Our first glimpse of Cusco is through the Southern Inca gate...K Peg cracks open the wine she has left from Mendoza, as we’ll part company with her in Cusco. We’ll all miss her dulcet tones and hearty laugh on Gus.
Cusco, once the centre of the ancient Inca empire, is beautiful, nestled in a valley, watched over by Inca ruins and a giant statue of Christ. The skill of the interlocking Inca stone work is incredible - it’s the foundation of the Spanish colonial buildings churches lining the Plaza del Armas .
We have a day to wander the cobbled streets and markets, stocking up on last minute necessities for the big Inca trek. Half the group does the classic trek; the rest of us are doing the Lares Community Trek, camping at tiny remote villages up in the clouds. There are a few nerves; some of us wonder whether we’re up for it....
We explore the ruins of Saksaywaman and Pisac, stock up with supplies in a local market - the hygiene and smell left alot to be desired, met our porters (they carried the tents, food and cooking equipment on horses, mules and llamas) and were treated to lunch on the road, tablecloth chairs and all.
Ramundo,( sporting local dress and hat), is one of the village leaders and in charge of transport. He distributes this amongst the people so they can share the income. This trek is sponsored by Andina Travel and Dragoman.....part of the money we pay for the trek goes towards paying 2 teachers for the local schools, and installing basic facilites.
Then we start..... up a steep humid valley following a river, racing downhill, full of snowmelt, past the last few hardy trees, covered in moss and lichen..... up to 3,600m and our first camp. It rained for the last 20mins, and we were ruing not donning our waterproof pants. By the time we reached camp we were freezing, but our tents were set up thank God. We changed into every layer of thermals we had and crawled into our sleeping bags, waiting for dinner, and wondering why we had paid good money to torture ourselves....
It was the first of many 3 course meals, a warming soup, main and sweets ...delicious local food. The “flushing” loo was broken..the great outdoors was appealing, even in the freezing cold...
How the people here survive is extraordinary..... they have no facilities, no power, no wood for fires; they live in adobe huts with thatch rooves, wear no closed-in shoes, only sandals year round. They wear a thick llama wool blanket as a type of cape, and always the men and children wear beanies. The women wear a hat, unique to their village, and often decorated with fresh flowers.. They’re not dressing up for the tourists either.... it’s their life.
They are very shy, very polite, and seem incredibly happy....And they are certainly very fit, literally running up the steep sides of the valleys to herd their stock or pick traditional herbs. All e can do is plod, breathlessly....
Day 2 took us up and up...and up, one tiny footstep at a time, over a pass of 4,700m. The air was very thin, and progress slow; a few in the group were a little worse for wear.
Down steeply, past lakes and waterfalls to another village for lunch, and more gently down to our campsite at a school (3850m). Some of the group line up for a soccer game with the porters; Kathleen and Ivan were stars, and the porters had never been beaten before, especially by women. I played with some of the local kids as their mothers sat and watched and were hopeful we’d buy some of their handicrafts...
We each presented a book and pencils to a child (part of the fundraising) their delight was amazing, and we joined the local teachers and our guides for a lesson in Quechuan. Great fun, great hilarity...
Day 3 took us up over another pass, 4,400m this time but steeper. Terry and Kath D decided to opt out for the shorter flat route; Mel ended up having to ride the horse for the last bit up - scarier than trying to walk she said - we were in gravelly scree, that seemed to fall away to nothing.
We were ecstatic at making the top - mandatory photo stop, and then the hairy descent, down in the scree... really proud of myself, having gotten over my fear of steep downhill - I romped it in.
Lunch at another school, then down to camp at the thermal pools outside the Lares for our first wash in 3 days and a good soak to soothe tired bodies.
It was sad not to be ending our trek at Machu Pichu, but by far preferable to have shared a bit of the village life high up in the Andes and not to see one other tourist! We were woken on Day 4 at 3.30am for a hair-raising ride down the mountain, past many landslides (lucky it was dark!!) to the town of Olleyantaytambo for breakfast, and a guided tour of more extraordinary ruins. Dinner at a restaurant overlooking the river to celebrate - we had walked 46ks, over 2 passes 4,700, and 4,400 in 3 1/2 days.
Day 5: Drove to Agua Calijentes, a touristy town straddling the raging river at the end of the Sacred Valley, for our trip to Machu Pichu, and it was everything I expected and more. The clouds parted for us (so many tourists only get to see rain and cloud), the light perfect; the view from the Sungate stunning... ticked another box!
We had one more full day back in Cusco,.... explored the Dominican monastery with the remains of Inca temples underneath, and the extraordinary cathedral - 3 churches together, with extraordinary artwork. There was a black Jesus on a cross - the body was made of llama skin and had blackened over the centuries with candle soot; a replica of the ornately carved choir stalls in the Seville cathedral - except that the chair arms were bolstered with figures of pregnant women, not lion heads!, and a painting of the Last Supper, the table replete with a feast of cuy (or guinea pig) the local delicacy.
Bought my owl flute in the museum from a potter/musician who had made replicas of all the Inca flutes - his music was hauntingly beautiful
Said goodbye to K Peg with a few drinks in her room at the luxurious Hotel Monasterio (a converted monastery of course) and then tried cuy in a restaurant that night, served whole with the head staring at you....
No comments:
Post a Comment