Trekkers are us

On this little pilgrimage of ours, we are travelling for the first three weeks as part of an "Adventure Tour" from a company called Tucan. We started with 15 people in Lima and picked up two more in Arequipa. We will have some changes while in Cuzco and we will be leaving this group altogether in La Paz.

We are travelling in the company of two of our good friends, Russ and Val, who will be flying home after a week in La Paz, while we go on to join another "Adventure Tour" from there a week later.

This style of touring is new to us. Basically, the tour includes all of the hotels (some camping, etc.) and we have a leader for the group who keeps everything running smoothly. But we use only local transportation, usually meaning taxis to bus stations and buses between places, with a few other modes of transport thrown in, and we are on our own for most of our meals and other enternainment. Pretty interesting way to travel. The group we are with is all a lot younger than we are (typically early twenties), so we may slow them down sometimes, but they are a fun bunch.

As with most any organized tours, there are options that you can take at various places. In general everybody is taking all the options, but here in Cuzco there are just too many to take them all. The highlite for most people who visit Peru is Machu Picchu and there are a variety of ways to get there. This being an adventure tour, we of course are hiking there. Unlike everyone else on this tour however, we are not hiking the famous Inca Trail. Instead, we are doing a different, possibly more difficult, Lares Trek. And this is where our story continues...

Day 9

Last night we had our Lares Trek Briefing where we discovered that the transport workers, amongst others, are scheduled to go on strike on November 4th, which was to be the last day of our trek. Because our trek does not actually end at Machu Picchu, we need to take a train for the last 42 km. So it has been decided that we will be doing an accelerated trek, covering the 35 km distance in two days instead of 3, so we will arrive at the train station on the 3rd instead of the 4th. This means we had to leave our hotel at 4 AM this morning to take a car to the start of the trek, about a 4-hour drive from Cuzco. We are having a lot of misgivings about this as we are not sure we physically up to the challenge. However we have little choice.

So it is that we set out with us (the only 4 trekkers), a guide, a cook, 2 porters and 3 horses to hike over the Andes mountains.

And hike we did. Our first day was a non-stop 6-1/2 hour trek up hill, starting at 3800 Meters and crossing two passes, at 4560 Meters and 4520 Meters, before descending to our camp at a mere 4100 Meters. It was very cold at the top, probably a few degrees below zero C. For the last 3 hours, including the passes, it rained and/or snowed and/or hailed on us pretty much non-stop. Between the steep climb and the high altitude, we were at times very discouraged and thought we were close to death (at least thats the way it seemed at the time). Somehow we made it through, but have little evidence of it as no-one was in any mood to take out a camera to document the event.

Day 10

After a restless sleep (basic winter camping),we awoke to a much nicer day. The sun came out and were hiking primarily down hill. We hiked for about another 6-1/2 hours before we arrived in a small town where we had a lunch and caught the train to the Machu Picchu Pueblo, where we are going to spend two nights instead of the originally scheduled one. We were very happy to see that hotel.

The best part of this hike was the interaction with the locals. Before we began the hike, we stopped to buy bread at a local market. When we would pass by some of the local hill people, the children would come running out to greet us and, very shyly, accept a small loaf of bread. It was a very rewarding experience.

We also saw some amazing scenery, huge mountains and deep valleys sprinkled with Inca terraces and ruins. You have to see it to believe it, and the only way to really get to this place is on foot, as there are no roads where we were.

Day 11

This would have been our third day on the hike, but due to the rail strike, we took the short bus trip to Machu Picchu instead. We were blessed with a beautiful day and were able to spend as long as we wanted at the site because of the extra day we had gained by shortening the hike. In some ways, this could not have worked out better for us and we thoroughly enjoyed our time at the famous Lost City of the Incas. Words fail to descibe it and pictures cannot really do it either. You really have to go and see it for yourselves (You could skip the trek however).

Day 12

We were able to return to Cuzco earlier than we would have on the original itinerary, so we had a lovely afternoon in Cuzco, site seeing and eating, napping, etc. So all in all, it has been a great 4 day trek.