambopata Reserve. It was about a 45 minute hike to the swampy canal where we could canoe out to Lake Sandoval. The man who owned the canoes, Mr. Miranda, had been attacked by an anaconda three days earlier, so he was in the hospital. By the time we left Peru, we had been told what happened by about five people and every version was different, so I'm just sharing the version our guide told us, with the disclaimer that it might not be completely 100 percent true.
Mr. Miranda had been alone in the canal in a canoe with his dog, when an anaconda went after the dog. Our guide saw the anaconda afterward and she said it was about 10 feet long. Mr. Miranda went to protect the dog and the snake bit him on the thigh. Anacondas aren't poisonous, but because of their size, a bite can still be a serious thing. Because he was alone, Mr. Miranda had to walk 45 minutes back to the river. Then he managed to get a ride on a boat faster than his and he went to the hospital in Puerto Maldonado. When his son heard what happened, they went after the snake and killed it, which is apparently a big no-no in the reserve, but they really didn't want this aggressive snake hanging out in an area that a lot of people travel through.
We made our way through the canal to the lake without incident and were treated to a beautiful canoe ride around the lake. The bird life was abundant and we saw red capped cardinals, red belly macaws, a juvenile ibis, grey-necked wood rails and these crazy birds called huatzins. We also saw a black caiman, the largest of the caimans, which is quite rare. After docking, we walked past the Miranda's farm and saw the dog that was nearly dinner, and then we hiked back to the river.
After lunch, we waited for our delayed honeymooning couple, and then went out to Rolin Island. Inkaterra (which runs Reserva Amazonica) is using the island to rehabilitate pet monkeys that they hope to re-release in to the wild. There are four kinds of monkeys on Rolin Island: White-Faced Capuchin, Black-Capped Capuchin, Spider Monkeys, and the saddle backed tamarin. When we walked into the interior of the island, it wasn't long till the monkeys came around to see if we had anything good to eat (people are not supposed to feed them, but non-Inkaterra groups are known to break the rules). A little White-Faced Capuchin Monkey was the most interested in our group and she hung around quite a bit.
Have you seen the musical Oliver? Please sir, may I have some more? This is a White Faced Capuchin Monkey.
After that we went to a farm that was given to a man as a concession by the Peruvian government with the understanding that he would keep it as a working farm in good shape so that people can come in and see a traditional farm. Don Anselmo, who ran the farm, was around 70 years old, and he lived there with his son. There was a huge array of fruits, vegetables and herbs (including the dreaded cilantro) on the farm. Some of the things had the same names as US fruits and vegetables, but they were actually different from ours. Don Anselmo's wife lives in Puerto Maldonado to run their stall at the farmer's market, which is where the bulk of their produce is sold.
Don Anselmo leads a tour of his farm.
On the way back, we shone lights on the river to help us spot white caimans, and we saw a few, but didn't manage to get too close. The one (very minor) disappointment of the Amazon portion of our trip was that we didn't get to see any capybaras. I've seen them in the zoo, but I would love to see the world's largest rodent in the wild. Ah well.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
I slept a little more soundly Tuesday night, but had to brave the cockroaches in the bathroom at 4 a.m.
We headed back up the river to Puerto Maldonado for our flight to Cusco, and this time our eagle-eyed boat captain spotted several white caimans sunning themselves on the rocks. On the third try, we managed to get right up next to one for a close look. He was on my side of the boat, and had I wanted to, I could have reached out to touch him. I refrained. Stephen got some great close-up shots, though.
Don't worry, he's harmless. Really!
While we waited at the Inkaterra office for people to pay their bills and use the bathroom, we saw a bunch of kids practicing for the Peruvian Independence Day parade the next day.
These girls are practicing for the next day's Peruvian independence celebration parade.
After our arrival at the airport, we soon discovered the horrors of domestic air travel in Peru. The only two airline choices are TANS or LAN, and they both have a reputation for canceling and overbooking flights with wild abandon. Our 11:30 a.m. flight on TANS was delayed because it was "windy in Cusco", yet LAN flights to Cusco took off and arrived with no problems. I finally asked the guy at the counter why they lied when it was so obvious, but he just laughed (and did not deny lying). Finally, we got on the plane at around 3:30 p.m. and discovered the real reason for the delay. The landing gear wouldn't come up after the plane took off. They thought they had fixed it, but when they realized it still wasn't working, we turned around and landed back in Puerto Maldonado. Argh! After waiting and waiting to hear what they would do, they decided to send the people that wanted to go to Lima out that night, and send those of us going to Cusco out early the next morning.
After retrieving our luggage, we went to the counter to figure out where we could go. Suddenly, Cecilia M. and Erika S. from Inkaterra appeared. They had been monitoring the flight situation the whole day, kept in touch with Explorandes about the schedule changes, and had a hotel for us to stay at in Puerto Maldonado. Explorandes even sent a fax to the hotel with our revised schedule - luckily, we had only missed one city tour, which was moved to our free day in Cusco.
FINALLY ON TO CUSCO:
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Inkaterra took our luggage to the airport at 4:30 a.m. Thursday and checked us in while we ate breakfast at our leisure. They picked us up at the hotel at 5:30 a.m. and by the time we arrived at the airport, we were simply walk through security and get on the plane. They really took good care of us. Security at the Puerto Maldonado airport was a hoot. No one ever looked at our passports/ID. The x-ray machine was not turned on (broken, I assume), so they just gave each bag a couple of squeezes, then pushed them through the disabled x-ray machine for someone on the other side to catch. This gave me a huge boost of confidence.
We actually managed to make it to Cusco, and Elmer from Explorandes met us at the airport. We dropped our bags at the Hotel Tikawasi, and headed straight to the bus for our overnight trip to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. While driving around to other hotels to pick up people for the tour, our bus driver hit another bus and the other bus's side mirror smashed through one of our windows. I was surprised that this was the only accident we were in while visiting Peru, as people drive like maniacs there.
We had a wonderful guide - Jorge - for the tour. He had a large depth of knowledge about the area and he was clearly passionate about the subject. We stopped at the Pisac Market and Stephen finally decided to take a picture of one of the many people in traditional clothing who want you to pay them to take their picture. A lot of them are little girls holding baby sheep, goats or dogs. I suspect practically everyone who has traveled to Peru has a picture or two like this.
At the Pisac Market, we found a few of the many women and children in traditional clothing who will pose for pictures for cash in Peru.
We bought a few gifts there and I bought one of the few things that I got for myself on this trip. A woman had big bowls of brightly colored powdered pigments, and I bought a set of the pigments just because they looked so beautiful in the bowls. Don't know if I'll actually get around to painting with them - but they just appealed to me. It was 10 soles (about $3US), and including that, I only spent 37 soles ($11.38US) the whole day, so I wasn't really a big spender. I did get a beautiful little watercolor painting that I am going to have framed for our living room. I wanted a bigger one, but I just didn't think I could get anything bigger home safely. One guy was haggling on the price of a painting that was about 10 soles, and honestly, I thought it was a little insulting to the artist. Thankfully, she didn't budge on the price (he didn't buy it). How can anyone be that cheap? He was haggling over 2 soles (about 61 cents).
These are some of the bowls of beautiful pigments I saw at Pisac Market.
Next, we had lunch in Urubamba and Stephen was feeling miserable. It was too hot on the bus and he felt pretty nauseated. He sat at our table while I had the buffet for lunch and the fresh air soon perked him up. There was a band playing Peruvian music at the restaurant, and they were quite good, so we bought their CD.
We really enjoyed Peruvian music and we bought this band's CD.
After lunch, we headed up to the ruins at Ollantaytambo. We got pretty winded walking up all the stairs, but it was an amazing view from the top. The Inca construction (not just at Ollantaytambo, but everywhere) is astounding.
We're really going to climb up there?
We made it. I thought this would be the extent of my lungs' workout in Peru. I was wrong.
We stayed at the Hotel San Agustin in Urubamba, which was nice and quiet. We had a little trouble communicating with the guy at the desk though. I asked him if we had any messages because we were waiting to hear back about our river rafting trip the next day, and he said he would get back to me in about 20 minutes. After waiting nearly an hour, I finally went back downstairs to the desk. He saw me and said, "it's $30/hour". I was pretty confused until I realized he thought I asked for a massage instead of a message. About a half hour after that we got the information regarding our rafting trip.
Friday, July 29, 2005
A van picked us up at 9:30 a.m. for our river rafting excursion on the Urubamba River. Our host was Willy from Apumayo Expediciones. There was one other couple (from Peru) and another woman (AmErican) - the perfect size group, and they were all really nice. The river was kind of calm that time of year, so there wasn't much white water on our white water rafting trip, but I really enjoyed it because the scenery was so gorgeous - snow covered mountains, Inca terraces, various llamas and alpacas, etc. The trip was about 3-4 hours, and then we went on shore for lunch. Somehow we got into a big discussion about coca tea, and how it's illegal to bring it into the U.S. Julie from our group had just one little packet of tea she wanted to take home and the others in the group told her it would be confiscated if customs found it. Apparently, the U.S. government does not want any coca products to come into the country. Somebody at lunch said it takes 100 kilos of coca leaves to make 1 kilo of cocaine, so I am not sure how a bag of tea could make you a drug smuggler. Humorously, the process of making cocaine apparently requires sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is not manufactured in Peru, so the drug producers import it from the US, and then they export the drugs out of Peru (probably to the US).
One of our fellow rafters thought it would be a hoot to take a picture of us in our wetsuits with the snowcapped mountains in the background.
Coca tea is extremely popular in the Andes. The locals swear it helps people cope with the altitude. It is a nice mild tea and we drank a lot of it while in the Andes simply because it was offered so often.
After lunch, we headed back to Cusco and the Hotel Tikawasi. We basically just had time for dinner, and dined at the Inka Grill at Elmer's suggestion.
Here I am in the Plaza de Armas in Cusco. When traveling, much of my time is spent sitting on benches while Stephen takes pictures. I just enjoy the scenery.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
We spent Saturday morning wandering around Cusco, trying to get used to the altitude (around 11,000 feet) prior to our trek on the Inca trail. We started taking Diamox the day before coming to Cusco, and we didn't seem to have any problems, except for getting winded a little more easily. We walked around Plaza de Armas, down Avenida del Sol to the craft market, then over to the train station and the local food market. There was a huge variety of food - especially different types of potatoes and corn. We tried to get away from the touristy shops so we could find a big plastic handle bag like the locals used, so we could leave some of our stuff in it at Tikawasi while we were on our trek. We managed to find one the right size, and then had to meet up for our postponed city tour, which included the Cathedral del Cusco, which was built over the remains of an important Inca temple. Much of the architecture in Cusco is actually built on the foundations of Inca ruins, which tended to be much sturdier than the Spanish constructions. We rushed through the tour to meet our Inca Trail guide at 6 p.m. back at the hotel.
This is one of the many, many stray dogs in Peru. Some of the dogs were a little skittish, but we never witnessed any agression at all.
I don't know how we managed to get so lucky, but our guide, Narciso, was absolutely amazing. I may be slightly biased, but I am convinced he is the best guide in the history of guides. He went over the details of the trek with us and also gave us some great news. We were to be paired up with another group and their guide - a total of only four trekkers, which would be really nice. Of course, in addition to the guides, we would have about 14 porters and two cooks. We said goodbye to Narciso until 5:30 a.m. the next day and headed off to dinner.
THE INCA TRAIL:
Warning: This section makes quite a few references to throwing up. They're not terribly graphic, but don't read it over lunch.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Somehow we managed to get ourselves going in the morning and headed out to Kilometer 88, where our trek would begin. We picked up our trekking partners, Eric and Claire on the way, and we all disembarked together at Kilometer 88. This was my first clue that I may have made an error in judgment. In planning our trip, I included the Inca Trail trek because I thought EVERYONE did it, and it was listed as moderately strenuous. When we got off the PACKED train, it was just us - everyone else took the train directly up to Machu Picchu. I wondered what they knew that I didn't. Maybe I should have taken the small avalanche that hit our train car earlier that morning as a sign. Earlier, we heard a loud bang and then the train stopped. They had to clear debris off the tracks from the avalanche. When we got off the train, it was clear from the piles of dirt on the steps that our train car bore the brunt of the avalanche.
We got our things settled into our tent, then headed for morning tea. The campsite was run by a man who had moved to Peru from Germany, and it had a nice dining area, as well as the best toilet facilities we would encounter on our trek.
Here I am holding the tent down at Kilometer 88.
The manager was a skilled carpenter and his tables reminded me of my Swedish grandfather's carpentry style. We discussed this a bit, and I happened to mention that my grandfather and his father built much of my mother's hometown. Claire politely inquired about my mother's hometown and when I responded that it was Mount Pleasant, Iowa, their jaws both dropped open. Eric is from Mt. Pleasant as well. That is not the end of it though. I mentioned Eric's parents' names to my Mom when I called her a few days later from the Lima airport. Not only did she know his parents, but it also turns out we are related! My family has had an annual family reunion every year since 1900, and Eric's mother was actually the secretary for the reunions for a number of years. I haven't yet figured out exactly how we are related, but I still can't believe we happened to be in the same group.
After our morning snack, we set out on an approximately four mile hike around the Q'Ente ruins. A lot of this was uphill and I struggled with breathing in that altitude, not least because I had a cold. Apparently my nose turned a bit blue from lack of circulation, but I managed the hike. I tend to be overly cautious when hiking downhill/downstairs because I always feel like I am going to fall, so Narciso recommended a walking stick for me so I would have more confidence that I wouldn't fall. I was pretty winded when we made it back for lunch, but it wasn't too bad. However, when we sat down to lunch, I didn't have much of an appetite. For dinner that night, I enjoyed some fabulous pumpkin soup and managed to eat a little of the beef they served.
This is our guide, Narciso. Yes, I know it's a picture of his back, but I thought it was a beautiful photo.
Our tents were nice and roomy. It wasn't too cold at that altitude and we didn't have too much trouble falling asleep.
Monday, August 1, 2005
When we sat down for breakfast, the trouble began. Just looking at the food turned my stomach. I managed to eat a cracker and saved one of the rolls for later in the day. I just made sure our water bottles were full and figured my appetite would return at lunch. With my cold and the fact that I am not in the world's greatest shape, the morning was a struggle for me. However, although it was definitely harder than I expected, I didn't see any reason that things would get any worse. Clearly, I lack psychic abilities.
Despite struggling with the hike, I couldn't help but be in awe of where I was. Everything was beautiful - mountains, trees, flowers, birds. Plus there were Inca terraces and ruins all over. I've never seen such a magical place before.
Taking a brief break at the Patallaqta ruins.
Claire and Eric kept up a pretty good pace, while I lagged behind. Stephen had to slow his pace for me. It was only during the last couple hours of that day's trek that the altitude and strenuousness of the hike hit Claire too. We took turns stopping and resting, and finally made it up to the campsite about an hour or so before dinner.
A look back at where we had been. What a view. And this is what it looked like in every direction. Beautiful!
Honestly, I don't know how the porters do it. These guys carry about 30 kilos (66 pounds!) on their backs up and down the mountains. They bring all the tents, the trekkers' duffel bags, a portable toilet, a kitchen with all the food, a dining table, chairs and a dining tent, among other things. I had trouble with my own daypack.
This is one of the many porters we saw loaded down on the Inca Trail.
Anyway, I staggered into camp and right into my sleeping bag. As would become my habit practically every time we stopped to rest, I threw up (thank goodness for Ziploc bags). It was not particularly cold, but I could not stop shivering in my sleeping bag, and apparently Claire had the same problem. Narciso brought me a hot water bottle and I finally managed to warm up a little bit. I tried to drink water as much as possible to stay hydrated, but nothing agreed with my stomach. I managed to fall asleep, but I think Stephen and I both slept quite restlessly.
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
I got up and used the potty tent (a toilet seat on a bucket, which was actually much better than some of the real toilets we encountered). I managed to eat a half a slice of cold toast. There was a really nice warm porridge, but something about the consistency just made it unappetizing. Both Claire and I were considering whether to turn around and head back to kilometer 88 and take the train to Machu Picchu. But I just couldn't seriously consider that option. I couldn't fathom the idea of coming all the way to Peru (and paying all that money) and then turning around halfway through the trek. I also incorrectly theorized that since it was a long walk back to kilometer 88, that it would be just as easy to go forward as it would be to go back.
Stephen and I were ready first, so Narciso, recognizing that I needed a good head start just to keep up, sent us on up toward the first pass. Some time later, when he was ready and caught up with us, he said that our partners in crime had turned back to go to Machu Picchu via train, along with their guide and a couple of the porters. I later told Narciso that had I been a betting woman, I would have bet on me being the one to turn back and he agreed. But I understand why Claire and Eric turned back. One of their main interests was bird watching, and one does not need to drag one's self up a mountain to do that. Plus, it was their 20th anniversary, and if it were me, I would prefer something a little more relaxing. We certainly missed their company during the trek, though.
Tuesday's trek was to go through the highest pass on the whole trip. Boy, oh boy, was it high. We actually got pretty close to where the snow capped peaks were. We were getting close to the top of the Warmiwanusqa Pass (mearly 14,000 feet), but I had to stop every couple minutes to rest. I just felt like I couldn't pick up my legs any more. I was lucky enough not to have classic altitude sickness symptoms (headaches, acting drunk), but the altitude still made things very difficult, as did the fact I couldn't breathe through my nose at all. As we neared the top, Narciso decided that a little oxygen might enable me to make it (yep, they carry a heavy bottle of oxygen too). Narciso was even carrying my daypack to make it easier for me, but I was really slowing down. After the oxygen, I made it to the top, and after a quick photo, we immediately headed down the other side. When we were about halfway down, about 10 of our porters came running back up the hill (they had long since arrived at our lunch spot) with a stretcher. They had heard that someone had collapsed at the top of the pass and they were afraid it was me. Luckily, it wasn't, and I assured everyone that I could walk down the mountain.
Here we are at the highest spot of the whole trek. We paused only long enough to snap the picture.
Stephen and Narciso were starting to get a little anxious about my lack of food, so after a brief nap in our dining tent, I attempted to eat a bowl of tomato soup, which is one of my favorites. I kept it down for about two minutes. Narciso decided that he would ask for permission for us to camp at the next campsite after the next pass, as he didn't think I would make it the extra two miles to the original campsite before it was pitch dark. I think I did a little better in the afternoon, but the stretch on the downside of the second pass was made up of very steep steps, so I moved quite slowly, afraid that my legs might not hold me up since I hadn't eaten in a couple days.
As we got close to the bottom of that stretch, several of the porters ran up and applauded me for making it that far. Honestly, at that point, I think everyone was surprised I was still upright (I know I was surprised). When we arrived at camp, the rest of the porters gave me an ovation as well. You know you're in sad shape when people applaud you just for walking. I headed into the tent for my nightly appointment with a baggie, and didn't even consider the possibility of dinner. I tried to keep down some water, but I knew I was starting to get a little dehydrated. After lunch, Narciso told me to stop taking any medications I was on - so I quit the malaria pills and the altitude sickness preventative. Taking medicine when you're barely even drinking water isn't such a hot idea, but it didn't even occur to me.
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
That morning, we were to say goodbye to our porters. They would run down to the train so they could go collect their pay, and they would also drop our duffels at the hotel in Aguas Calientes where we planned to stay. We gave them their tips (honestly, there aren't enough tips in the world for what they do - they were so supportive and enthusiastic and they carry 30 kilos, gosh darnit!). Then we took a group photo, with me on a chair, of course. I wasn't too confident about standing at that point. Then they brought out this amazing caramel and chocolate cake they had brought. It had probably originally been intended to celebrate Eric and Claire's anniversary, but since Stephen and I had just had our second anniversary, they made us the celebrants that morning. I managed a microscopic bite of cake, and then we headed on our way.
Here's the whole team on the last day of the trek. We had 12 porters, two cooks and our guide. Note that Stephen is sitting without the aid of a chair.
Going down steps was really hard on my stomach at that point. We passed through a really cool steep tunnel, and at the bottom, I threw up for the first time while out on the trail. I knew there was something funny about it because it was so dark and I had nothing in my stomach, but I was too out of it to figure it out. But then our cook, who was hanging around to make sure I was okay, said, "sangre". I don't know a lot of Spanish words, but I know that one. I had been having a lot of acid reflux since I stopped eating, and so I knew the acid in my stomach was probably having a field day. Even when you know why it's happening, vomiting blood is still pretty scary. But at that point, there was nothing to do but continue. We did a brief experiment with the assistant cook trying to carry me on his back in the traditional Peruvian manner, but I immediately decided that was much less comfortable than walking. Besides, I was about a foot taller than the poor guy, and I was afraid he'd have permanent damage to his back. I'm not exactly a petite girl.
We passed Phuyupatamarca, and from there, it was a steep downhill climb to Winay Wayna. At that point, I don't know what was keeping me going. Every time we turned a corner and I saw another switchback, I wanted to cry. By this time, the cooks had gone on, but Narciso kept two porters with us, just in case I collapsed. All I could think about was lying down. Finally we reached Winay Wayna for our lunch break. A friend of Narciso's who ran a concession there sent her little boy to buy some Gatorade for me from another stand. In the meantime, Narciso gently suggested that perhaps it would be better if the porters carried me the rest of the way on a stretcher and I tearfully agreed. There were only three miles left and I desperately wanted to walk it myself. While we rested and those who could eat (read everyone but me), ate, and I managed to drink the whole bottle of Gatorade and kept it down.
Our challenge was that we had three miles left to travel (two to Intipata, the Gate of the Sun, and one more on to Machu Picchu) and we HAD to make it within three hours in order to make the last bus from Machu Picchu down to Aguas Calientes at 5:30 p.m. Well, I now believe that Gatorade is some sort of miracle drug. After drinking that one bottle, I decided that I could indeed walk the last three miles myself. There were some steep parts, but nothing as bad as the stretch between Phuyupatamarca and Winay Wayna. I actually took off at a fairly rapid clip, and we made it to Machu Picchu in just over two hours. It wasn't exactly easy, but after we passed Intipata, the last of the porters felt confident enough in my condition to go on their merry way. It was on this final day of trekking that we began to see beautiful orchids all over the place. I was finally coherent enough to fully enjoy the scenery.
Here I am staggering down the steps from Intipunku with my trusty bottle of Gatorade.
When we arrived at Machu Picchu, Stephen and Narciso wanted to head up to one of the higher areas so Stephen could take some pictures. I knew I was fading fast, so I headed down to the entrance to wait for them. On my way down, I ran in to Claire and Eric heading up to catch the sunset! We talked briefly, then they went up to talk to Narciso and Stephen and I sat on my rear end until it was time to catch the bus. I very discreetly threw up on the bus, but that may have been more due to motion sickness. Narciso showed us around Aguas Calientes, and took us to our hotel. We were to meet him for dinner later, but I kept throwing up, so I sent Stephen to meet Narciso and stayed in bed. Before I got in bed, though, I took the most wonderful hot shower I've ever had. Even my dirt was dirty, and my normally thick and luxurious hair (really!) was flat and limp. I watched some Sandra Bullock movie in Spanish and attempted to drink more Gatorade.
We actually do have a posed picture where Stephen isn't running into the frame, but this one cracks me up.
It was SO nice to sleep in a real bed that night. The only downside was that we were supposed to get up at 5 a.m. to get up to Machu Picchu for the sunrise.
Thursday, August 4, 2005
We got up and made the 5:20 a.m. bus to Machu Picchu with time to spare. It was already getting light when we got up there, but the sun would not rise over the mountains for at least another half hour. Stephen and I weren't sure where we were to meet Narciso, so we wandered around taking pictures and kept our eyes open. Right before the sun appeared, we saw Narciso on a lower level and I went down to greet him while Stephen waited for his picture. After the sunrise, Narciso and I saw Claire and Eric near the top, as they were to join us for a tour of the ruins. We started off, but after about 10-15 minutes it became apparent that I wasn't in any shape to be climbing around. I sat down and Claire took my pulse, which was over one hundred. It did go down shortly, but the hot sun and the altitude made it awfully hard for me to go on. They found a shady spot for me to sit, and I rested there for a couple hours with my trusty Gatorade while Stephen, Claire and Eric took the tour. I didn't worry too much because there were plenty of people around and I knew the sanctuary's doctor would arrive there around 9 a.m., should there be any problems (there weren't). It felt really nice to know I didn't HAVE to keep going, as I did on the trek.
While I sat on the bench and enjoyed the panoramic view of the ruins, numerous people came and went next to me on the bench. Mid-morning, a guide sat down with a woman to whom he was giving a tour. I don't recall how it came up, but he started telling her about the people who had died on his tours. That was not exactly what I wanted to hear!
But honestly, though I probably made circumstances sound rather dire, I don't think I was in too much danger. Narciso was extremely knowledgeable and kept a close eye on me. He has been guiding for more than 30 years, so I am sure that if he thought I was in real danger, he would have insisted that I be carried down and taken to a doctor. Instead, he was very encouraging and supportive of my insistence on finishing the entire trek on my own two feet. Despite the difficulty, I am glad I did it. But next time, I'm taking the train!
We said goodbye to Machu Picchu and headed back down to Aguas Calientes at around 11 a.m. At noon, we met Narciso for lunch at a local restaurant. He had arranged for them to make a bowl of plain boiled white rice for me. I was really hoping to be able to eat it. It looked and smelled good to me. While Stephen and Narciso were at the buffet, I took one bite and immediately threw up. Luckily, the restaurant had just opened and we were the only ones there at that point. My next strategy was to wait for it to cool a bit, then I took tiny bites and chewed them endlessly before swallowing. I am normally a slow eater, but Stephen and Narciso were practically ready for dinner by the time I was done. I managed to eat maybe a little more than a quarter cup of rice. This was a huge triumph for me.
After lunch we went to buy an "I Survived the Inca Trail" t-shirt for me, which we all felt I had earned. Stephen wanted me to buy one that said "I am Survivor Inca Trail", but I just couldn't bring myself to wear a grammatically incorrect t-shirt. He insisted that this was somehow more authentic, but I didn't fall for it.
In the afternoon, we started the long train ride back to Cusco. Stephen and I mostly slept. I enviously stared at another passenger's Pringles, so I thought that was a good sign. We ended up back at the Hotel Tikawasi at about 9:30 p.m., and watched a bad Antonio Banderas movie while I tried to eat a few Club crackers. I think we both slept quite well that night.
Friday, August 5, 2005
We got up around 7 a.m. and went upstairs to breakfast. I ate an eighth of a piece of bread and a little bit of scrambled eggs. We headed down to the plaza to get some last minute gifts I wanted to buy. I got a little tired, but we made it back to the hotel and relaxed in the garden while we waited for the van to take us to the airport. To our delight, Narciso showed up with the van and rode with us for a few blocks so we got a chance to say goodbye to him. I think he was relieved to see me looking slightly livelier.
Honestly, I think we ended up with the world's best guide on our trek. Narciso knew so much about both the history of the area and about the plant and animal life, not to mention having a vast store of practical knowledge. He could answer any question we threw his way, and he gave very sage advice about focusing on what surrounded me rather than my struggles on the trail. We were in very good hands.
However, having the most wonderful guide for our trek seemed to be par for the course when it came to Explorandes. Everything they arranged directly went perfectly, and the companies to which they contracted out part of our itinerary were equally exemplary. It's hard to believe that the only real gaffe on our trip was TANS Air's cancelled flight. We hope to go to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in the next few years, and I was thrilled to find out that Explorandes has a branch in Ecuador as well.
The trip home was uneventful, although we had a long and annoying layover in Lima until our midnight flight to Georgia. At the airport, I managed to eat an actual dinner, so I knew the sea level altitude agreed with me!
THE WRAP UP:
If I had it all to do again, I wouldn't change a thing. Of course, I would prefer not to starve for four days again, but the trip was worth it in every way. Should the opportunity to visit Peru arise, I recommend jumping at the chance.
