Peru 2010

This not Amy making this post.  It is likely she will take a very long time to get around to it.  Peru was very hard on her.  So I will make the first.  PhotoZac (El Chromo-23) and Col will also make posts, hopefully, to give their version of The Great Peruvian Expedition of 2010. 

Here is a link to pictures.  That way you don’t have to read this stuff. 

http://cid-6a5cdeba2d55d4aa.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Peru%202010

 

The dates, locations, elevations, and times I will place in a different post.  That way, if you are interested in the actual travelling part, you can get facts and not just the opinions.

 

We arrived in Lima 7/9/2010 just before midnight.  The first night we slept in the airport. 

Once again, in my life, I was jealous of Zac and his sleeping arrangements.  Even though people kept peeking around the corner, the tile was cold and hard.   We weren’t the only ones sleeping there.  They should charge like a hostel.  The nice thing about that place is they announce EVERY single plane arriving and departing several times as if it were a major accomplishment.  This happens all through the night, and not once during the day.  It seems asi anyway.

Our luggage was  lost and we wouldn’t see it for two more days.  The Delta ticket clerk in SLC assured us it would get there not problem.  We still rearranged our things just in case.  The Lima Delta manager was helpful, after we had to get irritating.  They did send the luggage to Cusco right after they received it.  (It arrived exactly one day after us.  No flights to Cusco until the following morning.  = 2 days)

When we did get our gear, it was all soaking wet and starting to mold.  Fine job Delta.  The best part was, they didn’t actually lose it.  The lady behind the luggage claim desk in Lima knew exactly where it was.  WTH! (what the heck!)  I know Mormons will read this. 

 

7/10/10

The flight to Cusco gives you a peek at what the Andes are really like; however, you don’t really know until you hit the trail on foot. 

We slept in Aguas Calientes.  It is at the base of Machu Picchu.  It takes several hours to get there from Cusco by private chauffer and tren (I’ll sprinkle a little Espanish for flavor).  

 

 

En route to Ollantaytambo (the train starts here), the scenery is quite amazing.  There are many HIGH elevation farms in this region.  Here are some to the local ladies playing their own Copa.

Photo-bomb Juan.  Enjoying la Copa.  A local and her baby.

Notice in the pictures everyone is dressed for cool weather except for us.  Thanks Delta!

Ollantaytambo is a smaller town a couple of hours outside of Cusco.    We paid $60 for the ride in a private car.  Travelling by bus is much cheaper, but also MUCH longer.  It was worth it.  We were already tired and we needed to make the train.  The town also has ruins to visit.  The admission includes access to other ruins in the region, but not Machu Picchu.  Cost is 43 soles.

 

If you go by train, be sure to get the tickets in advance.  They often sell out, as we saw with other people who wanted to get to Aguas Calientes but were told they would have to wait several days or hope someone didn’t show up.  We paid approximately $90 round trip.  It is spendy, but I bet it is one of the most scenic train rides in the world.  Plus, they hand make these chocolates which are oh so tasty.  One other train tip, I would spend the extra $10 and not get the bottom class seats.  You sit facing other passengers.  Let’s just say the distance makes it more than cozy.  Lot’s of Euros and Japanese people on the train.  Their personal space is much smaller than mine.

Aguas Calientes is a happening place with tons of hostels and restaurants.  It is situated between mountains and almost has a claustrophobic feel.

We stayed in the in a hostel towards the top of the main street.  I can’t remember the name.  It cost $25/night for a room with two beds.  We booked two rooms.  They have hot water, showers in the room, storage for gear during the day, and breakfast in the morning.  Not the cheapest place around, but a very economical choice for the amenities offered.  There are real hotels around, for about $300/night.  There are also cheaper hostels, but I didn’t want to share a room with El Chomo y El Tio.

 

7/11/2010

Machu Picchu is SPECTACULAR!!!  Pictures in no way whatsoever do it justice.  All I can say is, it needs to be seen to be truly appreciated.

The buses from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu start leaving at 5:20 a.m.  If you want to see the sun come up from there, you should get your tickets the night before.  We lined up for the buses around 4:30 a.m., and there were probably 100 people in front of us.  I mention this because they only allow 400 people into Wayna Picchu each day.  The 400 people are separated into two groups of 200 people each.  You must be at the Wayna Picchu gate early.  Wayna Picchu is the mountain in the background of the above picture.  I opine it is worth the extra effort.  The climb is somewhat treacherous (not kidding), and not everyone will be able to do.  In fact, we saw many people turn around.  

These are all from the Wayna Picchu trail.  El Chromo-23 should be using two hands on the cable, but he didn’t think he needed it.  However, you can see by his flexed forearm he was pretty worried about the camera. 

Be sure to check out the other pictures of Machu Picchu from the link on top of this post.  After a couple hours at Machu Picchu (you could spend a couple of days there easily, it is quite enormous), we caught the train back to Ollantaytambo.  

Amy on the train.  So, so tired.

From Ollantaytambo, we had our private chauffer pick us up and take us back to Cusco.  This was arranged because there weren’t many returning taxis.  Juan was there waiting and we were on our way.  Spain won the World Cup.  We missed it.  The train doesn’t have TV.  Juan, ever so helpful, dropped us off at his buddy’s hostel.  Lucky for us, it worked out ok.  It is the Buhos Inn on la Avenida del Sol (the main street).  They were very nice there and helpful.  It has hot water, TV’s, breakfast starting at 6:00 a.m., and a place to store gear.  Plus, they gave us some mate de coca (pretty much cocaine tea, ok – not really).  It is to help with the altitude sickness.  Altitude sickness is a real thing and if you are from Idaho, Utah, or Washington D.C., you will experience it.  But, it’s not that bad.  

We arrived after 5:00 p.m., and the airport was closed.  So, no new change of clothes.  Collyn really stinks by this time because none of his gear made it.  Amy and I both were able to carry-on our packs on the plane. 

 

7/12/2010

We woke up around 6:00 a.m. to get to the airport to get our things.  There are plenty of taxis around Cusco.  You won’t have any problems finding one if you need it.  We worked it out so he would take us to Cachora also to begin the Choquequirao trek.  We paid 6 soles to get to the airport (should have paid only 5).  We also arranged with the Buhos Inn to leave some of our things and just take our packs with us.  We paid the driver 230 soles to take us to Cachora (we should have paid 200). 

Great surprise at the airport.  All of our gear was soaking wet.  Needless to say, I have emailed Delta and am awaiting a response.  I’ll post it also. 

Cachora is about 4 hours from Cusco.  In bus, I would imagine about a 5.5 hour ride.   The road has many twists and turns and elevation changes.  It is fun at first, then you can’t sleep and it isn’t so fun.

If you take a bus, you will need to catch another bus down to Cachora from the highway, or take a taxi.  They are waiting by the side of the road at the bus stop.  5 soles for a bus ride down, 20-30 soles by taxi. 

Upon arriving at the plaza, we were immediately approached by a woman with a baby offering arriero (porter with a mule) services.  At first I thought we would take advantage of the offer and get started right away.  It was already 11:00 a.m. and we hadn’t started the trek.  The sun is strong in the higher altitudes.  After watching her walk around the square and do nothing, we decided to find someone ourselves.  This made her mad.   I ended up telling her we couldn’t wait all day and we needed to get started.  She then told us 20 minutes, he’ll be ready.  Well, nothing happened.  We got our own guy.  We found out later she was waiting for another group to show up.  If they didn’t, we could use the arriero who was ready.  Glad we didn’t wait.  We paid 25 soles for the mule and 25 soles for the arriero, and 5 soles for his food per day.  The total came to 220 soles for the trek.  You could get a guide, but not necessary in the least for this trek. 

At the plaza, opposite the church, is the Mountain House.  There you can arrange arrieros and rent equipment if you need.  They have tents, sleeping pads, and sleeping bags.  I would recommend you bring your own. 

Our arriero’s name and contact information:  Jose Monzon 01992112998   He is a quiet guy and his English isn’t great, but he is very honest and definitely took care of us.  I would definitely recommend him.  Of all the people we met and places we stayed, he is the absolute one thing I would recommend. 

Mountain House contact information:  Uriel Cusi Ortiz 083.983757687 or uriel_aventura@hotmail.com

Uriel is a funny guy and will help as much as he can.  He takes care of one of the camps on the trail and is the alleged co-owner of the Mountain House.  This is not the kind of place to arrange everything for you.  They can definitely help and accommodate, but you should make sure things are in order yourself if you use them.  Uriel does speak English fairly well. 

 

 

Getting to the trail head is quite easy.  Just head down the street and watch for the signs.  There are only two, but they are hard to miss.  Jose even brought an extra mule in case one of us couldn’t make the trek.  The idea at first was to pack a few of the heavier items on the mule, and then carry the rest in the packs.  Jose had a different idea – everything on the mules.  At the beginning, I was feeling somewhat robbed.  However, after less than an hour, Jose’s idea was the best.  I only saw 3 people packing their equipment.  The other groups we saw used arrieros and guides.  Thomasa y Julian son los mulos de Jose.  Zac es un mulo salvaje!

The first day includes a lot of downhill and then a pass of around 10k feet.  We stayed at the Chiquisca camp (run by Uriel) the first night.  Originally I wanted to stay at Playa Rosalinas (next camp 45 minutes farther), but the bichos (bugs) are quite horrible.  It took us about 4 hours to get to Chiquisca.  It was dark by the time we set up camp and got to bed.  It does have simple showers and holes in the ground for latrines. 

All the camps have nice flat, grassy areas. 

PhotoZac decided to sleep outside the tent.  Lucky for him, he made a new backpacker friend.  I don’t know if they exchanged numbers, or just stories, or what.  I just know an exchange of some type was made. 

From Chiquisca.  Jose, Julian, Thomasa en camino.

7/13/2010

This is the hardest day of the trek.  You cross the bridge at Playa Rosalinas (approximately 5k feet) and then climb to over 10k feet in one day.  It is quiet grueling, arduous, strenuous, you pick the adjective that relates the closest to suffering.  We left camp at 6:00 a.m. and arrived at the next one in about 5 laborious hours. 

Playa Rosalinas bridge.  Trail looking back across the river.

For food, we packed Kashi bars and Cliff bars.  They don’t require any preparation, are relatively light, and contain good protein and calories.  We didn’t want to pack any cooking equipment because we were considering an arriero a luxury if we could get one.  Lucky for us, there are places on this stretch of the trail which will prepare food for you.  At Santa Rosa Alta (another camp), we bought a plate of rice, papas (potatoes), and eggs.  It was one of the best meals of my ENTIRE life. 

Food stop.

There are Peruvians who live along the trail.  Even in places you wouldn’t expect.  After talking to some of them, they say they have lived there for generations.  They farm in the wet season, and help the tourists in the dry season. 

Look close to see the trail.

The next camp was Marampatas.  It is one of the most incredible places I have ever camped.  They charged 2 soles to stay there.  I think it is more of a courtesy to pay than anything. 

Marampatas camp.  The views are amazing.

After setting up camp and a good rest, we continued on to Choquequirao.  It is an additional 2 hours from Marampata.  They will tell you it is 45 minutes.  However, that is to the entrance only.  It costs 37 soles to enter. 

 

37 soles per person, please. 

Choquequirao is huge.  We only had a couple of hours to explore, and it easily takes an entire day.  The 5 day trek may be better for those who aren’t in decent shape or want time to see most of the ruins.  I doubt you could see everything in one day even.  It is much like Machu Picchu in that sense.  To see everything requires much bajando, subiendo y sudando. 

We saw several condors while there.  

 

There is a campsite at the ruins of Choquequirao. 

After several hours at the ruins, we headed back to camp, another two hours.  We did make it back before dark.  I should mention Tio Collyn was sick at Marampata and yacked.  It should be gone by the time you get there.

We paid for some dinner while we were here.  There is a family who lives at this campsite with several houses and a small venta.  The food wasn’t the cheapest, but it was very tasty and they give generous portions.  Some of the best we had while in Peru.   They eat a lot of vegetables down there.  In particular, the higher elevations always had some kind of lentil beans, corn, and potatoes at every meal.

It was pretty chilly and windy that night, so we tried to find a place to eat out of the weather.  The other group at the campsite with us wouldn’t share the table.  Interestingly enough, they were French.  I was torn, I met another Frenchman on the trail who was a pretty cool guy.  He made me think I had only met some French bad apples, but then this lady reaffirmed the stereotype.  The best part was, there was plenty of room. 

Anyway, we ended up with something better.   Maybe that is why the French are the way they are.  We always end up with something better.

That night was one of the better sleeps.  It was cooler.  However, they did have a bunch of stinking chickens to wake us early in the morning.  The chickens liked the French tents the most.  They walked between them and crowed.  Served them right. 

 

It was pitch black in the little hut, until they gave us a candle.  It made the camera hard to focus.

 

Mate de coca to make you feel better.

7/14/2010

We started early to beat the sun.  At least today was more down than up.

Houses of the family.  French tents, chickens in the background.

Dew was heavy at this camp and the fly and tarp were pretty wet.  We tried to get everything ready the night before, but this morning we were moving a little slower.  Perhaps because the day before was brutal on the body.  However, we made fast time on the way down.  Especially, after Jose told us to pick it up.  Jose was practically running down the mountain.  At one point, I couldn’t separate the mules from PhotoZac.  He had been inspired and was determined to keep up.  FYI, you won’t be able to keep up with the Peruvians.  Those guys can start 2 hours later and still beat you to the camps, even if they are carrying things and are wearing slippers or flip-flops.

We hit Chiquisca around 10:00 a.m.  After that, there is a good climb, so we took a break for a couple of hours and dried out our gear from the morning dew.  It was definitely nice to take a break, take a nap, and get some more water.  Tio Collyn packed a water filter so we wouldn’t have to boil it.  Although, I am not sure the water would even make you sick. 

It was nice to cool off and sit in the shade.  I even took a shower.  We spent an hour just talking to Jose and Uriel.  It was a good opportunity to get to know them and the area.  We were usually pushing hard and out of breath.  At the other camps, Jose spent most of his time talking to friends or relatives.

We arrived at the last camp just before 5:00 p.m.  It was only an hour from Chiquisca, but we had made good time that day.  The last camp’s (unknown name) owner was a relative of Jose.  It isn’t the nicest place, but the bugs weren’t bad and you can see Chiquisca and Playa Rosalinas from this camp.   It his higher than those two.  Plus, it has the best view of the Apurimac river.

Views from the last camp.

There was a family at the last camp from Pennsylvania.  They had made it to Playa Rosalinas the day before, but were on their way back out.  This trail is not for everyone.  5-10% of the people we met on the trail didn’t make it or were on mules. 

That night we slept without the tent to get an early start on the day and get back to Cachora. 

 

7/15/2010

We were going to start early, but instead ending up leaving a little after 6:00 a.m.  It would have been nice to leave earlier, but it worked out fine.  It was about 4 hours to get back to Cachora.  There were at least 2 other groups returning the same day we did, but we didn’t see them on the trail or in town.  Although, we didn’t have much time in town.  The bus was heading to the highway not long after we arrived. 

Last mountain pass in the trail.  Myself, PhotoZac, Thomasa, Julian, Collyn.

Choquequirao from the pass.  You can see it in the background of the picture above with the sun hitting it.

We thought we had made it after arriving in Cachora, unfortunately it wasn’t the end of the journey.  The bus to the highway cost 20 soles and lasted almost an hour, even though it was only a few kilometers.  At the highway we waited for another bus for 15 minutes or so.  Then we asked a taxi to take us to Cusco.  I offered 200 soles (the last guy charged 230).  He jumped right on it.  Later, he told us he normally charges 180 soles for the trip.  But, they drop you off at a bus stop in Cusco rather than taking you to your destination. 

Bus stop on the highway.

The taxi had problems about 20 minutes into the drive.  Lucky for us, the guy’s brother lived in the town where we broke down and took us the rest of the way.  They ended up splitting the money.  Plus, the brother had a van instead of a car, but the A/C didn’t work.  You’ll never be too comfortable in Peru.  The winding, twisting, turning four-hour jaunt was all that was left between us and a good rest. 

It seems like we arrived at the Buhos Inn around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  They still had our gear and we stayed there another night.  It was nice to shower with hot water. 

Qizas I will make another post from the Peru trip.  Maybe not.