Machu Picchu and tu pollo está en mi mochila

Part 1: The story of Kirsty´s mittens

So I had this "ingenious" idea that some of the presents I would bring back would be bought with the recipient in mind, but would fill some need of mine throughout my journey. Washed and wrapped, these gifts would not only provide the person/people with some memento of my trip but would come complete with a terrific story! Kirsty´s mittens were going to visit Machu Picchu even though she couldn´t be there. In retrospect, maybe this wasn´t the most generous of plans, but it sounded good to me.

Cusco was cold, especially at night and with the prospect of going up another 1000+ meters, I thought I should get some gloves. Plus, my friend Kristy likes mittens; ergo two birds, one stone.

We left for the 5 day trek on June 27 at 4:45 in the morning. Well actually it was 5:15 because the tour company couldn´t find our hostel... not exactly the best of starts. We then took a 3 hour bus ride to our starting point. Our travelling companions were two women from Quebec (what are the chances? I know) and two women from Argentina. The first morning the weather was amazing and the views were stunning. We started hiking through the mountains, a slow climb from 3300 to around 4000 meters where our camp would be at the foot of a glacier (or two). One of the Argentine women was having some troubles dealing with the hiking and the much thinner air so after lunch she rode a horse to the camp.

Side note: (this is for you Jorge): neither of the Argentine women were fluent in English so a Canadian clique was quickly forming. Not wanting to exclude them, I thought I would try to ask them some basic questions in Spanish; I should have waited until after I started language school though... What I wanted to ask is "Are you sisters?" ¿Estan hermanas? What I instead asked was: Tu estas hombres? Are you....men? Whoops. Luckily they (cousins, not sisters or men) understood that I'm just a non-fluent gringo and not intentionally insulting.

So anyways, after making it to camp just before dark, we trekkers gorged on a pre-dinner mountain of popcorn (who knew it would be a 4000m staple???) and then hid in our warmer tents before dinner. About 20 minutes later, our somewhat frantic guide was opening Mike and I´s tent and asking Mike (the first/second year med student) to come see what was wrong with the Argentine woman. She was on oxygen, unable to get up and on 7x the recommended dosage of altitude sickness medication that most people are prescribed. Mike went into doctor mode like a pro but at 4000 meters, what can you actually do? It took 2-3 hours for a truck to eventually show up to take her to the hospital and by then the oxygen had long run out and she was in and out of consciousness. It was definitely a scary way to start our trek. I won´t keep you in suspense, she is totally fine now. Once she got to a lower altitude with more oxygen she recovered and after a few days of rest, she joined us at Machu Picchu. Unfortunately in the frenzy, we lost two travelling companions and our english speaking guide...plus Kirsty´s mittens were possibly zipped into the Argentine woman´s sleeping bag and never to be seen again. So much for that plan...

Day two we followed the cook. The cook, for those of you familiar with this term (Ed) was king of the Turkish Wait-Up. Plus he didn´t speak english and to top it off, we had the worst weather imaginable that day. Day two is a climb to 4650m (15 300 feet) and it´s supposed to have this incredible view of the salkantay glacier. Unfortunately, our morning started off with some rain and fog. This progressed, as we climbed higher, to snow. By the time we ran (literally) across the pass, Mike and I were getting pelted with hail. When we stopped for lunch, I was convinced that I would never be warm again.

Part 2: These feet were not made for walking.

We of course got warm again. Later that day we descended into the upper part of the jungle and it felt almost tropical in comparison to the frigid mountain pass. However, going down more than 2000 meters in a matter of hours is hard. For most people, their feet and knees are grumbling by the end of the day; my feet were no longer speaking to me.

Day 3 we had another 400 or 500 meters to go down, but this time we had joined up with another tour group and had a spanish speaking guide and a swiss translator. Thankfully, this jungle experience did not come complete with a snake sighting and the guide told us tons about all of the damage that the flooding and mudslides had done to the region. We emerged from the jungle into a little town for lunch and to watch the Spain-Portugal game. Unlike in most Peruvian cities/towns, there weren´t just dogs roaming around this one, but pigs and chickens too. In fact, I definitely saw a pig chasing a dog trying to get it´s bone...

A death-defying mini-bus ride later (complete with multiple avril Levigne songs) we arrived at our final campsite. By this point, our guide had reappeared and this "camp site" had a tienda, toilet with a flush and loud speakers playing...Bryan Adams. (Of all the Canadian content to play....) Both tour groups then took off to the hot springs. It was the first day the springs were back up and running since the land slides had closed the road. The reopening was accomplished by plowing/bulldozing a path for cars through the debris. Mike and I both agree that it may have been wise for it to stay closed...especially when 8 guys had to get off the bus to move a rock from underneath the bus so that we could keep going.

Day 4. Instead of another grueling mountainous trek (since we had Machu Picchu the following day), a few of us opted for the bus ride to Hydro Electric and then a leisurely 10km walk along the train tracks. With my feet back in Birkenstocks, I could have walked for days. This wasn´t necessary though since we reached Aguas Calientes (two words I´ll never forget Jorge), the town at the base of Machu Picchu just after lunch time having completed the 75 km trek.

Part 3: What goes down, must go up: The never ending stairs.

Day 5 (Canada Day!!!). Mike and I, as some of you know, rarely opt for the easy routes. We instead chose to do things like wake up at 4am so that we can start hiking (in the dark) at 4:15, up to the entrance of Machu Picchu. Think of doing the grouse grind but having it start at 1200 meters and doing it with headlamps... The rush to the top was so that we could get a ticket to hike another mountain (gluttons for punishment I know), Huayna Picchu which overlooks the city of Machu Picchu.

Our tour guide met us at the top and the first 2 hours inside the city were spent learning about all the temples, how and why they constructed so many terraces (300+ meters worth on the side of the mountain), the architecture, the way they used stones and their shadows in relation to the sunrise at certain times of the year etc etc. During this lesson, the entire mountain was in the middle of a thick cloud. Only around 9am did the clouds start to clear out and the city revealed itself in a manner befitting it´s allure and mysticism. The stone work, the design, it´s all incredible and pictures (still not posted) do not do it justice.

By 10 pm Mike and I wanted another perspective of the city. The best way to do this: climb another mountain. It was hard, especially considering the fact that we had already hiked up one mountain that day plus Peruvian trails are ever so much steeper and sketchier than Canadian (or Swedish) paths so it was mildly nerve racking getting to the top. The views were amazing though. The mountain range surrounding Machu Picchu all looks completely untouched and the perspective you get of Machu Picchu really makes you marvel at how (and why) the Inca´s built a city there.

We decided to take an alternative path to get back to Machu Picchu and visit the Temple of the Moon on the way. What we didn´t know was that this path would make the way up look tame. At one point we shuffled around a rock face on a 2-foot (60 cm) ledge while holding onto a rope with nothing behind us. Definitely the most terrifying thing Mike and I have done to date. Plus, the temple of the moon, cool...but not worth it! Also, when you´re going down, you think you´ll just have to walk around the mountain and you´ll get back to the bridge to Machu Picchu. Wrong again. More stairs. Another 40 minute hike up to the bridge.

We made it back to Machu Picchu by around 1, just in time for a few more stairs and some pictures from the "post card picture" viewpoint bfore having to head into town to catch our train. On the bus back to town (yes the punishment ended at the top), we had some time to reflect. The Inca´s: were they geniuses before their time or totally insane? I mean really, who builds a city ON TOP of a mountain??? I think that mountain should steal Grouse´s slogan: Mother Nature´s Stair Master. The Inca´s must have had the best gluts of all time. No wonder the Spanish wanted them extinct.

Part 4: School´s in for the Summer.

After the trek, Mike and I decided to take it easy for the weekend and head to Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, for the weekend. We went on a boat tour of these floating islands made completely of reeds. 400 or so years ago, a bunch of people were trying to escape the Inca´s so they made boats and lived on the lake. Over time, the boats got tied together and are now islands with a few thousand inhabitants. While interesting, they´re extremely touristy. After the history lesson, one woman invited us into her house (which had a solar powered light and TV) and tried to get me to try on and take a picture of myself in her "traditional" clothes...

I also caught a cold in Puno so we left pretty quickly and headed for Arequipa. The city is, as it seems many cities in Ecuador and Peru are, nestled in the mountains/volcanoes. Apparently it has some of the best food in Peru and the world´s deepest canyon is just a couple of hours away. Mike and I decided to settle here for language school (I was getting tired of making an ass of myself) plus it will be nice to not have to repack every day. We´re living with a family and the mother is so sweet. Yesterday she walked us to school to make sure we didn´t get lost. I felt like a kindergartner all over again!

The city feels much less touristy than some of the others that we´ve been in, plus it´s nice to have a family looking out for us. My feet finally consented to going for a run (and being in shoes) so Mike and I tried to find a less busy route to take. "Toto, I don´t think we´re in Canada or Sweden anymore." The pollution and lack of sidewalks were definitely obstacles. We´re going to see if there´s a park or track somewhere close. Despite the available nature, Peruvians are definitely not the most active of people. My marathon training may be taking a summer hiatus.