Salkantay and Machu Picchu

Not sure how to describe how lucky I consider myself to have had the experience of having hiked our way through the Andes to Machu Picchu! The past 7 days have been truly amazing! Our trek started in a little village called Mollepata with a breakfast at a small little restaurant. We amused ourselves as to the price of the "American breakfast". The tourists probably paid 6 times the price of the locals for the same food, but it was the experience that mattered. We ate in a back yard where roosters and other small animals roamed freely.

A horse man, a chef and a sub chef were loading up 5 horses with the gear and food that we would need for the next 7 days. Our main chef was Cicilio and the subchef was Pablo (who was also the main runner-around guy). The first day of the trek was a warm one and we saw a mix of road and trail and we gained about 1300 meters of elevation to stop in the Andean highlands at around 3800m. We only saw a few other trekkers and some of them set up camp in the same spot as we did. When camp was set up we were spoiled with hot water, soap and towels. The porters set up our tent and when we were cleaned up we were treated to "happy hour" which consisted of popcorn and snacks, as well as hot drinks. The evenings and nights were quite cold and windy up high so it was nice with hot drinks. Happy hour was followed by a four-course meal. Appetizer, soup, main course and sweets! This afternoon and evening routine was followed every day after arriving at camp! Will I ever be able to camp Mike and VJ style again?!

On the second morning we woke up to a knock on our tent where Pablo offered a warm drink and some hot water to wash up. Sweet! Mike really doesn't realize yet what this will mean for our next camping trip.....he is going to have to work much harder than in the past to get me out of the sleeping bag! After breakfast we climbed up to see a mountain lagoon and after lunch we started our hike to campsite 2, which was located at 4800 meters. Our lungs sure noticed but we still felt pretty good for the elevation. A few trails were very steep and a few times we could hear the rumble of avalanches and rock falls off of the high mountain of Salkantay. At camp we were treated to clear weather and we could see Salkantay Mt right next to our camp. It was stunningly beautiful. No one elese but us! The night was cold and we both had some trouble sleeping despite having taken some high altitude pills (started them too late I bet). I woke up in the morning with some pretty funny side effects of the medication - my upper lip was all tense and it made my face look all stiff and weird....I didn't bother to take any more pills after that....

The morning was cloudy and wet. We hiked up to a mountain pass at 5100 meters where we were greeted to more cloud and a lack of a view. I felt a bit slow at this altitude even though we went up in less than 30 minutes. I was huffing and puffing quite a bit. The hike down on the other side was again beautiful. We passed shepherds minding cows and sheep up high and we didn't see any other hikers all day. It rained a bit at one point but it wasn't bad. By the time we hit camp it was sunny and we could wash up in the mountain river. The valley we stayed in had remains of the Inkas. The river had been straightened and walled to contol the flow of the water and to manage the farming in the valley. Some pigs digging in the dirt next to our tent kept us entertained throughout the afternoon and we slept like babies at the lower elevation. I think we were back down to about 3200 m here.

The following morning we hiked further down into the valley and came upon our first Inka ruin. A small set of stone ruins that we had all to ourselves while our guide was telling us about the Inka culture and way of life. He was explaining that "where there is water, there is life", but this in the end got turned into "Where there is horse poo, there is life" since the ruin was covered in horse dung. At the end of the day we set camp on the traditional Inka trail and our camp site filled up with other trekkers. It was a bit of a culture shock to have so many people around all of a sudden, but we had a pretty private site and managed to sleep well. In the bathroom of this camp site I saw a pretty large furry spider so I was a bit mindful of where I stepped from then on.

The following day was the biggest day for the Inka trail trekkers and a fun one for us. We hiked up and over Dead Woman's Pass at 4200 meters. Mike and I got to sleep in and start a bit later than everyone else because we usually hiked at a fairly quick pace. As soon as we hit the trail we started passing people who were struggling. This was the highest they had been so they were not used to the elevation, plus many people who go on this trek are not in very good shape. I really thought some people would fall down and die in front of us! One woman was pale as a ghost and she hardly moved forward at all. She also looked very unhappy! I felt great this day and hiked steadily to the top and arrived there in just over two hours. We hung out at the sunny pass and waited for our guide and our porters. Our guide caught up with us about 30 minutes later while the porters took a bit longer. When they showed up we cheered them on as much as we could. They were working super hard to get our gear over the pass. Horses are not allowed on the Inka trail so the horses had been traded out for 5 new porters. That night we had a camp site right by a big rock where Mike and I sat and watched some thunderstorms move in.

Another hike up to a pass the following day had Mike and I in front of most other trekkers and we hit two Inka sites almost on our own. One site had been used by runners who delivered messages during the times of the Inkas. A messenger would work a leg of 20km and deliver verbal messages. The average speed of these runners was about 10-12km/hr despite the steep and technical terrain. The runners were very important to the Inka empire so they were guarded by warriors where ever they slept. It's amazing to think of how these runners managed to move so fast through the terrain. The Inka trail in made up of thousands of stone staircases that are very steep and technical. The runners must have been machines! The remainder of the day we were hiking by ourselves completely. Only the occasional porter shared our trail. We were so far ahead of everyone that we got to see two more Inka sites alone. The last site of the day was very close to camp (WinayWayna) and was quite impressive. Big terraces for farming as well as buildings for living.

The Inkas were very in tune with nature and quite spiritual people. They believed in the forces of the sun, moon , stars, animals and even the dead. Every site has temples, and areas of significance to their beliefs. Often the local people read shapes in the environment that represent these beliefs, such as shapes of a Condor, Llama, or an Inka face. Most of the time we had difficulties seeing any of this.

The last day was of course a very big day for us. We woke up very early to prepare for the trek to Machu Picchu. Around 4.30am we were all waiting at the starting point for the gate to open for the day. People were sitting around with head lamps on, looking tired but excited...not all that different from an adventure racing start really! When the gate opened we were all hurrying down the trail to be the first to arrive at the Sun Gate (one of the entrances into the city of Machu Picchu) to see if we would be lucky enough to see Machu Picchu from above.....but no such luck since the whole mountain was stuck in a cloud. On the way down into the site we got our first glimpses of the wonder though. Wow, it was truly amazing to see the site come out of the clouds! None of the photos I have ever seen can paint the real picture and the real feelings you get from seeing this wonder for real! It was stunning! And again, there were not very many people there at this time of the day so we got several hours to explore the site with our guide. I am amazed at how these buildings were constructed. The work that went into just one stone would have been nuts in today's standards (and probably even in the standards back then). Tools only made out of stone and a few metals were used and the stones were polished totally smooth and the cuts were perfect. So perfect that they didn't even need any binding material, such as clay, for the finer buildings, just stone on stone. We explored every corner of the place and we also took some time to just sit around and enjoy the view. Seeing Machu Picchu had been a dream for both Mike and I and finally being here and seeing it all was incredible. I am so thankful to everyone and everything that allows us to have opportunities like this one. Peru and its people and culture are amazing and I feel like I have grown just a little bit more from having seen this place.

Pictures and a Swedish story will follow soon....we are back in Cusco tomorrow and can probably upload photos from there.