Peru Adventure Day 8-9: Homeward Bound

There are only 2 reasons for this post: I think the pictures are entertaining, and the story will show you why Bean and I are such good travel partners.

We had to get up very early to catch our first flight from Cusco-Lima. We were at the airport by 7am, checked in and ready to go. First of all, the Cusco airport has absolutely nothing in it. So we sat there, and sat there, trying not to fall asleep while waiting to board. We noticed that our boarding time was delayed, first from 8am (flight leaving at 8:30am), then pushed back to 8:20, and it kept going back from there. We were supposed to land at 9:30am, which gave us 3.5 hours between our connecting flight from Lima-Miami; plenty of time to get our bags, wait in lines, and get on our 2nd flight of the day.

All told, we landed at about 10:15, got our bags as quickly as possible, ran through the airport and found an agent to give the mobile phone to, and ran to get in line to check in for our next flight, leaving at 1pm. There were only 3-4 people in front of us, but it seemed like everyone was complaining about something and nothing was getting resolved, and we were in the only open line. A big group from our same flight got lucky when they opened another line, but we were at the front at that point and figured we would get through pretty soon.

By the time we got up to the desk, it was a few minutes after 11am and that was the cut off for International flight check in. There was nothing they could do for us. We explained that our flight was delayed and we'd been waiting in line for 45 minutes. Since it wasn't their airline, it was a regional airline, there was nothing they could- I should say 'would' do for us. They told us to go back to Star Peru airlines and have them re-book our flight.

I haven't mentioned that the reason we chose the 1pm flight was so that we could spend a nice night in Miami to close out our trip. We had the hotel room booked and were looking forward to that evening. The only other flight available to get us to Miami left at 11:30pm and flew overnight. When we booked the trip, we purposely did not choose that so that Bean could go to work rested that next day.

Long, irritating, stressful story short, Bean handled the people calmly and persistently, and did what it took to get us at least on a flight home. Meanwhile, I cried and fell into a puddle on the ground.

We ended up re-booking on the overnight flight, spent $400 for the flight change, and had to lose our $200 hotel room for that night. In the middle of dealing with all of this, AT&T saw that I was using too much international data and decided to shut it off. !!!! So I had to deal with changing my phone plan and adding international service just so I could coordinate the details we needed to coordinate to make sure our travel insurance would take care of some of this for us.

We did everything right. We were early to the airport, we spaced the flights what should have been enough time apart, and we were still stuck in the airport for 10 hours. Our next hurdle was getting checked in for our flight, which we couldn't do until it opened at 7pm. The first hour or two was spent dealing with all the crap. Our travel insurance told us to go to the first airline and ask for a letter stating that the flight was delayed, just to prove that we had no control over the situation. They were really good at making me feel better and giving me confidence that we would get at least some of our money back.

Here's what we did to fill the rest of the time.

Ate nasty Papa John's pizza. The food court was pretty busy and we were definitely there the longest. We saw so many people come and go.

 I bought a book. Then I got a manicure, which was awkward because the ladies wanted nothing to do with me. But it filled about 30 minutes! And then I waited an hour and got some icecream. All of these activities were made to fill 3 hours of time. I sure look excited about all that time in the airport! Side note: I ended up finishing the entire book before we landed in Dallas.

At about 6pm, Bean started going down to the ticket counter every 15 minutes to see if the line was forming and/or open yet to check in. All we wanted to do was have them take our bags and know we had a seat on the flight.

When we got up to the ticket counter, the agent looked at the paper we handed him, paused, and walked away to 'check on something'. I freaked out and started crying. Bean stayed calm and explained to the guy what we'd already been through, he did some work and got us good seats in the middle of the plane on a exit row with extra leg room. When they finally took our bags, we needed to celebrate!

 So we got some Lays, wine, and beers. We met a girl in line who had dredlocks and seemed like a free spirit. She was having issues and needed to call home. We overheard her, and gave her all the coins we had left- we weren't going to use them anyway, and figured we should try to make someone else's day better since ours had been so bad already. As soon as we could go through security, we bought a couple of souvenirs, woke up our dredlocked friend to make sure she got on the flight, and got on the plane!!

Apparently I ordered dinner from the flight attendant, and I don't remember it at all. Apparently she was mad that I ordered the dinner and didn't eat it. I was sleeping the entire time. Bean should have know I was sleep-talking because I asked for the meat option. I NEVER order airplane meat!

We finally landed in Miami, and had a short layover before our flight to DFW. Here's the gross American breakfast we ate:

 And finally, FINALLY! We made it home, and got our bags.

We were ecstatic to be on our home turf, done with the unnecessarily long travel day(s).

All in all, the trip was absolutely incredible and life changing. I've already shared the lessons I learned on the hike, but the one that really hit home for me on this last day is there is nobody else in the world I would have rather been on that trip with. Bean is my perfect complement, my perfect travel companion. We communicate well, enjoy the same things, and it always works out as long as I'm with him.

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Machu Picchu

Canadian Toilet High Five: This is the nickname we gave to another hiker we met on the last day. He's from Canada and he gave Bean a high five when they realized that when they used the restrooms they would be able to actually sit on a seat instead of squat. He literally high fived him in the restroom. Gross.

After that experience, Hernan brought us over to some benches and gave us an education on Machu Picchu. Since it's taken me months to get these posts done, I don't remember much about what he said but here's what I do remember based around the pictures I took. He gave us a quick overview and then we walked the grounds and looked at specific things. If you are interested in the history / theory around the city, just do a Google search on it, I'm sure you will find plenty of information.

This is my favorite tree. There's a legend that at one point someone was going to rip it out and when they started digging, they found jewelry- rings/bracelets buried around the roots. They decided it was some kind of sign and decided to leave it there. It caught my eye several times during the day from different areas of the city.

 

The condor rock formation. The beak is at the bottom on the ground and the wings are the large swooping stones in the background. A little hard to visualize, but it's a spiritual thing for the Inca.

 

 

Check out that huge stone. They built on top of and underneath it. The area underneath is a tomb area for important people- royalty or leaders.

 

I'm in love with the precise fit of the rocks. Here's my favorite example:

Another fun fact: there are 3 styles of architecture in the city.

 

On the left, where they look rough, that style designates areas meant for 'regular' people: workers, etc. On the right, where they are fitted more precisely, the faces of the rock are either left rough (for leaders/upper class) or ground down smooth for royalty. On the wall above, it actually changes from rough faces to smooth part of the way down. That's how you know you are in the King's quarters.

 

Here's the King's bathroom. He sat on the rock near the bottom, and his excrement would fall down behind and then be washed out the hole at the other end. Pretty fancy!

 And another beautiful view.

 

 

Hernan jokingly told Bean that we were going down these stairs next. He almost tried to go down them!! So scary.

 

 

This gigantic rock looks kinda boring, but it's anything but! It was carved to mimic the shape of the mountain range behind it. Remember, the Inca revered the mountains and the Earth so it was like a huge offfering. After we said goodbye to Hernan, he told us the rock is known to have energy and you can touch it. I was skeptical, but I went over to the left side, and placed both of my hands on the side of the stone and closed my eyes. It felt like lightning bolts shooting through my arms and down through my legs, grounding me in that spot! I felt extremely calm and relaxed, but with small vibrations in my hands. Very cool.

 

After that we had a couple of hours to explore on our own before we had to meet Hernan back in town to pick up our gear. Mainly we just took lots of pictures. Here's my favorite:

 

After awhile we started getting pretty tired, plus we were really sore from the hike so we went back to town a little earlier than we originally planned and walked around. Eventually we made our way back to the pizza place that Hernan told us about to meet him to pick up our gear. We sat with him for about an hour and talked about the funny people he's met leading the hikes, about his girlfriend and when they might get married, and all split a beer and a snack. We laughed a lot!

 

We ran into Jersey, who kept me going uphill on Day 2, and Canadian Toilet High Five around town. Most places had happy hour specials: 4 for 1! Obviously they are geared toward tourists more than Cusco. We also ran into Elsy and Matt who happened to be on the same train as us, just in a different area. We were all so ready to be back, have a real shower, and relax.

 

Unfortunately, the train ride was anything but relaxing. It was 3 hours long, bumpy, and irritating. There was a guy near us from Brazil who was very loud and animated (funny to listen to!) and kept saying things that didn't make sense. But at some point, I was ready to be off the train and back at the hotel. When the train stopped, we found the driver set up for us and (somewhat frantically for me!) searched the crowd for Elsy and Matt just to say goodbye one more time. It was really sad to see our new friends leave, first with Hans, then Hernan, and now them. It meant that our adventure really was coming to an end. It's something I wanted to stretch out as long as possible.

 

My heart was just so happy the whole time we were there. I think traveling and meeting people is one of my passions. Nothing compares to learning a new place and learning about new people.

 

Back at our hotel, we took wonderful showers and ordered room service. Another re-packing of our bags, and we were ready to travel home. We were so tired we each fell asleep on our own bed!









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Inca Trail Day 4: Machu Picchu!

Our last hiking day started off extremely early. We woke up at 3am or so, packed up camp and enjoyed the most delicious pancake I've ever had. The reason for the crazy schedule is the first train from Machu Picchu leaves at 5am and that's the only one that porters are allowed to take. If they miss the train, they have to stay in Aguas Calientes- the city at the base of the mountain- until the next morning, or find a way home. At that point, they've missed out on another 4 days of work if they weren't able to get started on a hike with another group. I'm sure you can tell my opinion is that the system is idiotic. These guys work so hard and they are forced to just deal with it. Hernan said it's because the train company is from another country, not run by locals and their main purpose is to provide a nice experience for tourists. Just wait until I tell you about the train ride later!

Anyway, it was a 'hurry up and wait' situation. The trail didn't open until after 5am. We got in line and played our favorite new card game: Shithead. I lost every time!

Here's the view of the line behind us. We got a pretty good spot! The best parts of the entire trek were when it was just our group. The worst parts were when the trail was crowded with other groups. We knew that the entire 2 hours of hiking this day would be the latter part. The sun wasn't up so we had on our headlamps. Every hikers' goal was to make it to the sun gate and see the sun rise over Machu Picchu.

What we didn't realize was the adrenaline that would take over. It felt like a competition. Don't let the people behind you pass. Keep going. The swish of the leaves. The unsteady ground. One foot in front of the other. The pace was so much faster than ever before. The cool, wet air. Dim light streaming through the leaves. More steps, up and down. It turned into a single file line of slightly sweaty, intense hikers with one purpose in mind.

And then, all of the sudden.

Around this corner is our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. What we've worked and waited for the whole trip.

 And finally, there it was!!

 From the Sun Gate, we had about an hour hike down to the actual site. We walked right up to the 'postcard' picture that everyone wants:

 It was so incredible. Surreal. Looking at the pictures now, I can't even believe we were there, and I especially can't believe we finished the hike! At this point we were so tired and proud and ready to use a real bathroom.

One interesting thing was that we went backwards through the entrance:

All the buses show up and regular tourists come through this entrance. So we were already inside the gates, but to get to the bathrooms we went back out. We also got our 2nd stamp on our passport. Not as exciting, because any tourist can get it. On our way to the restrooms, I heard a tour guide tell his group in spanish, "See, they just finished hiking the Inca Trail".

Best part of the entire trip.

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Peru Adventure: Inca Trail Day 3

The next morning, my growling stomach woke me up. Outside our tent, the misty rain we'd heard about but not experienced yet set us on a gloomy start. We didn't know it yet, but today would be the hardest day of the hike. We knew it would be the longest.

The most impressive breakfast yet- a cake!

I suppose it's ok to eat cake for breakfast if you are about to exercise for 8 or 9 hours, right?

Same routine as before; re-pack all of our bags and all of the unnessesary extra clothes we packed and head out. I was glad we purchased the cheap ponchos before the hike, but they were a nuisance to walk in, they kept billowing out and I couldn't see where to put my feet. The rain made the stone steps slippery and of course even scarier for someone not 'surefooted' like myself.

My highlight of the day was this ceremony. We gave thanks to the mountain ranges around us in the native Quechua language. Then made a wish silently that we are not allowed to tell anyone.

Hans' was the most reverent of all. Eyes closed, he whispered the prayer, gesturing to each of the mountain ranges gazing into the sky, and made his wish. At the end of the offering, you place 3 coca leaves- small, medium, then large topped with a found rock. Hernan told us about the offering while we were at Dead Woman's Pass, so we knew to look for a rock in advance. Bean found one for me.

I haven't mentioned yet that this day our muscles were very tired and our feet swollen. It only felt better to keep walking. Since we reached the peak yesterday, it was all downhill from there. Which meant countless steps and lots of concentration. We were all a little quieter this day.

We went through a cave, which Bean really liked.

Since our camp was with lots of other groups, the trail was more clogged than the days prior. The eerie mist makes the cities we found look even better, but the other hikers certainly don't help!

This is Runkuraqay.

Next was Sayacmarca.

It had the main city, then an incredibly steep staircase up to the top. I was excited and scrambled up to the top, then realized I had to take the same steep stairs back down. Ugh!
(see the person in the yellow near the bottom?)

My favorite were the times the trail flattened out and went through the jungle.

This was my favorite lunch: rice, veggies, and chicken. And of course soup and tea and water.

Another cool rock formation we walked through.

Here's what most of the day looked like:

Another city: Phuyupatamarca.

I love how the rocks are covered in moss. We found a wall of moss on some stones in the jungle portion of this day. If you touched it and pressed in, it would drip water!

And this is a summary of the scariest and most difficult thing I've ever done. Aside from those steep steps earlier in the day. There's Bean near the bottom, about 10-15 steps ahead of me.

And the last city of the day we saw from a distance. I don't have the name but it was 'extra credit' aka another hour hike. Or we could go back to camp. At this point, we just saw it and had a couple of hours to decide if we wanted to see it any closer than this. At this point, I was seriously considering it. I mean, when will we ever be at that point again?

A little while later, and more downhill stairs, and we decided we were more tired than motivated and we'd done enough. So we went back to camp and once we stopped, it was hard to move again. We had just enough time to sit down, then use the restroom and change clothes before Elsy and Matt (of course they decided to hike the extra hour!) made it back to camp for dinner.

I forgot to mention our bathing options at camp. We brought large camp body wipes that I used on my feet and pits, plus face wipes for our faces. That's about it. At a couple of campsites they had showers and sinks but they freaked me out and apparently the water was freezing so we skipped it.

And finally a couple of pictures of our dining tent. In the first picture, the flash startled everyone! You can see how cozy we were. We laughed a lot and called ourselves a family. When we first started out Hernan referred to us as a family and said he would be the 'Dad', and Hans would be the.......'other Dad', and we all laughed.

After dinner, we pulled together some cash and had the ceremony to thank the porters. They had to leave extremely early the next morning to catch the train home. Otherwise they had to stay overnight and that's just not worth it. For some reason, the company that runs the trains back from Aguas Calientes only allow porters to ride home on the 5am train. Meaning they/we have to be up, breakfast eaten, and packed up as early as possible so they can run all the way to Machu Picchu and catch the train back.

We all went around and said thanks. I went first and I couldn't find the words. Bean told them they were the hardest working people he's ever met and Hernan translated into Quechua. I don't think they realized what a huge compliment that is, coming from someone who works as hard as he does. Elsy's was the best, she got choked up and I think we all appreciated it. She was able to convey what we were all feeling.

It was kinda (ok very) sad to go to sleep knowing we wouldn't be camping all together the next night. But the promise of walking up to a lifelong dream and one of the 7 wonders of the world, plus the promise of a shower and a real bed the next night were worth it.

I already felt accomplished and proud of what we had done at the end of Day 3. The journey really was more than a means to the end- it was everything. There's nothing more gratifying than staring down fear and then beating it to a pulp. When the trail was slippery and we could have fallen to our deaths; when the steps were so steep it seemed better to just crawl down; when our leg muscles stiffened and it seemed impossible to continue.... we did.

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Peru Adventure: Inca Trail Day 2

I woke up feeling great after that dream. Of course opening the tent to the gorgeous views and looking forward to what food we would be eating didn't hurt either!

Our first round of business was to take a picture with our porters and chef. I've never met such hardworking people. A couple of the guys were our age. On our last day, we had a ceremony to thank them for their hard work and give them a tip. The interesting thing is how shy they were, I couldn't hardly get them to look me in the eye, much less get a good hug out of them!

The process on the trail is this: porters and chef wake up, fix breakfast. Hikers and guides wake up, eat breakfast. Everyone packs up, hikers leave. Porters stay behind to finish packing up camp, then PASS the hikers on the trail, make it to camp and set up before the hikers arrive. The altitude is probably the biggest difference- they live in the area and are used to it, while we do not and are not. Pretty incredible!



Of course, the picture everyone wants to see- the toilets. They had this loveliness at each campsite. It's not the most comfortable thing for a woman, prepare to pee on yourself at least a little bit. It's impossible to direct the flow! They did flush though and at least they were private. Much better than finding a spot in the woods.

This day started off with jungle scenes, including a couple of scary bridges. Bean thought it was funny to take pictures of me looking freaked out on the scary parts.

Our group fell into a rhythm: Matt and Elsy in the front and the Bell Family bringing up the rear. I'm proud to say that they were impressed at our novice hiking skills on such a difficult trail. Elsy does bushwalking in Australia, leading hikes where nobody has been before. She's very used to carrying all of her gear, including freeze drying her own meals and leading multi-day hikes. We of course have never done any of that. 

This day also included a couple of ancient herbal remedies, the first being sampling the infamous coca leaves. They taste pretty gross, nothing to get excited about (the tea is much better). They really did help with any queasiness from the altitude. The only side effect I noticed was my tongue went a little numb and the inside of my cheek was raw where the lump of leaves were. We did sneak our leftover leaves back into the states (generally rebel activities like that are my idea) but after unpacking can't find them! I'm really not disappointed though, I don't see the purpose of them at low altitudes.

The other herbal remedy was for headaches. Hernan would put some liquid on his hands, slap them together, and create a tent for your nose. All you do is inhale, and the headache melts away. It smelled really strong, almost like 100x vick's vaporub, and it really did work.

What we thought would be the hardest part of the trek was this day: 5 straight hours uphill to our maximum altitude of 4,200 M, or almost 14,000 feet.

For comparison's sake, Mount Kilimanjaro's tallest peak is 5,895 M.

Mount Everest peaks at 8,848 M. So we basically did half of Mount Everest in half a day.  

Theoretically, I think we could have trained more. More stairs, more walking or running, whatever. But physically, there's no way to train for this, especially living in DFW. The rocks were so uneven with such varying heights, the only way I can see to do this is to just jump in and be strong mentally. Don't give up, and keep walking up stairs that are the same height as your leg from foot to knee. Over and over and over and over.

It was pretty tough, so we took lots of breaks. We mingled with some other hikers this day. One in particular kept me going, and she didn't even realize it. I'm pretty competitive so I saw her up ahead and passed her. Then she passed me. Then I passed her again and stayed ahead. Bean was about 10-15 steps ahead of me (see him in the left on the first picture- the curve in the mountain is where we were headed).

Time and time again, I would stop to catch my breath and she would stop behind me. I'd think to myself, 'I might just stop right here for an hour and rest'. I'd take a picture of the scenery. Eat a skittle. Take a swig of water. Just stand there. And she'd start taking a few steps forward and that made me do the same. I never got her name but she was from New Jersey. So naturally we named her Jersey.

I can't describe the exhilaration at making it to the top. Of course our group members were already there waiting on us (remember they are the professionals) but it was awesome. I didn't think it could get any better than that. It was colder up there too!

This landmark is called Warmiwanuscca, or Dead Woman's Pass. We found out later that they'd found a woman's skeleton at that location. There's speculation over whether she was sacrificed or just starved to death. The joke was that some people cry when they reach the top because they can't believe that they are there. I was convinced I would cry, but I never felt the urge. Good news!

The next step was 2 hours downhill to camp. Then we would have lunch, a siesta, popcorn/tea time and dinner.

Wait, did I mention we did all of this before lunch?

I had been really looking forward to the downhill portion. Nothing could be worse than constant uphill, right? I was sorely mistaken. The downhill part was the hardest thing I've ever done. The intense concentration required to not stumble and fall facefirst off the side of a cliff was enough to make anyone give up and let the porters carry you out.

Bean was quite good at the downhill parts. He said it has to do with being surefooted, whatever that means. I got confused over the hiking poles and the rhythm of where to put the poles and where to step. Watching Hernan helped a little bit but he was so confident sometimes it was hard to keep up.

I was starting to get pretty tired but knew we had several hours of relaxation ahead so that was all the motivation I needed.

Lunch was an interesting combo of rice, veggies, french fries, cornbread, and a drumstick.

This campsite was very different because we shared the area with several other groups of hikers. This is when it became very apparent how lucky we were with our small group. The site seemed like it was carved out of the mountain, with little plateaus at different levels for tents. Our sleeping tents were on one level and we went down several steps to another plateau where we ate.

I'm not sure if it was the altitude or what, but after tea time (and that delicious popcorn!) I started feeling pretty sick. I just wanted to lay down and sleep with zero movement or noise around. The thought of even sitting up to drink tea was nauseating. I was sad to miss the soup; plus I'd been wondering if we were ever going to have a huge plate of pasta...

Bean got to enjoy that huge plate of pasta. I slept fitfully, waking up every time I heard the other campers talking or moving. I knew the next day was the longest distance and what Hernan called the hardest day. I wanted to be ready for it.

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