One Way United

So we celebrated Jordan’s birthday in Cusco. His 22 was spent in a local bar watching Miami beat Detroit for the second time in their playoff series and playing Pinochle which we managed to teach to Fabrice and Julian. The next day Jordan and Fabrice had to wake up early to start their hike to Choquequirao, another set of ruins near Cusco that are supposed to be cool. They made the deal with one of the porters we had on the Inca trail and are even going to do some of it on horseback. I decided it would be better if I stayed out of this one, so Julian and I made our way to Arequipa, through a long uncomfortable bus ride that at least had the kindness to play some movies with English subtitles.

Arequipa is Peru’s second largest city after Lima and legend claims it’s name came about when the Incan king passed by the area and the locals said in Quechua, a popular indigenous language of these parts, “Ari, quepay” which means “Yes, you can stay”. The town itself is very beautiful with plenty of old churches and side-walk cafes. It is also is near the second deepest canyon in the world Canon del Colca, at around 3400 meters deep. The deepest canyon is actually closebye and is named Cotahuasi Canyon and is only about 163 meters deeper. Originally I thought I was going to do a two day tour of the place but it proved to be a bit more expensive then advertised and didn’t sound that spectacular enough to merit the price.

So instead Julian and I spent the first day sleeping and recuperating from the bus ride, then we went out to tour the town a bit. It’s a lot lower than Cusco and is quite a bit warmer which I’m appreciating. There are even palm trees in the main plaza. All the old buildings in this town are made out of volcanic stone so they have an beautiful white appearance, giving Arequipa’s nickname “The White City”. The town is nestled nicely in the Andes surrounded by many mountains and volcanos including El Misti at around 5822 meters. Julian and I appreciated all this beauty just long enough to find the nearest mall so we could go to the movies. We saw “The da Vinci Code” which I thought was pretty good. I’d really enjoyed the book and was excited to see how it translated onto to the big screen. All say it was good and leave at that rather than spoil anything. I was even more excited to see that X-Men 3 is finally out. This means that when I get to Lima I will probably be able to see it *eyes flash with joy*. Yeah, I know I’m a dork but I’ve been wanting to see this movie for roughly three years now. That’s a long waiting period.

The next day Julian and I went to the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. This massive convent covers a whole city block and was built in 1580. A rich widow chose her nuns from the richest families in the area and from the age of 12 onward lived solely inside the walls and were never allowed out. There are still nuns living there today but their lives are not quite as strict. There are many little streets inside this small city and lots of little apartments for each of the nuns, who at first could buy special priviliges with money and class.

We also went to the Museo Santuarios Andinos to see one of the city’s most famous attractions: Juanita the world’s highest human sacrifice. The Inca’s believed the mountains were gods and if they erupted or anything of the like the people would offer sacrifices to appease them. The sacrifices were usually children aged 12 to 14 who were chosen around the age of 3 to be sacrifices. They were raised especially carefully to maintain their health and purity. It was considered a great honor to be chosen as it was believed they would be going to live with their gods upon being sacrificed. Even still hearing how this was carried out unsettles me. This poor girl had to walk from Cusco to hear over many days of travel and then had to climb to the top of an almost 6000 meter peak in very weak shoes and clothes. Then after the ritual ceremony the child’s face was covered with a vale and then the preist would smash her skull in with a large stone mallet and then buried for the gods. I can’t imagine what the kid must have felt like leading up to that. We were not allowed to take pictures of the actual mummy, but if you do a google search under “Juanita the inca ice mummy” you can find some more info and pictures.

Sadly, Arequipa is also were I will say goodbye to my friend Julian who we met way back in San Pedro de Atacama. He’s a very cool guy and has been fun to travel with. We’ve discussed the finer points of German beer, American-European intricacies, and taught each other numerous card games. He leaves tonight to go to Lima and fly back to Europe to continue his trip before he does his required service time. I hope he has a safe journey and that I get to see him again someday. I’ve always wanted to visit Germany anyways!

So that’s it for now. There are pictures from both Cusco and Arequipa for you to look through. The people page has also been massively redone with pictures of people we’ve met and links to our adventures with them. Hope everything’s great with all of you.

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So the moment you’ve all been waiting for: our adventure on the Inca trail! Despite various unwanted occurences (pretty much all of them having to do with illness) this was a very awesome journey and I think we’re all glad we did it. So I’ll give you a day by day breakdown. Be forewarned this will be a long post.

Day 1

We were forced to wake up at 4:30 a.m. (if there is one thing I will never enjoy about backpacking it’s the complete disrespect it has for my sleep). We waited outside our hostal in the dark for the company bus to come get us. It finally did and we piled on to a bus filled with twelve senior year high school aged kids from Costa Rica. Turns out their teacher was leading them on this trek as they take a week off from school. All I have to say this is a very brave woman. Any way we rode the bus to a small town, Urubamba I believe where we stopped briefly for breakfast. Getting out we were instantly surrounded by loads of locals trying to sell us various things for the trail. Food, hats, gloves, walking sticks, and boy were they persistent. Jordan managed to buy an alpaca hat for 8 soles, marked down from 10 when he told the woman selling them that he was from Lima. Hmmm…Anyway we ate and got back on the bus to kilometer 82 where the fabled Inca trail starts. Once again a dozen different people tried to sell us stuff while we were getting our gear together. Jordan ended up buying another hat, this one more of a cowboy style one that he really liked and looked pretty good in. He managed to keep it with him throughout the trip but somehow it dissappeared before we got on the train back to Cusco on the last day. Strange.

We met our guide: a very cool guy named Ronny (sp) who’s probably done the Inca trail more times than he could count. He was born in Peru and has traveled around the world doing all kinds of hikes and studying. He spoke very good English and even French, which Fabrice appreciated, and studying Tourism (apparently you can get a degree in that here) at the University of Cusco and is now a freelance guide who does about one guided trip a week. He let us know what was planned for the day and said that he’d be staying with the large Costa Rican group and we could hike ahead if we wanted to. This was fine by us and we were introduced to a woman named Sammy who was going to walk with us. She took us to the main entrance where we had to show our tickets and passports. For some reason they give you a stamp in your passport when you do the Inca trail. Since Jordan and I were students and had got a reduced discount we needed to show our student cards. However there was some mix up at the company we booked the tour with and they thought Fabrice was a student and not Jordan. Somehow this was a really big deal so we had to leave our student cards with Sammy who told us to walk ahead a little ways and wait for her at a house that sells fruit along the trail. We never saw Sammy again as after a little waiting Ronny and the main group caught up and he told she was staying behind to sort things out. So we went on ahead hiking on this very beautiful trail going uphill towards our first campsite.

Now would be a good time to mention that none of us were feeling our 100% best. We all had been a little quesy when we woke up (I’d actually thrown up that morning) and Fabrice was probably the worst off. But we made it up the hill to our first ruins site. Jordan and Fabrice laid down to rest and I took a look around. I ended up talking to a very nice Peruvian park ranger who told me a lot about the trail and the porters and tour companies that run it. Now let me tell you a little something about the porters. They are amazing. These men work for various tour companies and pack in tents, food, cooking gear, and all the necessary stuff except for your own personal belongings like clothes and sleeping bag (unless you feel like shelling out for your own personal porter). Now these guys pack all this junk in these large awkward rucksacks that you could easily fit an average sized woman into and look to be bearing the weight entirely on their backs. All this and there often jogging on the trail, in sandals no less, while all the tourists are huffing and puffing. I found out that the average porter does this trip 2-3 times a month and depending on the company they work for they make 50 to 60 soles per trip (that’s about $20). Apparently things are getting better but these guys are still way underpaid.

Our first campsite was near a village called Yuncachimpa set on this very nice hill overlooking the farmland below. Our tents had already been set up (again amazing porters) so while Fabrice took a rest Jordan and I walked around watching all the horses and chickens roaming free. Then we sat down to an amazing dinner. Every night we had something like chicken and rice or fish and potatoes. Much better than the standard backpacker fair.

Day 2

After a night of variable sleep we got up at 5:30 for the hardest day of the hike. This is where we go up not one but two mountain peaks going from 3000 meters to around 4200 meters with an on average three hour climb. That’s just under 4000 feet, higher than three Empire State Buildings. I have to say that I’ve never had an uphill climb quite like this.

Normally I don’t like to toot my own horn but I was quite proud of myself when I got to the top. Despite sporadic and little sleep over the last two days and two instances of vomiting and a little bit of the runs (sorry for the TMI), and I still got to the top in pretty decent time. And I did it entirely under my own willpower and motivation as I was completely alone the whole time as I was way ahead of the school group who was lagging behind and Jordan and Fabrice (who also wasn’t feeling that great) had gotten way ahead of me at one point. I made it at the top to find Jordan who had waited just long enough to make sure I was ok and then went to go find Fabrice. In no rush to go back down again I sat there and reveled in my accomplishment. I may have been fighting just to breathe, but I felt like a badass. I felt like I could walk into any bar and beat the snot out of the biggest meanest jerk in there. At that particular moment it was probably a million miles away from the truth, but it felt good nonetheless. I sat there for a while and gave random applause to hikers and porters who made it to the top, and seemed to like having their own cheering section.

Then I went down to the scheduled lunch spot and waited with Jordan and Fabrice for a couple hours for the Costa Rican kids to show up so we could have lunch. They hadn’t been in Peru that long so they weren’t used to the altitude. After lunch Jordan and Fabrice left right away. I waited to give my food time to digest. The next climb was around 400 meters but didn’t feel that bad at all, and I had a delightful conversation with a woman from Florida, who wasn’t the greatest athlete but had an award winning sunny disposition.

Eventually I was on my own heading down into the cool mist, so I put in my iPod to listen to some Eastmountainsouth and Nickel Creek. A very relaxing downward stroll passing ruins on the way. At the third campsite I was greated with good news. Recently landslides had left the final leg of the Inca trail impassible. This had meant that we’d have to walk to Agua Calientes and take the bus up to Machu Picchu like the rest of the tourists and not go through the fabled Sun Gate. This was quite discouraging as you can imagine. But we found out that they had just managed to clear the way and trekkers could go through again! We we’re very excited by this.

Day 3

Jordan, Fabrice, and I set off as soon as we were able. We trekked over mountains and through forests through one of the most beautiful trails I have ever seen, passing Inca ruins on the way and making it the last campsite: Wiñaywayna (Young Forever). We waited another couple hours for the rest of the group, ate lunch, and then set off for the sun gate as quickly as possible, wanting to get there before the sun set.

And we motored, even though Fabrice was struggling. We snaked along the path pearched on a mountain side with spectacular views and came to a staircase with steps literally a foot high. We huffed and puffed, lungs screaming for air and hearts beating like African drums. And up ahead we could see light pouring through stone pillars. And there it was…Machu Picchu bathed in the glow of the setting sun’s light. It took our breathe away (which wasn’t hard at that point since we were panting like dogs). This was icing on the cake of the whole experience.

We began to walk down to the amazing archealogical site, found a rock and sat to celebrate our victory, as well as wait for the school group. We could tell when they got there by the shouts of jubilation. Then we all went down to go to sleep. The school kids took the bus down the long switchback path. We took the Inca stairs by running down in less than 20 minutes beating the bus easily.

We got to the municipal camping site and waited for the rest of the group who decided to stay at a hostal at the last minute. Then the porters (at least 12 of them) showed up to find only us three. Still the set up camp for us, and let me tell you it’s impressive watching this seasoned team work. The had all our tents up and were making our food in a matter of minutes. We think they may have been glad it was only us there. We ate dinner in peace and then all the porters came out and gave us a hearty round of applause for completing the trail and we think for hiking so fast (faster than the average tourist anyway). Then we gave them and handsom tip for all their hard work which they were greatly thankful for.

Day 4

We got up early (again) and ate our last meal with the porters and waited for the bus to take us up to Machu Picchu for our well earned day of exploration. We got there just in time to see the sun rise along with a hundred or so other tourists from all over the world. Whatever Machu Picchu was before it’s pretty clear what it is now: Peru’s major tourist cash cow. There is simply no cheap way of getting here. The Inca trail on average costs at the very least $300 and getting here for a one day visit will take you $70 out. When I think of all the money this place must take in it boggles the mind.

Then Ronny took us around explaining the site to us, doing his best in both English and Spanish. We heard many fascinating things like the archeoligcal wonder is made entirely out of granite and isn’t acutally finished, mostly likely due to Spanish invasion. It’s built and area that is completely protected from earthquakes by the surrounding mountains. The Incas didn’t know this so it was also built to be earthquake proof. We also learned how the Incas believed in three worlds: the physical world represented by a puma (Cusco is supposed to be shaped like a puma), the lower world of the snake, and the higher world of the conder. We then split off and did are own thing. We decided to climb Huayna Picchu (that big mountain you see in the back of just about every picture). Jordan had heard that our guide had run up in 17 minutes when he was younger. Never backing down from a challenge he decided to see if he could beat the time and made it up in 18 minutes. We wandered around the ruins for a while seeing the various sights and finally made our way to Agua Calientes. We boarded the train that took us for about an hour to the buses that would take us back to Cusco and arrived at 9 or so at night.

I must say I really enjoyed this whole experience and was very glad I did it. Doing the whole trail makes going to site infinitely better in my opinion. If I had just taken the bus I don’t think I would have liked it as much. And after writing this huge post I can finally relax. Be sure and go through our new gallery. I put 86 pictures up there for you! A personal record in fact. Enjoy!

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We arrived in Puno, Peru and within a half an hour of arrival we had found a hostel, booked a 2 day tour to see the floating islands, and bought a bus ticket to Cusco leaving the night we got back.  It was probably the most effecient half hour of our entire trip!

A van picked us up early in the morning from our hostel and drove to the port where our boat was waiting.  Our tour had between 15-20 people, from all areas of the world.  Our guide spoke English and Spanish fluently but maybe for the first time in my life it felt like I didn´t need the English translation.  I understood everything this guy said in Spanish almost perfectly. 

After an hour or so, we came upon our first floating island.  These islands, built mainly of reeds, are literally floating on the surface of the water.  On the islands, everything is made of reeds: the houses, the boats, everything.  The inhabitants of the floating islands have a rich history that goes back years and years but, the past 30 years or so, tourists have dominated the history of these islands.  I was talking to a local islander on a reed boat that happened to have 500 plastic bottles in it, and he talked to me a little bit about the growing tourist trend.  He said that 30 years ago there were very few tourists and now hundreds show up everyday on their small, humble islands.  Tourism has become the main focus of the islanders. 

There are several floating islands in Lake Titicaca now but there only used to be two.  When there was fighting within ancient islands, the way the conflict was solved was often to seperate the island in half and then as time passed, they would float away from each other.  This all seems very bizarre to me since I am still unsure how exactly these islands float in the first place!

After visiting a couple of these floating islands, we motored for another 3 hours to Isla Armantani (a real island), where we would spend the night.  The guide placed us into different familes homes on the island and Julian, Adam, and I walked up the hill to meet our family.  Our family spoke poor Spanish as their first language is Quechua, and we had fun trying to communicate with them.  They made us a nice lunch which consisted of Quinua soup (a type of vegetable), potatoes, and Munya tea.  The tea consisted of simply hot water and a couple of local mint leaves that grow there that is supposed to help with stomach and altitude problems.  After that we climbed to the top of a hill where an ancient Incan temple was located called Pachatata which means Father Earth.  The view there was outstanding and we watched as the sun sank down below the water.  It was a very beautiful sunset as the pictures will attest.

We then ate dinner, which was similar to the lunch, and prepared for the fiesta.  Apparently this community throws a fiesta everyday for the tourists, who are required to dress in traditional Incan custume.  The party was very entertaining as local musicians ¨rocked out¨ on their wooden flutes and the local girls were not shy at all about asking the hesitant tourists to dance.  The dance was very simple in that you only held hands with the other person, swung your hands back and forth, and occasionally did some type of twirl or twist or something which I, of course, would mess up.  After each song there would be a break and the local girls would run away from their partners, giggling and whispering to each other, no doubt making fun of the rhythmless tourists.  The funnest moment was when there was a large group of us all holding hands in a circle and as the music picked up, people would start running in the same direction and then somebody would unexpectedly change directions or something, leaving everybody to being pulled in different directions. 

The next morning we got up early, said goodbye to our family, and boated to another non-floating island.  We spent 3 hours or so on this other island but it was pretty uneventul as we didn´t really see anything new and there were tons of tourists there and we could not figure out why.  There were many cute little girls, of course, that would try to sell us stuff and it took much effort to say no! 

After that jaunt, we motored back to Puno, waited around for a few hours, and then took a bus to the tourist metropolis of Cusco.  There is a reason why so many tourists flock to Cusco as this town is very accomodating and there are so many amazing things (in other words, ruins) to see nearby.  Cusco used to be the center of the mighty Incan Empire and there are many ruins located within only 8 kilometers from the city.  The main tourist attraction is, of course, Machu Picchu.  We are planning on starting the Inca trail to Mach Picchu in a couple of days.  We had to book 3 months in advance to get this spot as Machu Picchu, in the last 10 years, has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world.  After that, we will rest for a few days, and then head on another adventure to yet another ruin, Choquekiraw.  This ruin is higher than Machu Picchu and twice as big, but is much, much, much, much less touristic than Machu Picchu and onc can only get there by taking a hard two day trek through the mountains.

We have met back up with Fabrice, who is doing Machu Picchu and Choquekiraw with us.  Today Fabrice, Adam, and I went horseback riding to see some of the ruins nearby.  It was Adam´s first time on a horse and my first time since I was very small.  We enjoyed it so much that we are thinking that it would be fun to ride horses to Choquekiraw!  However, this would be much more expensive so we will probably not do it. 

Anyway, if you want to read more on Cusco click here: http://ianwalk.com/2006/04/  Ian Reeves, who is walking from the southern tip of South America to the the northern tip of Alaska, describes the town very well and in a very humerous way.  Anyway, that concludes the Lake Titicaca series and our next post will probably not be until after we have seen Machu Picchu!  Peace out, and love ya all!

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