Magic Elixir, Nosebleeds, Ceviche and Incas

The BBQ evening was great spent with Ania, Dave and Mikhail (Polish, Australian and Slovenian Couchsurfers) and Juan Carlos and Susan, another Cusco Couchsurfing host. The meat was amazing as usual and Juan Carlos had a "magic Peruvian elixir" which when brushed on the meat while BBQing made it even better (keep an eye on the recipes page on the blog for this and other recipes). We played more tunes and sang more songs and a great time was had by all.

The next day we had great plans to visit one of the Inca sites just out of town but it turned out to be a no go-er. As we mentioned, Cusco is at high altitude (3400 m) and amongst the symptoms of high altitude and dryness is nosbleeds. Charlotte had one first thing in the morning after blowing her nose, another one over breakfast and just when we though it was OK she had a spectacular one in the tourist information place which was exacerbated by the heat and the fact that we´d just walked an hour into town. Plans were abandoned and we headed back to Juan Carlos´s place and took the rest of the day easily.

All was better after a night´s sleep and we were invited to Susan´s house for a bit of a nosh-up and a shindig. We´d also been promised Ceviche, a classic north Peruvian dish made of raw fish, lime, evaporated milk, chillies, and various spices including monosodium glutimate (a really common additive here in South America. They view it as a herb and really, why not?). It was amazing and we munched away gratefully. Many beers, whiskies, caipirinhas and chocolate martinis were drunk and after more tunes, a Jeely Piece song (for Susan´s wee boy - there´s a video on Facebook) we staggered back for a good night´s sleep before the big Peruvian event. The Inca Trail and Machu Piccu.

Background

There are two ways of getting to the Inca city of Machu Picchu. One is to take the train (the easy way) and the other is the famed "Inca Trail", a 4 day trek through the Andes. Our great friends Athole and Kathy trod this path before us and I was informed that if we took the train to Machu Picchu Athole would "kill me". Fearing my life, I esquired about the company that they´d used, booked it and held my breath.

Monday 13th September, 5.30am, Cusco, 3400 m

We were picked up by a minibus and driven to the town of Ollyamtambo where we bought trekking sticks and had a bite to eat. We then arrived at km82 (2800 m) where the trail starts and we met our group. There were 16 of us, three Canadians (Heather, John and Jared), three Germans (Christan, Sebastian and Mandy), five South Africans (Philip, Melinda, Dimitri, Kerry and Narida), three Americans (Mandy, Barb and Richard) and of course a Scot and and Englishwumman. Our guide was Freddy - a bit of a legend as he was the same guide Athole and Kathy had and he was assisted by Ernesto, 21 porters and a chef. Freddy instantly named us "family" (a bit of a habit of his if you read Athole and Kathy´s Blog). He was amazing, his enthusiasm was infectious and he encouraged us through the hardest parts of the trek. Ernesto is a guide-in-training and later it turned out that he was trekking with us while his wife was in labour with their first child. What dedication!

The first bit was a mild uphill but as we were still fresh it seemed easy enough. We were made into warriors by Freddy after painting our faces with a squashed cactus parasite (containing the red dye, cochenille) and we eventually arrived at our first Inca site, Patallacta. we then had lunch which was served not as a pan of nasty freeze-dried food but at a table in a tent set up like a restaurant. It has to be said that the porters and the chef were the real stars of the show. They carry a maximum of 25 kg each including tents, gas cannisters, and foodstuffs up and down all the crazy slopes leaving the puffing and panting Gringos feeling ridiculous by comparison. They then set up the lunch or overnight (or second breakfast in one case!) stop well before you get there, applaud you when you arrive and serve you a meal (soups, stews, pancakes, rice, tatties, pasta, jelly - more carbohydrates than you can shake a stick at) which would not be out of place in some of Peru´s finest dining establishments. It´s really amazing. The path really started to climb late in the day but this was just a taste of things to come...

Tuesday 14th September, 6.00am, Wayllabamba, 3000 m

We were woken up by Ernesto and served coffee/Coca tea (the precursor to cocaine but perfectly legal in Peru and very good for the altitude) in our tents before a fantastic breakfast, my first experience of a squat toilet and off. It was immediately hard going as we were heading up to Warmiwañusca or "Dead Woman´s Pass" at an altitude of 4200 m. It´s amazing the extent to which you really notice the altitude as you climb up and many of us were really struggling. I wasn´t the first to reach the top by any stretch and there were definitely times I though I wouldn´t make it but I have to confess a massive sense of pride when I did and realised that I´d climbed a distance of 1200 m. I am by no means Mr. super fit so it was a big achievement for me. It´s worth mentioning that we did have the option to hire a porter to carry our stuff but we didn´t and carried our kit, sleeping bags and mats ourselves. We had all taken a stone from the bottom of the valley and at the top, Freddy performed a ceremony to Pachamama (Mother Nature as we would say) which involved piling the stones up with coca leaves and pouring some Peruvian rum over. We all got a nip but were under strict instructions to pour some out for Pachamama before drinking. There was then an hour or so of climb down and just when we thought our calves and knees were going to give out we reached the campsite at about 2.30pm, had lunch and took the rest of the day off. There were toilets at the campsites, generally unpleasant but usable but this one had a shower which, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to use. When the icy water crashed down on me I cursed my desire to be clean but I remained a man and had a cold, cold shower.

Wednesday 15th September, 5.30am, Pacaymayu, 3600 m

After the crazy heights of the day before, the next two passes at 3950 m and 3650 m seemed a snitch and we were toured round some more Inca ruins by Freddy. We were in the Cloud Forrest by this point and the vegetation and scenery felt much more like the Amazon. The following 1000 m descent (known as the "Gringo Killer") nearly destroyed us but Charlotte and I decided to take the long way to the campsite through terraces and an amazing view of the valley. We arrived to another amazing meal and a cake, steam-cooked and decorated by Louis the culinary genius. We said good-by to the porters at this point and Richard, as the oldest trekker and the "papa" gave a speech thanking them. There is no-way I could have carried a tent and equipment on the trek and living on freeze-dried food for 4 days would have killed me. These guys were amazing and we couldn´t have done it without them. An early bedtime was necessary as an early start was looming...

Thursday 16th September, 3.50am, Wiñay Wayna, 2700 m

Ernesto woke us up (no Coca tea this time) and after a very quick breakfast we booked our places in the queue for the check point. The aim was to arrive at the Sun Gate to see the sun rise over Machu Piccu at 6.30pm and since the check point opens at 5.20am and the trail from there takes an hour and a half it was a bit of a race. I think by this point I was so used to trekking that it seemed relatively easy and despite the fast pace, we were some of the first there. At first it was too misty to see anything and around us we could hear complaints about how people could have had extra time in bed. Some even gave up and moved on but they missed the real magic. At about 6.40am, the sun rose over the hill behind us, burned the mist away and Machu Picchu was revealed, one of the seven wonders of the world. It was a magical experience and even Freddy, who did it all the time was loving it.

Freddy toured us round telling us about the Temple of the Sun and the three levels of the Inca religion, all with his trademark enthusiasm. It was weird after being in the back of beyond the extent to which we felt hurled back into civilisation. Like Iguazu Falls, Machu Piccu feels a lot like a theme park with expensive restaurants, LOADS of tourists (lazy people according to Freddy) and toilets which you pay for. It was amazing though as (unlike Cusco) it stayed untouched by the Spanish until it was "re-discovered" in 1911.

We then bussed down to Aguas Calientes., a plastic town of restaurants, coffee bars and souvenir shops. We had a nice last meal together though and after realising that wandering the town wasn´t going to while away the afternoon, we found a coffee shop with an upstairs room and a pile of illegal DVDs (something of a theme in South America). We met Freddy (worse the wear after a boozy afternoon) for the train and bus back to Cusco where we crashed.

Today was an easy day as you might imagine. We met Kathleen who´s arrived to do some volunteering with Juan Carlos and the three of us headed into town to do some shopping including lunch at the amazing market here. Our bargaining skills are really improving and Charlotte managed to knock a bag down from 30 Soles to 24 with a pair of socks thrown in. Tomorrow we head away from Cusco to our next adventure and the Amazon Jungle.

So that´s the Inca Trail folks. I have to say a huge thank you to Athole and Kathy for threatening my life and passing on the details of the tour company and also a huge thanks to the wonderful people we trekked with. You´d expect in a group of 16 to find someone you didn´t like but that really wasn´t the case. Everyone was lovely and I sincerely hope we see them again - they´re all welcome to come and stay with us in Scotland. The biggest thanks really has to go to Freddy, Ernesto, Louis the chef and the legion of porters who made the whole experience as incredible as it was. I couldn´t imagine a better way to reach a seventh wonder.

Trust me, don´t take the train. Get yourself a trekking pole, some good company and walk. You´ll thank me later although maybe not on the descent to 4200 m....

Check ot the photos on Flickr! Love to all.