7-17 Day 1
Got picked up by my guide at 4am for the bus ride to Mollepata (2900m/9515ft) where we had breakfast. I met the people in the group (5 friends from Israel, a couple from Denmark, 2 friends from Denmark, 2 friends from Switzerland, A couple from Brazil, two cousins from Brazil (though one goes to Middlebury college in Vermont), A dad and daughter from Brazil, a guy from Santiago, 2 friends from Spain, 1 gal from the UK, and me as well as our two guides Bernie and Ruso.)
We hiked along scenic farmland and above a deep valley on our way to our first camp at Soraypampa (3910m/12,825ft) About half way into the hike we came into view of a huge and gorgeous snow-covered peak that we continued to hike towards as we went up a valley. As we got nearer to the camp I could see the giant mountain of Salkantay (6264m/20545ft) I was the first one to the camp and the only one fast enough to continue up past the camp to see a couple of gorgeous turquoise lakes at the foot of a glacial moraine and at the snowline beneath a big snowcapped peak.
I got back down to the camp just as it was getting dark. In the dining tent our group was having "happy hour" which we would have everyday. It included tea, popcorn, and crackers.
I was partnered with Felipe, a student from Santiago to be tentmates. We were immediately best roomies and friends. He had ski bummed a year in Deer Valley, UT and just had a lot in common. He was hilarious and we just really bonded. The next morning everyone joked about all the pillow talk they heard coming from our tent.
7-18 Day 2
We were woken up in our tents at the crack of dawn and given coca tea. We then proceeded to walk up and up towards Salkantay and Salkantay pass. When we reached the pass (4650m/15252ft) we of course had great views of Salktantay as well as down two valleys and other mountains around. We stayed up on the pass for a while, watching a condor and witnessing an avalanche. We then headed steeply down into the mist and had a nice lunch in a big grassy field by a rushing creek. We then descended on a cool trail into the jungle and into a jungle canyon with a river below us. Along the way we saw lots of orchids and other flowers. We made camp at Chaullay (2915m/9560ft)
7-19 Day 3
Continued hiking down. Went past some nice waterfalls and continued through the jungle where I found lots of wild strawberries to munch on. We then hiked past some banana, avocado, and passion fruit plantations. I of course enjoyed the lots of fresh fruit. Just a bit after midday, we arrived in the small village of Santa Theresa (1930m/6330ft). At lunch there was some drama because the Israelis had apparently gotten onto the wrong tour. They had booked a 4 day trek and ours was 5 days. They wanted to stay with us for 5 days but the guide Bernie had arranged for a car to come pick them up and take them to Aguas Calientes. They had wanted to stay with us longer and I dont know all that went down, but there was definitely lots of yelling on the parts of the Israelis and anger and all that. I didnt really want to get involved so I didnt know all the specifics, but they claimed that he lied and he owed them another day and such and such. Well, regardless, they were shipped off and our group became much smaller (and quieter). After lunch, headed to some hot springs for a long swim at some amazing hotspring pools along the river. When dark descended, we headed back up to the camp, had dinner, and then got the party started. At first it was just some beers and dancing, but then Felipe and I headed into town and bought 3 fifths of pisco to make piscola and pis7up. By this time in the night it was just Felipe, Jenna (from Swizterland), Roberto and Anne (from denmark who we called our parents...mom and dad or our "iron parents" since they did ironmans), and also Sophi from Denmark. At first Felipe and I were pouring Pisco strength to what we called Ironman, which was 1/4 of the cup, but then we quickly changed the pours to Salktantay strength, which was 1/2 of the glass, and finally we moved up to Pachamama (the mother earth god of the Incas) pours which was all Pisco with just a splash of coke or 7up. As one could imagine, it wasnt long before Special Ted came out and he was initiating honest time with everyone, which of course everyone loved and told me how awesome it was the next day. We stayed out partying late until the night until it was about 3am when special ted found a bike and went riding around. Eventually Felipe went to bed and Jenna and I ran down into the town to see if there was anything going on. There wasn't, so I climbed a papaya tree from some papaya and then went to bed.
The whole trip Felipe had been trying to trade me for the air mattress I was carrying. The company provided for us these dinky mattresses that were carried on horses (along with our food, tent, and sleeping bags), but I was also carrying my nice air mattress. He was offering me things like a liter of beer or his reeces peanut butter cup. But it was too nice, so I wouldnt trade him. When I got back to my tent I searched in vain for my air mattress and then I felt around and noticed the Felipe was sleeping on by air mattress and both our dinky mattresses. So I had to sleep just on the ground. Turns out nice ole loving special ted had given away his mattresses (and jacket) to Felipe for the night.
7-20 Day 4
Walked from Santa Teresa to Hirdoelectrica. From Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes (2050m/6725ft) was a 3 hour walk along the train tracks, Stand by Me style. A lot of people were feeling hung over but Felipe, Ironmom, and Irondad, and myself were all still feeling good, and we had a lot of fun walking along the traintracks which were in a cool, deep canyon with a rushing river going by. We were singing songs and dreaming out loud of eating Cuy (cuy cuy cuy cuy in a high voice), aka guinea pig. About 1/2 way on the traintrack walk we got some views up the canyon at Machu Picchu itself.
7-21 Day 5
The night before Filipe and I had found a stuffed animal Cuy that looked extremely and took a picture of him petting it. On this morning when we gathered at 4 in the morning, we showed everyone the picture and told them we had bought a cuy and had it in our dorm bathroom and were going to cook it when we got back. We told them its name was Jorge, and everyone believed us and the whole day at Machu Picchu they were excitedly talking about how we would manage to kill our new pet to roast on the bbq.
Anyways, at 4am we started the hike up to the mountaintop ruins of Machu Picchu and up to the Sun Gate (2750m/9020ft) to watch the sun rise. Machu Picchu is of course spectacular. It was my 2nd time visiting the great Incan site, but still definitely worth it. It is impossible to describe this stunning area of ruins that sits up in the green mountains, one of which looks just like the face of an Inca, and with white snow-capped peaks around, so I will just let you imagine it or look at pictures. We had a 2 hour tour and then, Maria and Sophie (Denmark), Filipe, Jenna and Kevin (Switzerland), and I explored the ruins by ourselves. Mom and Dad had tickets to go up Wayna Picchu, so we had to give them a sad goobye. We had fun taking photos all around the ruins with Cuy faces.
After exploring the ruins and relaxing in the grass of the terraces for a while, we headed back down the steep trail to Aguas Calientes. Felipe and I were starving so we took the group out to an American style buffet where we most definitely got our money's worth.
It turns out a lot of people in our group had problems with their train tickets with the companies they had booked with. Many just didnt have ticket back home. This was a problem for 4 of the Brazilians who had airplane tickets back to Brazil the next day. As the only way in and out of Aguas Calientes is via hiking or train, they were forced to walk in the night for 3 hours on the train tracks to get to a place they could take a private car to a place where they could take a bus that would get them to Cusco. Luckily for me, it was easy and I had my ticket that took me to Ollantaytambo and then a bus onto Cusco.
I arrived in to Cusco around 9pm and waited until 1230 when Felipe's train arrived. We had been talking about Cuy (guinea pig) all trek, so we headed out and ordered some Cuy. Hmmm...it just wasnt tasty. It was kind of gross actually. And what made it worse is they just bring the whole roasted thing out, head, feet, and all. So you are looking at its eyes and teeth as you eat. There is also some possibility that it was rat as opposed to guinea pig, as there is no way to really guarantee you are getting guinea pig when in Peru.
After our Cuy "feast" (there is hardly much meat on it and we couldn't even finish that) we wanted to get something to get the taste out of our mouth. There is not much open at 2am, so we figured we could get some icecream at McDonalds or KFC, but both places had turned off their icecream machines. We looked at the meal options and our stomachs just turned seeing all the meat on the menu. As felipe said, "I think I am going to be a vegetarian for the next month"
After that we had to say a sad goodbye as he was heading to Puno, but we decided we would meet up for skiing in the States or traveling some other time together.
Got picked up by my guide at 4am for the bus ride to Mollepata (2900m/9515ft) where we had breakfast. I met the people in the group (5 friends from Israel, a couple from Denmark, 2 friends from Denmark, 2 friends from Switzerland, A couple from Brazil, two cousins from Brazil (though one goes to Middlebury college in Vermont), A dad and daughter from Brazil, a guy from Santiago, 2 friends from Spain, 1 gal from the UK, and me as well as our two guides Bernie and Ruso.)
We hiked along scenic farmland and above a deep valley on our way to our first camp at Soraypampa (3910m/12,825ft) About half way into the hike we came into view of a huge and gorgeous snow-covered peak that we continued to hike towards as we went up a valley. As we got nearer to the camp I could see the giant mountain of Salkantay (6264m/20545ft) I was the first one to the camp and the only one fast enough to continue up past the camp to see a couple of gorgeous turquoise lakes at the foot of a glacial moraine and at the snowline beneath a big snowcapped peak.
I got back down to the camp just as it was getting dark. In the dining tent our group was having "happy hour" which we would have everyday. It included tea, popcorn, and crackers.
I was partnered with Felipe, a student from Santiago to be tentmates. We were immediately best roomies and friends. He had ski bummed a year in Deer Valley, UT and just had a lot in common. He was hilarious and we just really bonded. The next morning everyone joked about all the pillow talk they heard coming from our tent.
7-18 Day 2
We were woken up in our tents at the crack of dawn and given coca tea. We then proceeded to walk up and up towards Salkantay and Salkantay pass. When we reached the pass (4650m/15252ft) we of course had great views of Salktantay as well as down two valleys and other mountains around. We stayed up on the pass for a while, watching a condor and witnessing an avalanche. We then headed steeply down into the mist and had a nice lunch in a big grassy field by a rushing creek. We then descended on a cool trail into the jungle and into a jungle canyon with a river below us. Along the way we saw lots of orchids and other flowers. We made camp at Chaullay (2915m/9560ft)
7-19 Day 3
Continued hiking down. Went past some nice waterfalls and continued through the jungle where I found lots of wild strawberries to munch on. We then hiked past some banana, avocado, and passion fruit plantations. I of course enjoyed the lots of fresh fruit. Just a bit after midday, we arrived in the small village of Santa Theresa (1930m/6330ft). At lunch there was some drama because the Israelis had apparently gotten onto the wrong tour. They had booked a 4 day trek and ours was 5 days. They wanted to stay with us for 5 days but the guide Bernie had arranged for a car to come pick them up and take them to Aguas Calientes. They had wanted to stay with us longer and I dont know all that went down, but there was definitely lots of yelling on the parts of the Israelis and anger and all that. I didnt really want to get involved so I didnt know all the specifics, but they claimed that he lied and he owed them another day and such and such. Well, regardless, they were shipped off and our group became much smaller (and quieter). After lunch, headed to some hot springs for a long swim at some amazing hotspring pools along the river. When dark descended, we headed back up to the camp, had dinner, and then got the party started. At first it was just some beers and dancing, but then Felipe and I headed into town and bought 3 fifths of pisco to make piscola and pis7up. By this time in the night it was just Felipe, Jenna (from Swizterland), Roberto and Anne (from denmark who we called our parents...mom and dad or our "iron parents" since they did ironmans), and also Sophi from Denmark. At first Felipe and I were pouring Pisco strength to what we called Ironman, which was 1/4 of the cup, but then we quickly changed the pours to Salktantay strength, which was 1/2 of the glass, and finally we moved up to Pachamama (the mother earth god of the Incas) pours which was all Pisco with just a splash of coke or 7up. As one could imagine, it wasnt long before Special Ted came out and he was initiating honest time with everyone, which of course everyone loved and told me how awesome it was the next day. We stayed out partying late until the night until it was about 3am when special ted found a bike and went riding around. Eventually Felipe went to bed and Jenna and I ran down into the town to see if there was anything going on. There wasn't, so I climbed a papaya tree from some papaya and then went to bed.
The whole trip Felipe had been trying to trade me for the air mattress I was carrying. The company provided for us these dinky mattresses that were carried on horses (along with our food, tent, and sleeping bags), but I was also carrying my nice air mattress. He was offering me things like a liter of beer or his reeces peanut butter cup. But it was too nice, so I wouldnt trade him. When I got back to my tent I searched in vain for my air mattress and then I felt around and noticed the Felipe was sleeping on by air mattress and both our dinky mattresses. So I had to sleep just on the ground. Turns out nice ole loving special ted had given away his mattresses (and jacket) to Felipe for the night.
7-20 Day 4
Walked from Santa Teresa to Hirdoelectrica. From Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes (2050m/6725ft) was a 3 hour walk along the train tracks, Stand by Me style. A lot of people were feeling hung over but Felipe, Ironmom, and Irondad, and myself were all still feeling good, and we had a lot of fun walking along the traintracks which were in a cool, deep canyon with a rushing river going by. We were singing songs and dreaming out loud of eating Cuy (cuy cuy cuy cuy in a high voice), aka guinea pig. About 1/2 way on the traintrack walk we got some views up the canyon at Machu Picchu itself.
7-21 Day 5
The night before Filipe and I had found a stuffed animal Cuy that looked extremely and took a picture of him petting it. On this morning when we gathered at 4 in the morning, we showed everyone the picture and told them we had bought a cuy and had it in our dorm bathroom and were going to cook it when we got back. We told them its name was Jorge, and everyone believed us and the whole day at Machu Picchu they were excitedly talking about how we would manage to kill our new pet to roast on the bbq.
Anyways, at 4am we started the hike up to the mountaintop ruins of Machu Picchu and up to the Sun Gate (2750m/9020ft) to watch the sun rise. Machu Picchu is of course spectacular. It was my 2nd time visiting the great Incan site, but still definitely worth it. It is impossible to describe this stunning area of ruins that sits up in the green mountains, one of which looks just like the face of an Inca, and with white snow-capped peaks around, so I will just let you imagine it or look at pictures. We had a 2 hour tour and then, Maria and Sophie (Denmark), Filipe, Jenna and Kevin (Switzerland), and I explored the ruins by ourselves. Mom and Dad had tickets to go up Wayna Picchu, so we had to give them a sad goobye. We had fun taking photos all around the ruins with Cuy faces.
After exploring the ruins and relaxing in the grass of the terraces for a while, we headed back down the steep trail to Aguas Calientes. Felipe and I were starving so we took the group out to an American style buffet where we most definitely got our money's worth.
It turns out a lot of people in our group had problems with their train tickets with the companies they had booked with. Many just didnt have ticket back home. This was a problem for 4 of the Brazilians who had airplane tickets back to Brazil the next day. As the only way in and out of Aguas Calientes is via hiking or train, they were forced to walk in the night for 3 hours on the train tracks to get to a place they could take a private car to a place where they could take a bus that would get them to Cusco. Luckily for me, it was easy and I had my ticket that took me to Ollantaytambo and then a bus onto Cusco.
I arrived in to Cusco around 9pm and waited until 1230 when Felipe's train arrived. We had been talking about Cuy (guinea pig) all trek, so we headed out and ordered some Cuy. Hmmm...it just wasnt tasty. It was kind of gross actually. And what made it worse is they just bring the whole roasted thing out, head, feet, and all. So you are looking at its eyes and teeth as you eat. There is also some possibility that it was rat as opposed to guinea pig, as there is no way to really guarantee you are getting guinea pig when in Peru.
After our Cuy "feast" (there is hardly much meat on it and we couldn't even finish that) we wanted to get something to get the taste out of our mouth. There is not much open at 2am, so we figured we could get some icecream at McDonalds or KFC, but both places had turned off their icecream machines. We looked at the meal options and our stomachs just turned seeing all the meat on the menu. As felipe said, "I think I am going to be a vegetarian for the next month"
After that we had to say a sad goodbye as he was heading to Puno, but we decided we would meet up for skiing in the States or traveling some other time together.
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