Peru Inca Trail Cause Trek - Day 7

The first day of the hike had finally arrived. Everyone was excited to finally start our adventure. Before I start talking about our hike and the pictures below, it's probably best to give a brief overview of the entire hike.

The Inca built an immense road system all over their empire. Their empire stretched over thousands of miles all across the western part of South America.  The most hiked section of this road system in Peru is called the Inca Trail, and the most popular or standard way to hike the Inca Trail is a four day, three night hike. In order to hike the Inca Trail now it is necessary to get a permit because there are only 500 permits (people) for sale per day by the Peruvian government. A tour operator is the only one who is able to get a permit. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, our tour company was the Peruvian company Enigma.

The Classic Inca Trail starts at Piskacucho, also known as the Kilometer 82. It's known as KM 82 because that's the distance marker on the railroad tracks from Cusco...like our interstate system (exit 82). You'll see this in some of the pictures in this post. Piskacucho is located about 8,500 feet above sea level. This first day the hike mainly follows the Urubamba River, great views of the 19,300 foot peak La Veronica, and the ruins of Llactapata. The first campsite is named Wayllabamba and is located about 10,160 feet above sea level. (7.5 miles)

On the second day of the Inca Trail, the hike maintains a constant incline until it reaches the first pass named Warmiwañuska (or Dead Women’s Pass) located about 13,770 feet above sea level. This is the highest point of the Inca Trail. The view here is supposedly breathtaking, but we were surrounded by clouds. I was bummed about this, but there wasn't anything we could do. At least it wasn't sunny and hot. The second campsite was located at a beautiful spot named Pacaymayo located about 11,800 feet above sea level. This is advertised as the most difficult day. (6.8 miles)

The third day of the trail was mostly downhill.  That sounds nice, but most people prefer going uphill since walking down steps all day takes a toll on your legs. On this day the desert surrounding from the first two turns into something that feel like a jungle, referred to as the "cloud forest".  It's really pretty.  The campsite on the third day was called Wiñaywayna. But to get there you first have to enjoy the ruins of Runkurakay, ascend over a second pass named Runkurakay located 12,330 feet above sea level, and visit the ruins of Sayacmarca and Phuyupatamarca. I considered this probably the longest (hardest) day, but also one of the most enjoyable. (9.9 miles)

On the fourth day, most people start the hike at about 5:00 a.m. in order to arrive at dawn to the Intipunku (The Sun Gate) overlooking Machu Picchu. It wasn't too cloudy, so we were able to to get an incredible view of Machu Picchu. This is the spot high above Machu Picchu where you've probably seen most of the photos of Machu Picchu.  We had a couple hours at Machu Picchu with a guided tour.  Then we took a bus down the hill to the town of  Aguas Calientes, a train to Ollantaytambo, and then a bus back to our hotel in Cusco. In total we probably walked 30.0 miles if you include the distances covered at each of the archeological sites. (2.5 miles)

Meanwhile, back at the hotel...we were picked up from our Cusco hotel early in the morning and drove to Piskacuchu. As we got closer to our starting point at km 82 we turned off paved highway onto a narrow dirt road.  It was barely large enough for one tour bus to make it, let alone others coming the opposite direction. At one point we had a traffic jam puzzle to solve that included our tour bus, a van, and an Andean woman with her llama.

But before we got there we stopped in a little town called Ollayataytambo. This little town was pretty cool. During the Inca Empire, it was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti. When the Spanish arrived in Peru it served as a stronghold for Manco Inca Yupanqui who was the leader of the Inca resistance.  You can see in the first two pictures how cool this area is. There is a snow melt "moat" flowing through and around the side streets as well as some of the fortresses built on the mountainsides.



When we arrived at our starting point the area was a hive of activity. All of the porters from our trekking company were busying getting things ready and stuffing their huge packs full of campground gear like our tents, sleeping bags, and cooking supplies. Stacey and I took one last picture as a showered and cleaned up couple, and away we went to the starting point at km 82.



The first day was relatively flat and followed the Urubamba river.  However, it offered a couple of premier sights. The first picture is looking back at La Veronica with a "century plant" (agave americana) arching it's flower over the trail. These plants were all over the trail and were interesting to observe. Although it's called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall stalk with yellow blossoms, that can reach as high as 25–30 ft tall. 

I took these two close up shots of La Veronica as we got higher up the the trail and closer to our first campsite. It's not hard to see why the Inca revered this mountain as sacred. At Machu Picchu the equinox sun rises from behind the highest point on Veronica. The mountain is worshiped for crop and livestock fertility as well as good health. Veronica and Salcantay (another sacred mountain in the area rising over 20,000 feet) are said speak to one another with thunder.  



The final pictures of day are of places and things you've seen above...except one. And it's an impressive one. It's the ruins of Patallacta (Llactapata). This overlook was very impressive, and of course, the picture doesnt' do it justice. This was a pretty big and important city in relation to Machu Picchu.  As you can see in the picture, above and two the right the Urubamba River carves a path through the mountains and eventually wraps around the base of Machu Picchu. There were two ways to get to Machu Picchu from this city. The shorter and likely commercial route followed the river.  The longer and likely pilgrimage route (the Inca Trail) traversed the mountains. So, Patallacta was important because it controlled these routes to Machu Picchu. Also, it helped supply Machu Picchu with additional crops and traded goods and was a good resting spot.

Peru Inca Trail Cause Trek - Day 6

Today was the start of being a tourist. We visited two Inca archeological sites.  The first, called Pisaq, was a hour or two drive outside of Cusco.  In the early part of the afternoon we made our way back towards Cusco and stopped at Sacsayhuaman. 

This name was a running joke with the team, since the pronunciation of Sacsayhuaman sounded a lot like a "sexy woman". Each time our guide Carlos said the name there were plenty of smirks to go around. Part of it was his delivery and accent. Carlos was well versed in the delivery of interesting facts at the end of a sentence.  It went something like this: "to the Inca the most important food source WAS...(then he'd lower his voice almost to a whisper and really draw it out)...cooooooorrrrrrrrrnnnnnn.

The first couple of pictures were taken on the way to Pisaq.  They are good shots of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.  They valley was formed by the Urubamaba River, which runs all through the area and then eventually wrapping around Machu Picchu. The valley was sacred by the Incas due to its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was one of the empire's main areas of natural resources and one of the most important areas for maize production in Peru. In such a dry and arid area as this, it's pretty easy to see why any major water source and fertile valley would be considered sacred. It makes sense why they would think this about the valley and also worship the sun and mountain (especially the ones with glaciers). Those are all the things required to sustain life.



The first picture is a shot from Pisaq building site looking down over the valley. The second picture is a really good example of how the Incas grew their food all over their mountainous empire. Flat terraces were built all up and down hillsides so that the water would stay put and not run down the mountainside. They created these terraces by hauling richer topsoil by hand from the lower lands. The terraces allowed them to produce much more food than would normally be possible (at altitudes as high as 11,000 feet).

A little about Pisaq.  It was probably built to defend the southern entrance to the Sacred Valley, while Choquequirao defended the western entrance, and the fortress at Ollantaytambo the north. Pisac controlled a route which connected the Inca Empire with the border of the rain forest.   

Totally shifting gears, that is an alpaca, not a llama. But I called her "Tina" anyway. At Pisaq was this first time someone in our group got sick (Karlie). Later she figured out that she wasn't really sick, but that she was vomiting from the altitude sickness pills she started taking to prevent that very thing. Ironic. Unfortunately, if the trip leaders had not offered it a couple of times she probably wouldn't have taken it and been fine. It's another example of my philosophy of never take medicine until you actually need it, and you definitely shouldn't be taking something you've never tried before back at home unless you really need it.



After Pisaq we started heading back towards Cusco and Sacsayhuaman.  This started to wear on everyone since we went from about 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. between breakfast and lunch. We were glad we brought protein bars.  Sacsayhuaman was a huge fortress overlooking Cusco.  Its most striking features are the massive boulders that were used to make the walls.  How they moved and fitted these so tightly together is amazing.



I'm getting a little lazy, so I'm going to copy and paste this from Wikipedia because it best sums up this place. 

"After Francisco Pizarro finally entered Cuzco (he was the Spaniard that conquered the Inca), his brother Pedro Pizarro described, "on top of a hill they [the Inca] had a very strong fort surrounded with masonry walls of stones and having two very high round towers. And in the lower part of this wall there were stones so large and thick that it seemed impossible that human hands could have set them in place...they were so close together, and so well fitted, that the point of a pin could not have been inserted in one of the joints. The whole fortress was built up in terraces and flat spaces." The numerous rooms were "filled with arms, lances, arrows, darts, clubs, bucklers and large oblong shields...there were many morions...there were also...certain stretchers in which the Lords travelled, as in litters." Pedro Pizarro described in detail storage rooms that were within the complex and filled with military equipment.
 
Because of its location high above Cusco and its immense terrace walls, this area of Saksaywaman is frequently referred to as a fortress. The importance of its military functions was highlighted in 1536 when Manco Inca lay siege to Cusco. Much of the fighting occurred in and around Saksaywaman, as it was critical to maintaining control over the city.



After returning to Cusco we had a very late lunch.  By the time we finished it was sometime after 3:30. Stacey and I were pretty wiped out and decided to go back to our hotel room and rest, Face Time the kids, and get packed for the next day. Others tour a took of one of the cathedrals in Cusco.  It was a nice chance to rest for two hours and prepare for the last four days of our trip...hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu!

Peru Inca Trail Cause Trek - Mid-way Report

While we were away my Mom took care of the kids. It was much easier for her to come and stay at our house. That way the kids could keep their normal schedule and we wouldn't have to pack a bunch of things for them. Plus, they would be coming over here each day to take care of Freckles.

My Mom sent this email half way through our trip. We thought it was so funny to read that I want to keep a record of it for our blog book.  Below are the parts about the kids.

"Dear Ones,

Just thought I would send you an email to let you know how things are going! The kids are the best. We are getting along fine. They are saying that it is fun to have Grandma staying over but they both miss mom and dad. For me to move in permanently, I pointed out that they would have to give away all their toys since that is the only place for my bedroom. Pause. Still haven't heard back on that one.

Julia has the answer to most everything. Jonathan echoes. But a few times he knew where something was when Julia wasn't sure! Big score!

Julia is keeping me in line:

~ No shoes in the house....I negotiated wearing my sandals if I promised to not wear them outside and clean them really well. She had mercy as my feet hurt walking without shoes anywhere for any length of time.
~ Toaster....we are not getting along. Burnt toast until Julia gave me very clear instructions on how to watch the toast.
~ Bad word. I used a 4 letter word and got reprimanded. After lifting Freckles off the kitchen counter AGAIN while cooking, I lovingly called Freckles D-U-M-B. BIG NO-NO. I will watch my words.
~ I am learning details like how the living room white blankets get rolled before putting them back in the basket.
~ Watered the hanging flower pots without taking them down but now do it correctly.
~ Guest bathroom towels are off limits. Handed one to Jonathan after his shower but hung it right back like a hot potato.
~ Tested me on how to get to the mailbox. Didn't know the path shortcut and Jonathan loved showing me.

They are both sleeping well and in bed by 8 PM. For the first time Jonathan had a bad dream last night and woke me up around 3:00AM. I sat with him hoping he would fall asleep and he told me he was okay and could go to sleep without me staying. He woke up again at 4 AM and I had him rest on the sofa downstairs until 5 - I think he slept another hour. Otherwise they have been sleeping in until at least 6:15AM.

Minor skirmishes about random things....Jonathan says he is better at math. Locked Julia out of the bathroom. Who goes first for cuddles and showers. Who gets to do what....the usual stuff I'm sure.

Saw and talked with Jen, John and girls plus Kensai (sp) and Kyla (sp) with their dad at the swimming pool on Monday. Someone had vomited in the pool so we all had to stay out until the chemicals kicked in...big topic of discussion."

Hilarious, isn't it?!  Later on during our trip Grandma broke the iron.  Really, the iron was old and it probably just happened to break while she was here.  However, that was a major source of controversy that the kids joking teased Grandma about the next time we talked on the phone.  What a bunch of characters!

Peru Inca Trail Cause Trek - Day 5

We woke up really early this morning to catch our first flight of the day. I want to say that we had to meet everyone in the hotel lobby at 4:30 a.m.  After a long day yesterday, it was tiring to travel but also a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the child development centers. This day was the official start of the trekking portion of the trip even if it was just a travel day.

We flew from Huancayo back to Lima and then from Lima to Cusco. In the winter Lima is perpetually overcast as you can see in the first photo. Even though it doesn't rain, its location on the coast and being next to the mountains traps the moisture in the form of  clouds over the city. We had a long layover in Lima before flying to Cusco, the capital city of the ancient Inca Empire.

Since I enjoying learning about the places I visit and I downloaded several Wikipedia articles on the whole trip. Cusco is a really cool city.  It's become a little touristy since it's the main launchpad for the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, but still retains a bunch of its history.  It's a really cool combination of modern dining and convenience (great restaurants, Starbucks, Irish Pubs), Spanish colonization and influence (cathedrals, Catholicism) and pre-Columbian American history (Inca).  It's clean, safe and there is a lot to see and do.

It'll be pretty hard to remember everything about Cusco. We stayed at the Sonesta Hotel. It was a very nice place and had a great breakfast.  I think it was about a 10 minute walk from the main town square, the Plaza de Armas. The second picture is the view of the main street in town right outside of our hotel. There was a little park with a monument and then some art and a water feature that is not shown but to the right of what's pictured. Google Maps says it's a dog park, but I'm not convinced. 

I took the next shot a couple of blocks up the street headed towards the main plaza.  It's a good example of some of the local art. The gold disk represents the sun, or more specifically, Inti, the sun god. Inti was the patron god that the Inca worshiped and built many altars, cities, festivals and other cultural objects in reference and in reverence to their sun god. I learned something on the trip related to this area of the world that I did not know before. If you click on the Inti hyperlink above, you'll see what I'm talking about. The current flags of Argentina and Uruguay (and an old version of the Peruvian flag) feature a similar sun. Although it's popularly known to represent the independence from Spain, it still shares it's origin with past cultural and religious significance to Inti.  Although I am only basing this off of my examination of the photo, it appears to be telling a brief history from left to right of the Inca.  The building of the empire and major cities to a period of prosperity, followed by the Spanish conquest.



These next pictures are of the main plaza, Plaza de Armas. This part I stole from the internet, but it's a good summary of the area. In Inca times, the plaza, called Huacaypata or Aucaypata, was the heart of the capital. Today it’s the nerve center of the modern city. Two flags usually fly here – the red-and-white Peruvian flag and the rainbow-colored flag of Tahuantinsuyo. Easily mistaken for an international gay-pride banner, it represents the four quarters of the Inca empire.

Colonial arcades surround the plaza, which in ancient times was twice as large, also encompassing the area now called the Plaza Regocijo. On the plaza’s northeastern side is the imposing cathedral, fronted by a large flight of stairs and flanked by the churches of Jesús María and El Triunfo. On the southeastern side is the strikingly ornate church of La Compañía de Jesús. The quiet pedestrian alleyway of Loreto, which has Inca walls, is a historic means of access to the plaza.

Couple of interesting points about this area.  First, a lot of the Spanish Catholic buildings (the cathedrals, a monastery, etc.) sit on top of old Inca stone foundations that were previously used by the Incas to practice their religion.  In other words, when the Spanish conquered this area they intentionally tore down the pagan places of worship and built their Catholic equivalents on the same spot. This served many purposes, but obviously the intent was to snuff out the pagan worship practices and replace them with righteous ones. If you look closely at some of the buildings from the side you can see the Inca stone work foundations.



Second, there is a very famous painting of the Last Supper behind the green doors pictured below. Look for Stacey on the steps.  The painting depicts Jesus and the 12 disciples sitting around the table for the Last Supper, about to dine on a local Peruvian delicacy called "Cuy".  Cuy can be found at your local pet store under the name "guinea pig".  We didn't get to try Cuy while we were in Peru, but it's readily available.  The artist was a local Quechua painter who had been trained in the Spanish/European ways of painting.  The Spanish also used this training as a way to convert the local to Catholicism. The local artist was very talented, and sublimely added a local spin on this famous scene.



In the middle of the square is a statue that sits on top of a water fountain. This is a representation of the Inca.  Side note: back in ancient times the word Inca was used only to describe THE Inca, Sapa Inca, or king of the empire. The dynasty was supposedly founded by Manco Cápac, considered the son of the sun god Inti. In other words, the holder of this hereditary throne was considered to be part king, part god.  This statue is supposedly pointing in the direction of the ancient ruins we visited the next day, Sacsayhuaman. The empire was known Tahuantinsuyo (literally means the four corners of the empire, they all meet in Cusco).  However, over time, the entire kingdom and people became to be known as "Incas".



Overlooking the plaza was a large statue of Jesus.  It reminded me of Christ the Redeemer in Rio, but on a much smaller scale.  Just over that hill and to the left is the location of the closest Inca ruins, Sacsayhuaman (I mentioned this above).  We would see that as well as another archaeological site the next day.   

The sun began to set as we were walking back to our hotel from the plaza.  I was able to capture some of the quaint buildings and cobblestone roads on the way back.  The lighting in the last picture was perfect.  I was able to capture all of the buildings, the sky, the sunset, and the mountains in one shot.  I hope you like it...it's one my favorites of Cusco.

Peru Inca Trail Cause Trek - Videos from Days 2 - 4

Here are a couple of videos that I took over the past few days on our trip. I didn't have a video camera with me, so the quality is very poor. However, I think you'll still be able to get an idea of what we saw and heard.

Peru Inca Trail Cause Trek - Day 4 (Continued)

Who's ready for some whorship???  Wrong.

We spent the entire afternoon of Day 4 visiting student center PE-359. This project was near the city center of Huancayo. We were met by another large welcoming committee of students and their parents.  Check out the little guy in the handmade flag shirt - ingenious! Obviously I thought that was a great idea, but in reality it's pretty cool that they likely made that for our visit to their church. If I had cell service I would've signed up for Twitter just so I could tweet the last picture. #spellcheck



When we first walked inside from the church the band on stage started playing some music. We danced in circles with some of the students before finding our seats. After the dancing everyone else joined us in the chairs. I'll be posting a video of this (and other videos from this day) in my next post. As we experienced at the other churches, the main pastor greeted us to his church through a translator. This particular time the translating was done by a member of the in country Compassion staff, Soledad.  I think she was the communications specialist for Peru.

After our warm welcome the church kid band played a couple of songs for us with a variety of instruments. The music was dominated by the pan flute. A couple of the guys played the "heck" out of their pan flutes and you'll get to hear it in an upcoming video. At the end of our visit to this project we were given a treasure of a gift. Either the band or others at the project had made us each our own fully functioning pan flutes with the words "Huancayo" and "CDSP-359" written nicely on one of the longer parts. Each tube on the flute was labeled with the correct note (e.g. Do, Re, Mi, etc.).

We walked around this center for a couple of hours, stopped by each classroom for a demonstration of their work.  We saw a couple of demonstrations of silk screening (and were given these t-shirts when we left), a photo and video "studio" complete with adjustable lighting (we left with a copy of our photos), another cosmetology room, and a computer lab.



The computer lab was used for many things, but one of the uses was for writing stories (and learning how to type).  The kids below had all written stories for us.  They read them aloud while the translator told us what they meant in English. A few of them had printed out their stories for us to take home with us as a gift. I couldn't help noticing that a lot of the girls were around Julia's age...and how this would be exactly something she would do. I also couldn't help noticing a small pocket of younger boys (Jonathan) huddled around another computer. They had started playing a computer game.



Towards the end of the day our group was getting pretty tired. I found myself taking extra long bathroom trips and lingering in the halls instead of interacting with a bunch of children in a classroom. All of the travel and social stimulation has used up my introverted energy bucket. I shot the two pictures of the local area while loitering in the hallway. A few minutes later a un-visited classroom door at the end of the hall swung open. Out poured dozens and dozens of young kids. It was pretty funny to watch. They were all pushing, shoving, and trying to get around each other to give us hugs. I don't have pictures of myself getting "hug mobbed" because I had the camera and because I was trying my best not to fall backwards from the weight of all the kids. You can see one little girl in white in the picture below. She gave both Ben (pictured) and I very long hugs. As in like she gave us a hug for what seemed like a hour but was probably more like 30 seconds..more like a snuggle.
  
 

We gathered once again at the bottom of the building in the sanctuary for some more music, goodbyes and gifts. Since it was a long day and we had to catch a very early flight the next morning, we all had dinner back at the hotel and hit the hay pretty hard. This concluded the first part of the trip - the part where we visited the children. Our flight the next day back to Lima, followed by a long layover, and then on to the ancient Inca capital of Cusco was the start of the adventure part of the trip.