August 4, 2007
Day 675
Choquequirao-Machu Picchu Trek Day 7

There are two options for getting back to Cusco from Machu Picchu. You can either take the really expensive train, which takes two hours, or walk two hours to the hydroelectric plant and take a series of three buses, which costs much less but takes all day. After walking the last six days, I didn't have the ambition to do the latter option, so I went with the former, along with everyone else I was traveling with. The train station opened at 4:00 AM, so we got up at 3:30 to buy our tickets. However, the line was already so huge at the station that we would have to wait several hours, and by then, the trains for this afternoon would probably be sold out. We decided to start walking to Machu Picchu instead.

It took close to an hour of walking uphill on a path that cut off the switchbacks that the buses used, but we still made it to the top before first light. Unfortunately, by the time we entered the site, the first buses had already arrived and a fair amount of tourists were inside.

You're probably wondering why I went to Machu Picchu again. True, I was there at the beginning of my trip, but that was nearly two years ago, and the site was recently named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, which means that tourism there will likely increase exponentially in the next few years. Besides, the Choquequirao trek I had just done took me to within a stone's throw of Machu Picchu, so I figured why not go again?

My second visit to Machu Picchu was every bit as good as my first. I spent hours walking around the huge city, and hours more sitting around, taking in the site, and reflecting on my journey. Yes, there were hordes of tourists everywhere, but it was easy to look past them and enjoy one of the great wonders of the world. After spending eight hours at the Lost City of the Incas, I took the long walk back down to Augas Calientes.

Chantelle and I still weren't sure how to get back to Cusco, so we stood in the long line at the train station to look for tickets. Behind me were an American couple with a huge problem: The train they purchased tickets for left from the other train station in Aguas Calientes, and nobody told them when they bought their tickets. How could there be two train stations in such a little town, and more importantly, how could the ticket salesmen not tell them that their train was leaving from a totally different location? The girl was hysterical to the point of having a nervous breakdown, and it was easy to see why: The trains often were sold out days in advance, trapping tourists in Aguas Calientes. We happened to get lucky as there were still a couple seats available on the 8:30 train to Ollantaytambo tonight.

I spent a few hours in Aguas Calientes this afternoon and realized that it's a terrible place. It was designed just for the tourists, so everything costs at least double what it should. There are statues and buildings that attempt to look authentically Incan, but fail miserably. There are tons of souvenir shops, but their merchandise looks like it was mass-produced in a factory. The people there have little to do with their ancient roots. Simply put, the entire town is gaudy. I was very happy to have a train ticket out of there.

Chantelle and I boarded our train and immediately fell asleep. My ticket said the train was going to Ollantaytambo, but it stopped short in Urubamba, a blatant lie. The train ride lasted one hour and cost $40, making it number one on my list of biggest ripoffs in South America. Yet for people wanting to visit Machu Picchu, it's virtually their only option. And the worst part is that PeruRail, which runs the trains, is owned by a Chilean company, so Peru doesn't even get to see the massive amount of money it generates. What a horrible thing to do to the tourists and Peruvians alike!

Despite the expensive ride home, the trek was an amazing experience. I got to see one of the least-known, yet most important sites of the Inca Empire, several deep gorges created by the mighty rivers of the region, the massive Vilcabamba mountain range, a beautiful section of cloud forest, an amazing hot spring, and of course Machu Picchu. It was very physically challenging, yet one of the best treks I have done in South America.

The photo album for this entry is here.

August 3, 2007
Day 674
Choquequirao-Machu Picchu Trek Day 6

First thing this morning, I crossed the treacherous bridge near the campsite and jumped in the hot springs. The water was so hot, it was like a jacuzzi as it massaged my back and shoulders. I could have stayed there all day. I couldn't have asked for a better treat after trekking so far.

As Chantelle and I were eating breakfast, the tour groups started coming down from their camp. As the groups passed us, they stopped at the hot springs, but nobody went in. Their guides just pointed them out and explained that there wasn't enough time to visit them. I went into a fit of crazed laughter when the tourists took pictures of the perfect water they could never enjoy.

After several days of seeing almost nobody, we were now on the Salkantay trek, one of the main Inca Trails to Machu Picchu. Every ten minutes, we passed a food stand or restaurant that some villager had set up. The trail became relatively flat for the first time since our first day. There were at least fifty other trekkers in our vicinity, but at least they were friendly. I had some nice conversations with several of them during our frequent breaks. We moved at a more relaxed pace than previous days, but still made it to the end in three hours, despite being told that it would take five.

The trek ended at La Playa, which was the first place with road access. Getting out wouldn't be easy because all of the vans leaving the area were already chartered to tour groups. While waiting for a van that had room for Chantelle and I, we met a German named Philip and a Peruvian named Marcela, who had just finished the Salkantay trek without a guide and were also waiting for a ride. Marcela mentioned that she was a member of Couchsurfing, and before I knew it, I was being invited to Lima. They were both very nice people, so I think I'll take her up on her offer, despite not being fond of Lima.

Eventually we got a van to Santa Teresa, a little backwater town that also happens to be a back door entrance to Aguas Calientes, which is the gateway to Machu Picchu. While we were waiting, three Israelis showed up, making our group seven strong. We all hopped into another van to the hydroelectric plant that marked the end of the PeruRail train line and the closest any roads came to Machu Picchu. From there, we walked two hours along the train tracks and arrived in Aguas Calientes after dark.

We were all exhausted and filthy from trekking, so we just wanted to find a hotel and go to sleep. However, Aguas Calientes only exists to service the tourists going to Machu Picchu, so everything's really expensive there. Eventually the Israelis were able to use their expert bargaining techniques to get us a cheap place to stay. We wanted to get to Machu Picchu before the hordes of tourists, so we planned to get up at 3:30 AM and went to bed relatively early.

The photo album for this entry is here.

August 2, 2007
Day 673
Choquequirao-Machu Picchu Trek Day 5

Stats for the Day: 600 meters up, 1000 down, a relatively easy day.

With donkeys carrying our stuff once again this morning, the walking was easy. We followed the Victoria River upstream along a gentle slope that led us up about 600 meters. We were surrounded by the Vilcabamba mountains the entire time. The tour group left before us because all they had to do was wake up and eat the breakfast that had already been cooked for them, but we soon caught up and passed them. They walked unbelievably slowly considering that they never stopped to talk to anyone.

We still had one more pass to cover on our trek, and for the first time, the weather wasn't cooperating. By the time we got to the final steep part before the pass, the weather had abruptly changed from hot and sunny to freezing and foggy. I couldn't see anything on the way up, so I just trusted that I was on the right trail. Near the top I began shivering because my cold weather gear was all packed away on the donkey. At the top, the friendly muleteers told us to continue for a bit to the lunch site so we could get out of the cold.

While Chantelle and I ate lunch, the muleteers put up the warm eating tent for the tour group, who began strolling in just as we were ready to leave. The Italian guy talked to us a bit more, but the rest of them just went into the tent and never emerged, despite the fact that the fog began clearing and providing us with another great view. The tourists were the only thing colder than the weather that day. We continued before them and never saw them again.

We had another few hours of walking ahead of us to get to the bottom of the latest valley. Luckily it was an easy walk through more beautiful scenery. Several times we saw what appeared to be either ruins or just abandoned houses. Sometimes the definition of "ruin" is gray. By 4:00 we were in Totoro, a little village where there tour group would be stopping for the night. The entire place was covered with manure, and there were barking dogs, crowing roosters, and oinking pigs everywhere, so we quickly grabbed our backpacks and moved on.

After two more hours of walking downhill, we got to the point where our trek met with the much more popular Salkantay trek. There were a few paths to choose from, but it looked like we'd have a good campsite below us. A blond girl with a guide walked up a path toward us and looked excited to talk to us. Here's how the conversation went:

Girl: "There are some amazing hot springs down there that are exactly thirty-eight degrees Celsius (100 F)."

Chantelle: "Oh, so you went swimming?"

Girl: "No, I just walked down to look at them." (Not spoken sarcastically.)

Chantelle: "Which way to Machu Picchu?"

Girl: "I don't know."

Chantelle: "Which trek are you doing?"

Girl: "I can't remember the name." (How can you not even know which trek you're on?)

Chantelle: "Is it Salkantay?"

Girl: "Hmmm, sounds familiar. Is that the one you're doing?" (Oh man this girl's dumb.)

Chantelle: "No, I think that's the one you're doing."

Me: "So which direction did you come from today?"

Girl: "I don't know."

Me: "And where are you going now?"

Girl: "I don't know."

Me: "OK, thanks for the info!" (very sarcastically)

Girl: "No problem, see you!"

I don't think she even understood which planet she was on, yet she knew the exact temperature of the water, even without going in. At least she had a guide with her who could lead them up to the cabin they would be sleeping in.

We decided to walk down to the river to camp. This was the best campsite of the trek, and one of the best I've had in South America. We were surrounded on all sides by green mountains, there were snow-capped peaks behind them, two rivers were flowing near us, there were hot springs coming from the peaks above, there were no farm animals in sight, and all of the other trekkers were camped in a cabin far away from us. I couldn't believe nobody else decided to camp there, considering how perfect it was.

The photo album for this entry is here.

August 1, 2007
Day 672
Choquequirao-Machu Picchu Trek Day 4

Stats for the Day: 1200 meters up to 4100, then 500 back down to yet another valley.

This was to be the hardest day of our trek, but I was assured before leaving that we would be able to contract a donkey to carry our stuff from Mysal up to the pass. The situation turned out to be even better than I had expected. Since there was already a tour group at Mysal and they were going to the same place today as us, we could just throw our backpacks on the donkeys they were already using to save money, and they would even carry our stuff all the way to the next camp, rather than just to the pass.

We had about 1200 vertical meters to cover before hitting the Alta Quebrada pass. I was still tired from yesterday, but with no backpack to carry, walking was easy. The side of the canyon we were on didn't receive much direct sunlight, so it was a completely different environment than the other side. The forest was generally lush with lots of green plants, mushrooms, and bamboo stalks. We also passed a few abandoned mines during our walk that were exploited by both the Incas and the Spaniards.

Of course there was an amazing view from the top. We could see the entire Cordillera Vilcabamba, as well as the valleys that lay ahead of and behind us. We had lunch and attempted once again to converse with the tour group members without success. Other than one Italian guy who we got to talk a bit, nobody said a word to us, or even to each other. I don't know if they resented the fact that we were using their donkeys or if they were just asses, but they were the most antisocial bunch I had ever seen in South America. I think their guide should have kicked them to wake them up to the fact that they were in such an amazing place. Chantelle and I didn't feel like being ostracized anymore, so we started yet another long downhill climb before the others.

It took a couple more hours to reach Yanama, our destination for the day. The town was very spread out, but nice and friendly. Kids came up to us to say hi, and didn't even ask for candy or money. We were able to buy a few supplies from a shop for about double the normal price, which was fair enough considering the nearest town with road access was two days' walking away. The tour group purchased a pig and watched as a lady slaughtered it and cleaned its guts for a tripe soup. Maybe that's where their $600 went. At any rate, we're going to walk further than the tour group tomorrow, but we'll still get to use their donkeys at the beginning of the day. It's a good thing we're not camping in the same spot because as them because I'm sick of them already.

The photo album for this entry is here.

July 31, 2007
Day 671
Choquequirao-Machu Picchu Trek Day 3

Stats for the day: 300 meters up, 1200 down, then 800 back up, so we barely made any progress!

During breakfast today, Kim broke the news to us that she didn't want to continue any further. She would rather stay at Choquequirao another day and go back the way we came. The main problem was the heavy rented tent she was carrying. I felt bad that she had to carry so much weight, but my backpack was already quite heavy and I didn't think I could handle much more. We split up our food so we'd each have enough, and Chantelle and I left early to see the upper part of the site before our long walk today.

We had a steep climb to get to the main part of Choquequirao from our campsite. When we got to the courtyard which was the center of activity at Choquequirao, the only other person we saw was Julian, the park ranger who was busy meditating. When he finished, he explained the parts of the site that were used as living quarters, for ceremonial rituals, and for crop growing. It was really interesting walking around a city as important as Machu Picchu, but with no other tourists around.

When we finished looking around, Julian told us that we should climb the big hill next to the main site because it was a "natural energy center," similar to the ones that supposedly exist in Stone Henge and Machu Picchu. The Americans we met yesterday had a slightly different explanation for the hill, however. They claimed the hill was used as a helicopter landing pad so the president of Peru could visit Choquequirao without walking there. Either way, it was the view that impressed me. We could see the entire region, including all of Choquequirao, some farm fields on a hill on the other side of the valley that would remain visible for almost our entire trek, the surrounding mountains, forests, and even yesterday's path. The natural setting alone made the site one of the most amazing places I've ever visited.

We had attempted to contract a donkey to carry our stuff again today, but to no avail. Almost everyone who visits Choquequirao simply returns back to Cachora on the same path, so we found it impossible to convince any of the local farmers to continue on the trek with us. We were on our own again, but that didn't bother me. The only problem was that we didn't leave until noon, which didn't give us a lot of time to get to our next campsite.

Our trek today began with an uphill climb which afforded us another great view of the "natural energy center" far below us. Also visible from the pass was the confluence of the rivers Apurimac, which we crossed on our first day, and Victoria, which we had to walk to today. From there, we were on the sunny side of the hill, which made for a hot, dusty descent through a desert-like land.

Halfway down the hill we passed yet another ruin called Pincha Unuyoc. The only people there were two excavation workers. Work on the site appeared to have just begun. At that point, Chantelle finally started appreciating not having donkeys with us. It was a very serene experience walking down the face of such a huge gorge without anyone else around.

It took us another hour of zig-zagging down the steep path to reach the Victoria river. The current was strong, but there was an amazing pool of freezing water to swim in. The water revitalized me, but I had to get out quickly to avoid the millions of sandflies, which are locally known as pumahuacachi, which literally means "that which makes the puma scream."

As we were walking along the river searching for the path up the other side, we spotted a backpacker walking toward us. He was from Colorado and was an absolute bear of a man with a huge frame and long beard to match. He said that he had been walking through the Andes with his girlfriend, who was slightly behind him, for the last six months, starting in Santiago. I had never met someone who had spent so much time in the mountains and would loved to have heard his stories, but it was getting late and we all still had steep climbs ahead of us on opposite sides of the canyon. We exchanged some advice about our trails and continued on our way.

We knew that the climb we were beginning was the largest of the trek at over 2000 meters. We only had about two hours left before dark, but the good news was that there was a settlement partway up the hill called Mysal where we could camp. From the previous advice I had received, I figured it would take about one and a half hours to get there. We walked and walked for what seemed like forever. I was exhausted after an hour, but determined to push on. When it started getting dark, I figured we must be close. I looked across the canyon and saw that we were already above the level of the ruins, and they were 500 meters above the river. Soon it was completely dark, but we had no choice but to keep walking. Luckily, Chantelle was in good spirits and seemed OK with walking in the dark.

I kept looking for lights and listening for voices. Any sign of civilization would have been helpful. My brain started playing tricks on me when I saw fireflies and thought we had arrived, only to see the "village" turn off. Finally I was sure I heard barking dogs, but the noise was way in the distance, and the trail was leading us away from it. Eventually we hit a switchback and started walking toward the dogs. When I had almost nothing left in me, we reached our first split in the trail, but there was no indication of which trail led where. We wisely kept walking toward the dogs and arrived in Mysal five minutes later. We had walked up about 800 meters (half a mile) and it took three hours, much longer than I had expected.

We were surprised to see half a dozen tourists at Mysal after seeing nobody but the mountain man all day, but I think their guides were even more surprised to see us. We told them how far we had come and they immediately gave us a cup of coca tea. We had some nice conversations with the guides, and when one of them pulled out a guitar, we joined the other tourists. However, none of them even said so much as "hi" to us. It was really strange being given the cold shoulder like that, but I was too tired to care.

The photo album for this entry is here.

July 30, 2007
Day 670
Choquequirao-Machu Picchu Trek Day 2
Just 650 Meters Uphill Today (6.5 times the wingspan of the Spruce Goose)

Chantelle and Kim spent a good portion of last night and this morning inquiring about getting mules to take our stuff the rest of the way to Choquequirao. I stayed out of it, figuring at least I wasn't trekking alone. After all, this was a tough trek and the girls were good company. They successfully convinced a muleteer from a tour group to take our stuff on the pack animals he was already using. It was pretty cheap because we didn't even have to rent our own animal, and admittedly, it made walking more enjoyable.

With no backpack to carry, I raced the rest of the way up the hill at blazing speed. At one point I passed two eighteen-year-old boys and one of their dads riding on horses. At least we weren't that lazy. Soon we arrived at Maraupata, the last campsite before Choquequirao, where the majority of trekkers dropped off their gear because they were heading straight back in the opposite direction the next day. From there we could at last see our destination covered with thick green forests in the background. We continued walking for another hour of ups and downs to arrive at the Choquequirao campsite.

Choquequirao is one of those places that you can tell will be completely different in a few years. The ancient Inca site has been known about for hundreds of years, but its importance was overlooked until recently. Now it is believed that Choquequirao was as important to the Incas as Machu Picchu, yet the facts that getting there involves a strenuous walk and only thirty per cent of the site has been excavated so far have limited the number of visitors to a few thousand per year, less than one per cent of those who visit Machu Picchu. Rumors abound that the Peruvian government is eager to build either a road or railway to Choquequirao, a project that will no doubt dramatically increase tourism there and take away some of the magic that the site currently holds.

After we set up camp and had lunch, we still had half the day to explore the site, so we walked down the path to the lower terraces, about twenty minutes straight down from our campsite. The area really impressed me with dozens of rows of flat terraces for growing crops accompanied by well-built staircases arranged in an amphitheater-like semicircle, all towering above a few stone houses. But what really amazed me was its location. Everywhere around us were huge lush hills in front of even bigger snowy mountains and even a waterfall leading deep into the gorge below. The Incas understood well the three most important rules of real estate.

The best part of the afternoon was that we had the entire area to ourselves. Most of the tour groups didn't include enough time in their itineraries to visit all of Choquequirao, so the few other tourists in the area were all at the main part of the site above us. We'll check out that part tomorrow before leaving.

Sharing our campsite were some interesting people. A group from a school in the nearby city of Abancay trekked their way up to the site from a different path than the one most people took. It was great to see some of the local young people interested in exploring their cultural roots. There were also two Americans who were utterly unprepared for the trek. They brought along nice, expensive hammocks from the US to sleep in, but were disheartened when they realized there was nowhere to hang them from in the mountains and had to pitch them Boy Scout style using sticks as poles. They didn't take enough food for the trek, so they would have to return via a quicker, albeit more dangerous, route in the morning. But they told us they didn't even have enough food for supper tonight, so we looked over our own supplies and decided that we cold afford to spare some rice and curry powder. Their next problem was that they had to cook on a campfire, but firewood was scarce, and all they had to cook in was a tiny tin cup. Still, they were grateful for our hospitality and were obviously enjoying themselves despite the setbacks. These types of places are always filled with interesting characters.

The photo album for this entry is here.
More info on Choquequirao is here.

July 29, 2007
Day 669

Choquequirao-Machu Picchu Trek Day 1
Stats for the day: 22 Horizontal KM Walking (half a marathon), 1300 Meters Down (equivalent to going from the estimated roof of the Burj Dubai tower to the ground, twice), 550 Meters Up (as high as the roof of the Sears Tower, plus a football field)

I met Chantelle and Kim at the main plaza early today, and we together we headed to the bus station for our 6:00 bus. The ride lasted four hours and took us through some beautiful country. I slept through most of it, but still, it was nice getting out of the city. The bus dropped us off at an intersection from which we grabbed a taxi straight down a huge hill to Cachora, the starting point of our trek. I kind of felt cheated because the driver had his engine turned off for the most part, but he still got us there. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in Cachora and started walking.

The first part of the trail was very easy. We dropped down a bit and walked past a lot of farmland and friendly locals. Only around ten tourists take this trail every day, so village life still seems fairly intact, unlike along other popular treks where everyone is out to make a quick buck at your expense. The few other tourists we did see were all accompanied by a guide, and mules were carrying their stuff. My pack weighed about forty-five pounds, but it wasn't a problem to conquer the small rolling hills of the region.

After a few hours, we reached our first "pass." We had an amazing view of the region from the top of green hills and snowcapped mountains, and we could already see our campsite for the day. The only problem was that it was on the other side of the canyon, so first we'd have to go to the bottom, then back up. The Apurimac River that had carved its way through the region over the eons didn't look too far away, and if I listened closely I could even hear its rushing water. Some guides and muleteers coming back from Choquequirao cheered us on as they no doubt didn't see many people carrying their own stuff.

We had our work cut out for us. For the next two hours, we zigzagged our way down the steep path in the hot sun. When you're as high up as we were, your mind plays tricks on you. We kept dropping further and further down, but the river never seemed to get any closer. At this point, Chantelle was already complaining about not having donkeys to carry her stuff, and she vowed to get one tomorrow if possible. No doubt she was jealous seeing all of the other tourists carrying nothing but their cameras and water. This upset me because my plan was to do the whole trek other than the most difficult section without any help, and we had only begun walking. I'm not very fond of using pack animals on treks because they shit all over the trails, kick up tons of dust, are difficult to pass because they take up so much space, and they require a muleteer who has to be cooked for and paid to return to his village at the end of the trek.

Eventually we reached the mighty Apurimac, a river near the source of the Amazon that's full of class V and VI rapids and has claimed the lives of many rafters over the years. Luckily for us, our Apurimac experience only consisted of signing in at a checkpoint and walking across a well-built bridge.

From there, it was an exhausting two-hour climb up the other side of the canyon on an equally steep path as the one we had just come down to our campsite. Darkness fell halfway through the climb and the full moon wasn't quite high enough above the mountains to provide us with any light. It can get pretty lonely walking straight uphill in the dark, but at least it was warm at our relatively low altitude of 2200 meters.

We reached our campsite exhausted, but in good spirits as we could finally get rid of some of the weight we were carrying by cooking dinner. The moon eventually did come up and provided us with a great view of the canyon we had just traversed. We went to bed excited that we'd already get to see Choquequirao by midday tomorrow.

The photo album for this entry is here.