There were only 2 other people in my group and Canadian (Gerald) and a Brit (Richard) who had met each other in Aussie where they had both been living for the last several years. They were too funny -- just like an old married couple. In addition to the other 2 tourists we had a guide, a cook and a horseman (who came with 2 horses to carry our stuff). The guide (Jhon) was funny because he told me that he was very confused when he came to get us all in the morning since he a been told that there was a couple and a single. I was picked up first and then the boys were picked up -- no one had told the guide the couple was gay -- he was ok with, it just surprised.
So we started the day with a slightly unnerving drive to Lares (during which the mantra ¨the driver is not suicidal¨ from my first trip to Costa Rica was very helpful). Once in Lares we went to the baths -- they were great -- there was one really hot one, one cold and 4 intermediate. One of the warm baths was so big you could swim in it
We hung out there for a couple of hours and then had lunch. After lunch it was time to start the trek. We were walking through the countryside along paths and roads that are most often used by foot traffic and farm animals.
Along the way we got to see many locals -- especially children. They were super cute, they came out to get the pictures taken, and many having become accustomed to foreigners coming by would then ask us for candy. Many of them did not speak Spanish they spoke Quecho (probably spelt wrong).
It is the native language descended from the ancient Inka language. Our guide spoke some Quecho so he helped us to understand them.We arrived at our first stop Huaca Huasi. Now if Lares seemed like a small town Huaca Huasi was significantly smaller. There was a school, and a church, but that was it. However having gotten used to groups of tourists there were a few enterprising women in the town who brought over hand made woollen (alpaca, llama and sheep) goods as well as bottled water and coke. This was handy as we needed water. The kids wanted to play soccer with the boys but after about 10 minutes of playing Jhon had to tell the kids to take it easy on Gerald and Richard since they couldn´t breath well at altitude.
Camp was set up for us by the horseman and the cook. It really did feel weird to have everything done for us while camping, but it was nice and the food was excellent.
The washrooms on the other hand...well lets just say, as someone who often prefers squaters, simple small holes in the ground are really hard to aim into for girls. And doors on toilets are really highly overrated (but I guess if I am going to live in China next I might as well get used to that).
The washrooms on the other hand...well lets just say, as someone who often prefers squaters, simple small holes in the ground are really hard to aim into for girls. And doors on toilets are really highly overrated (but I guess if I am going to live in China next I might as well get used to that).Day 2 was our hardest hiking day, but not nearly as bad as day 2 on the Inka Trail. It was uphill until 4200 meters above sea level, but thankfully it was not all stairs. This is the pass at 4200 meters, in the first pic are Jhon the horseman and the cook; the second pic is Jhon, Gerald and I.
The area was beautiful and again the trail was spotted with children and animals (cows, sheep, goats, horses, llamas, alpacas and vicunas).
This time we were walking along a path that disappeared and reappeared along the way (good thing we had a guide). We finished the second day´s hike at a town that was somewhere inbetween the size of Lares and Hauca Huasi.
On day 3 we walked along a dirt road to a tourist town where the Inka Trail begins. The town is called Ollantaytambo and in the main square there was a yarn spinning competition.
From there we took the train into Agua Calientes at the base of Machu Piccu. The 3rd day was the easiest but was still very beautiful. In Agua Calientes we stayed in a hotel and were able to shower with hot water -- yea!The plan was to wake up early on the 4th day and go up to Machu Picchu for sunrise. That meant breakfast at 4:30 am. However at 4 when my alarm went off it was raining. So no sunrise, oh well at least we could sleep longer. Instead we ate at 7:30 and were on the trail up to Machhu Picchu by 8:30. It was still raining, but we didn´t really care. The rain was stopping as we entered the site, which is fantastic and impossible to describe. Jhon gave us a tour, telling us about the Inkas and the discovery of the site. 60% of Machu Picchu is original and 40% is restored. We spent about 4.5-5 hours wandering around looking at all the beauty. Inside I saw many lizards, birds and chinchilas. I even saw a humming bird feeding on some of the flowers.
We took the bus down from Machu Picchu and had a late lunch with Jhon before getting on the train back to Cusco. The train ride was one of the more interesting ones I have been on. Generally I think of trains as one of the more seccure forms or travel. However on the 3rd day when the boys and I took the train to Aguas Caleintes Jhon took the train after us for locals. His train was stopped for 3.5 hours because of a landslide that had blocked the track. Appearently this is fairly common. I also knew that it is faster to get off the train at the first stop and take a bus because the train is not the most direct route ( I would soon find out what that means). About 30 minutes past the first stop we came to a jarring stop, and 2 minutes later the lights went out. All the passangers were looking at each other wondering what was up. Eventually a guy came in and told us that there was a mechanical problem that was being fixed, and that we would be underway in less than 20 minutes. Sure enough it was not long before we were going again. However only another 10 minutes down the line we came to another jarring halt! This time they fixed the problem faster. So when 30 minutes later we again came to a jarring stop we were all starting to get a bit annoyed. However this time we started to back up. Then we stopped again, and went forward, stopped again and backed up and stopped again and went forward. It seems that the turn they had to make was too tight so the zig zag the tracks in order to get the train around the turn! This happened one more time on the ride. The second time was when we were in Cusco so we had a fantastic view of the city all lit up -- which was fantastic. Seems like a crazy way to build a set of train tracks to one of the most famous tourist sights in the world, but hey most things in this world seem not to use the same logic I do, and I´ve gotten quite used to that.
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