Rough times in the Andes

Off Katie and I went on our trek. Not too sure if the deal we got was a scam or not. ($500 US for the Salkantay trek and the Amazon lodge). We left our hostel at 4:25 in the morning, still dark out and headed to the San Francisco square where we were to meet other trekkers and our guides. We got to the square, no bus and no one else around. Finally we saw someone unloading food and assumed that they were preparing for the trek. Finally people and busses started rolling in around 5am...not sure if people were late or we were told to come 30 minutes earlier than everyone else!

Of course the first thing that happens on the bus is the guide informing us that we have to pay an entrance fee to our first town (no one had mentioned this earlier). This was pretty much the theme of the trip. We arrived in Mollepata in 2.5 hours where we would begin our trek. We had a nice breakfast and the guides put our packs on the donkeys and away we went.

Day 1's plan was 17km mounting 1,000m in altitude, in 6 hours or so to arrive at camp around 5pm. Our first camp would be at an altitude of 3,900m. We left Mollepata around 8am.

The sun is shining hard. Katie and I were dressed in full thermal underwear with lots of layers. Its very hard to gauge the weather here as you will see.

Our team was called Los Pumas and we were fifteen people. An English couple, Jo and Ian, 3 Francais, Sylvain, Christophe and Aymeric, an Argentinian, a Dutch Menon, Sonia the German, a Colombian couple, an Israeli, and a Japanese and an American Mike. Our two Peruvian guides were Darwin and Milton.

Away we went and things were going well. The climb wasn't too bad and there were several breaks. But after one of the breaks the steepness hit and the altitude and heat hit me. I was incredibly dizzy, feeling faint, seeing spots, wanting to vomit etc. And lunch wasn't until 1pm or until I got there. And to make matters worse the hike was getting steeper! I didn't feel like my body was tired, I just could not get any air in my lungs. The heat was also not helping and while I was down to a tank top (with the rest of my clothes in my back pack, I still had my long underwear on).

At one of the rest stops, our guides told me to start chewing cocoa leaves. I almost gagged because he made me put so much in my mouth. But I found a happy equilibrium by sticking a few leaves on both sides of my cheek. It at least gave me something else to think about but Milton told me it would not kick in for another hour or so (like all drugs!). Cocoa is supposed to help with altitude sickness.

Eventually, I made it to lunch camp just wanting to die and knowing that we had another 3 hours of hiking left. The good news was that we had already hiked up 700m in altitude! So we ONLY had 300m left in the afternoon. After our lunch break back on the track. The afternoon went a lot better but I was still feeling incredibly light headed. Actually my yoga breathing techniques came in really handy in getting a bit more air in my lungs and to keep a steady pace. The last bit of our trek it started getting cooler. We were reaching 3,900m. We arrived at camp with our tents set up but it was freezing cold and the wind was howling. I put on all my layers including tuque and mitts. As everyone is setting up their tents, Katie and I find out that they had forgotten to bring our sleeping bags. We thought they were joking. We were in the middle of no where camping at around 0 degrees and no sleeping bags! We wanted to cry. Luckily we have two amazing guides who some how found two sleeping bags and a blanket for us (we think they may have given theirs to us).

We went to have tea time. Agua caliente and popcorn, all 15 of us huddled inside a 3 and a half wall "room", trying to stay warm. Then we had dinner. All of our meals were pretty standard and became a running joke with all of us. Soupa, carne con arroz and agua caliente. Barely anyone touched their dinner that night as we were all exhausted from the day's hike. And knowing that Day 2 was the most difficult.

After dinner (around 8:30pm) we all passed out. Katie and I slept in every piece of clothing we owned. The night sky was gorgeous, we could see every single star and the milky way was crystal clear, but it was too cold to stay outside and everyone was exhausted.

Day 2's plan was to hike 22km in 9 hours. 3 hours in the morning up another 750m to the highest point of our trek. And after that we would be heading downhill towards camp.

The next morning, I woke up still feeling sick and opted to take a horse up to the top of Salkantay. I know I cheated but I would not be able to hike another 750m in altitude since I was still feeling light headed. And again the morning hours the sun was incredibly hot but chilly at the same time.

I wrote for another 45 mins before it all got deleted so here is the short form.

Hiked through the Cloud Forest and High Jungle to reach camp 2. Everyone was in better spirits and we had a great dinner spoken in 3 or 4 languages. (Spanish, English, French and Other). We also learned all the important words in everyone´s language like Chug, Cheers, Drugs, etc.

Day 3 - More jungle trekking and saw tons of plants - avocado trees, banana trees, passion fruit, wild raspberries and strawberries, coffee bean trees, etc. People live off these and its amazing because it is so fresh and delishous. Arrived at camp, where we proceeded to go to the Hot Springs. We also took a "shower" under the natural glacier waterfall. It was amazing! The hot springs also felt amazing after the long hike. That night we had a bunch of beers around a bonfire with the whole group. It was one of those moments Katie and I will remember forever and no one will ever really understand how great it was. (sorry but its true). Went to bed a bit drunk and tipsy even though we had to get up early again to continue the trek.

Day 4 - Some of us were not feeling too great on the trek this morning but it was ok because we were all in it together. Today we trekked behind Machu Picchu. It was hard to imagine the huge ruins behind that mountain but the mountain was the distinct shape from the postcards. We hiked on an old set of train tracks no longer in use. This was actually quite annoying as there were tons of rocks and it was about a 4 hour hike. We did get to take a break from the sun by dipping into the water which was incredibly refreshing. Made it to Aguas Calientes around 5ish. (The town at the base of Machu Picchu). We were all quite happy to finally get a hot shower slash any shower - yeah we didnt shower for 4 days. And also to sleep in a real bed! Had dinner but everyone crashed early because we had to be up at 430 to do the hike up to Machu Picchu.

Day 5 - I was up at 430 to do the hike. Katie opted to take the bus. And we all met up a little before 6am (when the gates open) to enter. Machu Picchu is stunning and a lot bigger than either of us imagined. It was so beautiful to see as we were one of the first few to enter. The sun was just coming over the mountains and Kates and I managed to snap a few pics with absolutely no one in them. Amazing. We had a quick tour by our guides then hiked up Wayanpicchu. It was one of our scary heights. Keep in mind apparently someone fell off 3 months ago and her body has yet to be found. There´s just no safety and the steps are quite dodgy. Anyways it was amazing to be at the top of this mountain, looking down at Machu Picchu.
After touring around some more, we never got to see everything because it is massive, we left to catch our train and bus back to Cusco.
Just to let everyone know. Our friends Chris and Duff visited Machu Picchu in July and hid a postcard for us. We had picture clues as to where it was and we had our entire group helping us find it. Which we did and we can´t believe it lasted 3 months!

Next up the jungle tour.