Xmas Intermission

Ok, ok, I'm a bad Moo.  Sorry for the lack of recent updates  (particular apologies to Yarissa). I'm becoming lazier and lazier. In Australia just now and because it's not an organised tour, there is not really that much going on, and somehow that makes me even less likely to do some writeups. Also I'm still writing up Peru when I've done Bolivia (1 day), Chille (4 days), New Zealand (mostly just family time), Fiji (quite lovely in places) and Australia (barrier reef and then lots of driving) since then, so it's beginning to fade, but then that was the whole point of doing this blog in the first place.

The Machu Picchu Express

Anyway. Mum will like/shake her head over this little anecdote.

On the way back from Machu Picchu we took the train along the Sacred River for an hour or two. Nice scenery, but we were all totally knackered having just done the trail and from getting up at 4am that morning. In an attempt to keep ourseves entertained and awake, we played hangman. Now, remember, the people playing are me, Sylwia (Polish), Richard (Jamacan) and Rod (Peruvian), so we don't have a lot of films / TV type things in common for guessing (and 2 of us were working in English, not our native language), so we went for things related to our tour.

There was "Inca Trail" (an easy one to get started)

There was one about my incessant coughing ("I need a cough suppressant" - I'd asked Rod how to say this in Spanish - I've forgotten the phrase, but it's something like 'I need something to cut the cough').

There was one ridiculing me for getting a little bit of sunburn while exploring Machu Picchu.

And then I tried to do the group name we had come up with. Our group name poked a bit of fun at Rod's height, he's small (but lovely), and Sylwia coined the Spanish phrase "Cuatro y medio", or "Four and a half". We would use it whenever we were trying to get a table in a restaurant and it always got a laugh from the restaurant staff and hilarious indignant comments from Rod. Unfortunately my Spanish is not terribly good, and when you are playing hangman, it kinda requires the spelling to be correct. Here was my effort, and it eventually caused us all to break down in tears of laughter, I can't remember laughing so hard for so long.  I managed to incorporate Italian, French and Spanish in a 3 word phrase. I'd say the altitude and exhaustion were definitely contributing factors. It was utterly hilarious at the time, trust me.

So anyway, we bused back to Cusco, stopping for some photos of the Andes on the way. It was quite breathtaking, even after having been walking in the mountains for the past 3 days. Then it was a few days, in Cusco, followed by a long bus trip to Puno and Lake Titicaca on the 25th. Yes, Xmas day was an 8 hour bus trip.

First night back after the Trail - we hit the town
(and played cards). I may have gotten tiddly.

Xmas Eve dinner with the team (Cuatro y medio!)

Weird-ass giraffe necked nativity scene in Cusco.
Don't ask me about the cows from Hell.

Big Xmas market in Cusco.
As far as I could tell it only sold tat.

The delights of Cusco Bus Station on Xmas Morning

Keepin' it festive

Puno and Titicaca

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is an impressive place, tucked away in the arse end of nowhere. It was probably a summer palace type place for the Incan Emperor, and was still in construction when it was abandoned. A large amount of the accommodation (for around 700 people) found there was probably for the workers still building the place.

 

The Sun Temple.

 

It was abandoned in around 1550 when the Spanish invaded. As no one was there it was not found by the Spanish, and so was not destroyed by them. Only about 30% of Machu Piccu has been reconstructed/restored, the rest survived intact and has only had the encroaching vegetation removed.

Traditional Inca doorway

It was brought to international attention by American (USA) historian Hiram Bingham in 1911. Some of the buildings were being lived in by farmers (it was one of them that showed him around), so 'rediscovered' is certainly not the right term.

Condor Temple - the rocks look a bit like a condor I suppose 

Inca Trail

The Inca Trail. 3 days of hiking through the Andes to get to Machu Picchu.

The 40 or so miles that we walked is just a minute propitiation of all of the trails made by the Inca and their predecessors, there are thousands of miles, connecting the entire Incan empire back to Cusco - the capital. They say "All roads lead to Rome", well in South America, they all lead to Cusco!

Access to the trail is strictly limited by the government, something like no more than 200 people on the trail at any one time. As you are on the trail for 3 days, this means only around 65 people can start the trail on any one day, and considering that each group usually contains as many (if not more) porters as tourists, it's really not a lot of people.

Accommodation on the Trail was hike tents, carried, set up and taken down for us by the local Peruvian porters. They also organised all of the food, cooking very tasty simple meals for us. Having to carry all our own  provisions and gear would have made the trail impossible for me, so I am very grateful to them.

First day lunch stop

One of the checkpoints

The first day was 'Inca flat', which is basically on the level with some up and down. The scenery was OK, but not much that struck me as stunning or particularly photogenic. The weather was fairly dull, there were a couple of Inca sites that we overlooked had a bit of an explore of, a number of interesting flowers and plants, but little wildlife other than a hummingbird at one of the checkpoints.

One of the Incan sites we looked at

Weird spiky thing

Hummingbird!

I did have a minor altercation with one of the other walkers as he was throwing stones at a cactus for target practice and I objected to that and we almost came to blows over it. I blame tiredness and altitude for my poor handling of it. He was a bit of an arse, and continued to prove that for the rest of the trip (talking endlessly late at night keeping people awake), but not all bad and quite fun sometimes.

Our squad, including porters

Night 1 campsite

Day 2 was the 'make or break' one - as we climbed Dead Woman's Pass (4215m). It's not named that because it has killed people, it's just because from the far side when you look back it looks a little like the silhouette of a woman lying down. That wasn't even visible 20 years ago as the pass was covered in trees, but since a forest fire the new name has stuck, I think because it sounds dangerous to attract thrill seeking tourists!

Looking back at Dead woman's pass.
I'll leave you to imagine where she is.

Again the weather was fairly grim, we had some light rain in the morning which helped to dampen our spirits, and the actual climb itself was a challenge at the altitude we were at.  I'm very glad our porters were carrying all the tents and stuff!  In spite of usually being one of the last to reach any stopping point, I was actually the second of our group to reach the summit of the pass, and I was quite pleased at that.  Slow and steady does it! Lee was first (he was always first), but he's a stupidly fit hill climber and I hate him for it.

Sylwia and Richard almost there.

And their elation on reaching the top.

The scenery was a bit better, and the clouds made the mountains look all mysterious.  More interesting plants, a few llamas, and I think another hummingbird right at the top of the pass. In a few places the trail also started looking more like the 'paved' Inca trail I had been expecting.

Trying out that funky filter again.

Hummingbird?

Overnight it was rather wet and when we woke in the morning (after sleeping like the dead) there was a dusting of snow on the peaks which, along with low cloud in the valleys, looked fantastic. Of the 3 days, this last day was by far the nicest and most photogenic. We still had a good bit of climbing to do, but less strenuous than the pass the day before, and I think having that milestone out of the way also helped psychologically. The trail was also now almost completely paved (Inca paving) which certainly made it look nicer, and was perhaps easier to walk on.

Lunch stop was a lunch with a view. High above an Inca ruin, and with a really impressive mountain vista of the Andes. Really breathtaking. The ruin we lunched above was a temple to the Sun, and also a cleansing station for those making the pilgrimage to Machu Picchu. Judging by how sweaty and smelly we all were, I can bet that all the pilgrims were quite thankful of the opportunity for a bit of cleansing before their arrival. Our last stop before camping for the night was another Inca ruin, this one a massive set of terraces with some buildings at the top and bottom.

The lunch stop

Ever-first Lee

The next morning we had to be up stupidly early (4am). This was primarily so that the porters could break camp and get down to the train for the 6:30am train out of the valley. It unfortunately meant we then had to stand about at the checkpoint for an hour or so in the dark, waiting for it to open, before we could hike the last hour or two up to the Sun Gate entrance to Machu Picchu. Unfortunately for us, when we got to the Sun Gate, all we could see was cloud.  No sight of Machu Picchu itself at all. We then walked down to the Guardhouse, which is where you get the 'picture postcard' photos of the site, but it was still quite misty and cloudy and for a while we could see sod all.  It did eventually clear enough for a few photos though, so all was good.

After a short break for an cup of tea and a bun we then began our tour of Machu Picchu itself...