Trekking the Andes to Machu Picchu / my version

The majestic mountains reach high above the path we tread as the wind blows, the sun provides light and the air becomes even thinner.

Cuzco is in itself a visit worth while. It's a tourist trap...but worth a visit. I keep to the back streets when I'm looking for a meal and it always pays off. Just a 5-10 minute walk away from the main plazas where you cannot possibly walk without being lured in for some amazing bargain (for you special price) the price for food drops dramatically. You may wonder why because you often get more value. A common dinner in the tourist zone goes for around 50 Soles which is close to $20. It's not much compared to prices back home but it's a day's budget for me. I like my soup, my rice with chicken and salad and my included drink which all together costs me around $1.5

Cuzco used to be the capital of the Inca empire (13th century-1532). Today it is full of beautiful parks and plenty of taxis and tour agencies. The airport is almost in the middle of Cuzco and there are mountains and hills all around the city. I spoke to a young French fellow at my hostel and he was heading out on the Salkatay trek which he highly recomended. Even more so he recommended a tour agency called Coca Tours. I would have loved to trek the famous and historical Inca trail but there is a 6-7 month waiting period to do so. Apparently Salkatay is the best alternative so I sought out Coca Tours. The French guy said he paid $200 for this 5 day trek which is the double of my budget of $20/day. But sometimes I just want to do certain stuff and this was one occasion in particular.

I told Coca Tours about Once Upon a Saga which gave me a discount down to their cost price. As I was told that the full price was $360 which still confuses me. The French guy paid $200 - remember. But the cost price was $216 and with this Coca Tours would make no money. Could this be right? They seemed honest about it?

Anyway, I paid and later that evening a guide came to my hostel to brief me. Some of what he said would be true and other elements not so much. Another guide came to get me at the hostel around 3:30am and together with him and a handful of people I presumed would also do the trek we walked through town in the cover of the night. At a plaza we met up with more people and all of us got into a minibus. After a few hours of busing into the mountains we finally arrived at our starting point. Here we had breakfast and a briefing along with an introduction of guides and staff. There were 15 of us and we could relieve ourselves of 5kgs which the horses would carry. 

DAY 1
And then we began the trekking. Everyone was marked by the early start and the weather was mostly grey but stayed dry.

Daniel the guide saying goodmorning

We spoke to each other and got to know each other a little bit while we trekked up and down into the Andes. The up part started to take its toll on some of "team Papi's" groups members. Yes - that's the name we came up with for us. Eventually as we reached a much higher altitude we sat down to rest. In some ways you could assess that we were a family. We did not need to like each other. But we had to head in the same direction. But so far I liked everyone.

Moving into Moreland 

I'm very well accustomed to trekking and I have been sporadically carrying my 25kgs throughout a quarter of the world for the past 10 months. So my small 8kg daypack for this adventure wasn't much of a hassle. I could move freely within the long line of "team Papi" which spread out more and more. Towards the end of the day I was walking with Taj from the USA and we arrived to our first camp. Everyone was tired. And everyone wanted to sleep. The food was good and the night was cold. Our tents had been erected inside and Taj and I shared a tent. For whatever reason I dreamt that I was in the movie "Expendables III".

First day, everyone wants to sleep

DAY 2
The second day was rumored to be the toughest day. And in some ways it was. However I wasn't as sleep deprived so all I had to fight was altitude. The weather was much better and on this day we had to reach a pass of around 4,600 meters above the sea before we could begin our ascent. If you haven't tried high altitude before then you just need to imagine being exhausted without doing anything. I mean, exhausted as if you just sprinted up a flight of stairs of something like that. But you are just walking ordinarily. It's an interesting experience. I have spent much time in the Austrian alps and I have been taught various techniques. For the most part "team Papi" was very fit as far as I could tell. But experience counts too and I felt I had an advantage. I was again able to move back and forth within our group and speak with the other team members. But at the final ascent I chose to go solo up front. I reached the pass as the first from our group but it was windy and cold so I continued shortly after. This day was full of breathtaking views and I cannot help myself - but I feel humbled by massive steep mountains in my near presence. It's fascinating and beautiful and considering that the highest point in Denmark is manmade it's somewhat otherworldly. I love it and I draw energy from it.

A little bit of team Papi

The second day was tough on some of the others but I think we did really well as a group. And it continued to prove to be a very good group. "Team Papi" however was very international. We came from places such as The Netherlands, France, Spain, Peru, Russia, the USA and Denmark. Our "family" grew stronger as we descended into landscapes that resembled: Norway, Ireland and Scotland. And before we knew of it we had reached our second camp. As guests we needn't do a thing. The tents were erected, the food would soon be served and all we had to do was kick back with a beer or two. Our altitude was around 2,000 meters and I slept well.

A well deserved beer at camp 2

DAY 3
Our third day was a piece of cake. It was mainly downhill or flat. The landscape continued in its beauty but I did not find it as breathtaking as the previous day. We finished early and had time to head out to some nearby hot-springs. As a group we had learned a lot more about each other and you will rarely come across so many nice people in my opinion. Or maybe people are just nice? I always wonder in a group like this: "if I can't find anyone I dislike - am I then the one people dislike?" :)

For some reason this coca chewing mountain man wanted a picture with me. But with my camera? :) And later we visited the hot springs.

As we had gotten to learn about each other better we also started talking about our booking of the Salkantay trek. As it turned out I was the only one who had booked through Coca tours. And basically no one had paid the same price. Some had paid more than me and other less. Even our guide, Daniel, didn't work for Coca tours so I started contemplating wether this even qualified for being a Coca tour arrangement or if they simply "sold" me off to something else? Most of us had booked our trek through different agencies. I have never come across an arrangement like this before. But the trek was great, the food good and the company outstanding - so I didn't complain...I just wondered?

 

Zimma and David were not the only couple - made me miss my girl  ;)

DAY 4
On this day we would trek to Aguas Calientes which is also known as the town of Machu Picchu. By the way; Machu Picchu means "Old Mountain". But only if you pronounce the first C in Picchu as a K. If you are pronouncing it soft then you are speaking profanities about the male reproductive organ. Just saying ;)

My first view of Machu Picchu

We had the option of trekking 6 hours or going the first part by bus and trekking the last 3 hours along the train tracks. As it turned out I was the only one who wanted to trek the full way. So I teamed up with another group for the first part. It was 3 wonderful chicas. All from England although one has lived her last 35 years in Australia. And the guide Jimmy. Our time together did not last long as we soon reached the halfway marker and they had to wait up for their remaining group members who had done an action packed zip lining option for the first part of the day and would meet up with Jimmy's group halfway. So I said goodbye and continued on my own. But that only lasted around one hour before I met 2 brothers from Chile. We made friends and decided to hike the rest of the way together. And boom...then we arrived at Aguas Calientes. Funny thing though..."team Papi" had only arrived 10 minutes earlier so I had somehow caught up with them even though they had a bus-headstart. I guess my trekking skills are still in place and that I'm no longer sick :)

 

Team Jimmy to the left and my new Chilean friends to the right

At Aguas Calientes we received information that we were not sleeping at the same place. We already knew that this night would be in a hostel. But in separate hostels depending on the tour agency? - that was a surprise. Strange setup?! But it worked out. We checked in on our separate locations and then met up again for dinner at a pre booked restaurant. The night ended quickly as we were tired and because we would start early next day in order to each Machu Picchu for the sunrise.

DAY 5
I turned the alarm clock off at 4am and got dressed. Only some of us were hiking up to Machu Picchu. The rest had decided to take a bus. And that might have been a good decision because that was a hard sweaty hike up the mountain. But it was still worth it ;)

Machu Picchu!! It is breathtaking! It was "rediscovered" as the "lost city" in 1911 by Hiram Bingham but in reality it was never lost. Actually when Hiram Bingham arrived there were 2 families living there farming. But never mind. It's still a wonderful "rediscovery" and Hiram's visit certainly helped put it back on the map. As a city the original name has been lost. The Spaniards  concurred most of Latin America but they never found Machu Picchu which remained a secret. Today it stands as a proud testament to the heritage of Peruvian culture. The Inca's were brilliant in their ways of architecture and in many cases never used mortar. They "simply" cut the rocks to fit and stacked them together as Lego.

The Ross Way!! :)

The weather was spectacular and I completely exhausted myself in running up and down and up and down and up and down the UNESCO world heritage site.

Lamas 

My train departure out of Aguas Calientes wasn't until 9:20pm so I had plenty of time. So was the case for Taj and Collin. Collin is also from the USA. But everyone else had earlier departures and again it depended on the invisible tour agencies. Strange I say.

Taj, Collin and I stuck together and winded up having dinner together where I tried a local delicacy: Guinea Pig. It's not for me.

 

Gunea Pig for dinner and an unsettled game with Collin and Taj

Our seats were nowhere near each other on the train but we disembarked the train in Ollantaytambo (try saying that after a few beers) and met up again. Collin decided to spend the night in Ollantaytambo while Taj and I were looking for our contact person who allegedly was scheduled to wait for us with our guides name on a piece of paper. But Taj was not mentioned on anyone's paper. Besides, the bus filled up and there was no room for us...and it was 1:30am in the night. The little man with my name on his paper was finally convinced that Taj had also been on the Sarkantay trek and hailed a taxi for us as a replacement for the bus. I fell asleep. But when we arrived to Cuzco the taxi driver wanted money as he claimed that he didn't know the little man in Ollantaytambo. It was now really late and I was in no mood to argue. But luckily a couple in the same taxi spoke Spanish and defended us all. Well, Taj walked off and I never saw him again? But the outcome was that I wrote Coca tours name, number and contact person on a piece of paper and finally headed towards my hostel...and fell asleep.

That was that...now I am in the lobby of Hotel Samay in Cuzco. It's a 3 star hotel and from the lobby it looks great so please stay here if you come to Cuzco :) Why am I saying that? Well...my bus to La Paz in Bolivia does not leave until 10pm tonight and I was looking for a place with wifi so I could write this blog. I casually walked into Samay and asked if I could use their internet. Both receptionist shrug their shoulders and replied: "sure, why not". www.samayhotel.com.pe

Another really good option is the VIP hostel. You can have a really nice low cost stay in a really great hostel for as little as $8/night.

Earthquake solid Inca wall

How do I feel now? Well, I'm shortly off to Bolivia so that's exiting. My legs are a little tired but not as much as you could expect. But the main thing is that I left 14 new friends yesterday. And it is hard for me. Sure, we exchanged contact details and we might meet up again. But meeting wonderful people all the time and then leaving them in turn is not the best thing about traveling. Hoping that our paths my cross again is something different. I must be blessed. Because I know for a fact that; a stranger is a friend you've never met before ;) 


Best regards
Torbjørn C. Pedersen (Thor) - befriended...A LOT ;)