Peru - Tell your story walking

It was time to start our trek, the whole reason we had come to Peru.
A rag tag bunch from all over the world formed our group, Sweden, England, American, Canadian, Japan, Switzerland, Ireland, of course Australia and our guides from Peru. It was a combination of back packers, lone adventurers and a few couples thrown in.

Heading off on a fine morning at starting point of kilometer 82 (the trail actually starts right at Cuzco but most treks start at this point or slightly further along) we left our bags for our porters and began the walk.
We had 14 trekker's, 3 guides, 2 chefs and 20 porters to carry the food tents and the remainder of our stuff.

We certainly were aware that we would be walking for the next few days, and it would be difficult at times due to the altitude. When they showed us the map it became clearer that we would be doing some serious climbing at times as the trail wound its way through the Andean mountains.

Day 1 would see an easy start dropping 1,000ft and then climbing camp at 10,000ft. We were blessed with a fine sunny day that saw most of us sweating while we carried our day packs. The porters didn't blink as they sprinted ahead with their 25kg load. The porters used to be unregulated and would carry 60-80kg each, wearing sandals which are made from recycled car tyres that last about 5 years. These guys were amazing the whole trip.

Camp set up for us each afternoon.

We would be woken up each day with a hot drink of our choice at 530am, warm water to wash and a hot breakfast shortly after. Once we had set off for the day, the porters would pack our sleeping bags, tents, dining and cooking tents all into their packs and over take us some where along the trail two hours later.
By the time we made the lunch camp, the dining and cooking tents would be erected and a hot lunch ready for us to eat before an afternoon siesta. Again once we set off they would over take us and have our night camp site ready for us.
All of this while carrying 5-6 times more then each of us. I was certainly grateful for this when the steeper steps were upon us. Some different groups had less porters which obviously saves money but means they need to carry more them selves.

The food was simple but great the whole trek, dont ask me how they managed to bake a cake with portable camping equipment.

Day 2 Looked to be the hardest day. From camp we would climb over 4000 vertical feet to dead woman's pass at 13780ft high, then descend 3000ft on the other side of the highest point in our trek. This would be done with no lunch break expecting to arrive at night camp by 2pm. It was explained to us that if we stoped some where along the trail at altitude for lunch, most of us would end up with our lunch "outside" once we started walking again.
The going was slow for sure, the low oxygen meant that after only a few steps you were out of breath, every person was just plodding one foot in front of the other. While difficult it was not impossible and after a while you were in a rhythm and progress steadily ate into the climb.

Dead woman's pass 14000ft or 4200m

The second day had stretched the group out, one person had quit after day 1, another was sick and few others had slowed right down. We were certainly glad that we had continued some fitness training over Christmas.
After only 5 hours of walking we had competed the 4000 ft vertical hike. Now being acclimatised to the altitude it didn't seem so bad. Climbing that sort of distance at sea level would have been hard work.
I (Ads) have to comment though, the 3x20 yearolds from England managed to do the trek at an amazing pace and in most sections were still talking the whole way up, how I don't know. Ohh to be 20 again.

While we looked forward to the downhill, its still no walk in the park. The steps were steep and formed from rocks found in the area. It was hard on the knees and legs but at least it wasn't as breathless as the way up.

Though tired we charged on towards camp, keen for the food and rest. We arrived in camp in good time and promptly fell asleep while lunch was still being prepared in time for the whole groups arrival.



The mountains were amazing when you stopped for a breather.

Day 3 saw us having to make another climb to our last high pass. It was still 2000 vertical feet climb but on this day we both felt stronger then ever after walking 2 days already. We made great time and really enjoyed the walking on this day, we had plenty of energy and breath to take in the surroundings and absolutely bounded down the steep decent at the end of the day towards camp. At this camp site there was a small cafe which also sold beers (at an exorbitant mark up, captive audience I guess) which we enjoyed upon arrival at the camp. We even had the option to take a longer route which would take us past some more ruins, and gave us a spectacular view of the valley, campsite and river below.

The final day was a few hours walk before arriving at Machu Pichu. As the porters had to pack up tents and then walk 6kms to catch an early returning train, we had to be up and out early, 345am. Heading out at 430am we had to wait at the checkpoint onto the trail which didn't open til 530. This was due to many people going on the trail early to catch the sunrise and multiple deaths in the past due to the narrow path being negotiated in the dark.
The walk along the trail was in drizzle and half light due to cloud cover, the energy was gone today, and we just plodded along in the mud and wet knowing we were nearly there.

Even the lamas didnt seem too impressed with the rain.

We had been blessed with clear days until now, and unfortunately our views of the ruins from afar were clouded in. It certainly dampened the mood of all being wet and cold and tired from the early start.
Plodding along we arrived at the Ancient Inca city at about 730am. The tourists had already started arriving by bus ( the easy route) and we were keen for a coffee and a rest for some now weary legs.

The good news, the clouds started lifting not long after arriving at Machu Pichu, more of that in the next update.

Peru - Culture and Lamas

We have been off the air for a few weeks while trekking in Peru

Here is the update from our latest leg of adventure, I will split it into a few parts as there is much to cover.

We arrived in Lima Peru to a nice warm sunny day after flying through the day and night. After a sleep in our hotel we headed to the beach, not expecting to surf in Lima but with the surf breaks packed and hire boards abundant, it was time to hit the waves.

The cobblestone beach with a heavy shore dump to be negotiated, certainly something you didn’t want to muck up. We surfed a little both days and looked around the very nice area surrounding our hotel.

For the first time in my (Ads) travelling history, English was the exception and not the norm, we managed to fumble our way through most situations to eat and bargain our purchases.

Traditional village weaving Lama wool

After a few days we were headed to Cuzco which was the starting place for our trek on the Inca trail to Machu Pichu. Cuzco being at an altitude of 11000ft we were going to be at a high altitude and may experience some altitude sickness.

At first we had no real problems with the altitude and didn’t really know what to expect, we were instructed to sleep as soon as we arrived at the hotel and after lunch would be heading out into the town for a guided tour. By the time we woke up, we were breathless, dizzy and headaches, (Cos's lips even went blue...) I certainly didn’t expect this much of a reaction.

After Cos and another trekker nearly fainted during the walk around our guide had some “magic juice” for us to smell. The guide was a local who would also be our guide for the trek., he had many natural remedies and herbs which were his way of helping us deal with what we were feeling. We also ate and drank a lot of the local Cocoa leaves which is the tradition in these parts, many of the people in the mountains chew and use this daily. It contains caffeine and natural cocaine in small amounts which give you energy and help with the acclimatisation.

Before we started the trek we toured some houses, villages and some sites surrounding Cuzco which was the Inca capital before the Conquistadors conquered Peru in the 1500's.

Dinner - No kidding this is part of a traditional diet

 The colour and culture of the people outside the city was amazing. The woman carry everything in bright coloured blankets on their backs, babies, food, shopping. Many people still wear very traditional dress, mixed in with those that have adopted western ways. The villages still have stone aqueducts directing the local stream right through the centre of town. We didn't get to try the guinea pig but ate alpaca for lunch one day.

Plenty of Lamas for wool and food

The town and tours were amazing, it was like nothing I had seen before. It was fantastic to see that it had not all been polluted down from tourism like so many other places that are frequented by so many people.

Next up - Starting on the Inca trail

Highlights of 2010

Hi all. We have spliced together some photos and music from our trip into this short video.

If you click on it - It should open up into a bigger screen in you tube and then you can go bigger if you wish.

 

After looking through our trip I am very grateful for the opportunity to see so much of our world. It also shows me how small our little corner is and how much more there is to see.

 

I hope you enjoy

 

Leaving soon for Peru

News !!!!!!

Some of you may already be aware of our news via facebook or other method..........

During our time in Whistler I asked Corinne to marry me!

We are now engaged, as she said yes.
I like my brothers comment when we arrived, "So you quit your job, sold your house and every thing you own, and then asked her to marry you"
 We have decided that details of the proposal will remain just for us, other then to say it occurred on a beautiful day in Whistler and it was romantic.
We have no immediate plans to get hitched, (although eloping in Costa Rica is tempting.... ) We will continue our trip as planned.

In other news, currently having a break of travel while staying in Chicago with Chad, Kate, Nora, Connor and Fiona McJannett. Thankyou for putting up with us for so long! The temp here is -10 most days and there are regular snow falls. I dont know how this place was ever settled!
I will post some family snaps and updates in the next week or so, as well as a brief highlight of our travel for the year.

Btw, we have bought flights to the UK for the 5th of March. That'll be when we'll try to start working again.
:o(