Macchu Piccu - Part 2

Monday, July 1st, 2013

9:15 p.m.

Right now I am in Aqua Calientes, the town of Macchu Piccu.  Today, like the rest of the days, we woke up at 5 a.m. and so now I am exhausted and ready for bed.  I figured I would update a bit first. 

Back to where I left off...

Once we made it to the top of the mountain, I was forced off the horse and continued to walk.  After about another hour or so, we made it to the lunch spot and say down to another great meal.  After lunch, it was more walking (5 more hours).  Now, this part might be TMI, but it was a huge deal on the trek, so I am sharing anyway.  Me being a city girl, I find it very hard to go to the bathroom on the trail.  The porta potties at Lollapalooza are bad enough.  Most of the people who charge you a sole (Peruvian currency - current exchange rate 2.75 soles for $1 usd) to use their bathroom, have bathrooms that consist of a hole in the ground.  In my opinion, this is just as bad as going outside since the smell in them is so awful.  Lets just say I have been quite skilled at making a toilet out of rocks.  Also, never again will I complain about the Hangee Uppe bathroom at 4am again. 

Anyway, the scenery for the first half of the second day was all mountains covered with snow and the second half was all jungle. It was absolutely beautiful.

I arrived at the campsite just as it was starting to get dark.  What is great about doing the trek with guides and porters, is when you arrive to the campsite, your tent is set up, your drinking water is boiled and dinner is being cooked.  Also, the porters carry most of your stuff (up to 17lbs of it).

One thing that really stood out to me that night was how beautiful the sky was.  I was able to see so many constellations and even make out the Milky Way!  It definitely made all the baby wipe showers and rock toilets worth it.  The second night was not nearly as cold, but we had something else to contend with - roosters!  FYI, roosters do not just crow at sunrise - it is more like they crow all night.  

Well, now it is 9:30.  I am exhausted and off to bed. Tomorrow we take the train back to Cuzco and I hope to finish this then.  Adios!

P.S. Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians!  

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

1:15 p.m.

Right now I am sitting on the train back to Cuzco.  This morning was quite relaxing.  For starters, I didn't wake up until 5:45 - woo-hoo!!  I forced myself to stay in bed and play solitare on my phone.  FYI since I got to Peru, I am negative $5,906 playing Vegas style solitaire.  After a nice relaxing hostel breakfast of cereal, bread, jam, bananas, and coca tea, Brian and I headed to the hot springs (for what Aqua Calientes (hot water in English) is named for. The hot springs are natural hot pools made from volcanoes. The soaking felt great on my exhausted body and the two glasses of Sangria helped as well.

Back to the trek - 

The third day

After waking up, packing up, and another great breakfast we were off.  Day 3 we hiked 12 KM (about 6 hours).  For comparison, day 1 was 16.5 kms (8.5 hours) and day 2 was 18kms (9.5 hours).  

The day 3 hike was mainly through the jungle.  Again, it was beautiful.  Day 3 we were done by about 1-1:30.  We arrived at the campsite, which essentially was someone's backyard.  It also had a flushing toilet and hot (well warm) shower(!!!!)

The third day we had the option of going to the hot springs or playing soccer with the porters.  I knew we had hot springs on the last day, so I elected to play soccer.  Surprisingly, I didn't look too foolish. I was the only girl who played and managed to block a few shots.  Later, I learned in Peru girls don´t typically play soccer, they play volleyball, so I hope I wasn´t out of line by playing with the boys. 

I didn't pack running shoes so I played in my hiking boots, which was bad enough, but many of the porters played in crocs or sandals.  We also saw a few porters doing the trek in their sandals.  Crazy.  As a general observation, crocs are very big in Latin America as a whole.  I saw several Croc stores in Brazil. 

During the game I managed to knock over one of the porters trying to steal the ball, take a ball in the general direction of my uterus, and get a massive bump/bruise on my shin.  Playing soccer with the porters was a total blast and reminded me of how much I miss team sports. 

Once we were done soccer, it was hot shower time. Woo - hoo!  Somehow, I survived the lukewarm shower with only a washcloth to dry off with AND LIKED IT.  Everything is relative. 

Once I was clean, it was happy hour time.  Half of our group was at the hot springs and would miss the happy hour, so we invited the kids who lived at our campsite for cocoa and and snacks.  Once word got out, half the neighborhood kids came, but it was so fun and the kids were so cute.  It was also a great opportunity to practice my Spanish and some of the older kids had fun practicing their English.  I wrote earlier on facebook the going to airports is a great way to remind yourself to take your birth control, well, traveling to Peru is a great way to forget it.  The kids are that cute here.  After the kids left, we had dinner and stayed up talking with the guides about education and current political issues in Peru. It was a great night. 

Well, now on the train there is a dancing clown and a fashion show featuring alpaca clothing.  I'll finish the last two days soon!

Adios!

July 3, 2013
11:45 p.m.

Right now I am feeling a bit under the weather during my last day in Cuzco.  I am starting to get a bit burnt out from the traveling.  Today I am going to relax and catch up on my blogging.

The fourth day of the trek we had the option of sleeping in or going for a nice uphill trek.  3 of the 12 did the up hill trek.  I opted to sleep in.  I am so glad I decided to sleep in.  After another nice breakfast and packing up, one of the little four year olds from last night, Carlitos, came up to me and asked in Spanish if I wanted to play soccer with him.  How do you say know to that?  I was partially crazy as I was going to face 5 more hours of hiking later, but Peruvian kids are just that cute.  I think kids tend to be cuter when you do not know what they are saying.  Carlitos may have a future as a goalie as he liked to constantly pick up the ball with his hands.  We ran around for a half an hour and then it was time to leave.  

After soccer, we took a nice hour long van ride complete with the latest Peru remixes of American songs and then got out to hike.  It turned out we were to be hiking through a hydroelectric plant.  In no way would that work in the United States.  I am sure there is some safety law against it, but when in Peru!  We hiked for about an hour and a half, stopped for a lunch and continued the final trek to Aqua Calientes (the town of Macchu Piccu). The last hike was one of my favorites as it was along the railroad tracks and through the jungle. I was absolutely exhausted though and it was a huge struggle to even carry my backpack. I ended up carrying my backpack on my front instead, which wasn´t exactly more comfortable.  The thought of a warm shower got me through the last home stretch! 

It was such a great site to see the hotel at the very end.  This was nowhere near the nicest hotel I have stayed at, but there were decently warm showers and a bed to sleep in, so I was pretty darn excited.  After cleaning up, we all met for dinner and some wine.  It was a nice night before the big finale - Macchu Piccu in the am! 

The next day it was again up at 5am and off to the site.  We took a bus there and then finally we had arrived!!  It was absolutely rewarding that we hiked to get there.  Macchu Piccu itself was amazing, but I can honestly say the hike made it that much better.  I would almost say the hike was better than Macchu Piccu itself. 

At Macchu Piccu, our guides gave us a 3 hour tour, we got our passports stamped, and we headed back.  Once in Agua Calientes, I checked into the next hostel, Pirwa hostel (not bad, but musty moldy smell with no lockers) took a nap and just relaxed the rest of the day.  I deserved it.  The following day was the morning in the Hot Springs and then back to Cuzco.  Once back in Cuzco I treated myself to a nice 30 soles (around $11usd) 1-hour Inka Massage.  It felt so darn good, I may just treat myself to another one today. 

Today, being sick, I am getting a bit home sick.  That coupled with the fact, I just heard some girls at our hostel were on the same bus route we were (Lima to Cuzco), same bus company, were robbed of all of their possessions at gun point.  Not exactly what I wanted to hear.  Next up, tonight we are headed to Lake Tititaca, Peru, to see the floating islands for 2 days, then off to La Paz, Bolivia for a few days where we want to check out the jungle, the city and the Salt Flats.  After that, we will have a brief visit to Chile to see Valle de La Luna and then check out Santiago, Chile and finish up in Mendoza and Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I am quite excited to see all of these places, but a bit nervous at the same time.  As a precaution, I wear my passport, debit card and credit card and favorite clothes, but still.  The thought of getting robbed of everything is quite nerve-racking.  Additionally, apparently yesterday 100 people died in a bus crash in Peru.  The buses here are nice enough, but Peru is very mountainous and the roads tend to be very curvy.  I will be quite excited when all of these bus rides are over.  We have 5 more bus journeys and 2 more flights ideally.  Wish me luck!

On a happier note, yesterday I made a Skype call to my colorist and have an appointment for a highlight and a keratin treatment the day after I get back (the day I get back there would not be enough time, believe me I tried!).  I am so excited to look like a normal person again! 

Well, now I am going to relax and debate that nice message.  Adios amigos!  Next time you hear from me, I will hopefully have made it safe and sound to Puno.