Machu Picchu itself is quite and experience. I sat there and looked at this city made of massive boulders and stone and thought to myself "how the hell did they do it". It would not be an easy task to complete something like this even today with machinery and proper roads. To imagine how it was done so long ago with just sheer man power is incredible. It was incredible how the walls to all the temples were perfectly aligned with no error what so ever. They even carved homes out of massive boulders...I just dont´t see how it was done.
We had to wake up at 4 am the morning of Mach Picchu to get there early and to get a ticket for the extra Waynapicchu Mountain. It took about an hour of walking up stairs in the dark to finally reach the entrance to Machu Picchu. I didn´t realize that it would be so tiring walking around the city, but it may have been tougher than any of the days on me trek. From the famous post card view you can see Waynapicchu and the main part of Machu Picchu. This is an extra little hike you can do if you get there early enough (which we did). This was quite difficult especially in my flops. It took another hour of walking strait up and at times you are walking on an extremely narrow stair case that seems to drop off to no where. The most amazing thing I saw in my life was here. There was a man probably in his late fifty´s early sixties climbing Waynapicchu with his wife. Now I was tired and exhausted how the heck was he doing it? Then when I got closer to them I realize that was the least of his worries. He was directing his wife's every step...she was blind!!! I could`t believe it. Reaching the top was definitely worth it. You really felt as if you were on top of the world.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Salkantay to Machu Picchu
I had been looking forward to this trip for quite some time. Gladly it was the great experience I was anticipating. I originally signed up for the Classic Inca Trail hike to Mach Picchu, but after doing some reading I decided to do an alternative hike. There were two main reasons for the change. One was that it saved me about $150, and the second is that there are a lot less people on the alternative treks. I am extremely happy with my decision. There was only one other group (16 people) that we saw routinely on the whole trek. On the Inca Trail there is over 500 people daily, and sometimes up to 1000. It definitely takes away from the experience when there are a bunch of crazies running around. I couldn't´t imagine having to share all the views I had with 100+ other people. It made me think a little about the orangutans in Borneo.
My only concern going into this trek was the same as anyone...were the people in my tour group going to be fun or not. Anytime you do a tour it is a gamble. No matter where you go or what you do if you are with a good group you can have an amazing time, but if you are with a bad group it can be hell. I must be doing something right because again my tour was g
reat. Unlike my jungle trek there was more than just two people, but everyone on the tour was great. We all got along amazingly. We had people from Germany, SPAIN, Holland, Australia, Israel, Ireland, and I was representing Texas, USA. It is funny...almost every time I tell someone I am from Texas they say something about two things. Most of the time it´s good ol George Bush. If not him...it is damn Chuck Norris in Walker Texas Ranger. All I can do is laugh (lol).
It was tough being prepared for this trek because it would be super hot, then in a matter of minutes it would be freezing. The trek started out in the village of Mollepata at about 2900 meters. 7 hours later, 1000 km higher, and 19km closer to Sulkantay Mt. we reached our first camp. It was quite miserable. The wind was blowing about 25mph and it was freezing. I was kept asking myself why did I pay for this. We basically ate dinner and got into our sleeping bags as soon as we could. Although it was miserable...our campsite was amazingly beautiful. Especially when the sun went down. We were camped at the base a huge glacier and it wa
s just beaming in the night. I wish that my camera could have picked it up...it is probably one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. The diversity of this trek was incredible. Day two we woke up at the base of a glacier. We trekked for 4 hours or so and reached the 4752 meter mark (the highest point of the trek). We hiked for another 3 hours and we were in jungle. I couldn't´t believe the change in landscape, vegetation, weather...everything was different. It was like hiking from Colorado down to Florida in a couple of hours.
Each place we camped was nice and unique in its own way, but one place in particular was special to me. Santa Teresa on the third night had a special little critter that was living there. For those of you that know me you could guess...a little 2 month old squirrel monkey that loved to play with people. I really thought about stopping my trek there. His name was Pancho and he was the cutest little monkey I have ever seen. Santa Teresa also had one other perk to it. I made the trek much harder than it really is. I didn´t want to spend the money to get the right equipment (most importan
t was shoes, socks, and underwear) because I will only use it for the next couple of days. To me it would have been a waste of money. Besides having a resident monkey Santa Teresa had a natural hot spring where we could soak and clean up. We all spent over 2 hours soaking in the natural pools hoping that our bodies would recover for the following day.
By day 4 my shoes had completely failed me. On my right foot my pinkie toenail had fallen off from being squished. The last day of trekking and the whole day at Machu Picchu was done in my flip flops. All together I probably did around 30km and 18 hrs of trekking in my flops. I was surprised at how comfortable my flops were during the trek, but after all that walking even my flops were hurting. We finally made it to Aguas Caliente the base town for Machu Picchu were we got to stay in a proper hostal. It was nice to have a bed and a hot shower ;o)
My only concern going into this trek was the same as anyone...were the people in my tour group going to be fun or not. Anytime you do a tour it is a gamble. No matter where you go or what you do if you are with a good group you can have an amazing time, but if you are with a bad group it can be hell. I must be doing something right because again my tour was g
reat. Unlike my jungle trek there was more than just two people, but everyone on the tour was great. We all got along amazingly. We had people from Germany, SPAIN, Holland, Australia, Israel, Ireland, and I was representing Texas, USA. It is funny...almost every time I tell someone I am from Texas they say something about two things. Most of the time it´s good ol George Bush. If not him...it is damn Chuck Norris in Walker Texas Ranger. All I can do is laugh (lol).It was tough being prepared for this trek because it would be super hot, then in a matter of minutes it would be freezing. The trek started out in the village of Mollepata at about 2900 meters. 7 hours later, 1000 km higher, and 19km closer to Sulkantay Mt. we reached our first camp. It was quite miserable. The wind was blowing about 25mph and it was freezing. I was kept asking myself why did I pay for this. We basically ate dinner and got into our sleeping bags as soon as we could. Although it was miserable...our campsite was amazingly beautiful. Especially when the sun went down. We were camped at the base a huge glacier and it wa
s just beaming in the night. I wish that my camera could have picked it up...it is probably one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. The diversity of this trek was incredible. Day two we woke up at the base of a glacier. We trekked for 4 hours or so and reached the 4752 meter mark (the highest point of the trek). We hiked for another 3 hours and we were in jungle. I couldn't´t believe the change in landscape, vegetation, weather...everything was different. It was like hiking from Colorado down to Florida in a couple of hours.Each place we camped was nice and unique in its own way, but one place in particular was special to me. Santa Teresa on the third night had a special little critter that was living there. For those of you that know me you could guess...a little 2 month old squirrel monkey that loved to play with people. I really thought about stopping my trek there. His name was Pancho and he was the cutest little monkey I have ever seen. Santa Teresa also had one other perk to it. I made the trek much harder than it really is. I didn´t want to spend the money to get the right equipment (most importan
t was shoes, socks, and underwear) because I will only use it for the next couple of days. To me it would have been a waste of money. Besides having a resident monkey Santa Teresa had a natural hot spring where we could soak and clean up. We all spent over 2 hours soaking in the natural pools hoping that our bodies would recover for the following day.By day 4 my shoes had completely failed me. On my right foot my pinkie toenail had fallen off from being squished. The last day of trekking and the whole day at Machu Picchu was done in my flip flops. All together I probably did around 30km and 18 hrs of trekking in my flops. I was surprised at how comfortable my flops were during the trek, but after all that walking even my flops were hurting. We finally made it to Aguas Caliente the base town for Machu Picchu were we got to stay in a proper hostal. It was nice to have a bed and a hot shower ;o)
Monday, September 15, 2008
On to Lake Titicaca
The trip from Rurre back to La Paz was not real exciting. It was 22hrs and the day time driving was done through rather boring scenery. The night was freezing cold because my window would not shut properly and I had a cold breeze on me all night. I arrived in La Paz around 6 in the morning waited around for a couple of hours and caught the 3 hr bus to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca.
This little town had a great vibe. Very relaxed and chilled out. Lots of good places to have a cup of tea or grab a bite to eat. The prices were the best I had seen in a long time which always makes me happy. There were little treks you could do around town which was nice so I could get in shape for my Machu Picchu trek (tomorrow..I hope the altitude doesn't get the best of me!!!). Of course Lake Titicaca is extremely beautiful and massive. Most my time here was spent relaxing and reading. (Yeah I read a lot now...kind of weird). I did day trip to Isla de Sol where ironically enough I got really sun burned. My friend that I was traveling with at the time came and got me about 5 min before we had to go. I didn´t know where we were going, so I didn`t have a hat or sunscreen (I am still peeling 9days later). Isla de Sol was amazing though. Some of the views were spectacular. I decided to skip Puno and Aeroquipa and stay an extra couple of days in Copacabana. I had been on too many buses and just wanted to relax. After about 5 days there I hopped on the bus to Cuzco.
This little town had a great vibe. Very relaxed and chilled out. Lots of good places to have a cup of tea or grab a bite to eat. The prices were the best I had seen in a long time which always makes me happy. There were little treks you could do around town which was nice so I could get in shape for my Machu Picchu trek (tomorrow..I hope the altitude doesn't get the best of me!!!). Of course Lake Titicaca is extremely beautiful and massive. Most my time here was spent relaxing and reading. (Yeah I read a lot now...kind of weird). I did day trip to Isla de Sol where ironically enough I got really sun burned. My friend that I was traveling with at the time came and got me about 5 min before we had to go. I didn´t know where we were going, so I didn`t have a hat or sunscreen (I am still peeling 9days later). Isla de Sol was amazing though. Some of the views were spectacular. I decided to skip Puno and Aeroquipa and stay an extra couple of days in Copacabana. I had been on too many buses and just wanted to relax. After about 5 days there I hopped on the bus to Cuzco.
Rurrenabaque and Madidi National Park
After a few days in Coroico I decided to head to the jungle a little early. The weather was not the best so I wanted ample time for my jungle trip. Rurre is a 18 hour trip from Coroico along a high, dusty, curvy, narrow, cliffs kissing road. Anytime there was on coming traffic it would make you wonder how will they do it. Luckily for me they did. I don´t know if I like the night portion better or worse. I could not see what was out there, but I knew...lol.
Rurre is a tiny little town on the banks of mud colored river. The town itself is nothing special. It is just the most convenient place for Madidi Park. It is probably a total of 5 blocks about half a kilometer long...really small. I was able to organize my jungle trip with no problems for the day after I arrived. There were so many options and I had heard of many stories of bad operators. I went with one that seemed to be in the middle class I guess. I could not have made a better choice. The avg. group was 10 -12 people. My group...me and one other guy. I guess that could be a really good thing (if we get along) or bad (if they sucked). I was extremely lucky. The one other person was a great guy from Holland. He was a really interesting guy and very easy to get along with. So we basically had our own private jungle tour. Out guide "Billy" was great. He earned my respect when he went sprinting into head high grass, then jumping out with an angry
2 meter plus cobra. Words can`t describe it and my video is to long to upload, but it was crazy. The whole trip was great. There were alligators, turtles, dolphins, capubaras, and all kinds of different birds about. It was a bit touristy and seeing so many other tour groups out there was a bit of a turn off, but I am looking past that and I got to see a lot of cool animals. The highlight was a tie between holding an Anaconda (ice cube and j lo would be so proud) and holding the angry cobra.
Rurre is a tiny little town on the banks of mud colored river. The town itself is nothing special. It is just the most convenient place for Madidi Park. It is probably a total of 5 blocks about half a kilometer long...really small. I was able to organize my jungle trip with no problems for the day after I arrived. There were so many options and I had heard of many stories of bad operators. I went with one that seemed to be in the middle class I guess. I could not have made a better choice. The avg. group was 10 -12 people. My group...me and one other guy. I guess that could be a really good thing (if we get along) or bad (if they sucked). I was extremely lucky. The one other person was a great guy from Holland. He was a really interesting guy and very easy to get along with. So we basically had our own private jungle tour. Out guide "Billy" was great. He earned my respect when he went sprinting into head high grass, then jumping out with an angry
2 meter plus cobra. Words can`t describe it and my video is to long to upload, but it was crazy. The whole trip was great. There were alligators, turtles, dolphins, capubaras, and all kinds of different birds about. It was a bit touristy and seeing so many other tour groups out there was a bit of a turn off, but I am looking past that and I got to see a lot of cool animals. The highlight was a tie between holding an Anaconda (ice cube and j lo would be so proud) and holding the angry cobra.
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