"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off-balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things- air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky... all things tending towards the eternal, or what we imagine of it."
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Machu Pichu
Lares Valley Trek to Machu Picchu
August 21-24
How do I start? The trek was amazingly beautiful and difficult. We started out on the 21st optimistic and nervous. We ended on the 24th tired, but incredibly happy. Though at some points we thought we couldn't make it (day 2, 14,535 ft above sea level), we did eventually. The views were stunning and Machu Pichu did not disappoint: turning from mysterious alluring fog to gorgeous blues and green. We met 15 amazing people from Peru, England, Australia, the Falkan Islands, South Africa, Hawaii, and Germany. We learned some of the local culture and language-
Quechua: Allinllachu (how are you?) Allillanmi (I am fine) Wiñay Wayna (Forever Young- thanks to my guide, Javier)
The best I can do on this blog post is put the official itinerary and add a bit of my own. I'm still processing it all! Check out my facebook for more photos!
hiking hiking all day long
Napoleon
I now know the difference between llamas and alpacas by sight
First breakfast on the trek (2nd day)
14,545 ft summit!
day 3 chilly wake-up, but I refused to wear pants
local family that we donated coca leaves to
Caroline: Machu Pichu crutches warrior
just hanging out at the 'Pichu
Machu Pichu in her glory
Program Itinerary
Day 1: Day 1: Cusco - Quishuarani (Lares) - Cuncani - Yanacocha 3800 masl
Our bus leaves Cusco at 05:30 sharp for a scenic drive through the Sacred Valley, passing through Pisac and stopping for a brief toilet break and the chance to buy any last minute snacks, water, etc in Calca, one of the towns in the valley. Here we bought bags of coca leaves to give to people we met in the mountains as gifts. Departing Calca around 06:45 we head off for the scenic drive to Quishuarani (12,150 ft) which is the starting point for the trek. Along the way you will be able to observe small Andean communities, spectacular mountain landscapes, herds of llamas and alpacas plus Campesinos (people of the local villages) in colorful costumes as is traditional with all villages around Lares major district. A box breakfast will be served en route around 9am with arrival to Quishuarani before 10am, where we will meet our arriero horses, handlers and trek staff. Our "cook" was actually a trained chef..3 course delicious meals every time. We commence our beautiful trek through the Andes with a "gentle" climb from 3700m to 4200 masl where we will arrive at the lagoon named Queuña Cocha and can observe Mount Sawasiray (5400m) and Colque Cruz (5600m). There is then a short, much steeper climb to our first pass, Hualcacasa (4400m) where Mount Veronica (5700m, a sacred Apu (Inca Sun god) mountain in this Valley) can often be observed in the high mountains, after which we descend for 30 minutes to reach our lunch destination beside the picturesque 'seven lagunas'. Following lunch we descend for a further 30 minutes through the community of Cuncani, then gradually ascend beautiful hillsides for 2 hours to reach our second pass, Qolqecasa (4200m). 30 minutes descent from here past lagunas and waterfalls till we arrive at Yanacocha, our campsite for the night around 4.30pm.
approx 14km
6-7 hours
Day 2: Yanacocha - Wakawasi - Mantanay 3900 masl
After our 6.30am breakfast we leave Yanacocha and will gradually descend for approx 2 hours until Chaqchapata (3950m). We will be able to observe potato crops, flocks of llamas and alpacas developed in this part of the Andes (part of the cameloid family) and the local communities of people who continue living in houses made of stones. Along the slope we can observe the campesinos of Chaqchapata and 30 minutes further on of Wakawasi. Finally, we ascend for approximately an hour to reach the highest point of our trek, the passage of Auroracasa (4600m- 14,535 ft) where we will observe the lagoon Auroracocha. From Auroracasa we will descend to walk near two lagoons & traverse one more pass to enter the valley of Queuñas. We will notice a wide change in scenery before arriving at our beautiful campsite in Mantanay (3900m) after approx 2 hours. We did all this before lunch which worked out "well" since during Caroline's wade in the river, she stepped on a broken glass bottle and cut a large gash on her foot. Javier, our guide, patched her up using egg membrane as an antibiotic.
approx 16km
7-8 hours
Day 3: Mantanay 3900m to Yanahuara 2700 masl
After breakfast we start our walk at 7:30 am with a much easier day ahead as we descend to lower altitude & enjoy amazing views of part of Moray Maras and Salineras, mountains and the queuñas bush valley. You will notice the sudden change of weather and environment & observe local campesinos farming different crops of corn, potatoes and local vegetables to sell later in villages in the Sacred Valley. This walk will take approx 4 hours to reach the picturesque village of Yanahuara where we enjoy the last lunch in our trek and farewell our staff, arrieros horses, handlers, cooks and assistants. A private bus will then take us for the 30 minute ride to Ollantaytambo train station where we will board the train for the 2
hour trip with our tour guide to Machupicchu town, Aguas Calientes. Carolina was carried on Napoleon the spare mule until we got to Aguas Calientes where she got stitched up and was given crutches. That night I went out with Javier, Dalmiro, and another of the girls to do some Karaoke and dancing before the early wake-up call in the morning. Ashley was not amused when I burst into the room and woke her up to make sure I was in the right one.
Early breakfast (05.00am) before taking the 5.30am bus directly to Machupicchu arriving around 06.00am.
We got up early and made it through the gates before sunrise. The fog was so thick, that seeing sun was impossible but it was a mystical sight when the fog shifted and you began to see different parts of the city. Later in the day, the sun burned down, illuminating the and heating the city of rocks. I also went up to the Sun Gates to look down upon the city and valley.
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