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Out and Back in Peru
Beverly and John Campsite 1 |
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Out and Back in Peru
Beverly and John Campsite 1 |
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July 1, 2004
July 2, 2004
July 3, 2004
July 4, 2004
July 6, 2004
Day 7-MP Trek July 7, 2004
Day 8-Machu Picchu, Aquas Calientes July 8, 2004
Day 9-Ollantaytambo July 9, 2004
Day 10- Cusco July 10, 2004
July 11-12, 2004
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Day 5, Monday-July 5, 2004 Inca Trail Day 1 The alarm clock rang loudly, disturbing the darkness of our room. Another early wake up…4:30 am! This day had been anticipated with a mixture of excitement and anxiety; July 5th, the beginning of our journey to Machu Picchu. We showered, ate breakfast and took our luggage to the lobby to wait with Will, Diane and Barbara. The SAS van arrived promptly at 6:15 am took us to the Hotel Los Marqueses where we were shuffled onto a bus that would take us to mile marker 82k and the beginning of our trek. Once on board, we looked around and discovered that along with the Knoxville 5 were the 10 trekkers from last night’s meeting, our guide Freddy, assistant guide Julian and 22 porters (our support team). Our total group came to a whopping 39 people!
The three hour bus journey took us through a number of very small communities and some larger villages. Homes and community buildings were constructed of clay and straw bricks often painted bright colors or basic white. Roofs were made of red tiles or sheets of tin secured with rocks. Graffiti ruled much of the available wall space as a forum for political statements. Coca-Cola and Pepsi go head to head in the Peruvian countryside, just as they do in the states with even the smallest community sporting Coca Cola and Pepsi symbols splashed across building walls. USA cola advertising was occasionally usurped by paintings of the Inka Kola logo, Peru’s only national, very yellow carbonated soft drink. We made one stop early in the trip to pick up snack bags. The bags contained 2 sandwiches, an apple, several hard candies, a banana, mango juice box and a kiwi-mace bar. This was the first indication that we would be fed far more food than we could ever consume! John was pretty excited about the cool snack bag but it was collected before we started the hike. Darn!
Incredible scenery flew by outside our window. We chatted amongst ourselves and with Freddy who was sitting in front of us. Noting very young children working in the fields, we asked Freddy about school in this part of Peru. He told us that students go to school 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, from December 23 through the end of April. The rest of the year they work in the fields with their families. Teachers are paid 700/soles per month (about $200 USD) and often take on 2nd jobs to make ends meet (consider yourself well paid my dearest younger sister). Freddy commented that the best thing students can do to improve their position in life is to learn English. Diane, a former Peace Corp worker, commented that the best thing families can do is to learn better life skills. We quickly moved on to a discussion of the Peruvian government and learned that a transportation strike was in the offing shortly after we were scheduled out of Peru. We commented on our frustrations with the Bush administration and offered George W. as a possible solution for Peru. Freddy looked pained at the thought. I thought it interesting that other countries are so keenly aware of US politics while US citizens know so little about international politics with the exception of the “big” movers and shakers….Korean, China, Russia and of course, Iraq. Street vendors surrounded the bus as it pulled to a stop and parked in the rural village of Ollantaytambo. Almost everyone on the bus got out to wander around the plaza while the Knoxville 5 was driven to the Hotel Pakaritampu to drop luggage for our overnight stop on our return trip to Cusco. The entire group was duly impressed with the marble bathrooms (lobby), well appointed interior and beautiful courtyard. Julian nudged me and said, “Nice hotel, 5 stars huh?” The Knoxville 5 does not usually stay in lodging of this caliber; we nudged each other saying “Nice!” Alas, we had to hike the Inca Trail before we could enjoy the good life so we climbed back on the bus and returned to the plaza to pick up our trek companions and buy pot ash. Pot ash is used as catalysis to release the “magic power” of the coca leaves. It was at this point that we learned we would be chewing instead of brewing. The chew is suppose to help one breathe at altitude and is reported to be much more effective than the tea. We later came to believe that this is true. On the street, bags of pot ash with or without coca leaves were available from several sellers. The purchase set us back 1/sole. We also enjoyed looking at the walking sticks with pretty pieces of woven fabric attached. Several in our group brought sticks for the trail. Back on the bus, Freddy gave us lessons in coca leaf rolling and chewing. The trick is to take about 25 coca leaves, place one small piece “catalysis” in the center, roll, place between your gum and cheek, “moisten” and chew VERY gently so as not to break up the leaves. “This stuff is nastier than shit,” Will eloquently exclaimed, a wad of coca chew stuffed in his mouth. We broke out in laughter as we stuffed coca wads in our mouths. The sides of our mouth quickly went numb and we joked about “getting high” but of course we never did. What did happen is that as the leaves began to break down, our lips and mouth turned green and little bits of leaves became lodged between our teeth. Not a very attractive look but we didn’t care, most everyone on the bus looked just like us. Before long, we thought the stuff was pretty good! Our chew entertained us until we reached the last stretch of dirt road to mile marker 82. Six or so men from a nearby the village were in the road shoveling dirt into potholes. The bus driver stopped and handed the men a bit of cash. We learned that the government does not have much to do with local road repair. This particular community is saddled with maintenance for the dirt road used by a continuous stream of buses going to and from mile marker 82. The community asks for donations to help repair the road for the users. Road repair must be a never ending task. I have read about “mile marker 82” for months and have had a hard time imagining what the beginning point of the Inca Trail must look like. Quite simply it begins with a simple sign on the “other side” of the railroad tracks, across the road from a large unpaved parking lot. The parking lot has room for a number of buses, groups, guides, porter and equipment. Toilets and 4-5 squares of toilet paper are available for a nominal charge of 25/soles. Bless the ladies who keep these toilets as clean as they are! Freddy, our guide, gathered us together. He had our porters introduce themselves and our group did the same. As expected, the Knoxville 5 was the geezer group but we had aspirations to at least keep within viewing distance of the “youngsters.” We were an interesting mix of Europeans, Canadians and Americans. Included were Jonathon, Claire and Anna - three 18 to 20-somethings from Great Britain, who, along with Jason from Wales, met as counselors in a 10 week South America camp and were on the tail end of a 6 month adventure through the Americas. Ricky and Wilson (early 20’s) of Hong Kong descent and currently Boston residents are working on their Masters of Engineering at MIT. Vince, early 40’s, is originally from Scotland now living in Great Britain. Julie and Adam, early 30’s, reside in Edmonton, Canada and lastly, Carlos, Political Science Phd student and voted mostly like to become an influential politician by our group, is from Toronto, Canada. Our porters sorted and weighed our gear, placed everything in blue rice sacks and strapped them to their backs. I felt a definite twinge of guilt as I watched these very slight Peruvian men hurry off with my stuff. I could have, should have carried it myself but I felt the hike would be challenging enough without the weight of the pack. I kept telling myself “I am helping the local economy; I am helping the local economy.” Amazing how little it takes to soothe a guilty soul.
We were off before we had a chance to roll a 2nd chew. A picture at the Inca Trail sign, then across the river on a swinging bridge and a stop at the warden’s check point for a look-see at passports and trail tickets. Luckily the trail was not too bad, rolling hills in the foreground of the beautiful Andes Mountains. We passed through a number of very small villages (less than 50 people) and single family dwellings. We were told that few people lived along the trail until the foreigners arrived to trek to Machu Picchu.
The most significant Inca site we saw in the morning was Llactapata, meaning 'upper town' in Quechua. First discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, the site is thought to be the ruins of an agricultural station used to supply Machu Picchu with maize. The settlement comprised many agricultural terraces and over one hundred buildings including houses for workers and soldiers. Lunch time rolled by yet we continued to hike. The small bags of cookies, tangerine and energy bar that we had been given at the trailhead seemed a distant memory. We stopped in the village of Huayllabamba where soft drinks, water and candy were for sale. We held out for lunch and finally at 3:00 pm, our food tent came into view. This is way past John’s lunch time and he was starving. The feast included a rice soup, veggie mix of tomatoes and onions, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, and a meat dish. The Knoxville 5 selected veggie meals but as the trip wore on John and I sampled some of the other dishes. The vegetarian fare was about the same for every meal. The quantity of food was large and we ate heartily. Hiking uphill after such a large meal was challenging and we reminded ourselves not to be so greedy at the next lunch. I must add that we ignored our own advice in the following days.
We hiked two more hours and arrived in camp around 6:00 pm. Our tents were set up and one of the porters showed us which one had our stuff. The campsite was located in a large open field. We soon discovered that each night, every group on the trail camped in the same area. Within the area, campsites designated as 'official' by the Peruvian government, are signed and numbered. It is a big deal for the porters to break camp quickly after lunch and move on to the next site. Campsites are provided on a first come first serve basis and the earlier a representative from the hiking group arrives at the designated spot, the more choice the spot. A total of 250 trekkers are allowed on the trail each day (for the 3-4 day trek) with another 250 campers for the 2 day trek. By my calculations, the 250 trekkers are supported by at least the same number of guides and porters so a minimum of 500 people are camping in each area for nights one and two and over 1,000 for nights three and four. That is a lot of campers! Snacks of popcorn, cookies, hot chocolate and coffee were offered as we arrived in camp. We sat in the food tent and munched (didn’t we just eat lunch?). Freddy talked to us about the following day’s schedule. The next thing we knew, bowls of piping hot soup were placed in front of us. The food parade began again and we had rice, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes (a staple on the trail), a meat, rice and veggie mix. Dessert was a purple corn pudding. I only tasted this as I really am a chocolate pudding sort of girl! Campsite 1 was my first encounter with Inca Trail bathrooms. Apparently the Finish government provided the Peruvian governmentwith $7 million to build bathrooms along the trail. Before this gift and before guided tours were required, the trail was reported to be a trail of toilet paper leading to Machu Picchu. There are three types of bathrooms along the trail. Campsite 1 has pit toilets, a flush toilet is a welcome treat at Campsite 2 and the dreaded Asian squat toilets (also flush) are located at Campsite 3. The pit toilets at this site, although nicer than many I have experienced in the backcountry, are still pretty nasty due to high usage and people not properly taking care of their body functions. Several toilet “houses” were accessible to each camping area and they stayed pretty busy. I noticed two entrances to each toilet house, one marked ‘men’, one ‘women’ (pants or skirt). I saw men coming out of the women’s side and ….well, no women coming out of the men’s side. Go figure.
Upon arrival, we climbed in the tent that we were assigned and attempted to make it home for the night. The tent was fairly new and large enough to store all of our equipment. We ate dinner around 7:00 pm although we weren’t very hungry. We had left the lunch table only 3 hours before and tanked up on munchies when we arrived in camp. Barbara returned to her tent just after dinner to get her headlamp and discovered someone had rifled through her belongings. Nothing was taken because she, like everyone else, wore her belongings (money, credit card, passport) on her body at all times. Immediately we thought of the woman holding a small child who was sitting in front of Barbara’s tent when we first arrived in camp. The woman did not seem to belong anywhere; she was just sitting on the ground in her traditional clothing. We thought it a bit odd but didn’t really question it. Barbara didn’t loose anything so we let the situation go. The rain started at 8:30 pm and we dashed from the dinner tent to our sleeping tent. We were tired and glad to have the excuse to go to bed early. The tent was set on a slant and the ground felt like we were laying on a rock even through our fluffy down sleeping bags and SAS provided roll-up mattresses. It was an Ambein night but we still did not sleep well.
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