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October 19, 2005

Cusco and the Inca Trail

Cusco, once the capital of the mighty Inca empire, has long since been transformed into the gringo capital of Peru. Every flavour of tourist is here, from the the scruffy backpacker to wealthy tour groups. It is, after all, the base for visiting the magnificent ruins of Machu Picchu and it is only natural that tourists would flock here. The city has answered their call, catering to every whim. Anything surrounding the Plaza De Armas is geared for tourism, be it souvenier shops, restaurants, bars, or hotels. Despite all the tourist glitz, it somehow manages to retain it's wonderful colonial architecture, cobbled roads, and red roofs. It is amazing to explore, but hard not to feel like another tourist wallet when constantly pestered by restaurant touts any time of the day. And this is supposed to be low season. I can't imagine it in high seson.

How are you supposed to eat this thing!

Having spent the past two months on a relatively shoestring budget, the temptations of Cusco where hard to resist: great cafes with an inviting atmosphere, huge assortments of restaurants serving delicious food, and the night life that we had heard so much about. We forgot about our budget for a couple days and treated ourselves, even taking the plunge to go out for a Guinea Pig feast. A restaurant lined, pedestrian only street leading off Plaza De Armas was the spot to go. As soon as we mentioned the word cuy (spanish for Guinea Pig) we were surrounding by touts holding menus pointing out their superior cuy options. This gave us bargaining leverage and the winner went to the restaurant that threw in free wine, free garlic bread and free nachos. Soon enough our meal arrived just as I had hoped/feared. A whole guinea pig fried, teeth and claws still intact. My feeble attempts to cut through his tough skin with a knife and fork were met with laughter from the waiter. Apparently, this was a ¨hands on¨ kind of meal. The waiter took the plate back to the kitchen and returned with it quartered. We tried to eat as much as we could, but there didn't seem to be a whole lot of meat on him. Satisfied that we had eaten as much as we could, we left the restaurant and were approached by another tout with a menu. This guy recognized us and exclaimed "Oh yeah, the crazy gringos with the guinea pig!". This made me wonder how often the locals actually eat this dish.

Plaza De Armas by night

We were also lucky enough to be briefy reunited with our Dutch friends Elles abd Eliette. We had a great time with them touring the ruins around Cusco, trying out the hookah pipes at one of the Arabic cafes, and sampling Cusco`s nightlife. There is such fierce competition between the bars surrounding the Plaza De Armas that as soon as you walk into the street you are surrounded by bar touts offering bribes of free drinks to enter their establishment. We figured the best way to take advantage of this was to choose a bar, have a free drink, dance a bit, and then change venues repeating the process without spending a dime. The first two nights I did this until 4am each night, and then decided my body had enough. After all, we needed our rest for the Inca trail.

Andean Life, our tour company, picked us up at 5:30am for the three hour bus ride to the start of the Inca trail. Along the way we made a pit stop to pick up our porters. All of the potential porters gather in the town's main plaza waiting for tour companies to show up and make their selection. Unfortunately, I imagine some get left behind and end up without work for the day. Recently, the load of the porters on the Inca trail has begun to be regulated and they can only carry up to 25 kg each. In the past they could be loaded up with as much as they could possibly carry. We opted to carry our own gear rather than hire a porter. Using the porter scale we discovered my bag weighed ten kilos and Sinead's weighed six. Not too bad.

Our trek started a little earlier than planned. A landslide had wiped out a portion of the road to the trail head, as well as a part of the train tracks. We later discovered that over 1,000 tourists were stranded at Machu Picchu while the track was repaired. Not being able to pass any further, our bus let us out and we started walking the extra 2km to the trail head.

The long climb on Day 2

We lucked out and ended up with a great group for the trek. Lead by our guide Ro, and his endless jokes about needing to sacrifice virgins for good weather, we made a good group. It was the typical international makeup you get when travelling, but everyone was in the same age group. The tour company kept morale high by providing us with unbelieavable three course meals and even going as far as setting up and taking down our tents for us. It was a brand of camping that we were definitely not used to, but at the end of a long day hiking, it was very welcomed.

As described by our guide, the hike would be broken down into four sections over four days. Day 1: easy. Day 2: difficult. Day 3: Unforgettable. Day 4: Magical. He pretty much had it dead on. Our first day was fairly easy and a good warm up for day two. Choosing the slow and steady option, Sinead, our english friend Phil, and I hung back, saving our energy for the imminent challenge. Day 2 proved to be the challenging day. From an altitude of 3200 M we ascended slowly but surely up a steep rocky trail to Dead Woman`s Pass, and altitude of 4200 M. Every time I would think that I was getting tired, a porter with gas canisters and giant bags strapped to his back would run gingerly past me, making me feel somewhat pathetic. Reaching the pass was a small victory for the day, and it was all downhill to our campsite. Unfortunately the downhill wasn't much easier than the uphill. The morning sun had turned into an afternoon shower leaving the steep rocky stairs that we were descending very slippery. My knees were more than pleased to have made it to camp. The porters put on some entertainment early in the evening by wrapping their sleeping mats around their arms, forming two opposing lines and having one porter run through the middle while the rest beat on him with their mats.

Final camp night celebration

Day 3 was indeed unforgettable as we stepped off the tourist Inca trail and onto the real deal. This stone path winds up through the jungle and cloud forest leading us towards the big finale. "All roads lead to Rome", Ro says, and "All Inca trails lead to Machu Picchu". This trail lead us past a few spectacular Inca ruins, only wetting our appetites for the mother of them all. We trek through much of this day in the rain, but it doesn't bother me. The scenery is too breathtaking to be bothered by the rain.

Unfortunately, the Inca trail is not a solo activity - we were lucky enough to have hordes of school kids on similar treks sharing the trail with us. Well, I wouldn't exactly say sharing as they refused to make it easy to pass them. I finally figured out the trick on the descent down to our final camp. Run as close as you can behind the porters without annoying them and the path will be cleared of school kids. Our final camp was only an hour away from the Sun Gate and even has some ammenities, namely warm showers and cold beer. This is the last main camp before Machu Picchu, and the tourism gods set up a bit of a hostel and a hall providing a nice refuge from the cold. Our group sips beer together and talks in anticipation of the next day while being treated to the porter arm wrestling competition. I try to get a closer view, but the expressions on their faces told me that this gringo wouldn't stand a chance. Sheepishly I back away.

We made it!

At 4am on our final day the tent shakes us awake. We stumble out into the dark and clear our eyes to a foggy mist surrounding the camp. This did not seem good. By the time breakfast was done and we were underway, the mist started to clear, but not enough to reassure us. We made the final ascent up the stairs to the Sun Gate, where we would be rewarded with the best view of Machu Picchu as the sun rises ove the mountains. Climbing the last step up to see what we have trekked for four days for and see...fog. The mist is so thick that it´s hard to see more than 100m in front of us. I was determined to sit there until it cleared, but before long the rain started back up and it was time to move on, our heads hung in defeat. 45 minutes down a foggy path from the Sun Gates to the main entrance and something magical happened. The fog started to clear and by the time we reached the terraces, we could make out the entire ruins. It was amazing. It's funny how many photographs I have seen of the ruins, but it doesn't compare to seeing it in real life. The sheer size of the site was absolutely impressive. As Ro lead us on our two hour tour the rain starts up and the multi-coloured poncho clad tourists start to appear in hordes. No matter though, nothing could bring down my mood. The tour completes and Phil, Sinead, and I hang around the ruins for a few more hours, somehow finding the energy to climb Wayna Picchu, the mountain overlooking Machu Picchu, for more superb views. Our patience was rewarded and the sun came out for our final couple hours, giving us amazing views. Sadly, the time comes to leave the ruins and we have to head to the town of Aguas Calientes to meet up with the rest of the group and collect our train tickets. We show up a little bit late and Ro has already dipped into his tip money, happy and drunk, offering endless cheers to the group.

Most of the group headed back to Cusco that afternoon, but a few of us opted for an extra night in Aguas Caliente to recover. The town itself is a mishmash of hotels and restaurants, but is mostly known for it's hot springs. Making a quick pit stop to pick up a box of Chile´s finest (Gato Negro), Sinead, Phil, and I head to the springs to soak our sore muscles and relax with some wine. One of our main highlights for South America was Machu Picchu, and it is hard to believe it had been and gone. Sometimes you never know what to expect when you anticipate something so much. Often it can't possibly live up to the expectations you set. There are times, however, when it completely surpasses anything you would have every expected.

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Posted by brett at October 19, 2005 07:54 AM

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Posted by: Mom at October 23, 2005 11:30 PM

Posted by: russ at October 24, 2005 12:19 AM

Posted by: elles at October 26, 2005 05:18 PM

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