It is difficult to describe the 5 days we spent hiking in the Andes...not enough adjectives. We started the first day by being picked up at 4 a.m. and then a bus ride to a small village close to the trailhead for breakfast. We ate in a typical Peruvian dive. There were guinea pigs running around the place, especially in the kitchen. The bathroom had a hole in the ground and it was on the second floor. We don't know where the contents ended up. After breakfast, we took a very bumpy ride, got a flat tire, and finally started hiking around 10:30 a.m. We walked until 1:00 for lunch and most of the way it was a slow steady climb. The meals they fed us were amazing. Every time we were fed we ate in a huge red tent with tables and little stools. We ate out of stainless steel bowls with cups. Every meal started with some kind of soup, followed by a vegetable course, and then the main course and even dessert. The main courses were pasta, rice with chicken, fish, steak stew. We even had popcorn and chocolate pudding one night. We always drank tea at our stops. They recommended drinking water only when we walked and when we were stopped, they said to drink only hot drinks because the temperatures were cold outside and the cold water was bad for your body. We drank mostly coca and muna tea. They both help with altitude.
We hiked after lunch until 5:30. We walked about 15 km the first day, all up hill and that's why it took us so long. When we reached our first camp, the tents were already put up and we immediately went inside. It was well below zero in Celsius. We had almost every piece of clothing on and some alpaca ponchos we bought. We camped about 14,200 ft. There were huge glaciers around us and there was an avalanche that night. It was pretty scary to hear that avalanche at 4 in the morning and wonder if it was coming your way. During breakfast, we witnessed two other avalanches that were very close! We were safe though and took pictures.
The second day of hiking was one more hour to the summit of the pass and the base of the glaciers (15,200 ft). The rest of the 27km we walked that day was all down hill and at sometimes, very steep. We descended into a cloud forest with bamboo and trees. It was a wonderful transformation from where we left that morning. For both Mike and I, this was a record high elevation for camping. When we arrived at our second camp site, Mike visited the hot springs and I pooped out. We camped on a small farm among the sheep, cows, chickens and roosters. We had to be careful where we stepped if you catch my drift.
The next day we walked 25 km all in jungle, up and down the sides of mountains and along the river. At lunch, everyone took a bath in the river and laid on the rocks. Don't worry, we wore our bathing suits. That night we slept like babies and again slept on a little farm. This time they also had turkeys and ducks. The turkeys were in full mating plumage and were strutting around everywhere all puffed up.
The fourth day almost killed me, but Mike the soccer star was just fine. We woke up at five in the morning and were hiking by 7:00. We went straight up and over a mountain in 7 hours. The first three hours were straight up! My legs were killing me! At the top of the summit, we visited an archaelogical site that they had just started working on two months ago. All of the bamboo and plants that had overgrown it were rotting on the ground and we had to walk on top of all of this. We could see Machu Picchu from this site. It was crazy how well preserved it was even with little restoration done. The workers mainly ate freeze dried potatoes called chuno. It looked disgusting, like black moldy potatoes. It took us almost three hours to descend the steep mountain and we walked to a train depot in a small village at the bottom. It was close to 2:30 before we ate lunch and I had no energy left. We took the train to Aguas Calientes and camped at the base of Machu Picchu.
Our last day started at 5:00 am and we took a bus to the top of Machu Picchu. The ruins are amazing and 70 percent of them are original, with no restoration other than jungle removal. We had a tour for two hours and then had three more hours to explore on our own. We peeked in at the lodge rooms up there that cost $375 a night. They were not worth it. We caught a train that afternoon and then a bus to Cuzco. That night we met our hiking troup to eat cuy or roasted guinea pig. We didn't like it! It was hard to eat it because all of the organs were there, kidneys and all! It also tasted very gamey and sour-spoiled like. We found out later that the fresher guinea pig is served at lunch and you should not order it after 2:00 pm.
We are now in Arequipa and are leaving for another adventure tomorrow. We still haven't set up our plans yet, but are thinking of touring the Nazca lines and Pisco area. Arequipa is under a transportation strike and we are hoping to get out before the city is closed down. We visited the ice princess mummy today, Juanita. They found many mummies, mostly young girls sacrificed up on top of the volcanoes that surround this city.
That's all for now. The hike and Machu Picchu have definitely been the highlight of our trip.
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