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Out and Back in Peru
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July 1, 2004
July 2, 2004
July 3, 2004
July 4, 2004
Day 6-MP Trek July 6, 2004
Day 7-MP Trek July 7, 2004
Day 9-Ollantaytambo July 9, 2004
Day 10- Cusco July 10, 2004
July 11-12, 2004
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Day 8, Thursday-July 8, 2004 Inca Trail Day 4 & Aquas Calientes We woke to the sound of porters rustling outside our tent for the last morning. Neither of us slept well and the coffee was a welcome sight. We quickly put on our hiking clothes, stuffed our stuff in our packs and dropped the packs off with the porters.
Diane was still feeling pretty grim and unsure of her ability to hike so we went in search of Julian and Freddy. After some discussion, they ushered her to the lodge doctor while the rest of us went in search for breakfast. Most of the other groups began their final trek to Machu Picchu, but Freddy and Julian stalled around the lodge a bit to determine if Diane would be able to hike to Machu Picchu.
Finally Freddy hustled us onto the trail leaving Julian behind with Diane and Will. We were starting late so Freddy hurried us through the cloud forest at a rapid rate. What a relief to arrive at Inti Punku “the Gate of the Sun.” The gate area was crowded with trekkers. Every eye was fixed on the Lost City as the sun rose from behind the mountains and slowly bathed the landscape in light. We had another 20 minutes of hiking to reach the terraces and the “postcard” view of Machu Picchu.
We cleared the check point at Machu Picchu close to 8:30 am. Officials checked our passports and stamped them with the official MP stamp. Next stop was the “baggage” check area where we left our packs and trekking poles. No packs are allowed in Machu Picchu. Vincent left the group about this time to explore MP on his own. Freddy corralled the rest of us near the check area to wait for Diane, Will and Julian who were a good 30 minutes behind. He handed us little bags filled with sandwiches, fruit and juice boxes; we ate hungrily. John, Barbara and I sat on a bench near the main entrance and hotel plaza, eating, people watching and resting. The area had a ski resort atmosphere with shuttle buses driving up, letting people off.
More than 30 minutes passed with no Will and Diane. Our group was getting restless so we encouraged Freddy to start the tour. Will joined the lecture soon after while Diane went to the main plaza in Machu Picchu to lie down under the solitary tree. According to Will, she stumbled through the trek; resting often (we have since seen pictures of Julian pulling out his smelling salts, much to Diane’s distress). We thought she was a real trooper to survive the hike.
Freddy led us from site to site providing much information about each area. Many of the sites were familiar to us through previous reading including the Temple of Three Windows and the Condor, many things were new. Everything was exciting and we couldn’t get enough. Truth be told, we were also very tired. Climbing Hunna Picchu was on our list of most dos but we knew the trail was steep and strenuous and we didn’t think we had the energy. Reluctantly we left that activity behind for another time (or not).
By 12:45 pm, our energy supplies were pretty low and we were ready to say good-by to MP, the center piece of our journey to Peru. Barbara decided to take the trail to Aquas Calientes, a 1-hour hike while Will, Diane, John and I clamored on the bus for a ride down the very windy road to Aquas Calientes. Not long after we began our journey down, we came upon a young Quechen boy standing by the edge of the road. He began waving and yelling what sounded something like "ooomm-paaaah." Moments later we as we rounded another curve, the young man appeared again at the bottom of a staircase, once again waving his arms and yelling "oooomm-paaah" (or something of the sort). This event occured as we rounded just about every curve. The young guy was racing down the mountain ahead of us and greeting the bus at every turn. Didn't take long for the bus full of people to catch on to his game and anticipate his arrival. Eight or more "oooom-paaah's" later and we were at the bottom of the mountain. The driver opened the door and the young man jumped on for a final "oooomm-paaah." People began digging in their pockets to hand him a dollar bill. Somehow I think our group was too tired to even respond. On hind sight, this was a pretty entertaining way to earn a buck an we should have ponied up! The bus let us off at the “transfer” station; we had no clue where we were. We asked around till we found our hotel, El Presidente Hostal. Check-in was a bit confusing because the reservation could not be found. Luckily I remembered my name had been totally butchered during the reservation process months ago and the desk clerk was able to find the information based on the recalled spelling (Deberly or something of the sort). We were delighted with our room. The rooms were painted deep shades of gold and orange with dark wooden furniture. The look was very colonial. An “Incan doorway” mirror hung over the chest (large at the bottom, narrower at the top) and nice pottery sconces served as bedside lights.
Once inside, we cleaned up and headed to town. During the planning process, we debated whether to stay in A.C. or continue our journey to Ollantaytambo. Our guide book called Aquas Calientes, “a blight in the landscape, strictly tourist.” We were surprised to find it quite charming and were happy with our decision to spend the night. We had a couple of hours to kill before the scheduled SAS “good-bye” group lunch at Hostal Viajeros so John and I stopped in an internet café to email our families that we were off the trek and safely in town.
The group lunch was a lot of fun. A Peruvian band played the wind pipes, guitar and mandolin. Our meal was served buffet style and included fried potatoes, pasta, meat balls and tomato sauce, sliced avocados with cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes, sliced carrots (huge carrots) with chilled green beans, boiled Peruvian potatoes with cheese and rice…rice is served with everything. The dessert was mango, pineapple, apples and grapes. Everything was yummy!
After the lunch, Carlos gave a heartfelt thank you to Freddy and Julian. He gave it in Spanish and English and of course we all cheered. Everyone exchanged emails (have heard only from Carlos and Claire) and said good-bye to each other. We left the hostal feeling very good about our experience, the people we hiked with and SAS, especially Freddy and Julian.
We arranged our evening to have dinner with Barbara and Will (Diane was still feeling pretty bad) and set out on our own to explore Aquas Calientes. Lots of jewelry stores and we went in one particularly nice one and bought three sterling southern crosses, one for me and one for each sister. Total US investment…$110.00, not bad! I also brought a golden mother of pearl disc, the symbol for “the mother earth.” I was a pretty cautious shopper on this trip. In hindsight, I wish I had been a tiny bit more extravagant. I also wish I had been beading at that time. We saw lots of neat beads in the stores and markets.
We met Will and Barbara at dusk for dinner. The railroad tracks make up the “main street” with a pedestrian walkway one block over. We walked up and down the brick lined walkway trying to settle on a restaurant. Most of the restaurants had fires blazing in the fireplace and candles burning on the tables. finally choosing “Inka.” The food was okay, we have had worse. Most of the restaurants had fires blazing in the fireplace and candles burning on the tables. The atmosphere was warm and cozy and the pisca sours were free. John had an incredible fruit smoothie. We ordered a pizza, no sauce with pineapple, ham and extra cheese. This is usually one of my favorites but I thought it too sweet…probably because the pineapple was canned. We had an interesting time with the bill. People in Aquas Calientes speak less English than most places we have been so far so we struggled a bit. Our waiter kept bringing us the bills and change from other tables. We giggled hoping maybe this was a new custom. We continued to him back until we finally got our correct bill and change.
After dinner, we walked around a little more. John purchased several loose beads for his sons and we purchased water from one of the bodegas. A couple of street vendors were cooking the traditional meat on a stick. It was very tempting (to me, not John) but I had been well so far and decided not to take the risk. Finally we headed back to the hotel for an early lights out. The 4:30 am wake-up call was looming heavily in our mind and we were truly exhausted.
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