To Cusco and then home

We leave Aguas Callientes on the afternoon of May 30 for the "trek" home. Fortunately is starts with a wonderful 2 hour train ride.

I cop a great kneeling space at the front of the train with a large glass window to kneel in front of.

We take the train to Ollantaytambo where we switch to a bus for the ride thru the Sacred Valley and up the mountains to Cusco.

These are the last pics I have to post.

My last great experience was finding 4 varieties of Quinua at Gato's Market on Santa Catalina Ancha on Wednesday night - mission accomplished !!

Highlights:
- Quinua
- The Andes mountains and river valleys
- Saltancay Pass
- Town of Izcushaca
- Great hiking - would like to do more
- The train rides
- Meeting some great people to hike with - we had some great laughs and enjoyed each others company
- .... And much more to remember

5/30 - Machu Picchu

Well the pictures are certainly amateurish compared to the thousands of professional ones available for viewing - but certainly have sentimental value.

Extraordinary place:
- Layout - agriculture, living, religion
- Living - professionals at top; laborers below
- No sexism - woman architects and engineers in the 15th century
- irrigation system and precisely calculated slope of water channels
- Profile of Southern Cross, in stone, precisely positioned
- Precise calculation of solstice sun angles captured thru windows of the Temple of the Sun
- Sending 15 year old boys to other villages and vice versa to maintain integrity of gene pool
- "1 strike" rule to maintain law and order

Thought this would be a rest day but we walked up and down thru the ruins, then to the Inca Bridge, then to Stone Gate. Lots of steps and uneven stones.

I guess we earned one more day of 3 good meals !!

5/29 - Aguas Callientes

I'm really intrigued by how the Peruvians live. This is the closest I'll get to spend some time observing local people in their everyday lives. 4000 people in the town - most all connected to the tourist industry, yet their local stores, living conditions, etc do not seem much different that what we have seen in other places where we stopped or hiked.

We spend a few hours just wandering the "residential" part of the town.

The number of vendors selling the same items in stall after stall becomes a little overwhelming.

5/29 - Urubamba River to Aguas Callienyws

After reaching the River we hike to the hydroelectric train station - used primarily for trekkers and hydro employees. A not so pleasant walk on the track-side to a local restaurant for beers before heading to Aguas Callientes from where we will leave the next morning for Machu Picchu.

Note the dish washing operation - I'm sure hoping that one spigot has hot water! Willing to bet if does not.

Very hot and dusty walking to the train station, and lots of local vendors pretty much selling the same items beside the tracks.

Short but really pretty ride up the river.

Favorite things in life - mule trains and train rides. This has been like Christmas !!!

Last Trek Day - 5/29

The sun rises over Sacsarayoc Glacier on yet another clear, sunny day. We head up, up, up on the Inca Trail - a main section, to Pallayacta Pass at 8,500 feet. This section is mostly 5 meters wide, stone banks on either side, and partly paved with stone.

We visit the Inka ruins at Llactapata - there's some 80 structures - 1/2 as many as Machu Picchu - and seems much smaller since only a few structures have been cleared and / or restored.

Unbelievably picturesque and serene lunch stop a few minutes after visiting the ruins. A couple cooks lunch in their traditional Peruvian kitchen, and is not bothered at all by my wandering around and playing with their son.

Views of the Urubamba river valley, and Machu Picchu mountain in the distance - with some glimpses of the terraced slopes.

Breathtaking !!

The Urubamba river seems far away - and it is where we will hike down to after lunch.

Kids are Kids

To Lucma Lodge, 5/28

Today we cross back over the Salcantay River and also traverse the Chalan and Totora rivers, all of which merge into the Santa Teresa river, along which we will hike most of the day.

We cross thru the small village of Chaullay, where 4 families have established camping facilities, and I've included a picture of the first two-story home in this small village.

We next pass thru Collpapampa village, where camping facilities, a "general store", and small restaurants have opened. Collpapampa also seems to be a cross-roads for switching cargo on mule teams, and I've included a picture of a husband and wife switching cargo from one mule team to the other.

As we enter Collpapampa two young girls with shopping bags pass us. Pepe says that they have come down from the mountain valley to purchase the only 6 things for which they are not self-sufficient: rice, noodles, sugar, salt, oil, and cocoa leaves.

We spend a long day hiking up and down the shoreline of the Santa Teresa, and then board a bus that takes us to a section of the Inca Trail - 5 meters wide, rock walls on both sides. There are 40,000 Km of Inca Trail.

We pass thru Playa, a small and very rural village that also has camping facilities. You get a sense that Playa (Beach) is an entire world away from the one we live in - but then again not very different from us in terms of basic goals and objectives - family, work, community. Seems very poor.

We hike a section of the Inca Trail, visit with a coffee bean growing family that roasts fresh coffee beans for us, and then check in to Colpa Lodge.

Long day. Lots of beautiful Andean river valley views - no way to capture them with an iPhone.

The corn field picture that is included is on a patch of land that is half-way up a hill that would be a challenge for any of us to hike !!

Flowers and Plants in the Cloud Forest

Monday, May 28, was a hike along the Santa Teresa River to a small section of the Inca Trail just outside the village of Santa Teresa.

This post summarizes the flowers and plants we saw in this tropical environment.

Bella Donna - white flowers that look like upside down lilies. Member of potato family

Asters

Cala Lilies

Bananas

Coffee Beans

Corn

Artichokes

Orchards with the flower growing out from between the leaves

Passion Fruit

Cultivated Lupen - for which the beans are soaked and cooked to remove the toxins

Bachamanca

When we arrive at Collpa Lodge we are served Chicha ( traditional Black Corn Juice ) and then watch the cooks place potatoes, corn, fava beans, lamb, chicken, pork, and guinea pig ( a Peruvian delicacy ) into a stone fire pit.

The stones are covered with wood and cloths, and then covered with dirt to allow the food to cook in the stones for 50 minutes.

We then sit down to the Bachamanca traditional meal, complete with Black Corn pudding ( Mazamorra Morada ).

Delicious !!

A Changing Culture

Though the trail we are hiking is full of mule trains (one of my favorite sights!!), the small villages of Collpapampa and Chaullay, with 10 and 4 families respectively, have set up campgrounds and basic facilities to serve the ever increasing number of tourists.

Now they merge agriculture, mule-driving, and tourism pursuits, yet easy to assume that tourism-related pursuits will be more profitable and easier.

Les, our Guide, says that two additional houses have been built in Chaullay since her trip 3 weeks ago.

Into the Cloud Forest

Today we hike from Wayrajmachay Lodge at 12900 feet to Collpa Lodge at 9200 feet.

Beautiful sunrise view over Humantay Peak as we begin the hike. Cool but warming up very quickly.

It's clear that today will be a day for 'micro' pictures - not the strong point for an iPhone - so not many pics to share from the trek.

Beautiful yellow flowers from the Aster
family - known locally as chocclo chocclo. Hummingbirds, bamboo, forever youngs (winay wayna), lady slipper, and more.

Want to find the chocclo chocclo to see if it will grow in Vermont. Flower looks like a corn cob. Stunning.

The day ends where the Salcantay, Chalan, and Totora rivers converge into the Santa Teresa river.