Peru - Part 3

Thursday, March 20th - we leave Aguas Calientes at 7:20 am to walk a few minutes to the buses for the 30 min. ride up tp Machu Picchu.  The road up is a replay of our Anaconda switchbacks, but the buses handle it just fine.  Since the park is most crowded with tour groups in the morning, Miguel suggests that we hike to Sungate first, come back down for lunch and then tour the grounds after lunch.

There were several llamas grazing inside the park as we hiked toward Sungate.

This stone walkway is the Inca trail from Sungate to Machu Picchu.  It was a little over a mile from the entrance to Sungate, with an ascent of 1646'.

The view looking down from Sungate.

A view across the east agricultural terraces.

Friday, March 21 - six of the nine of us opt to return to Machu Picchu to climb Wayna Picchu today.  Machu Picchu means "old mountain" and Wayna Picchu means "young mountain".  We are part of the 200  allowed up between 7-8am.  We get up before 5am, eat breakfast and catch an early bus so that we can get an early spot in line.  Jorge leaves even earlier skipping the bus and taking the steps up.  Oh, to be in my 30's again!  Maria, David, and I met Jorge at the entrance.  We were about sixth in line at the Wayna Picchu gate at 7am.

Part way up Wayna Picchu.  The morning started cloudy and misty, but cleared as we climbed.  The climb had many steep steps.  Fortunately there were cables attached to the side of the mountain for security and assistance.

The view from the top of Wayna Picchu.

Going down there was a section with no cable.  David is doing the wall cling.  That is a garbage bag over his backpack as a mist/rain protector.   We made it up and back down in 1 hour 43 minutes.  That included our time resting and enjoying the view.

Happy to be down from Wayna Picchu.

After a good lunch at the Inca Terra hotel we catch the 1:30 train to Ollantaytambo and then a bus back to Cusco.  No, we didn't have to hike back.  At the El Mercado Hotel in Cusco we bid farewell to Miguel and the rest of our hiking "family".  After a nice shower and dropping our laundry at a Lavanderia, we went out to the main square (Plaza de Armas) in search of pizza.  

Saturday, March 22nd - we have arranged with Carla for a tour of the sacred valley.  We have a full day visiting the Pisac and Ollantaytambo archeological sites, a couple of markets, a silver factory and an alpaca sweater factory store.  It was a great day.  Thanks to Carla and her driver.

Standing at a viewpoint at the beginning of the Sacred Valley.

The agricultural terraces at Pisca.

Ollantaytambo site.

An important fountain at Ollantaytambo.  Notice the carving in the stone.

A photo op with a woman in traditional dress with her alpaca and llama.  

How could we resist these sisters with their little lamb?  

In Ollantaytambo we caught two moto-taxis in front of the cougar statue.

Sunday, March 23rd - a day around Cusco exploring the markets and squares.

A cooking tool demo attracts a big crowd.  

Looking up the hill from the main square.

Musicians entertain in our restaurant.

One more city day and then a day of planes as we make our way home.  Hope you have enjoyed the trip as much as we have.  It has been a trip of a lifetime!

Peru - Part 2

Sunday, March 16th - this was the day of our long (7.3 mi) and high (15,213').  We started out strong and confident, then we hit the anaconda switchbacks.  I think the going up was harder on us than the altitude.

Lots of water coming down alongside the trail.

Looking down on the switchbacks.  Notice our 911 mule bringing up the rear (green & red specs).

Occasionally we had to yield the trail to pack mules or horses.  This group was carrying propane tanks to the 2nd lodge (Wayra) which is not accessible by road.  

The happy group at the top of the pass.  Yes, it was a bit cool up there.  We headed down to our lunch stop. Served in a tent by two chefs who hiked ahead of us with our lunch fixings.  There was an eating tent, a cooking tent, a potty tent, and a tent for our backpacks.

Eating our lunch of corn soup, pasta, and wine pear.  We are at 13,799' now.

We arrived at our 2nd lodge around 4pm in a light rain.  The staff were there to welcome us with hot wash cloths and tea.  They had a dry room for our wet shoes and jackets.

Above is the lodge the morning of March 17th once the rain stopped.  We have an easier hike today from Wayra lodge to Colpa Lodge.  We are moving mostly downhill into the cloud forest.  We encounter some very narrow parts of the trail with mountain on one side and a drop off on the other side.  We share this trail with the mules and horses.  Some spots were very muddy.

Walk carefully or risk dropping 100' or more.

Our snack stop with chickens and dogs in attendance.

Mud!!!

At last we arrive at Clopa lodge (9,372').  We watched as they prepared our lunch, a pachamanca.  A traditional Peruvian celebration feast prepared in a stone oven outside.  We had chicken,pork, lamb and guinea pig with several types of potatoes, fava beans and plantains.

Our pachamanca buffet.  Yum yum!

Tuesday, March 18th - today we celebrate Jim's birthday with cake for breakfast.  As we leave Colpa Lodge we have a view of three valleys.

We cross the river on this ancient style log, stick, and mud bridge.  Once we get to the road we hike on the road.  It is all pretty good except for a couple "water across the road" spots where I get my boots a little wet.  After hiking 5.3 miles from Colpa Lodge we are met by a van.  

Our bags are transferred from the mules to the van and we say goodbye to our mule drivers.  Notice the mule off to the right with a scarf over his head.  It keeps him calm.  All the drivers carry a scarf for that purpose.

The scenery continues to delight us.

They grow corn on what looks to be nearly vertical hillsides quite high up the mountains.

We stop at a local organic coffee farm.  The owner roasts, and grinds some coffee beans so we can taste Peruvian coffee.  Even though David and I don't drink coffee, we gave it at try.  With a little cane alcohol and sugar it tasted good even to us.

We arrive at Lucma Lodge and are greeted with cool wash cloths and juice.  All of the Mountain Lodges have been fantastic.

Wednesday, Mar 19 - we celebrate our third birthday with a cake for Maria.  Our chefs are knocking themselves out.  We leave Lucma lodge around 7:30am.  

We hike over 2 hrs uphill to Llactapata ruins where we catch our first glimpse of Machu Picchu.

That lighter green in front of the big peak is a part of Machu Picchu.  A bit past the ruins view point we arrived at what will become Llaqtapata Lodge.  Presently it is a camping site for backpackers and a small restaurant.

After lunch we walked downhill a couple hours.  Eventually we crossed the Rio Ahobamba and made our way to the Hydroelectric train station.

Getting ready to take the train to Aguas Calientes, our base for Machu Picchu.

Peru - Part 1

Thursday, March 13th

We clear customs around 7am after an early morning flight from Lima to Cusco.  We are met at the airport by a REI representative and driven to the El Mercado hotel in the historic center of Cusco.  We eat breakfast at the hotel, drop our dirty laundry at a nearby Lavanderia, and head off to explore the town around us.  It is mostly tourist "stuff" with some nice alpaca shops and hiking equipment stores.  David did find new laces for his hiking boots.  At 1pm our REI guide, Miguel, and the rest of our group of 9 met for a tour of Cusco city.  FYI, Cusco is at 11,021'.  This part of the trip is all about altitude.

We have a young couple from LA, a woman from Portland, a couple from Australia, and a couple of long time friends who grew up together in Canada, one retired to Phoenix and the other lives in Toronto.  

We visited the Convent de Santo Domingo del Cusco which houses the temple of the sun.  Next came the Basilica Cathedral, resplendent with many alters covered with gold leaf or silver.  The cathedral also houses many great paintings including the last supper with roast guinea pig on the table.  The last site we visited was Saqsayhuaman, an archeological site.  We were wowed by the size and precision of the Inca rock foundations.  We learned about the Spainards capturing the Inca leader, Atahualpa in 1532.  The Spainards destroyed many Inca religious/power sites and built over them using the Inca stone foundations.  A powerful earthquake in 1950 led to the collapse of many Spanish colonial structures and revealed the Inca structures beneath.  

Convent de Santo Domingo del Cusco courtyard.

Basilica Cathedral in Cusco

Saqsayhuaman, an archeological site - Joanne in front of the rock foundation.

David and Joanne with Cusco city in the background.

Friday, March 14th - the plan is to drive the van with some rest/sightseeing stops along the was and then hike the last ~5 miles on the Soraypampa trail to Salkantay Lodge.

Tarawash archeological site.  J & D in the slots where they would put important mummies for ceremonies.

One of the many daisy flowers in the wall.  How did they cut so precisely?  How did they move these rocks into place?

Peruvian grandmother walking home with her shopping on her back.

We stopped for lunch in Mollepata (9,371') at the home of our 2nd guide Carla's parents.  We didn't eat guinea pig, but we saw their "guinea pig kitchen" where the pigs were raised.  

Our hike was 4.7 miles to an altitude of 12,690'.  We were hiking on a road of sorts.  There were 4 or 5 spots where there was water running across the road.  The first water we were all careful to keep our boots dry.  In the end we all had wet boots.

Kim getting a ride across the first water on the mule led by Stanislav.  We called Stanislav and the mule 911.  He carried extra water, medical supplies, and oxygen.  I am at the lower right putting my boots on after wading through barefoot.

David in front of Salkantay Lodge.  This is the first of 4 lodges built and run by Mountain Lodges of Peru.  The lodge was wonderful.  We enjoyed their outdoor jacuzzi.  At night we were treated to hot water bottles in our bed.    The lodge was opened in 2007.  It is the first in a series of 4 mountain lodges all built within a year and a half and opened at the same time.  The founders are a Peruvian and Austrian.  All the employes are locals and they were all so nice!

Saturday,  March 15th - today is our test hike up to Lake Humantay and back.  We go up to 13845'.  We all make it okay.  

We awoke to find llamas grazing below our balcony.  I loved this little baby talking with the leader of the herd.

The mountain was almost out of the clouds early that morning.  We learned the clouds and rain can come and go, hence the need for layering and a backpack to carry jackets, etc.

Here are a couple horses and a mule at 13,400'.  We were huffing and puffing going up, with frequent stops to take photos.  I would hate to tell you how many photos of horses and cows I took.

Finally we arrive.   We had a snack break at the lake before going back to the lodge for lunch.  In the evening we had a Pisco sour lesson and celebrated Pete's birthday with chocolate cake for dessert.

Our bartender pouring the pisco sours made with passion fruit juice.