I arrived back in Cusco at 11 last night, barely able to to keep my eyes open and smelling like horribly musty socks. Welcome to the Salkantay trek- 5 days of hiking through landscapes ranging from glacial mounatins to cloud forests, a lack of showers, and the most amazing people shoved into a bus for hours on end.
On Wednesday morning, I pulled myself out of bed at 4:30 AM to meet my tour group- Cusco is surprisingly quiet early in the morning when all the nightlife has faded and the market vendors haven´t started hauling out the day´s fresh bread and juice. We spent 2 hours on a winding bus ride to out starting point, Mollepata, a small town in the Sacred Valley that sees hundreds of backpackers pass thorugh its streets everyday. We enjoyed breakfast together before setting out on our journey.
The first leg of the hike followed a dirt road through green valleys and mountains. Pastures with horses and cattle were abundant and many locals caring for their hillside crops looked up for a quick hola¨¨ as we passed along the trail. We soon learned the diversity of our group- we had people from Germany, Spain, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and the United States- together we could speak more than 5 languages and we ranged in age from 18 (that would be me) to retired-and-travelling-around-South-America-in-a-camping-van. The sites were beautiful, but it was even more amazing to learn each person´s story- some were just on a vacation from work, but one couple (and Australian and Argentinean) had met in South America and decided to spend the next year travelling together. I quickly became friends with a girl named Mo, from Hong Kong, who writes and directs films and Michael, a guy from Brazil, who taught me to meditate at the top of Waynapicchu.
The hike eventually became steeper, which meant we began walking at ultra-slow speeds. At 12,000 feet, you feel like you weigh 50 pounds more than you do and every step is an exertion. Suddenly through, after weaving through switchbacks on muddy trails in the forest, we came to a clearing where in the distance, you could see a mountain covered in glaciers- the air felt cool and crisp, and we all collapsed on the hill for a look at the view and for a nice long snack break.
After lunch, we had an option to take a truck to our camp site (instead of walking) in order to go on an optional hike to a lagoon. We accepted- and the 18 of us climbed into the bed of the rickety vehicle and began a bumpy journey- the floor of the truck was missing pieces, so we could see the pot holes as our tires sunk into each depression one by one, and you really didn´t want to look out the side of the truck, where again, the cliff stood inches from our tires. As we bounced along the road, we picked up random Peruvians who used the truck like the local bus network. At one point, we were tailgated by a man on horse...only in Peru.
Near out camp site, we had to cross a creek bed and the truck got stuck, so we all huddled in the back third of the bed to get enough momentum to make it through the rocky mess. And then there we were, at the base of two glacial mounatins with a deep valley stretching infinitely, layered with mounatins to a our back.
We set up our tents in a small shelter and headed for the lagoon, a hike up what seemed like an innocent undulating pasture land. Every step was exhausting though and it felt like I had been running sprint for hours as I struggled to pick one foot up and put it in fron of the other. We climb along a river flowing with melted glacial waters and many cows dotting the rocky hillside. After more switchbacks, we slowly ascended a small hill and then we were struck with THE most beaustiful view I have ever seen- a teal blue lagoon situated at the base of one of the glacial mountains- everything was still and quiet except for the distant sound of water flowing from the mountain and into the lagoon. I just sat on a rock at the water´s edge in awe. After taking in the peace, Eduardo, our tour guide, taught us how to give our first offering to Mother Earth. Each of us took 3 coca leaves and blew them to the sun, north, south, to the sun again, and then placed them in a circle of rocks. We offered small candies as well (Mother Earth likes sugar) and the placed three rocks on top of our offering- each symbolizing the three animals of the Incas- the snake, puma, and condor. The moment was so serene, with the sun shining down on us and the the cool air brushing us from the lagoon. Sublime. We returned to camp for tea time (Muña tea is delicious- a Peruvian version of mint)- tea wiith popcorn and crackers, and then we were treated to our chef´s delicious soups and meal.
The second day was a a day of mind-over-matter. We woke up at 5 before setting out through the deep valley, across rocky stream beds, and toward the Salkantay mountain. For the first 4 hours, we climbed switchback after switchback, gasping for air as the sun intensely beat down on our exposed faces (pretty much everything else was covered because it was so cold.) I couldn´t stop walking though, because if I did, I would probably never start again. By early morning though, we summited the mountain peak at 4,800 meters and then went on a small hike to another lagoon. Hopping from boulder to boulder, we approached a rock cliff that looked deep over another stunning bright blue pool of water. Again, we just sat there in silence- everything along this trail felt so sacred and words completely unecessary.
The afternoon hike was quite interesting. One guy accurately descibed it to me as ¨feeling like you´ve been in Antartica, Scotland, and the Amazon jungle all in the course of a few hours.¨ We descended the chilly thin-aired mountain peak, which slowly transformed to rocky pastures with cows mulling over the green grass and boulders through which to weave. The temperature rose dramatically as we stumbled along the gravelly paths. We stopped at a farm for lunch and then continued our journey- gradually the air became humid and suddenly I realized the once barren hillsides surrounding us now had bushes and an abundance of trees. In a canyon hugging our path, a large river accompanied us along our journey.
We met 2 young girls along the path who were sisters and spent 2 hours walking to school eat way each day. They showed us plants that we could pick a long the way to make salad. My knees felt like jelly by the end of the hike, which was downhill for 5 hours. We finally reached the campsite though- where Bob Marley blasted form the snack shop and we all played soccer barefoot with a terribly flat ball. I love when people of all ages, all languages, and all cultures are connected my a beat up soccer ball. We fell asleep to rain and Marley´s ¨Feliz Navidad.¨
The last two days of the trek were not difficult simply because each time that we had an option to take a bus or walk, we always took the bus. In one bus, my seat wasn´t bolted to the floor. Safety is obviously Peru´s number one priority. It´s great. We went to hot springs in a little town named Santa Theresa and then spent the night ¨partying.¨ Basically, we sat around and argued about artifical intelligence and other strange subjects while another group bought lots of drinks from the camp store. A little Peruvian girl who lived at the camp spent time drawing with me and was quite demnding about drawing ¨gatitos¨; she also wanted to keep my passport as a little souvenir.
The last day, we walked form a hydro-electric plant to Aguas Calinetes, the touristy town in which everyone must stay before they travel to Machu Picchu. Although it´s the rainy season, we had been pretty lucky with the weather until the last few hours of our trip- and then Mother Earth decided to let all the water go. We walked in the pouring rain along the railroad tracks and by the time we reached the town, water was flowing in streams down the street. The mountains here are so vast and steep. We were in a little oasis surrounded by high rock faces. Most of my clothes didn´t stay dry in my backpack, but we all got to take hot showers for the first time in 4 days, which was an adequate consolation.
Everything in Aguas Calientes is literally for tourists, so it´s horribly overpriced and fake. Luckily though, a few of us met up with an independent hiking group who we had seen at each of our camp sites along the trek. The guide was a Peruivan, so he took us to a ¨local¨ place. It was literally a hole in the ground behind an unmarked door. We shuffled down a flight of steep steps to a dirt-floored room with two picnic tables, a bunch of local guys, and an abundance of pitchy Andean music. The host lady served up some chicha stuff (I opted out- I already tried the drink and wasn´t a fan,) and we all just sat around and talked. The guide works in Cusco, so hopefully I´m going to help him learn English and he´ll show me around Cusco. I also met a German girl who has been travelling all around South America for the past 10 months and we shared all of our crazy Peruvian stories.
The next morning, we had to wake up at 4:30 to catch the 5:30 bus to Machu Picchu. And then suddenly we were there- of course, every postcard that I´d seen walking the street of Cusco obviously doesn´t do the vast structures, steep mounatins, and surrounding valleys any justice. The buildings are complex and orderly- religious temples, storage areas, fountains and bathing vesicles, residencial areas, and an astronomical observatory. It´s crazy to imagine who and how the city was and built. More impressive than the structures themselves, however, is the sacred location of the city. When I climbed the terraces of the agricultural area to look back at what you would consider the stereotypical Machu Picchu image, the energy of the place is breathtaking- two rivers flowing around a beautiful oasis. You can see for miles around- a snowy mountain range, the winding road taking buses of passengers to the site, and valleys full of green plant life. Early in the morning, foggy clouds half-covered Waynapicchu, but the sun soon greeted us with intensity and illuminated the amazing stonework.
I climbed Waynapicchu, the steep mountain behind of all the structures, for an amazing view of the argicultural terraces. The 40 minute climb is ridiculous- steep, narrow staircases with ropes drilled to the sides of the boulders to assist in the ascent. We had to crawl through a cave dripping with puddles of rain water and squeeze through several tight spaces between rock walls to finally reach the summit. Again, I just sat in awe- it was a condor´s view of the city and of all the surrounding landscapes. There are actually buildings that the Incas constructed hugging the face of the steep mountain and a network of steps zigzaging through its mutiple layers. Exhausted, I napped in the warm sun and then attempted to meditate with Michael. It is incredibly difficult to keep your back straight for more than a few minutes.
For the rest of the day, I walked around with one of my Brazilian hiking mates- we pretended to cook our meals in the agricultural area, washed our hands in the bathing area, and just wandered the struutures. At one point, I just sat in a little park in the agricultural sector and did a quick sketch of the landscape. It is crazy to imagine a bustling city, with people living in the houses, selling food along the pathways, and worshipping at the many temples.
We took a backpacker train home and then a 3 hour bus ride (in which we almost hit a motorcycle driver head on while passing in th left lane. Go safety!) and then our little family parted ways- some going home after a short vacation, others getting into their camper van to drive the crazy roads of South America, and me back to my ¨home¨ in Cusco, ready for more adventures. Machu Picchu is grand is all senses of the word, but the journey and people (as always) were more incredible. It is absolutley true that travelling does something amazing for the soul.
Happy almost Thanksgiving in the US :)
love,
Leah
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