Machu Picchu

***WARNING THIS IS VERY LONG***

I'm back home now after a wonderful 2 weeks in Peru. The trip was a memorable experience of a lifetime for me and now I need to figure out how to summarize it. The trip was original proposed back last October by the FV2009 crew. They sent out an email thinking maybe half a dozen people would actually commit. What they got was a full team of 14 enthused trekkers ready to join them in Peru.

It's amazing how time flies... Fast forward 4 months and it was time to pack and depart.

Day 1 - Departure and Lima
After final decisions of what to pack and what not to I headed to SFO and met up with the other 5 team MP-SF members(Dave, Marisa, Cinzia, Theo, and Allison). Being a midnight flight a few passed out until we got to San Salvador where we had a long layover of 6 hours. It was pretty brutal in San Salvador airport. A few of us didn't get to sleep on the 5 hour flight over due to various reasons so we ended up sleeping on the floors and chairs of an empty terminal until security made us move. After that we roamed around the airport for what seemed endless hours. Eventually we got on our flight and 4 hours later arrived in Lima, Peru.

In Lima we found our cab driver that was arranged by our hostel. The ride to the hostel ended up being like a ride at Magic Mountain. The streets were jammed packed, the smog from every car was nauseating and our cab driver was driving like a mad man. He drove up on sidewalks, honking at pedestrians to move out the way. There was so many times I thought for sure he was going to clip someone.




So we made it to the Loki Hostel. I highly recommend staying at the Loki if you're into staying at a hostel and what hostels offer. Loki seemed secure and the patronage are nice. After checking in, we all headed out into town for a bite to eat.
What we found was a bunch of touristy restaurants so we all opted to go to the super market to buy empanadas and a few other items to have a nice picnic in the park. What I didn't mention is it's close to midnight but the streets are still full, kids are all up playing on the swings, and we're all enjoying a nice dinner in the park. After dinner we called it a night, because I had to catch an early flight in the AM to Cusco while the rest of the gang stayed back in Lima an extra day to venture out.

Day 2 - Cusco and First Day at Altitude
After landing and grabbing my bags in Cusco I grabbed a cab. From reading my Peru book it mentioned to make sure you know where you're going or you will be swindled by a cab driver. So when I approached the cab driver he did try to get me to go to some other hotel, but I stayed firm that I already had reservations at the Loki Hostel.

Here's where I first feel the effects of altitude. Remember that Cusco sits at 11,000 feet. That's almost double of Denver's altitude. So the cab driver drops me off on a street corner and says the hostel is around that alley and up a few stairs. Cool right? Until I turned the corner and looked up and saw 70 steps that went straight up. With carrying my luggage I stopped what seemed every 5 steps until finally I reached the Loki door. I was so out of breath and thinking oh man if these are tough I wonder how I'm going to make a 7 day hike up to 17,000 feet. Anyways, after checking in I was so happy to meet up with the Ally, Kristin, Randy, Dave, and Catherine who were enjoying breakfast at the hostel dining area.

After breakfast we all ventured out into downtown Cusco. We checked out the town square, meat market, and shopping areas.

At night the group all tried a traditional Peruvian alpaca meat dinner, it was alright but I think I'll just stick with beef. We never got around to trying Peru's delicacy which is cute, furry guinea pigs. I'm probably better off not eating it anyhow.

Day 3 - Still Acclimating
This morning the rest of the SF crew that stayed an extra day in Lima arrives as well as Melissa from Chi-town and Juliet from Columbia. Andy was also scheduled to be here this morning but we got an email that due to weather he was not able to get on his connecting flight and now won't make it till the following day, bummer! After breakfast we did more hiking around the city to get are legs and lungs ready for the trek.

Day 4 - Day Before Our Trek
The good news is Andy finally arrives this morning but unfortunately his bag didn't make it. Long story short he didn't get his bag until we came back from our trek so needless to say he ended up having to buy most of his gear again. Today we hiked up to an archaeological site near town named Saqsaywawan (pronounced "sexy women"). This site was used by the Incas as a temple where the king would visit twice a year.

In the evening we were visited by our Llama Path guides Freddy and Max to give us the playbook of the week. After an hour of this we packed and turned in because a 4 AM wakeup call was in store for us tomorrow morning.

Day 5 - The Trek Begins (Trek Day 1)
At exactly 5 AM Llama Path came to pick us up for a 2 hour drive to Mollepata. On the way to Mollepata we had a brief interruption while a bulldozer pushes mud off the road from a recent mudslide that was caused by heavy rain. This was some foreshadowing on what was in store for us on the trail. After arriving in Mollepata we had a quick breakfast, geared up and headed out on our 7 day journey. The first day of the hike was all uphill, we started at 10,000 feet and will be climbing up to 13,000 feet where we will camp for the night. It was raining off and on all day which made the terrain really muddy. Thirty minutes into the hike my boots and pant legs were completely covered with mud. As it started to rain again we arrived into our first checkpoint for lunch. After lunch it was time to get the move on again. We started to climb again all the way to camp just as the thick fog rolled in. We enjoyed an awesome dinner, played some cards and turned in for the night.

Day 6 - Avalanches (Trek Day 2)
This morning we were introduced to our awesome horsemens and porters. These guys really took care of us over the 7 days. In all I think we had 20 porters, 3 horsemens, and 8 mules. Ally & Kristin made the right decision to go with Llama Path (LP) as our tour group. LP's crew was nothing short of top notch compared to the other companies we saw on the trail. Our porters had appropriate gear in terms of boots and attire compared to the others who I saw just wearing sandals. Not only that but you can see each of our porter working as a team. They hiked as a squad and you can see a trail of red marching up the hill when they came. So if you're ever wanting to do this hike I recommend going with Llama Path.



After the intros we started walking again, which is the theme for the whole week by the way. We crossed a few rivers with makeshift bridges and some without any bridges at all. We opted to skip a formal lunch and press onward towards camp. A few hours into the hike we could start to see out of the dense clouds some snow capped mountains. As we got closer to our day 2 campsite at Salkantay Pampa(13451ft), we started to see Mt. Salkantay in the background standing at over 20,000 feet. It was a magnificent scene to see. After about 30min of arriving into camp we all heard a loud explosion. To my surprise it was an avalanche happening off to the distance on Mt. Salkantay. The sheer power of the avalanche could be heard and felt. This is where I have to say that its worth every sore muscle in me to be here and see this spectacle of nature. Over the next 2 hours there were 2 more avalanches (click here to see video) that we all stopped what we were doing and looked in awe. In the late afternoon a few decided to do a bonus hike and hike up a nearby mountain while others did yoga in their dome tents. I was lame and decided to do neither. As it got later though it started to get mucho frio and we were told the temp should hover around 14 degrees tonight. After dinner we played this game called 1-21, where it goes around the table and someone starts by saying "1" then the next person says "2" and so on. When it reaches the number 21 that person gets to choose a number and make a rule for that number so that each time someone lands on that say number they have to perform the said rule. This went on for an hour as we tried to remember all the rules and act them out. Just for a recap here's my recollection of the rules that we came up with: (after looking at this I blame it on the altitude)

#1 Say "su el numero uno"
#2 Wave reverse peace sign with a hard look
#3 Say "three" and pull your right ear
#4 Hand jive and say "I said a heyyy"
#5 Say "ribbit"
#6
#7
#8 Look at the next person and say "Where have you been all my life"
#9 Say "nueve"
#10 Put arm up to nose and make like an elephant
#11 Say "Ooh La La"
#12 Stand up and say "twelve"
#13 Say "El Guapo de gusto" with hand gesture
#14 Say "Prost" and take a drink
#15 Blow a kiss at Catherine
#16 Looking cool popping a collar
#17 Looking cool brushing shoulder off
#18 Act out a water sprinkler
#19 Take a drink
#20 Act out The 3 Amigos salute
#21 Be the Heisman Trophy

Day 7 - Incachiriasca Pass (Trek Day 3)
After we woke up, sipped tea, packed, ate breakfast, brushed our teeth, washed the gunk from our eyes, refill our water bottles we pumped ourselves for the tough climb awaiting us this morning. We needed to climb 4,000' over the next 2 miles to reach Incachiriasca Pass. The first group made it in 1h15min., my time was 1h39min. I was huffing and puffing, my lungs were on fire even though it was 33 degrees but I was so excited to meet the group at the summit. It was the most amazing feeling to be at 17,000' after I caught my breath that is. We hung out for a little while, took pictures, and Dave lit a celebratory cigar. As it started to snow we began our decent. Slowly the snow became rain and it poured for the rest of the day. Well after ascending all 4,000' we now needed to descend 4,000'. Half way down we stopped for lunch in Sisaypampa (13,000') this is when a few decided to do a bonus hike having them climb back up another pass to reach a lake high up in the mountains. The rest and I continued our descent down the valley floor to reach our day 3 campsite at Canal Inca (12,500') where Cinzia and Marisa held a yoga session in the mess hall tent. Eventruly the bonus hike crew made it to camp and again after dinner and card games we called it a night.

Day 8 - Inca Trail and Soccer in the Andes (Trek Day 4)
This morning we bid farewell to our horse and mule porters because later today we'll be connecting with the Inca Trail which prohibits horses and mules. We continued to descend for a few hours until we reached Paucarkancha (10,500') our first archeological site. We stopped here for about 30min while Freddy gave us a lesson on Incan history and architecture.


After a quick jaunt we reached our first ticket control and received a new stamp on our passport. There's a few of these ticket control booths setup along the way on the Inca Trail. They are primary used to control how many visitors are on the trail a day. There's a limit of only 500 people allowed on the trail a day, this includes all the porters as well. After about another hour we reached the village of Wayllabamba (9,840') where we'll make camp for the night. This is also where we met up with our 20 porters as well as all the other tour groups on the Inca Trail. It was weird because we've been in the middle of no where with no one around and suddenly there was people everywhere. I was really enjoying the solitude we had for the last 4 days.

After getting situated there was a long awaited soccer game that was going to go down in the middle of the Andes Mountains. Over the past few days there has been great hype of a soccer game between our guides/porters versus us "the gringos". So finally today we had our shot. We walked over to this dirt soccer field surrounded by lush green mountains. The sight is indescribable. It was just beautiful. Upon arriving to the field there were even donkeys blocking each of the goal posts. After the donkeys were moved the game was on. After 2 long hours we lost 11-10. Not to shabby for playing in hiking boots. After the exhausting game and a few new blisters later we enjoyed dinner and turned in.



Day 9 - Dead Women Pass (Trek Day 5)
After receiving our second passport stamp we started a steep climb up to Dead Women's Pass (13,800'). Shortly after we summit the pass there was a steep decline and I mean steep! We navigate down what seemed like knee high stone steps for hours. We finally reached another Incan Archeological site and got another lesson from Freddy. We broke for lunch shortly after and continued an up and down trail before reaching Chaquicocha (11,800') our campsite nestled among flowing rivers and streams with an abundant amount of frogs "ribbiting" all night long. After more you guessed it card games we turned in for tomorrow I heard we'll be hiking for 11 hours.



Day 10 - More Steps (Trek Day 6)
We continue our descent one huge stone step at a time. We stopped by a few more archeological sites before reaching one that was past our campsite named Intipata. This site had huge agricultural terraces craved into the side of the mountain. It looked like a huge football stadium. In all we hiked about 11 hours today before reaching Winay Huayna (8,800'). This campsite had a lodge with hot showers, but the majority didn't partake in the offering. It's been 6 days in the same clothes and without a shower, what's one more day anyways. Tonight we turned in extra early for tomorrow we need to wake up at 4 am and head to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu.


Day 11 - Machu Picchu (Trek Day 7)
After being woken up by our porters at 4 am we suited up promptly and headed down the way to get in line when the trail is opened up at 5:30am. Once the gate was opened and we got our third passport stamp we walked briskly and at sometimes ran towards the Sun Gate (8,900'). We needed to hustle to get there before the sun casts its rays on Machu Picchu (7,900'). Once we arrived the site of Machu Picchu was awesome. I couldn't believe an old civilization like this could build such amazing structures.


We proceeded to head towards Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. In the background of MP was Waynapicchu which we wanted to climb up and take the famous pictures that many people are used to seeing on postcards. The only problem is that they only let 400 people climb it a day and usually tourist coming by train gets it because the train gets in before we arrive to MP. So with Freddy's negotiation skills he got us literally the last of the tickets but we had to run all the way across MP to get to the ticket booth. People were looking at us like we were crazy for running through MP but we had a purpose, we didn't just hike 7 days to get stopped short of our goal.


Once we secured our tickets (I was #398 out of 400). We met back up with Freddy to get our fourth passport stamp and over the next couple of hours was guided though MP with more history lessons. Once the tour was completed we mustered enough energy to climb Waynapicchu. The view from atop was amazing and shortly after I started the climb back down to MP to catch a bus to Aguas Caliente where we will meet Freddy and Max for lunch and bid them farewell as well as Randy and Juliet are departing us today too.


After checking into our rooms at the Jardin Real Hotel, which I think we were the only guests in this hotel we all took long lukewarm showers. Once we were fit for society again we needed to change our train tickets to try to catch an earlier train tomorrow. So a few went to the train station to get this done. What they found out was the only train schedule available was one departing at 5:30 am in the morning. I guess we have no choice but to take it and wake up at 4 am for the second day in a row. In the evening we went out to a restaurant that I want to mention had the slowest service ever. I mean it took an hour to get our drinks and maybe another hour after that for the food to come out. All in all I think it was a 3 hour dinner. Dave started to fall a sleep at the table. Being that we've been up since 4 am this morning and needing to wake up at 4 am tomorrow we went to bed.


Day 12 - Back in Cusco
My alarm went off at 4 am and here we go again. It was pouring rain outside and we needed to walk in it for 10mins to the train station. Once aboard we passed out until we reached Ollantaytambo (1.5 hrs) where a Llama Path van came and drove (1.5 hrs) us back to the Loki Hostel. Spent the day shopping and walking around the city before grabbing a few drinks and relaxing for the day.

Day 13 - The Fun is Over
Sad, sad day today. Had to say goodbye to everyone and head back to reality. It has been a trip that I will cherish. Met so many new friends and the experiences I will forever have in my memory. I was asked many times to name my top 5 of this trip and here it goes in no particular order; 1. Meeting new Friends, 2. Mt. Salkantay Avalanches, 3. Soccer in the Andes, 4. Pushing Myself Physically and Mentally, 5. All the beautiful Landscapes.


It's funny that all of us were on the same trip, but each one of us saw, experienced and took away something different from the whole adventure. That's why this is only my take on the trip. Below are stories by some of the other trekkers.

Fantastic Voyage 2009 - Machu Piccu by: Ally & Kristin
The Earth is Round - Cusco: Time for a Altitude Adjustment by: Dave
The Earth is Round - The Incas and a trek through their land by: Dave

Here are tons of pictures that others and I took:
John - Peru (Day 1) Lima
John - Peru (Day 2-4) Cusco
John - Peru (Day 5-8) Salkantay Trek
John - Peru (Day 8) Soccer in the Andes Mountains
John - Peru (Day 9-11) Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
John - Peru (Day 12-13) Aguas Caliente & Cusco
Allison J-M's Pictures
Allison R's Pictures
Andy's Pictures
Catherine's Pictures
Catherine's Videos
Dave's Pictures - Cuzco
Dave's Pictures - Salkantay to Machu Picchu
Kristin's Pictures
Melissa's Pictures
Marisa's Pictures


Other Links:
Llama Path - Salkantay (The savage) to Machu Picchu 7 Day Trek